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An Elven Embassy
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An Elven Embassy
#1An Elven Embassy "City" based upon Human Designs (for their human guests who can't handle HomeTrees and ambient magic). They made it fire proof to protect their forests and warm to keep humans alive. It is based on the Ahwahnee.
http://www.webportal.com/ahwahnee/ OR
http://images.google.com/images?q=ahwahnee&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images
This has been sitting in my mental to do list (and my public one) for many MONTHs. I just can't get a good handle on the description for the city image. I want the description to be worthy of the location. If you have not seen this place, you should.
1) The Elves have built nothing like it. They live as one with the forest. This unliving stone and dead wood contraption is alien to them.
2) The Elves fear fire, as it will destroy their forest; yet Humans can not live without it.
3) They need this place, but they ARE NOT going to just plop down a human structure. That would be ...ugly. It must appeal to Elventi sensibilities.
4) It has to be LARGE... a royal contingent is massive compared to Elventi numbers.
So I am going to bang away at this one in this thread until it is done, Kerren is done, or I am dead. .... and I am not sure which one of those will happen first. -
An Elven Embassy
#2Got into looking at those images, and it does look interesting. Just a few things:
Candles, oh, the candles look great and very fitting the place. With all the care about fire, how about magical ones? It would be a pain to replace them all the time anyway, and it also covers point 5:
5) It has to IMPRESS their visitors, as every good Embassy should.
As for the "large" requirement, how about taking some inspiration from the gigantic palaces of Chinese emperors? Not necessarily the decorations, and cut back on all those steps; but those were pretty large with vast open spaces, all wood and stone.
While built of dead wood, the wood could be still shaped by the builders into shapes unthinkable for those that use only ax and saw. So many pieces of furniture made of a single piece of wood, and wooden beams connected without any nails. (They don't use much metal, do they?)
Thinking of the Chinese reminded me of the Japanese, and their like for fish ponds. (They don't have many of those in their HomeTrees, I guess...)
So the builders mostly occupied high above ground have finally time to create a nice pond, and grow big fishes there, too.
(An additional thought would be to have a reservoire of water just-in-case a fire would start despite all the measures.)
Hmmm... seems all I am getting are Asian-themed images today. Pick what you like. -
An Elven Embassy
#3In the words of the Great Bard Taslinus Excellencus
. . . yet on entering The Embassy one is conscious of calm and complete beauty echoing the mood of majesty and peace that is the essential quality of The Valley and Greater Elventi Kingdom. . . . against a background of forest and precipice the architect has nestled the great structure of granite, scaling his design with sky and space and stone. To the interior all ornamentation has been confined, and therein lies a miracle of color and design. The Ancient Elventi motifs, primitive yet timeless, are supreme . . . . The designs are stylized with tasteful sophistication; decidedly Ancient Elventi, yet decidedly more than Elventi, they epitomize the involved and intricate symbolism of Man . . .
>
The Human and Elves had skirmished and warred for most of recent time. Two peoples with so much in common, yet alien enough that they could not find a common ground to build the lasting friendship that many on both sides desired. Such a common ground had to be built, lest the Races of Light fall to themselves rather than The Dark Ones.
Underwood should be the Designer/ Creator. Master Builder
Underwood was choosen to be the designer/ creator of the Embassy. He had spent time in Human Lands and had watched how they built their great buildings. While these permanent blots of stone and wood upon the landscape offend the Elventi, there was sometimes great esthetics in their work. That he tried to capture. In designing the building Underwood took great care in choosing the materials and the treatment of the materials. The stone, for instance, was weathered granite set in the wall with only the weathered face exposed. This treatment which appeared in the specifications for the Embassy would become the standard for rustic buildings where masonry was used in all the lands. The mystically shaped stone was designed to imitate wood in color, form, and texture. Underwood's blocky masses of the building that stepped up the structure to the penthouse gave the building a physical presence in architecture that was parallel to the presence of Great Stone Domes in nature. Underwood succeeded in his assignment of designing a building that fit with its magnificent setting.
The Embassy the east end of the Great Earth Water Valley. Sited in a meadow, the building's large scale is diminished by the awesome beauty of the sheer granite cliffs of the north valley wall above.
The building has an irregular, asymmetrical plan that is Y-shaped and contains 150,000 square feet. Primary building materials are rough-cut granite and enchanted stone. The uncoursed granite rubble masonry of the piers matches the color of the adjacent cliffs. What looks like wood siding and structural timbers between the piers is actually mystically shaped stones, shaped and colored to look like horizontal redwood siding and large rough milled timbers. The stain on the concrete, similar in color to pine bark and redwood lumber, reinforces that illusion that the stone is wood.
The building is massed into several enormous blocks with a six-story central block and wings of three stories. The multiple hip and gable roofs are finished with green slate and further break up the building's form, making it appear as rough and textured as the surrounding landscape. The building has balconies and terraces at several different levels that add a spatial interest not only to the exterior but also to the visitor experiencing the interior of the building.
The Embassy contains approximately ninety rooms for guests and staff, various public spaces and meeting rooms, an enormous dining room, and utility spaces. The principal entrance to the building is through a porte-cochere on the north side of the building. The log and wood entrance contains painted decorations in geometric patterns of the ancient Elventi, setting a tone for the interior. This entrance serves mainly as a utilitarian space to funnel people to the building's interior, and to the views of the grassy meadow to the south and the impressive vistas, seen from most of the rooms. The main entrance is more subdued than noteworthy; the most impressive views of the hotel are from the southern meadows.
The Embassy is lit by an odd mix of ElfLights, HearthStones, and candles. His humans are unable to manipulate Elflights and HearthStones, they tend to be only in open common areas. (The Elflight's warm glow is well complimented by the light of candles and fireplaces). In fact, personal rooms were originally heated by Hearthstones, but that policy changed. Humans were fearful of the items since they could not control them and they could be set to "broil" anything in the room (or turned off to freeze someone) by any Elf nearby. The Elves appologized and the rooms now have extra blankets, fireplaces, and warm air from the common rooms via nearly hidden vents. (Small Hearthstones are available from the staff for Elventi or magical guests).
The north wing of the Embassy contains the First Hall (i.e. Lobby), decorated with floor mosaics of Ancient Elven designs executed in brightly colored rubber tiles. The cornice is stenciled with Crol-Elventi-design paintings (geometric patterns reminicent of South West Indian patterns). The First Hall continues the Ancient Elventi designs with sawn-wood reliefs on the elevator doors and an abstract mural based on Crol-Elventi basket patterns over the fireplace in that room.
The Great Lounge's 24-foot-high ceiling has exposed girders and beams painted with bands of Ancient Elventi designs. The exposure of the ceiling's structure gives the spatial impression of a coffered ceiling. The enormous fireplaces at opposite ends of the Lounge are cut sandstone. The wrought-iron chandeliers and Imperial tapestries hanging on the walls, and the wood furnishings.
Other Imperial rugs, primarily replacements, are on the polished wooden floor of the Great Lounge. The floor-to-ceiling windows in the Great Lounge have 5x6-foot stained glass panels at the top, with handsome designs based on geometric patterns, but like many of the other interior elements done with a flatness similar to Art Deco architecture.
Directly off the Lounge are two grand rooms and the solarium that overlooks the southern meadow. The two rooms have murals that run the full length of one wall and depicts local flora and fauna in a style reminiscent of medieval tapestries.
The large dining room (6,630 square feet) has a gable-roofed ceiling 34 feet high at the ridge. The walls are massive granite piers interspersed with 11 floor-to-ceiling windows with the exception of the partition wall between the kitchen and dining room which has a six-foot wainscotting of wood panelling with plaster above. The sugar-pine roof trusses are supported by mystically shaped stone "logs" again painted in imitation of the real thing. Original wooden furniture and wrought-iron chandeliers (Human Gifts) remain in use.
Originally this was a "human space", a large hall with long tables and orderly chairs. While perfect for the Humans, the Elves felt out of place in this rigid orderly space. To make the Elves more comfortable, the Humans suggested they should make changes. So they did. There is actually a small stream with a tiny waterfall running through the room. There is a bridge over it near the middle of the room. There are dozens of extra "trees", mystically shapped stone "logs" supporting the roof now. They have additional greens added to them, making thems seem more natural. There are even three miniature trees planted in the room, as well as a few dozen ferns boxes, to add to the Elven feel. There are glass panes in the ceiling, allowing for more daylight. Now the smaller tables are nestled in made landscape. It is like you are outside or in a natural space. Yet it is still warm. (See http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/tourism/brookdal.shtml )
Also included within the boundaries of this domion are the meadow directly south of the Embassy, the stone gatehouse marking the entrance to the property, the coach house, horse enclosures, the small pond and walkways at the building's entrance, directly north of the porte-cochere.
It is based on the Ahwahnee.
http://www.webportal.com/ahwahnee/ OR http://images.google.com/images?q=ahwahnee&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images
Plotlines 1: Early Days: A problem pops up with someone being harmed by the heating system. Tjhe rooms are heated by Hearthstones. Humans were fearful of the items since they could not control them and they could be set to "broil" anything in the room (or turned off to freeze someone) by any Elf nearby. SOmeone may turn it off by accident or attempt mischief and turn it up. Freaking the humans out.
Plotline 2: Early Days - The Elves are uncomfortable in this huge rigid dinning hall that is comfortable for the humans. it gets to the point where dignitaries will not eat with Humans... creating a round of insults. Someone needs to find a solution.
Plotline 3: Elves sleep on "the ground" or a floor mat. People start gettin touchy about having the wrong kind of sleeping arrangements.
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More History is needed, explaining the origin
Lighting by Elfglobes of varying size. Heating in the rooms by Hearthstone.
Underwood should be the Designer/ Creator. Master Builder
Underwood was choosen to be the designer/ creator of the Embassy. He had spent time in Human Lands and had watched how they built their great buildings. While these permanent blots of stone and wood upon the landscape offend the Elventi, there was sometimes great esthetics in their work. That he tried to capture. In designing the building Underwood took great care in choosing the materials and the treatment of the materials. The stone, for instance, was weathered granite set in the wall with only the weathered face exposed. This treatment which appeared in the specifications for the Embassy would become the standard for rustic buildings where masonry was used in all the lands. The mystically shaped stone was designed to imitate wood in color, form, and texture. Underwood's blocky masses of the building that stepped up the structure to the penthouse gave the building a physical presence in architecture that was parallel to the presence of Great Stone Domes in nature. Underwood succeeded in his assignment of designing a building that fit with its magnificent setting.
the Great Bard Taslinus Excellencus
. . . yet on entering The Embassy one is conscious of calm and complete beauty echoing the mood of majesty and peace that is the essential quality of The Valley and Greater Elventi Kingdom. . . . against a background of forest and precipice the architect has nestled the great structure of granite, scaling his design with sky and space and stone. To the interior all ornamentation has been confined, and therein lies a miracle of color and design. The Ancient Elventi motifs, primitive yet timeless, are supreme . . . . The designs are stylized with tasteful sophistication; decidedly Ancient Elventi, yet decidedly more than Elventi, they epitomize the involved and intricate symbolism of primitive man . . .
http://www.taunton.com/store/pages/nmbh027_intro.asp
Beef up the mystically shaped concrete aspects...
http://www.lgc.org/ahwahnee/
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