Blackstone Specifics

Blackstone Southside

• Blackstone and all of the buildings it protects are made of black marble and obsidian while newer buildings may be black basalt.
• The main West Gate Tower (F-2) faces north on West side of city with Gothtyrdan to the west. The gates and towers are heavily fortified.
• South and then North again from main  gate is the main plaza (G,H-5,6) and Blackstone Keep. A large trebuchet often stands center of the plaza in front of the keep.
• Blackstone Palace (D'G-5'6) is where the king, his family and Honor Guard reside when staying in Blackstone.  Its central tower is ten stories high with a huge dungeon below and a Titanic obelisk joined to its central Northwing Tower with added levels. The palace East and West wings are six stories high each joined by a southern high tower with smaller central towers jutting from their roofs.
• The Dungeon beneath Blackstone is a huge underground structure of solid stone filled with many cells and chambers of many sizes, the entrance to this area is well hidden and has a substantial Guard Room guarding it's egress at the back of the palace. (,D-6 and see Blackstone Palace Map below)
• Stone homes and keeps are scattered throughout the city and east from palace and below it to the south is the Lake District , (H'J-1'10) where all of the commanding officers of Blackstone are housed in fine homes and towers around a small, pristine, quarry lake.
• The large tower on the northeast corner of the Lake District is the Command Tower (G-7), where from the windows and turret the lands to the east are watched and within war plans are laid.
• The Guard Tower north of the Command Tower (F,G-7) above the Lake District houses the guards of Blackstone. The tower connects to the Command Tower by a land bridge.
• The Tiered Building between the command Tower of South Eastern Watch Tower is a School for the Arts (G,H-8'9) and houses Blackstone's mages who are also the instructors in arcane and elemental disciplines.
• The huge southeastern tower is the Southeast Watch Tower (G''I-10) and houses the Blackstone Garrison and it's elite rangers.
• The Tower to the southwest is the Southwest Watch Tower and houses the Nine Cups Wardens (I'K-1).
• Surrounding the Black Plaza is a market place (G-5,6).
• On either side of the palace are fine apartments called Black Square East (D,E-7,8) and West (D,E-2'4).
• The City Stables are beside the East Wing of the Palace near the plaza and gate pad (F-7).
• Horses are also kept and grazed at the Dragon Den Inn and Pub (H-2) in the southwestern corner of Southwatch (G'K-1'3) near the Lake District and Southwest Watch. 
• The high tower west of the palace obelisk is where Blackstone's mages and scientists conduct thaumaturgical and scientific research.  (B'D-4)
• The huge keep north of the palace and behind it is Highspire Keep (A'C-5'7), home to captain Artorius of the King's Honor Guard and Commander of the Dragonguard, and his family Ris, Belial and their many children.
• Through the West gate is Twin Tower (F,G-3,4), a large walled in manor where the king's most honored of all guests reside in when staying in Blackstone.
• Housed within the large northeast Dragon Keep (C,D-8'10) are the realm's most honored dragon warriors (riders and those with dragon forms), their armory, and mounts. The halls and chambers of this keep span ten levels. The rooves and ramparts of this hold are spacious enough to accomodate a number of dragons (anywhere from 4-20 depending on their size). There are two trebuchets on the turret's east and west walls.
• The towering North Spires are huge towers of obsidian in crystal form and house the Blackstone Knights (west, A'C-5), their squires and servants, and the Blackstone Cabal battlemages (east, A'C-6,7).

Blackstone Northside

• North Beyond the Palace and the back of Highspire Keep is the Falls District, where waterfalls tumble down the walls of manor houses to fill reflecting pools and small lakes. There are several lakeside Manor houses in this district which welcome the country's most honored residents. The Falls District takes up the entire northern side of the city and is where the majority of the city's civilians live.
• The City Watch occupies the three towers in this district to watch over its residents. The most impressive of these towers is the Obsidian Eye Obelisk where a third of the City Watch and their commander is housed and works (D,E-2).
• Another tower is Cascades Tower where another third of the watch resides and works (D-6).
• The last tower is Garden Park Tower and is attached to a manor surrounded by trees with a garden and pool and is where the Watch Officers other than the commander live and work (D,E-8,9). 
• The public is welcome to explore Garden Park (E'H-8,9) which takes up roughly one quarter of the city's Northside. It spans two tiers on the northern westside of the citadel.
• Grassy Path (G-7) leads from Garden Park's upper tier to its lower tier.
• The City Watch also patrols the roads on the city walls around the city while the city guards patrol the inner city roads.

Blackstone Keep

Keep 1st Story:

All of the rooms on the first floor are immense, each guest suite large enough to accommodate five or six people or for a single person to really sprawl.  Sarku wanted the palace first floor to feel open and spacious, freeing, powerful and safe, and accomplished that vision well.

Artorius: "Liberating? These halls just feel too damn big. I do love all the space though."

Accessible to Public:

• From the palace lobby is a large set of double doors that opens into a spacious reception hall..
• From the reception hall another large arching doorway opens into the immense throne room. Those wishing to address the king or his representatives enter from the forward to form a line to a well marked stopping point before the throne.  If it gets crowded the line moves over to the right side of room and a new line is formed to the left.

Limited Access: (Areas accessible only to the royal family, special guests and trusted officers.)

• From an anti chamber hidden behind the throne's dias is a warded gate exit into the northwest war or ready room, and to the northeast the hall of ceremonies. Each of these areas also has a well provided private room called the Sundry Quarters used for whatever purposes the king or his royal officers see fit, be it interrogation, a rest area, housing a protected guest, or for temporary holding.
• Locked and warded doors also lead into the northeast and northwest areas from the throne room. Only the royal family, permitted guests and trusted officers can utilize the gate and doorways which access these parts of the palace.  The gate will also deliver people to called destinations such as the two highest floors of the Central Tower reserved for royalty alone if permitted.
• The East Wing Corridor off the Lobby leads to a stairwell to the north that accesses the upper stories and to the south of stairs a rest area and bathhouse. 
• Continuing South a large set of double doors opens into the enormous banquet hall.
• The kitchens are off the banquet hall.
• The Tower at the very end of the East Wing Corridor is the residence of the Duke, Niall Nystori.  Niall's residence in Gothtyrdan is also in a southeast tower.
• The West Wing Corridor off lobby leads to another stairway, another bath house, a huge training hall, and to the locked, well guarded and warded south west tower armory.
• The Northwing War or Ready Room is used by the king and his officers. There is a War Suite off the read room for those who need to rest and relax or for wounded officers on the mend.
• The immense east Hall of Ceremonies is an event hall used for various public functions, balls, and festivities when opened to the public. It is occasionally used in as needed for an emergency shelter.
•   Unless the palace is locked down during attacks on the palace, people are free to preamble the halls open to the public at will, albeit special passes in the form of a badge must be shown to receive meals in the banquet hall.
• The forward area which funnels in people bringing concerns before the throne in extremely well guarded as is the king who always has his valiant, loyal and exceptionally skilled honor guard at his back whether seen or unseen.

Keep 2nd Story; rooms and suites for honored guests. Each room and suite is painted wall to ceiling with scenic murals by the queen and has a bath chamber with hot running water, the baths naturally shaped of solid stone. Accessible only to those given keys to a room or suite.
☆ the Oasis Suite,
☆ the Savannah room,
☆ the Coastal Suite,
☆ the Polar Room,
☆ the Island Suite,
☆ the Forest Room,
☆ the Canyon Suite,
☆ the Lake Room,
☆ the Mountain Suite.
☆ the Jungle Suite.
Each room features animals and various landmarks from those environments.  Queen Desiree put a lot of her love for nature and Morashtar into her beautifully styled and cleverly laid out murals in the Honored Guests quarters. One felt as though entering an ephemeral landscape of those environments she depicted.

These quarters on the second story are reserved for special guests and some permanent residents. 

There are many many other rooms on the palace second story as well, for guests, storage and otherwise.

Keep 3rd Story: The West Wing area above the public training hall, is a private training hall with an armory attached used by resident officers of the palace. The east wing houses palace guards and the west above the war room houses those officers or warriors that live in the city whom the king wants close at hand.

Keep 4th Story: The central area is a hub for the servants with a kitchen, dining and a gathering hall for off duty servants.

The east wing houses menial servants while the west is where the noble and royal servants reside.

Keep 5th Story: Various rooms used for guests, storage, bath houses for the servants, and several libraries

Keep 6th Story: Royal Academy of Education. West wing is a school for older children. East wing is a school for younger children and the north wing is for higher learning students. Any gifted supernatural child can apply to this school.. This is a private academy.

Keep Central 7th-8th Story: Royal University of Blackstone.  Any graduate of the royal academy can apply to this university. This is a private university.

Keep Central 9th Story: West wing is the queen's art studio. East wing is reserved for children, relatives and close friends of the king and queen.

Keep Central 10th Story: West wing is the king and queen's suite, called the Nocturnal suite. 

The East wing is where the royal library and hall of the arcane are kept kept secure and where a comfortably situated, private meeting hall is found.

The east and west wing stairwells continues its ascent up to the subtly convex, solid stone, open rooftop. Large enough for a dozen standard dragon mounts, or half a dozen large dragons or one great dragon to land on.

The king and queen's Nocturnal suite is built like some great Roman hall fit for an emperor, the architecture Sarku's way of honoring the king's proud Roman heritage. The entire suite is painted like a forest at night with star lit night skies, while in the sitting room is a swirling cloud in the sky above, surrounded by stars on the ceiling, three winged vampires swooping out of the clouds, one of them resembling Seth. Wolves, thorn and shadow dragons, and wild cats peer out from the forest trees with other nocturnal animals throughout, while night wings flit here and there between the clearings and the trees' canopy leaning over the edges of the ceilings. Their bed was in front a pair of ancient, vine twisted trees that framed the bed's frame and canopy. 

The Towers