Palace Complex

The Palace Complex lies atop the tallest hill in the center of Haven. The guarded Palace Wall rings the entire area. The Terilee River flows through the complex.

In addition to the Royal Palace of Valdemar and the Palace gardens, the Complex also contains the four Collegia, the House of Healing attached to the Healers' Collegium, and Companion's Field.

Construction

The original palace was constructed shortly after the arrival of the Valdemar refugees from the Eastern Empire. It was begun by a Tayledras plant. An earth elemental joined the work, effortlessly building the curtain wall, bridges over the Terilee, etc.

At some point in the following centuries, a new palace was added. Heralds were housed in the "old palace", the one dating back to King Valdemar's day. By the time of Queen Elspeth the Peacemaker, it had gotten so crowded that the Herald-Mages were packed in four to a room, so a new wing was built. Three stories tall, each Herald-Mage had space for their own magic Work room, but the heavily shielded shared Work room remained in the old palace. A Salle was built a year later, allowing weapons work all year round, rather than trainees practicing in the hallways during bad weather. The salle was a boon, but the Heralds' Wing was less than half occupied in King Randale's reign. Vanyel modified the shared Work room, creating a focus stone and linking it to a mini-Heartstone located far beneath the palace.

Decades later, an ongoing increase of Chosen overwhelmed the one-on-one master-apprentice Herald training system. King Kiril decided to change to a system in which Herald-trainees would take classes in a central location before going on an Internship Circuit. He built the Heralds' Collegium, replaced the aging Bardic Collegium building, and added the first-ever construction for the Healers' Collegium.

Centuries later, after magic returned to Valdemar, a new Mages' Collegium was housed in the old barracks.

Buildings/Structures

The complex contains numerous buildings and other locations, including:

• Royal Palace of Valdemar
  • Heralds' Wing
• Bardic Collegium
• Healers' Collegium
  • House of Healing
• Heralds' Collegium
• Mages' Collegium
• Companion's Field
  • Sacred Grove
  • Former Temple of the Grove
  • Death Bell tower
• Royal Guard armory
• Guard archives
• Salle
• Stables

Stables

In Herald Mags' day, the stableyard served three stables with one open side. "The Companions’ Stable was to the left, with all of Companions’ Field behind it. In the middle was the stable for draft and hauling animals. Riding beasts were served in the stable to the right." The Companions' stable was altered after a foreign agent locked it from the outside, planning to set it on fire.