[Syliras Location] Stormhold Castle

[Gossamer]

Description: To some Syliran Knights, Stormhold is the heart of the world. With is elegant watchtowers, each one dedicated to a different god or goddess, its uniquely rounded domes, and its enormous sprawling structure, Stormhold is the center of the Syliran Knighthood. The entirety of the castle is built around a single enormous tree that overlooks the Suvan Sea on a cliff high above. The Windoak, a fragment monster of the slain god Sylir, is the essence of the Syliran Knighthood and the reason the city of Syliras exists. In the dark years after the Valterrian, the Dyres family discovered the unusual tree and took in its teachings, taking courage and determination until they were able to gather a force worthy enough to protect what they had discovered and build a fortress around it. With the Windoak's help, the Dyres were able to found the Knighthood, and begin construction on the castle itself. Then, once Stormhold was built, a city grew up around it, supporting the castle and aiding the knights in their most noble purpose - to carve civilization or some semblance thereof - back out of the savage world around them. Due to the knights efforts, Syliras thrived. And from this one city, civilization stretched out across the region of Sylira - bringing order in an otherwise savage land. Stormhold Castle is enormous and has multiple layers. Unlike other castles just designed to house leadership or royal families, Stormhold was designed to house the entirety of Syliras in times of crisis - both weatherwise, magic wise, and from any number of the marauders that often threaten the city. Stormhold is divided into four tiers. The top tier - often referred to as the first tier - is the home of the Dyres family, important members of the Syliran Knighthood, and their entire families. Being the smallest tier, it is also the most well secured. The second tier, just below, is the tier that houses the government facilities, offices, and officials of Syliras. Just below that, on the third tier, some of the prominent families of the Syliran Knights and merchants of Syliras reside. The fourth tier, a vast warren of underground passages, is designed to house the Syliran Bazaar and the rest of the city in times of trouble. The fourth tier - or the underground as its called - is also where the city stores its hordes of foodstuffs.

[Syfec Morbus]

Timestamp: 5th Day of Fall

Syfec anxiously made his way up to the third tier of Stormhold Castle. To him, in was sort of a walk of shame. He had come to Syliras to become a mage, but since he had been here, he had spent half of his saving and hadn't earned a single Miza. Apparently there wasn't much of a market for a novice Fire Reimancer. Though, that was not Syfec's only skill. He was bred for politics and was quite good at it. One might say he even enjoyed it. Thus he came to Stormhold, seeking employment in a government positional. By the time he made it to his destination, he had already thought of the various something like this could help his magical ventures as well.

Once on the floor, he searched for someone to talk to. Grabbing the first person to walk by him's attention with a wave, he plead his case. "Hello, I'm here seeking employment. I'm quite qualified. If you could just point me in the direction of the person in charge of employment, it would be a great help."

[Gossamer]

Syfec

The passerby blinked in confusion. "Employment? What do you mean? The entire fourth tier and half of this one is filled with businesses, most of which are hiring. You just need to figure out where you want to work and in what sort of job and someone will help you find the right place. I mean, if you want a job sweeping and cleaning up, you need to see Sanitation. If your a smithy, your in the wrong place... you'll need to the Ironworks. If you ply your trade in ceramics, check one of the kilns. Jobs are everywhere!" He said enthusiastically. "Why you can even work in government if you talk to the Knights but you'll need to move up to the second tier, and they don't like non-knights working for them, so I suspect you might have to sign up for the knighthood to get the really good jobs." The ginger-headed man said, eyes sparkling. "Are you sure Jobin didn't set me up for a prank?" He asked, looking around as if seeking a prankster.

[Gortimir Strongfield]

The 46th day of Winter in the 509th year AV...
Within the 2nd Tier of Stormhold Castle...


The Isur was beginning to think this melting pot of a city would be much more beneficial to him than he could ever have imagined. Just yesterday he entered the unimpressive gates in search of something, anything, to guide him on his path. Gortimir's goals were not necessarily focused, but he hoped something would catch his eye. Unfortunately, none of the mundane buildings lining the city paths succeed in doing that for him but the temple he came across served quite nicely as a place to speak with Izurdin and be alone. Of course, the alone portion of that goal came naught, but the Isur realized he actually had that to thank for him being here. Here in this castle and the only structure he had come across since entering the city that remotely impressed him from an architectural point of view.

His current problem, however, was finding exactly where to go within these walls. People were moving everywhere and they all assumed theirs were the only priorities which mattered. This mindset would have bothered Gortimir if he was not as patient as Izurdin wished him to be, but instead of letting these fools get the best of him, the short man pushed ahead with a posture of purpose as he eventually found the correct tier he needed. Now he had to figure out if the actual office he needed would be here. If worst came to worst, he did suppose a final resort would be asking somebody...

Gortimir was searching for either a representative of the Knights or an office dealing with city or military building plans. Those people who so rudely spoke loudly within the temple mentioned the Knights were wanting help to design and build an outpost on the Kabrin Road. This was the direction Izurdin so graciously gave him and the Isur would find the right person to speak with this day regardless of what he had to do to find them. He had the patience and certainly had the time. This would be a productive day after all.

[Owen Westley]

32nd of Winter 509AV Midday

Owen was relieved when he finally made it to the castle. Although his plan was to head straight here, the little detours he took made his later than he wanted. So I got a little side tracked. I was hungry.Letting his thought pass, he understood that the second tier of the castle would be his main focus. It would be worth the effort to talk to someone. If he was dismissed, at least he tried. They'd be fools not to take you. He was beginning to believe his inner voice.

As he continued his walk, Owen knew the stares had begun. The young man had earlier debated whether a bath would serve him well. He chose not to. Only because I was too busy being a tourist. With great luck, he found what appeared to be the right office. Opening the door he stepped inside and immediately searched for someone. Luck once again was on his side.

"Greetings, I am Owen Westley. Although I know I am not much to look at in my current condition. I believe I would be a fine asset to the Syliran Knights." They might just consider me an pompous ass and set me out the door.

[Gossamer]

GortSorry! I let this one slip through. Please feel free to nudge in the DS Request thread at will!

It wasn't very hard to find an office. Stormhold's third tier was rife with Syliran Knights and their offices. All Gortimir had to really do was stop one of them and inquire. When he did, he was pointed to a small non-descriptive hallway that had doors off of it labeled with such things as 'blueprint storage' and 'materials acquisition'. At the end of the hall, a large office opened up that was titled 'Civil Engineering.' A young man, probably no older than eighteen and sporting a rather long braid in which his hair was captured in, was nodding to himself over a file. Glasses perched on the edge of his nose, and he looked a great deal like the Syliran Grandmaster. "Dexri Dyres. What can I help you with?" He said, looking up, squinting, and then offering Gortimir a smile. "We don't see too many Izur around here. Are you the metal contractor I've been waiting for?" The young man said, curious. It was becoming more and more evident that the boy was most likely on the intellectual side rather than the athletic side, though with humans sometimes such things went hand in hand.

"Or... you might be the one Glav said to keep an eye out for. He said if we did enough praying, the Gods would provide us a new structural engineer. We had a Balicani attack in broad daylight at a site down south which cut our staff in half. We managed to slay the creature, but our chief building designer didn't make it. He was the best of our best of the new generation. His father is still here, but he doesn't like leaving the cities these days pushing seventy. You Gortimir? Glav said, come to think of it, an Izur might do the trick." Balicani were vicious creatures, part snake and part bat with beautiful patterned wings, but they rarely bothered people and rarely in daylight. The site was probably too close to a nest.

[Gossamer]

OwenNudge me if I take too long replying to this thread. I often loose track of location threads so use the DS request and nudge after a few days.

One thing about Syliras was that it simply wasn't a city with a fortress, but rather it was a fortress city with a little spilling out between its arms where it gripped the sea and also the land. Sometimes it appeared that the towers were added as an afterthought to simply smooth over the harsh look of Stormhold that seemed (at least when someone pointed it out) to be a beast crouched on a cliff ready to fling itself over into the sea. And though it could not rival the sheer beauty of the pre-Valterrian architecture that remained, Stormhold had no equal in terms of its singular size. The castle itself was simply a city onto itself. It's four tiers had four very special purposes, and in times of trouble, the entire thing comfortably and easily housed the whole of the city PLUS any knights out in the countryside that would have to be recalled. Sure it had typical city streets and a docks area, but they were just added comforts given forth by people that had a need for tradition rather than practicality. For the knights, everything important was located in the castle, everything expendable outside. The animals in the stable and the farmer's market was the sole exception, except that Stormhold had a place for livestock and a massive storage of fodder as well. The Knights - the founders of Syliras - planned well.

Owen followed the directions that most likely one of the gate guards or knights found watching the streets gave him, and was sent to the second tier office of recruiting. Anna Linta, daughter of Sir Linta a stewart knight, was manning the desk that afternoon. She smiled at him with a bright pleasant burst of enthusiasm as she answered the door. Two men were in the room talking. One was decidedly retired or restricted to the recruiting office for a specific reason for he'd lost an arm. The other looked a great deal like Anna.

"Hello. I'm Anna Linta. This is Sir Alfred Linta and Kent Vaktru. It's nice to meet you Owen. Everyone goes through rough times... why do you think you'd make a good knight?" She asked, stepping back and allowing him through the doorway. It was obvious, once he entered the chamber, that it was more of a reception area for one of Stormhold's vast hallways that became an offshoot of the main commerce area.

[Gortimir Strongfield]

Requiring only the minimal number of interactions with those scrambling around this castle suited Gortimir quite nicely. One simple, polite question to one of these men, many of whom could learn a thing or two about taking their time in their daily routines, allowed the Isur to quickly find the office he was looking for. It was not difficult to know he was in the general area when the labels all coincided with processes and capabilities of the office which he was seeking.

Coming upon what seemed to be the main office of this civil engineering department, the short but muscular man was greeted by such a young man that Gortimir quickly glanced around to ensure he was the one in charge or just a secretary. The man, hardly earning such at a title considering his outwardly young age, introduced himself and was immediately caught up for a moment that an Isur was standing before him. Certainly the man had seen those of his race before as was evidenced by how quickly he identified the blue tinted figure before him, but Gortimir was confident that such occasions were rare in this city.

Having been mistaken for another man did not completely surprise Gortimir. This man certainly seemed to be caught up with several tasks he probably thought required his full attention simultaneously. The patience of Izurdin would serve him well the sooner in life he discovered it. However ignorant this man may be, the Isur put on his most politically sincere smile, which admittedly was practiced far too often, and replied, "I am not the metal contractor you speak of, Mr. Dyres, but rather I would assume by the gods will I am the latter fellow you were hoping for. My racial background has taught me much about creating and though my exact knowledge of structural engineering may be somewhat lagging behind that of your late expert, my passion to build and ability to help with your current situation is quite admirable." The fact was that Gortimir did not have much experience with this sort of thing at all, but he certainly felt up to the challenge.

The brief anecdote about the Balicani seemed more to Gortimir as an excuse for not completing the scheduled work. Certainly Mr. Dyres hoped it would pass as a great reason for those he answered to but to the Isur it was simply an event Izurdin had his hand in to give Gortimir this opportunity. The physical threat of these vicious creatures did not dissuade him from eagerly wanting to take on the challenge before him. Besides that, it was obviously the path Izurdin had laid out for him to traverse and who was he to refuse his wishes? Adding to the man before him, "You may be right- an Isur who is unafraid of the dangers in this particular job may be that answer to the prayers you've been saying. Of course I may need to be equipped to protect myself in case such an uprising occurs again, but such is a small addition to a contract we can hopefully agree on here. I know you probably want this problem out of your hair as soon as possible." The young, impatient Mr. Dyres would certainly want this task completed quickly so the loss of a supposed great engineer would be free of his mind and a successful status report could be sent up immediately following this meeting.

Gortimir maintained his outward smile but internally it grew wider with the hope his words would play right into the the mindset of the man before him. If it worked, he would soon have his first contract and he would certainly be afforded the best opportunity to hone his skills in design and construction. Izurdin was shining brightly upon him this day.

[Owen Westley]

"It is a pleasure to meet you all," Owen said as he passed through the door. Being polite was something that his parents grilled him about as a younger boy. They always said that it was much better to show pleasantries to people than rudeness. So far it got Owen in the building. He was hoping his stench was not too much for any of the three.

The young man considered the question posed by Anna. Why would he make a good knight? His mother, in all her motherly wisdom, had told him he was destined for greatness. Of course that was what all mothers told their children. He was a great observer. That was at least something his father taught him. But Owen felt it was more of a trait he passed down through his genes. He was decent with a bow. He could swing a sword. The only fault Owen found within himself was that occasionally he left his fists do the talking. But he was young and sometimes a tad bit dumb for letting his temper get the best of him.

"To be honest, ma'am," Owen humbly replied, "I think the discipline the knights go through is exactly what I need." He wanted to watch for a reaction, but continued. "I am just a kid. Granted I am eighteen, but a kid nonetheless. I believed that leaving my home and setting out on an adventure was what I needed. In a way I believed to be right. I just recently returned from a long voyage. It was not as my fantasy believed it to be." He hung his head.

"I am a fast learner. I can shoot a bow and swing a sword. I will do what you ask of me." For all of Owen's puffed up attitude walking in the door, he now felt very small. The three before him were living a life he could only dream of. They were the veterans. He only hoped to be accepted.

[Gossamer]

Gortimir

Apologies.I have an AS in charge of this subforum and he was supposed to move this thread on. I'll see too it personally though. He's probably gotten busy elsewhere.

Dexri nodded. "Well, its good you did indeed decide to drop by. We trust Glav around here and if hes sent you then you must indeed be the man for the job." Dexri said looking thoughtful. "Now, don't take this wrong, but I would like to hear about your credentials. Have you built anything around here I'd know about - any structures like full buildings or bridges?" He turned, moving across the office and retrieved a thick leather scroll case which housed blueprints he quickly liberated from the tube. While he was waiting for Gortimir's answer, the blueprints were laid out to display a structurally accurate drawing made of precisely measured and carefully inked in lines. It showed a two story outpost, completely walled, with offices below and barracks above. It was not a complex structure but it did require masonry skill and a knowledge of carpentry.

"This is what we normally use, though with the flying creatures in the area we might need some modifications. We'll need a stabling area as well, though one hasn't been included in the blueprints." Dexri's words were straightforward. In simply showing Gortimir the blueprint he was asking if Gortimir was capable of producing something like this, building it, and making it functional for the needs of the area. "It's just a simple outpost - a home away from home for the knights. We are slowly spreading them up and down the Kabrin Road, but it takes time and effort building them. If you do a good job on this one, odds are there will be more opportunities. But.. again, before we make any decisions... I need to know what you can handle." The youth said, leaning on the table.

"And, I need to know your price. Materials, labor force, and anything you might need to construct the outpost will be provided, but your salary is negotiable." He said with a smile which meant based on experience and what else he'd built.