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Tucked away from mortal scrutiny just beyond the Mists from Blackstone University, the chief freehold of the county is charming in its modesty. Beyond a lush, walled rose garden rise the brick and half-timber wings of the freehold, sheltering in the corner where they meet a slender tower of pale, gleaming ivory capped by a conical red tile roof. Aside from the gardens and a state reception chamber called the Blue Room, the caer is strictly private. Only upon the rarest of circumstances is a formal court convened within its throne-hall, built into the lower storeys of the ivory tower.
Those who receive the infrequent invitation from the countess to attend find themselves in a many-sided chamber richly panelled in dark, polished oak. At one end stands a raised dais rather like a stage beneath a carved and gilded baldachin, or canopy of state, upheld by spiralling pillars. The wall behind supports a small balcony from which hangs the countess' pennon marking the freehold as her personal domain. Above the canopy is a small dormer or garret fancifully timbered around a window with lattice panes, some of colored glass, others plain. The dais projects into the middle of the open floor, surrounded on seven sides by two tiers of stiff settles like the choir stalls of an old-fashioned church. The second tier of seats occupy a narrow gallery above the lower tier, but still affords a clear view of the dais where the countess sits in state amidst her entourage. The stalls around seat her council lords and honored guests. The room is sufficiently small and the acoustics adequate to allow a speaker at any place within to be heard from nearly any other. In all, this small but formidable chamber resembles nothing so much as a theater of the Tudor period built to a smaller scale. Rather than being open to the sky, the chamber is enclosed above, the sturdy rafters supporting a grand chandelier which illumines the entire room with the warm glow of the freehold's balefire. A goosedown bed is hidden within the dormer above the dais stage to allow a single kithain to sleep by the light of the balefire. Those attempting to sleep elsewhere in this chamber find their rest broken by the creak and groan of the wooden galleries and stage throughout the night, and can gain no Glamour here. As a rule, this chamber is used only for the most formal of occasions, such as the exchange of oaths of fealty and noblesse oblige. Otherwise its doors are sealed by Weaver Ward set by the Duchess of Rhododendrons herself to protect the small Balefire from Reaving. Other guardians are reputed to exist, but as no one has ever presumed to steal the Glamour of the freehold by such means, their existence remains a matter of speculation. In actuality, the krofted hamadryads which inhabit the carven pillars supporting the dais canopy are more than capable of fulfilling their guardianship with calm efficiency. |
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| The hall at Caer Ondomorna is not supported by its own chatroom. Scenes set here may be played in the Dreaming Chat instead. Read about the Rose Garden, the Blue Room or Blackstone University, or return to the Freehold Page or the County Information Page |