Visions of Empire
Name: The Palace of Izax
Image Source: Artstation, JeeHyung Lee
Classification: Royal Palace.
Location: Zakuul, The Royal District of the Spire.
Affiliation: [member="Kailari Selanno"]
Description: Despite being the secondary location of the Royal Family of Zakuul, the Palace of Izax is often considered even grander than the throne room containing the Eternal Throne. The Palace was completely torn down during the war of the Eternal Empire and the Alliance after a large portion of it was damaged during the assassination attempt on Empress Vaylin by the former Emperor Arcann and the Outlander.
After the previous building was destroyed, a new one was not constructed until long after the war had finished. Only in recent years had the Princess Kailara decided to rebuild the ancient building since her father, the Emperor, had closed the building off to everyone save his scions. Backed by the wealth of Valkori Technologies and assisted by their advanced machines the Palace became the centre for the new Royal District, built in the clouds to give it a heavenly appearance and separated from all other buildings making it only accessible by ship or speeder.
The inside of the building is decorated with royal blue banners and lining, surrounded many marble statues and walls trimmed with gold. This makes it the most popular destination for visitors who can only visit the main hall, who lavish in the luxury and beauty of the building. Statues line the halls, made by the finest artists of Zakuul at the most premium prices. Paintings from former dominions of the ancient empire that have great value are placed with care on the walls, and the blue banners of the hall hang from the tops of columns.
Points of Interest:
Royal Hall
Artstation, Segiu Ikarus
The Royal Hall of Zakuul are where members of the Royal Council come to meet and sort out the issues of Zakuul. Traditionally it is attended by and often led by the Emperor of Zakuul, though in the case of an Emperor's absence it is led by another member of the royal family. A long table surrounded by sixteen seats for the members of the council to sit on is located in the centre of the room, a holographic projector lies in both the chairs and the table for communications with absent members or other relevant individuals.
There are no walls in the Royal Hall, instead they are replaced with glass windows to allow the members of the council to view outside of the room but is mostly for the aesthetic pleasure of those that built it. Four orange banners of Zakuul hang from the ceiling of the building representing their loyalty, with the outer two being the one's replaced by whichever faction owns dominion of Zakuul. There is a turbolift that leads directly to beside the throne room of the palace.
The Seat of Izax
Artstation, Casper Wermuth
The Seat of Izax is named after the former God of Zakuul for a reason, to imply it's inferiority to the Eternal Throne of Valkorion. Still, the Seat is considered the centre of culture of the Royal District over its counterpart. Marble columns line the halls leading up towards the throne, with intricate details signifying the ancient Emperor's conquering of the Old Gods with the final defeat of Izax being detailed in the intricate throne.
Gold statues surround the throne which themselves detail each of the gods that were slain by Valkorion, themselves being the most valuable piece of art located on Zakuul. The Seat itself is massive, using the lights and windows in order to awe and inspire instead of intimidate guests. In the case that the Eternal Throne gets taken over, a set of procedures can be used to grant control to the Seat of Izax giving it only a minor amount of power to controlling the military power the planet has.
There is also a small compartment to the left of the throne, that has access to a turbolift. The turbolift has 3 destinations where it can stop, the first location is the Seat of Izax, another stop ends in the top of the Palace in the Royal Hall, and the final stop is to a hidden hangar containing an escape vessel in case of attack. The hangar lacks the beauty of the rest of the building due to it's focus on conventionality over the artistic beauty the rest of the palace has.
Garden of Scyva
Artstation, Magdalena Radziej
The Gardens are named for Izax's wife the Old Goddess of Sorrow. It is named for the dark lighting and moisture of the room that allows many of the beautiful plants that are traditionally located in the Endless Swamps to be properly maintained above the trees. It has many beautiful flowers and powerful medicinal plants that grow in dangerous areas and it is often walked by the Princess who considers it the most important room in the palace due to the beauty from it coming from the Endless Swamp, exemplifying the relationship between the Old World and the Spire.
History: The original Palace of Izax was constructed during the reign of the Eternal Emperor Valkorion as a symbol for his conquest of the Old Gods, but not long after his children took over his Empire during the war with the Alliance. The new building was constructed by Crown Princess [member="Kailari Selanno"] and her company, Valkori Technologies, as a pseudo-seat of power after her father essentially sealed himself inside of the Eternal Throne room. The building was carefully led by the princess to ensure the luxury and artistic beauty of the building to make it the centre of culture of Zakuul, diving deep into the pockets of both her company and her family.
Intent: Create a centre for any social action that happens in Zakuul and some flavour for the Planet.
Links: N/A
