The Fool on the Hill: Documenting a fictitious building

Yesterday, I posted to Mastodon in response to the question 'Do you write or imagine a backstory for your secondary characters?' that 'I spent 2,000 words last night writing detailed backstory of a significant BUILDING that I also have sketch plans of (which is also something I usually do – you cannot consistently write about a building without knowing where everything is'.

I thought it would be interesting to post that documentation as a blog post.

The Residence

The residence is a castle in the medieval sense on a broadly rectilinear plan, built of semi-metamorphic limestone — not quite marble, and grey rather than white, but quite hard.

History

At the date the story begins, the residence comprises:

The Keep

The keep is a rectangular stone tower, having an entrance from the inner ward by an angled stair to the first floor, and two entrances from the wall walk of the inner ward on the second floor. The main stair, which is a spiral, is in the south east corner of the keep. There is no entrance on the ground floor.

The outer faces of the walls are vertical. The inner faces taper out slightly, so that the floor area of each successive floor is slightly larger than of the floor below. At ground floor level, the inner dimensions are eight manheights north to south by five manheights, six spans east to west. The walls are six spans thick at ground level, tapering to three spans at solar level.

Therefore, the outer dimensions are nine manheights, four spans north to south by seven manheights, two spans east to west. From ground level of the inner ward to the top of the crenelations, it is eight and a half manheights tall.

The floors are as follows:

The oubliette

Below the ground floor is the oubliette, which is a partly-natural cave. It is roughly circular in plan, about three manheights diameter; the floor is about knee deep in brackish water, as it is below the high tide level, and the rock is somewhat porous. The internal height of the oubliette is about three manheights.

Ground floor

The ground floor is level with the inner ward outside it, although there are no external doors or windows. It has four parallel barrel vaults each one manheight and two spans wide, running north-south, and divided into prison cells, storage rooms (including food storage) and the armoury. The treasury may also be here. There is a single cross vault running east-west across the centre of the floor, intersecting and linking the barrel vaults. The trap door leading to the oubliette is at the middle of this cross vault.

The centres of the barrel vaults are one manheight and two spans high. The floor is of flagstones. Access is by the main staircase in the south east corner.

First floor: the great hall and kitchens

The floor level of the first floor is one and a half manheights above the inner ward ground level. This level is also barrel vaulted, with a single central vault running north-south three manheights wide and two and a half manheights tall, and a side gallery on either side separated from the main vault by an arcade of pillars two spans in diameter. The side galleries are each one and a half manheights wide by one and a half manheights tall. The floor is flagstone, except for the dais which is timber.

There are unglazed slit windows in the north and east walls (i.e. into the inner ward); these may be closed with internal hinged wooden shutters.

The great hall occupies the northern three quarters of the floor; a door from the east side gallery opens onto the stair; a door from the west side gallery opens into the kitchen, which occupies the remainder of the floor. Junior servants sleep in the kitchen.

The main entrance to the the keep enters through a short passage with a portcullis into the west side gallery of the great hall.

There is a raised dais at the south end of the central vault great hall on which the throne is placed, and it is wide enough to hold the high table at feasts. The dais is two spans high.

Second floor: offices

The second floor contains the chancery, the counting house, the garrison commander's quarters, and senior servants' (treasurer, chancellor, steward's) quarters. Floor level is four manheights, two spans above the inner ward. Partitions on this floor are mainly of lath and plaster on studs; the exception being a stone wall running directly under the wall on the floor above which separates the women's quarters from the men's. This wall runs parallel to the west wall, but two manheights east of it, and is two spans thick.

The floor is flagstone; Ceilings are one manheight two spans high, and are lath and plaster.

There are slit windows in all four walls. These are unglazed but may be closed with hinged wooden shutters from the inside.

Entrances from the inner ward wall walk are in the east wall just north from the stair well, and in north wall at the north west corner of the floor.

Third floor: family

The family floor is divided into two parts, the men's quarters and the women's quarters. The division is a stone wall, two spans thick, running parallel to the west wall but two manheights east of it. There are slit windows in all walls, and each chamber has at least one slit window; these may be closed by hinged wooden shutters on the inside. Floor level is five manheights, six spans above ground level in the inner ward.

Men's quarters

The men's quarters contains a corridor, five spans wide, running the length of the east wall with a latrine at the north end and the stair at the south end.

The remainder of the men's quarters is two and a half manheights wide, separated from the corridor by a stud wall clad with lath and plaster.

At the south end it the Tyrranos' bedchamber. This is a large chamber two manheights, four spans wide and five manheights long containing, principally, a bed and a bath, and storage for clothes and other personal items. There is a bell-pull in the Tyrranos' bedroom which, when pulled, rings a bell in the kitchen. The windows in the Tyrranos bedchamber are glazed with glass from the Great Place, which is transparent but not very flat. All other windows on this floor are unglazed.

North of the Tyrranos bedchamber is a cross corridor, five spans wide. At the end of the cross corridor is a hatch in the women's quarters wall through which food, jugs of water, laundry, latrine pails, and other supplies may be passed, but which is too small for even a small adult to squeeze through. There is a bell pull by the hatch in the cross corridor which, when pulled, rings a bell in the women's quarters corridor.

North of the cross corridor is the "sons' chamber," which at the start of this story is largely unused as Selachen does not normally live in the residence but instead in his townhouse or on his estate.

Women's quarters

The women's quarters may be entered only by a door from the Tyrranos' bed chamber which may be locked from the east side. The eastern four spans of the women's quarters form a narrow corridor, separated from the rest by a stud wall clad with lath and plaster. At the south end of the corridor is an internal stair; at the north end, a latrine. There is a bell-pull by the internal stair which, when pulled, rings a bell in the kitchen.

The remainder of the women's quarters comprises eight chambers each one and a half manheights by one manheight. All have doors onto the corridor that lock from the corridor side. Selchae's and Tanzathael's chambers are distinguished from the others only in that they have slightly better furnishings, and do not have bunk beds (some of the less favoured bed slaves are housed two to a chamber for want of space.)

The floor of the family floor is of timber, carpeted in the Tyrranos' bedchamber. The ceiling, which is one manheight two spans high, is of lath and plaster.

Fourth floor: solar

The uppermost internal floor is of timber. Its ceiling is one manheight, two spans above the floor and is of lath and plaster. The internal stair continues upwards through this floor to the roof. Floor level is seven manheights, two spans above ground level in the inner ward.

On the north side of the fourth floor there is a pigeon cote, about one manheight wide and separated from the rest of the floor by a stud wall clad in lath and plaster, which is internally divided into a very narrow corridor and a number of pigeon cages, containing roosts and nesting boxes. This is used both for messenger pigeons and for pigeons kept for food. The messenger pigeons are caged separately from the culinary pigeons. Those pigeons which have been brought from places to which messages may need to be sent are (obviously) not allowed to fly out of the building until they are needed, so they have the largest enclosure, which has barred windows to prevent them escaping.

Pigeons waiting to be sent to places from which messages may be expected, and culinary pigeons, are kept in enclosures from which they may freely fly. A clerk of the chancery tends the pigeons and is (in normal times) alert for incoming messages.

On the west side of the floor, the women's quarters wall continues upwards, and there are no doors or other apertures in it. West of this wall is the women's day room, a single open chamber two manheights by eight. This chamber has windows which are larger than those on the floors below, but which are barred to prevent suicides. They are unglazed, but may be shuttered from the inside with wooden shutters. The only access to this chamber is by the internal stair from the women's quarters corridor below.

The remainder of the floor is the solar, a single chamber with windows all along its south wall, each three spans wide and five spans tall with its sill five spans above floor level, and with many windows of this size in its east wall. The windows on the south wall have glazed opening casements, which may be shuttered from the inside with shutters which hinge downward because the windows are so close spaced in this wall that there would be no room for the shutter to fold sideways. The central windows are glazed with northern glass, which is much flatter and therefore less distorting (but more expensive) than Great Place glass. The east wall windows are unglazed, but may be shuttered by normal, sideways opening internal shutters.

The roof

The roof is leaded, with a breastwork continuing the wall upwards six spans above the edge of the roof and marble gargoyles in the shape of swimming seals to direct rainwater clear of the walls. The crenellations of the breastwork are of white marble.

There is a perimeter walk about half a manheight wide running inside the breastwork; this slopes outward only slightly — not enough to make walking uncomfortable. The centre of the roof forms a low pyramid. The perimeter walk is seven manheights, six spans above ground level in the inner ward. The total height to the top of the crenellations is eight manheights, four spans.

Over the head of the stair there is a small, roofed turret with a door, to allow access to the roof in wet weather without allowing two much water into the building.

The Inner Ward

The inner ward is a fortified courtyard surrounding the keep of the Residence on its north and east sides. There is a wall walk on the wall at a height of four manheights, two spans above ground level in the courtyard. A crenellated breastwork continues the wall upwards six spans above the wall walk. The internal area of the courtyard is twenty manheights east to west by thirty two north to south.

There is a stairway against the south wall of the ward, which allows access to the wall walk; the wall walk may also be accessed from the second floor of the keep.

A sluice in the south eastern corner of the ward allows latrine buckets to be discharged into the sea in time of siege; in peace time, latrine buckets are taken to the deep water quay each evening, for collection by the night soil barge.

There is a well in the north western corner of the ward, but the water from it is brackish; there is a cistern in the north eastern which collects rainwater from the barracks roof, and this is preferred when available. In extremis, water is brought in in barrels from the Land Street well.

There is only one entry into the courtyard, via a port one manheight two spans wide by one manheight two spans tall, in the western wall. This port is closed by two heavy wooden doors, which hinge inwards and are designed to be barred from the inside.

The barracks

A timber framed barracks building with a pantile roof occupies a three manheight wide strip along the east wall. This has a single shed roof with its highest point abutting the east wall two spans below the wall walk, and its lowest point being one manheight two spans above the courtyard floor. Dormer windows provide light into the upper floor; these can be closed with external shutters and are unglazed.

The barracks are designed to accommodate two companies each of eight squads each of eight men. It is divided into two near-identical parts, each sixteen man heights long, with the centre four manheights forming a kitchen on the ground floor and a communal mess hall on the first floor. On either side of this central block on both the ground and first floors are two squad dormitories, each three manheights north to south by two manheights three spans east to west.

There is a cantilevered veranda along the (west) front of the building, four spans deep.

The Outer Ward

The outer ward is a walled courtyard which surrounds the inner ward on its north and west sides. It has two principal gates, each two manheights wide by two high, at the western ends of its north and south walls, respectively. Each opens onto a fortified gatehouse, and is closed by two heavy wooden doors opening inwards, and a heavy iron portcullis lowered from above. The level of the ground in the ward is about four spans lower than the ground in the inner ward.

The northern gatehouse has a postern on its southern side. This postern has a heavy timber door which opens inward and can be barred from the inside. It opens into the space which is outside the portcullis when the portcullis is closed.

The wall has a wall walk which is three manheights, six spans above ground level in the ward, which makes it one manheight below the level of the inner ward wall walk. As with the inner ward, a crenellated breastwork continues the wall upwards six spans above the level of the wall walk.

Access to the wall walk is via stairs in the gatehouses, or via stairs in a tower at the north east corner. There is also a towed on the east side where the outer ward wall joins onto the inner ward wall, and there is access between the wall walks via a defended stair in this tower, but not access to ground level. There is no access from the outer ward wall walk into the keep.

The tower in the north east corner additionally has a postern which opens into the Granary Quarter. This postern has a heavy timber door which opens inward and can be barred from the inside, and additionally has its own heavy iron portcullis.

The internal area of the outer ward is twenty four manheights east to west, and forty eight north to south. That is to say, the inner ward occupies about half its total area.

There is a well at the east end of the ward, which accesses the same water source as the well in the inner ward and is similarly brackish.

The Stable

The outer ward contains a stable, as a single shed lean to against its south wall towards the eastern end. This is a timber framed building of similar construction to the barracks, and provides stabling for 32 horses with a hayloft over.

One consequence of documenting the interior of the Residence was that I realised I did not know what had happened to the senior civilian officers of the Tyrranos' administration — the treasurer, the chancellor, the steward — when the city was sacked. These people would be extremely useful to the invaders; were they killed? There was little actual fighting, so it's unlikely. Did they turn their coats? If not, were they tortured for information? I ought to know.

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