Historical Overview
Construction
The neighborhood of the Aure Halls, and the surrounding Inkstain Hook, were constructed according to the plans of House Semillon. In no way the natural development of the area, rather they replaced a vast swath of farms, vineyards, and village housing. This was part of a larger Semillon attempt at city planning, which would see the Grant turned into blocks of townhouses and manors, and the Maven Bridge slice through the heart of the city.
"The messenger told me much of the city's lower districts were damaged greatly in the siege, and I pray for those who remained loyal to our houses, and will surely now be deprived of their own by a new regime." - Guy d'Aimonne, Chronicles of Guy d'Aimonne
The logic behind this planning was to strip Surlee of its rural, rustic Vinelands and
House Braelea feel, and bring the style of the city closer to that of the
Coquet Heights, thus elevating House Semillon in the eyes of the urban nobles. The Semillon plan to enhance their legitimacy started with the
Bank of Anhara, for whom the Aure Halls were constructed.
Out of the Halls and the Hook, the Aure Halls were constructed first, then the Inkstain Hook. Walled off from the Aure Halls by natural means, mostly trees but also the backs of buildings, the Hook is meant to funnel its residents into the Halls and home again. The structures of the Hook are almost wholly residential, and built in a nearly identical fashion, wrapping around the entirety of the Halls neighborhood.
"They have been busy at work clearing out a swathe in the west of the city, developing an ant colony of bankers and clerks, all scuttling about shaving coins for their lofty lord." - Letter from Lord Thewisy home to his wife, on a trip to the New Wine Festival
Those living in the Hooks are fed into the Halls through narrow lanes, leading into the main square of the neighborhood, and occasionally directly into buildings. Designed to keep those that staff the businesses of the Halls out of sight, and efficiently delivered to their place of employ. The Hooks play host to almost exclusively a professional class directly employed in the Halls.
The Halls proper are a structure in the center of the eponymous neighborhood, surrounded by less illustrious buildings which serve similar functions. The Aure Halls neighborhood sits atop what used to be a prominent spring-fed lake for the former homesteads west of the city. Constructed atop this lake, now a greatly reduced water feature, are the Halls proper, the headquarters of the Bank of Anhara. Dotted around this are the numerous businesses one would expect to find near the most prominent bank in the nation, as well as those more unique to Surlee, such as the
Blossom Fields Bottlers.
"I was secreted away from official affairs to meet with our friends from the smugglers I need not name to you, and deliver encouragement to them, as we have few other supporters amongst the glitz of the Aure Halls." - Letter from Lord Thewisy home to his wife, on a trip to the New Wine Festival
Surrounding the Halls are two crescents of blocks in the white-walled, faux bluestone-capped, style endemic to Surlee. Here is hosted the periphery of the banking industry, speculators, exporters, guilds, and all those in-between. Most prominent amongst them is the Blossom Fields Bottlers, the official, and only legal, exporter of wine from the Blossom Fields region. Besides businesses, men are to be purchased here as well, as the Aure Halls are the premier source for mercenaries east of
Etan's Stream.
Architecture
The Aure Halls are located within a ring of peripheral structures, which house businesses neither profitable nor illustrious enough for the status symbol of residency in the Halls proper. The Halls themselves are constructed in a mix of the Vinelands and Coquet Heights styles, one of the few structures constructed by House Semillon which did not fully ignore their own local architectural traditions. It features the faux-
bluestone roofing so common in Heights-imitation architecture, as well as white marble imported from the Heights. However, this is supplemented by a mix of yellow-white local sandstone, like at Terracetop, with veins of gold running through them, giving the name to the structure, "aure" being gold in
New Anharan.
The structure of the Halls themselves are four buildings, constructed in pairs. The northern two are mirrors of each other, broken down into six sections. Two are along the outer wall, featuring balconies and views of the Hillkeep Gate. The other four are interior units, opening onto the central courtyard, with first floor water features fed by the Halls' springs. The lower two buildings are also mirrors of each other, but forming a U-shape around a central courtyard, and are the more valuable spaces. Here are the offices of the
Free Company,
Blossom Fields Bottlers, and most importantly, the
Bank of Anhara.
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