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[forgotteneilionora]

OOC | The Citadel Ideas

ok so ive been daydreaming abt the land of stafford a good bit! and i have some thoughts id like to share!!

so, if we're using mont saint michel and/or st michael's mount (two diff but v similar places) as our inspo, i had some notions!! first, i think @thelongforgottenrealm had mentioned asp that stafford was located at the southeastern end of the country? or was that just in my imagination? anyway hahaha either way, if it is indeed on really ~any coastline a la the above references, perhaps it is also located on a tidal island where the tides make it sometimes accessible from the mainland, and sometimes not??? so its pr self-sufficient, and a bit of a feat to conquer bc a large vessel can't really besiege it bc its too narrow but at the same time a land army will literally be swept away in only a few hours' time etc?

regardless of the above, tho, im thinking it probs does more or less have the conical shape of mont saint michel/st michael's mount, but probs higher a la mont st michel? in fact, w the exception of the literal mountains of lorcan and kil-kennar, im thinking -- given the celestial ties of house stafford -- that the castle at the top is probs the tallest altitude in astaira? and certainly the tallest manmade structure in and of itself??

also that, when the sea washes in at night, that its super clear both re: the sea and the sky, and the water reflects back the stars so that you feel like, above and below, you're awash in an ocean of starlight???? and in the mornings a deep fog often swallows it up reflecting back the colors of dawn and basically its that ancient city-in-the-clouds motif, so you almost always feel like youre in the sky when you're at stafford???? and that its got this aurora borealis action too and just <33333 magical ~amongst the stars~ vibes <333333

also thinking abt how we said that the stafford swords might be meteor blades as well as the legend of how mont st michel was founded, and maybe, according to legend, the ancient ancestors of house stafford took a page out of the three wise men's book and followed three shooting stars to the spot. where they landed, they founded their citadel and turned the remnants of the three glittering stars, fallen to earth, to the three celestial blades famous of their house!

im thinking too that -- inspired by mont st michel and its historical building/collapse/rebuilding thing, that perhaps, at the pinnacle lies the ruins of the og keep, its great domed vault collapsed so that its now open to the stars and lowkey a kinda observatory kinda thing now???

also!!!!! im not done!!!!1 ;DDDDD what if, this being astaira, theyve got a hanging gardens of babylon kinda thing going, given the potentially? conical shape etc, where the whole place is a green garden, overflowing from one terrace to the next, where flowering trees and shrubs and even lakes and creeks (inspired too by eze) flow and just!!!!!! v idyllic (at least pr!roderick who knows now alksjdfkljdf)

finally, idk how up you guys are on the full history of mont saint michel, its various parts in wars w the english, its supposedly haunted situation, the angel supposedly having appointed its creation, its falling and rebuilding again and again in the early middle ages, the fact that it repelled one of the greatest generals to ever live, henry v, and stood proud and impregnable for centuries, its status as a center of pilgrimage and a sea port supposedly protected by st michael himself, its involvement in the theft of relics and reliquaries, its status as one of the worst jails in france after the hunted monks were expelled and it had fallen almost to ruin via the revolution its rebuilding, and so many other bits and piecees, but i thought we might also take some inspo from that esp re: roderick, too!

anyway some pics etc of st michael's mount and eze since ive got specific points abt them and they're more obscure than the hanging gardens/mont saint michel etc so i wasn't sure if i was making my point so well hahaha! anyway you can find them below the cut bc yeah idk if i described any of these things well at all!

EZE

so you guys may know all abt eze idk, but id never heard of eze before i went there. its on the french riviera, near monaco, and its a JAW DROPPER!!! its this medieval town w tiny, winding streets but it in no way feels oppressive bc every turn reveals a new tree and a constellation of bright flowers, and vines cheerfully winding all along the walls! and the ocean below is a shade of electric blue so brilliant it reminded me of our lizzy's eyes <3 terraced gardens are everywhere, and just when you think the dazzling sun is getting too bright you emerge into a covered alcove w a babbling fountain or lil flowing stream to delight and cool you, once supplying fresh drinking water to the citizens in the middle ages. cobbled stone paths form pretty walkways in patterns that ofen suggest -- i kid you not -- stars <3 the further you go, the higher you get but its all so gradual its not troubling at all and tbh you don't even realize how high you've climbed until you come upon a window (almost all the doors and windows are flung open so that inside and out are only concepts w everything open and breezy) and you find yourself at a jaw-dropping height from which you feel you can overlook the world entire, but even to someone like me -- terrified of heights -- there's no fear bc the mount holds you in a warm embrace and you do not fear falling

none of these pictures do it even a touch of justice but they might help give a sense of what i mean (couldn't find pictures of the sights from the tallest towers or of the streams and fountains and mosaics tho!)

ST MICHAELS MOUNT

so i only realized that st michaels mount and mont saint michel were different places a couple years ago ngl lakjsdfkjldsf and i haven't been here so ill just present pics! but its got a port to one side bc the water's so deep there but part is so shallow you can walk across at low tide bu inaccessible at high tide! its got this ring of terraced gardens, its oldest parts are built almost like an organic structure, growing out of the rock, and the waters reflect back the sky when they're calm