Historical Overview
House Braelea
Construction
In the mythology of the Blossom Fields, Terracetop was supposed to have been constructed by
Laurent and Mirielle, the legendary founders of
House Braelea.
Laurent of the Hedge was assigned the Blossom Fields after the
The Founders' Eyration, and was exploring it to choose where to settle.
A
Bard, and the inspiration for the Vinelands tradition, Laurent had a reputation as a bit of a rapscallion in his time. He promised to only settle his seat wherever he found the most beautiful woman of the region, and after assorted adventures eventually came to the mouth of a small inlet along the coast of the
Bay de Noc.
"The oldest towns and villages are found in the valesides, a warren formed by innumerable winding streams and rivers, within which most people of the Blossom Fields make their livings." - Idyllic Living
The inlet was at the foot of a series of hills, covered in hedges and flowers being carefully tended by a young lady named Mirielle. Unbeknownst to Laurent, she was smiled upon by
Vestria, who observed his attempts to court her. Eventually wooing her through song, Vestria blessed their union and bestowed a number of gifts upon Laurent, promising his family will forever command the loyalty of their subjects, if they stay true to the people of the Blossom Fields. As a sort of wedding gift, Vestria was said to grant them the skills and material to construct their first home.
In reality, it is most likely that the original Terracetop was the most dominant local fortification of the time. The valesides, fertile land within hilly valleys, were the most common locations for towns in the Age of Rule, and even later. These settlements were defended by hillkeeps, which remain the ancestral homes of many of the oldest houses in the region. Terracetop likely began as just another, though a strategically placed, early hillfort.
Seat of the Blossom Fields
As House Braelea, Laurent and Mirielle's descendants began to exert their control over the Blossom Fields, and established their network of vassals. To properly project power, they needed a home that was both well defended and able to display the lavish wealth expected from a regional power. By the 300s, a permanent stone keep had fully developed atop the hill, complete with a great hall and all the trappings of power.
"'Where do you head, sir knight, with such a look of distress?'
'Late to court am I, good sir, to Surlee I do progress.'
'A servant of Lord Braelea are you, at his palace you will stop?'
'Indeed, vassal, for a seat I hold, in the great hall of Terracetop.'" - l'Arbour Knyght
Besides being a practical fortification, what is now known as the Old Keep was the setting for many of the tales of the
Romance of Nobility, a literary tradition heavily associated with the Blossom Fields. These tales gave the Braeleas much of their legitimacy as an ancient house, and established Terracetop as one of the oldest and most storied locations in the Vinelands.
Sack
In 450AR, House Semillon marched down the
Raymontale Road and laid siege to Surlee. A very wealthy vassal of House Braelea, the Semillons were one of the few groups with a standing army at that time,
The Free Company. While they claimed to be an independent mercenary company, they really worked for the Semillons, and brought in a fortune for their lords, while providing them with a continuously trained force. The other vassals of the Braeleas were trepidatious about coming to their aid against such a force, and Surlee fell quickly through a combination of brutality and duplicity.
"The banner of my family came tumbling down last week, says messengers who have began trickling south. I am to be the last of our line, as my kin were butchered by those who's oaths our lords once held, the detestable purveyors of sellswords, lowly hawkers of coin, those ill-bred Semillons." - Guy d'Aimonne, Chronicles of Guy d'Aimonne
The Semillons, who were incensed over the escape of
Raymon II Braelea and his family, which led to the
Braelean Hedge Wars, showed no mercy those defending Terracetop. What would come to be known as the Old Keep, at the time the main portion of the castle, was heavily damaged, and almost unusable by the end of the siege. Beyond reducing much of the castle to rubble, the siege also exposed the defensive issues with Terracetop, and coupled with the paranoid attitudes of the Semillons, led to a great refortification of the hill in the subsequent decades.
House Semillon
Reconstruction
The initial years of Semillon rule dealt with the defense of their new claims on the Blossom Fields. While the military component of this solidification of power was victory in the Hedge Wars, it had a soft power component as well. House Semillon was unable to compete with the reputation of the Braeleas, which grew stronger in death, as their past was romanticized and their
story conflated into that of the region as a whole. To bolster their own reputation they focused on the beautification of Surlee in the style of the
Coquet Heights.
"While most of the initial resistance was in the valiant defense of Oldtowne, those living in Surlee were laid waste to at the base of the castle hill. My messenger tells me the streets were choked with ash, and nearly unnavigable with a glut of bodies." - Guy d'Aimonne, Chronicles of Guy d'Aimonne
While the whitewashing of Surlee, as it came to be known, would come later, the Semillons first needed to rebuild what they had. To deal further insult to injury, they did not bother simply restoring the Old Keep, as its name implies, but began the construction of a new structure to the east. This would become known as the Semillon Palaces, but it began more as a fortification than a palace. The initial structure was finished in 501AR, and consisted of two rectangles, one within the other, forming a double wall around the family's apartments and great hall.
Military Headquarters
The first great expansion of Terracetop, for purposes other than repairing after the siege, came during the last days of the Hedge Wars. While the future Semillon Palaces were still under construction, the Semillon administration was settling in and needed somewhere to run their war from. The Palaces were a huge project, and would not be done for some years, so what are now known as the Northern Apartments were constructed as a temporary solution.
"From our encampment outside the walls of Surlee, we could see the construction taking place upon the hill of Terracetop. The home of our Lord's fathers was now being refurbished to play host to a machinery of oppression." - Sir Rys Thewisy, CQ, Blood Red Blossoms
While the actual noble family was residing in the small portion of the future Palaces which were presently habitable, the new Northern Apartments hosted the rapidly expanding military and administrative infrastructure of House Semillon. Even though the Hedge Wars came to an end with the
Fall of House Cyrton shortly after they were constructed, the
Free Company would need the new space to manage what would be decades of occupation and coercion across the Blossom Fields.
Seat of the Vinelands
If House Semillon was concerned their current fortifications were insufficient to project power and legitimacy in the Blossom Fields, their worry would grow dramatically with the
2nd Semillon Usurpation War in 55AM. Jumping on the instability after the
Crossing Over, House Semillon overthrew the increasingly weak House Salis and claimed dominion over the entire Vinelands. When their claim to the Salis seat on the
Rostrum was confirmed a year later, their capital of Surlee would need to grow to reflect their newfound status as a major house.
"The Rostrum has today recognized what we have long known, Semillon is dominant in the Vinelands! Our Lord's well-deserved seat is granted to him." - The Violet Velum
With the chaos that unfolded in Anhara after the Crossing Over, people were looking for ways to reconnect with the past for a sense of stability. House Semillon jumped on this trend, doubling down on their attempts to subvert the Braelea literary and cultural traditions, from bards to the Romance of Nobility, and bending them to their own means. While latching on to the cultural aspects of the valesides would help placate a rebellious population, the Semillons also had to find a way to do the same with disloyal nobles across the entire Vinelands.
One new construction project on Terracetop looked to do both at once. On the one hand, it would utilize an ancient and storied structure, harkening back to when Vestria herself was said to have visited Surlee, and on the other, would draw the Semillons' new vassals closer to court. These were the Mirielle Gardens, at the northwest edge of Terracetop.
"Our exulted lady exercised, yesterday, truly divine judgement upon one of her handmaidens, who had, in the carelessness of youth, been woo'd by one of our Lord's gallant knights." - The Violet Vellum
The spiritual successor to the Braeleas' legendary court of the early Age of Rule, the new Court of Love deliberated "matters of love" as part of the Semillon attempt at co-opting the Romance of Nobility for their own means. Part greenhouse, part gazebo, part landing, the new structure connected Terracetop with the rebranded Lovers' Steps, while also playing host to Lady Semillon's
Court of Love.
"Guests arrived from some of the briefly recalcitrant noble houses of the Winerun region, to be held at Terracetop by the grace of our Lord, may their stay be long and loyal." - The Violet Vellum
While the Court of Love hosted and entertained the ladies of the numerous new Semillon vassals, the Northern Apartments were getting a makeover. No longer home to the military apparatus of the Free Company, which had moved to the
Aure Halls, it now played host to "guests" from across the vinelands. These guests were essentially hostages, taken in the wake of the 2nd Usurpation to help prevent a second Hedge War, and were housed at Terracetop. While they were free to wander the grounds, they were still prisoners, and this gave rise to the stories of prisons and torture hidden beneath Terracetop.
The Whitewashed City
While the Semillons initially tried to woo their new Vinelands vassals through propagandizing the local culture, it proved moderately successful at best. Instead, embracing the success of the
Bank of Anhara, House Semillon fully pivoted to the culture of the Coquet Heights, Anhara's political heart, in a bid to be accepted into the strict hierarchy of the capital city. As a usurper house, and one with insignificant roots, it would be an uphill battle.
Much of this was done through refurbishments to Surlee as a whole, and by extension, Terracetop. The goal was to make the city a destination for nobles from the Vinelands or
Eastmarches, returning from
Meridia after the
Cinquial Season. Along with growing neighborhoods of artisans and expanding the Grant, the Semillons adopted the style of the Coquet Heights as their own. Tall towers, open air, and white stone led to the various centuries of constructions on Terracetop being galletted together into one, more consistent yet out of place, mass. With the Semillon Palace eventually growing into a structure worthy of the lords of the Vinelands, it was a gleaming white castle on a hill.
Architectural Overview
The castle and palace of Surlee.
Map of Terracetop's Structures
The Old Keep
The Old Keep is, as the name implies, the oldest extant structure on Terracetop. According to local legend, the Old Keep was constructed by
Laurent and Mirielle, the founders of
House Braelea themselves, with some divine assistance. Its ancient origins are reflected in its architecture, as the Old Keep has largely maintained its style throughout the centuries.
It is believed to have began as a rectangular structure, stretching from the current Old Keep Gatehouse, south to the Ladies' Tower, occupying the highest part of the hill. By the time that there were sources on the topic, the Old Keep was known to have expanded to more or less its current form. A rectangle, with the gatehouse and original hall jutting out from the northeast side, the building was bracketed by three towers. Square, in the original style, they were eventually rounded out just after the siege.
The Old Keep Gatehouse
The siege destroyed much of the interiors, and most wooden portions of the building were lost to flame. As the structure was so damaged, it was uninhabitable to the conquering Semillon family. However, to continue to stamp down on Braelea loyalism, they thought it unwise to simply repair the structure, as it was so closely tied to the family's lore. Thus, construction began across the rest of Terracetop, as many of the hedges were cleared away for new fortifications, apartments, and eventually the palace.
After the Hedge Wars had ended and the Semillons were trying to gain legitimacy, they decided against demolishing the Old Keep, and rather reconstructed it in as close to its original style they could manage. However, they cleared away any Braelea-related décor, and instead filled it with imagery depicting their house as an ancient one. Local stone was quarried, rather than the imported material being used in the palace, and records were examined for refurbishing the interior.
Scorched Hall
I was shown the crest of our ancient cousins in House Aimonne, hanging above the dais in what they cleverly term the "Scorched Hall" today. They are quite proud of having destroyed houses of more distinguished roots than theirs, even those who died so chivalrously as the Aimonnes." - Letter from Lord Thewisy home to his wife, on a trip to the New Wine Festival
One portion of the interior was not fully redone. The Great Hall of the Braeleas, featured throughout the Vinelands' legends and stories as a setting, was damaged by fire in the siege, yet survived. The Semillons repaired the interior sufficiently to restore its structural integrity, but kept the burnt look, even burning their own repairs for a consistent appearance. This is one of the only rooms with Braelea imagery, as it has been turned into a sort of shrine to the Semillons' victory, holding the arms of houses they defeated in both Usurpation Wars.
Northern Apartments
The Northern Apartments were the first Semillon structure constructed atop Terracetop. The Semillon Palaces were being planned almost immediately after the conquest of the city, but were expected to be a decades long project. As a placeholder, the new ruling family needed somewhere to stay, and the Hedge Wars and subsequent pacifications needed to be managed from a central location. To fill this need, a new structure was constructed north of the Old Keep.
Surrounded by thick defensive walls, as Surlee was actively under siege by
Etien IV Braelea during its construction, the Northern Apartments prioritized the military over the noble family. While it did house Lord and Lady Semillon, as well as their heirs, the family much preferred their home in
Caer Semillon. The actual apartments of the family were in the southwest portion of the structure, the rest of which was a cacophony of soldiers, armorers, blacksmiths, and planners.
"The young heir of House Perry made a daring escape from his luxurious lodgings in the Apartments of Terracetop yesterday. While he was recaptured in the Lovers' Steps, he dispatched a number of those sent to retrieve him. We applaud his prowess and are sure he will grow to be a chivalrous lord." - The Violet Vellum
After the Hedge Wars were won and the rebellions across the Blossom Fields had largely wound down by 500AR, the basic castle that would spiral into the Semillon Palaces was done. The ruling family moved there, leaving the Northern Apartments behind. However, the Semillons needed somewhere to put the hostages they had taken from rebellious houses, and converted the Apartments into what could be euphemistically called a guest house.
While it had all the luxurious trappings nobles would be used to, essentially being its own castle, it was less designed to keep out attackers and more to keep in its residents. With the 2nd Usurpation War, the Northern Apartments were filled to capacity with the hostages from disloyal vassals across the Vinelands. In keeping with the chivalric tradition of the region, they were allowed to wander the grounds and treated well, but the architecture of the structure reflects their true status. Barred windows, thick maze-like walls, guardhouses, and tall turrets kept the residents of the Northern Apartments in check.
After the Semillons more fully established themselves in the Vinelands as a whole, hostage taking died down. The Northern Apartments continued to play host to Semillon attempts at soft power however, and are available as guest houses for families returning from Meridia after the Cinquial Season.
Mirielle Gardens
The northernmost structure on Terracetop, the Mirielle Gardens are one of its most famous, at least in the world of nobility. Here the Semillons cultivated a cultural court, the Court of Love, by reinvigorating the Vinelands' literary and legendary traditions. The structure itself plays host to the actual incarnation of the Court of Love, but also utilizes one of Terracetop's natural advantages, the Lovers' Steps.
The Lovers' Steps are the names given to the hedges surrounding Terracetop by the Semillons, as a way to market them to the wider world of Anhara, and use their mythological and somewhat religious background to their advantage. Originally, under House Braelea, the hedges surrounded the entirety of Terracetop, as a sort of natural defensive structure, which were grown by Mirielle with the help of Vestria herself. Therefore, they attracted pilgrims throughout their early history, until Surlee was sacked by House Semillon.
With House Semillon's takeover, the hedges were trimmed back into their current state, and closed to the public. Instead they were turned into a playground for the rich and powerful, hosting theatrical performances, playacting by the wealthy, and quite a few clandestine political meetings. The Mirielle Gardens structure itself is the gateway to the Lovers' Steps, the only licit entrance, and plays host to many a garden party or exclusive soiree.
Court of Love
The Court of Love itself is hosted within the Mirielle Gardens, in its own specifically designed room. Here Lady Semillon sits upon her throne, at the head of a council table reminiscent of the early Braelea lords, and deliberates upon matters of courtly love. From adultery, contests for the hands of maidens, disputes at parties, or judging poetry and the arts, the Court of Love controls a world of playacting by the wealthy.
The chamber itself overlooks a magnificent greenhouse, allowing the ladies of the court to act as if they were friends of Mirielle, a position reserved for Lady Semillon, wandering about the Blossom Fields in the days of legend. All are dressed in period clothing, though the period changes from time to time, produced in Surlee's Clothiers' Row.
Semillon Palaces
The gleaming white crown of Terracetop, the Semillon Palaces is a sprawling structure which has grown across many centuries. Completed in the early 500s AR, they began as a more comfortable castle than that of the Braeleas. By the aftermath of the 2nd Usurpation War they had grown into their final form, though far from their final level of decadence.
The buildings of the Palace exist within two sets of defensive walls, an outer and inner, which create a court in the center. This, coupled with the modular style of construction, which saw portions of the palace purpose-built, allow it to be sealed off segment by segment in the event of an attack. Along with much of Terracetop, Surlee, and other Semillon holdings, this harkens to their general paranoia about what they did to the Braeleas being done to them, leading to many labyrinthine or redundant defenses built up over time throughout the Palaces.
"Their proclivity for coups and backhanded dealings have given the Semillons quite the paranoid edge. Their fortifications are dotted throughout the countryside, every approach to the city manned, even the poor servants' entrances to their palace." - Letter from Lord Thewisy home to his wife, on a trip to the New Wine Festival
The style of the Palaces themselves are varied, given this modular construction, and go from a more traditional Blossom Fields castle style, with drab, gray stone fortifications, to the Semillons' full pivot into the architecture of the Coquet Heights. Here the famed "whitewashing of Surlee" occurs, where older portions of the Palaces are galletted together with a clean, white stone, in the style of Meridia's gleaming towers, and the roofs capped in the faux-
bluestone so popular outside of the Heights themselves.
Family Apartments
The Semillon Apartments occupy almost the entire northern half of the Palaces, and thus see an evolution in their architecture. In the westernmost portion of the Apartments, windows are narrower, rooms are smaller, and the defensive attitude of the besieged Surlee that constructed them is felt. As one moves more eastwardly, rooms start to let in more light, have higher ceilings, and feel airier. The interior décor is warm, and bedecked in bright colors, expensive drapery and art, and feels more like the Coquet Heights.
As the Apartments grew as what was in style changed over time, many of the rooms are no longer used for their original purpose. The actual family residences have moved to the easternmost segment, with bright, far-reaching views across the valesides and water. Former chambers have been turned into anything from offices for those officials most immediately needed, and therefore not located in the
Aure Halls, to the family's libraries, studies, solars, and other less commonly used formal rooms, as befitting a great house.
Great Hall
The Great Hall of the Semillon Palaces is the largest part of the structure outside of the Apartments. Here the Semillons hold court with their vassal lords, host feasts and parties, and generally use it to project soft power through the display of wealth. The physical architecture of the room communicates this purpose, as it was constructed to show the strict hierarchical nature of Anharan politics, forcing vassals into a subtle competition for their lord's favor.
This is done through the seating in the Great Hall. Two long parallel tables stretch down the center, before hitting the feet of a dais at the rear. Above the seats hang the banners of each Semillon vassal, suspended from the rafters of the hammerbeam roof. While in many great halls, these would be arraigned by the strict order of precedence of noble house
types, the Semillons order them in a number of ways to promote rivalries between their vassals and prevent rebellions. The tables are divided between Blossom Fields vassals and those in the wider Vinelands, and further order the houses not by their lineage or power, but by the time spent loyal to the Semillons.
I was positioned on the dais as befits our status as one of the original Rhetors, yet I was next to the Patriarch of some rural house I had never heard of, from a part of the Blossom Fields I have never seen, because at some point in the distant past his ancestors chose not to ally themselves with the Braeleas." - Letter from Lord Thewisy home to his wife, on a trip to the New Wine Festival
To further remind recalcitrant vassals of their place, the walls of the Great Hall are lined in monuments, recessed into alcoves. These monuments commemorate the Semillon victories over their enemies, from the two Usurpation Wars, to the defeat of the
Ciderwinde League and the many other rebellions they have faced over their long rule.
Just outside the grand double doors of the Great Hall is House Semillon's impressive
imagary. A traditional Anharan room, the imagary stores the busts, epitaphs, and family tree of ancestors, displayed publicly so as to demonstrate the accomplishments and titles throughout history by a family, noble or otherwise. That of the Semillons is round, as most are, and the busts of their ancestors are arranged in nooks along the walls, stretching high towards the ceiling, with the most recent towards the bottom. In the center of the room is a large, ancient book on a lectern, listing the names, accomplishments, and titles of the Semillon family.
Oddities
Hauntings
Given the violent events that have occurred on Terracetop, from the siege to battles along its base, to duels in stories of old, the whole hill is rife with stories of hauntings. The Northern Apartments and Old Keep play host to a wide variety of specters. Those in the Old Keep, particularly around
Meda's Night, are said to hear the crying of the ghosts of the Braeleas, while the ghosts of prisoners in Northern Apartments are much angrier, rattling chains and destroying furniture.
Prisons
There are also said to be a number of hidden prisons and secret rooms under and throughout Terracetop. The New Apartments in particular as supposed to be full of hidden passages, secret doors, and torture chambers for less welcome hostages. The Old Keep is said to have some secret rooms as well, mostly stemming from the legend that the last Braeleas hid their treasures somewhere in the building before being killed in the siege.
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