Submission: The National Museum of Gremian Art

[VemuKhaham]

I've been keeping myself busy again, and came up with a place for our world: a museum. I hope people like it, but I'll explain why I think we need a place such as this: first, it allows for people to go for information about the world; second, it allows us as world-builders to create works of art to fill this museum with so as to let the stories we make up come alive; third, what better place to lift than a museum?? Especially with the guilds as we have them, focusing on retreiving interesting trinkets and the like.

---

National Museum of Gremian Art

Through the old city center of Port Rislan runs from north to south a broad and beautiful avenue, called the Royal Avenue. Of olden times, the King had expanded this road into a great avenue to drive around at times inside his royal carriage and with his grand entourage, such as on a bright day or on a national festival. On its northern end, there is the great Palace, home to the King of Port Rislan of Gremia. As one travels south over the road, passing many monumental statues and fountains, and rows of grand mansions and surrounding gardens of the wealthy and influential members of government on both sides of the avenue, one eventually reaches the end of the Royal Avenue, a vast square with in its center the ivory semblance of the founder of Port Rislan, the prophet Ris, standing proudly as he proclaims for the first time the New Creed, read from a scroll positioned next to him, inscribed with the words of the New Creed.

This square is called Ris’ Square. Roads lead from it from as much as seven directions, from southwest to all directions clockwise to the southeast. At its southernmost end though, there stands the National Museum of Gremian Art, which construction was ordered by Ris himself right after the founding of Port Rislan. He intended it to be the seat of the Rislan Government, and as a safe storage for the old scrolls concerning the New Creed. He never saw it completed though, as its construction took over thirty years, its progress having been delayed for nearly thirteen years because of insufficient resources.

The successor of Ris however did not like the style of Ris’ architect, and decided to build a new palace at the opposite end of the Royal Avenue, and he ordered the destruction of both the west and the east wing of Ris’ building to get by the necessary resources. The already nearly completed dome structure which was the center of Ris’ building was allowed to remain, and it became the keeping place for the scrolls of the New Creed. This way, part of Ris’ plans still were preserved.

In later days, when Port Rislan grew and prospered and so did the creative outlet of its citizens, the government decided the city needed a place to store and present its great nation’s greatest works of art. They wanted to make a place where artists would be proud to offer their work to be a part of it. What better place than the keeping place of the New Creed’s Holy Scriptures? No artist would refuse the honor of having his work occupy the same building as where the work of the Six Divine was stored.

So was made the National Museum of Gremian Art. Any type of art was welcome within its walls, from literature to sculpture, from visual art to heirlooms, like weaponry, of the Royal family. To house such a vast collection though, the building which consisted of only a single dome-sized structure needed to expand. The problem was that in its close proximity, there was no room to, unless Ris’ Square or one of the great mansions was to be sacrificed.

For a while, many architects discussed the possibilities. They came up with none. At this time though, from the mainland arrived a dwarven nobleman, named Scorfane, who at first planned to simply pass through for trade purposes. His reputation as a master engineer and architect preceded him though and immediately he was beseeched by the government to enter her service. After a vast sum was offered, Scorfane agreed and proceeded to become the envy of the entire Rislan team of engineers.

Scorfane purposed to expand the Museum underground, both for safety purposes and as a necessity. At first the jealous architects laughed at the idea, scorning the thought that Rislan’s National Museum would become a dwarven stronghold, dark and dank but filled with dusty treasures. Scorfane was given permission to carry out his plans though, and as such he dug beneath Ris’ Square a great labyrinth of halls and tunnels. Four great halls he excavated, to the northeast (The Hall of Visual Arts), northwest (The Hall of Sculptures), southeast (The Hall of Literature) and southwest (The Hall of Relics and Heirlooms) of the main dome building. Underneath the great Dome building itself, which became The Hall of the Creed, as its only function now was to store the holy Creed’s scriptures, he made a great spiral stairway, which circled down towards a central Hall (The Center Hall) which had great doors towards all four other Halls. In the dead center of the Center Hall, encircled by the spiral stairway, there stood a great statue also crafted by Scorfane, in his own likeness, though perhaps a bit idealized, reaching all the way to the ceiling of the underground Center Hall, with in his right hand held up in a great swing a hammer, and in his left a chisel, set upon a small featureless rock. It may be considered vain, but it was one of Scorfane’s many conditions for his great service, and Scorfane was not a modest man.

The Hall of the Creed
When one stands on Ris’ Square and looks straight south, through the hurrying-by of many pedestrians, carriages and mounted city guards in brightly colored outfits, one can see the tall stairs rising up to the great square-sized domed building’s gothic-shaped double doors of oaken wood in steel framework. The domed building, made for the most part of light marble and dark brick, giving the building two contrasting colors of light and dark, is approximately a hundred feet wide and long and seventy feet high to the ceiling, though the top of the dome reaches nearly a hundred and twenty feet. Two city guards at all times stand there on both sides of the door with their ceremonial lances and outfit. They allow entrance to all free of charge, though there is a dress-code saying that one has to be clothed and cleaned in a proper manner, and the guards are free to disallow anyone entrance based on that. This code often functions to keep out the beggars and socially deprived in a legal way. The doors are open from twelve to six o’clock, when the main bell inside the building’s dome sounds twelve times at opening and six times when the doors are closed for visitors, accompanied by a great orchestra of the many other smaller bells in the dome. These lesser bells only sound at these two hours of noon, upon which many of the city’s shop owners also open and close their establishments. At every other hour the main bell simply sounds the appropriate number of times according to the hour.

As said, the Hall of the Creed is a square-sized building, and at all four of its outer walls it is lined by many tall and narrow leaded windows that go up all the way from the floor for nearly thirty feet. However, for safety precautions, an iron framework has been placed in front of these windows, so that none may pass through there with ill intend like has happened all too many times in the past, before such drastic measures were taken. Above this line of high windows the walls rise for forty more feet, featuring niches which support interesting statues of important people. Then, there is a flat ceiling, but in its centre there is the great dome with many small open windows. There is a small door going into this dome from the ceiling, making it possible to operate the great clockworks that the dome contains. This door then leads into the dome-room with the bells. The dome-room has a wooden floor of its own, so the dome is not open to the main hall below. There is however a staircase that leads there.

When entering the building through the more common main doors, one immediately finds himself inside the Hall of the Creed. There is no vestibule, no hallway, because these were all removed by the king who needed the resources for the palace. It is truly an impressive sight, as the room is as large as the structure itself. Light comes in only dimly through the leaded windows, so most light comes from an innumerable amount of candles which exude a most majestic deep purple light, which fills the entire Hall. Nevertheless, the Hall is quite dark and shadowy. Guards line the walls and look to see if none disobey.

The tiled floor is even everywhere, except that against the three doorless walls there are stepped stages with three large stone scroll statues. The western scroll reads the Old Creed as it was known before the founding of Port Rislan, the eastern scroll reads the exact nature of the misinterpretations as they were identified by Ris, and the southern scroll reads the final product, the New Creed, or simply the Old Creed with the adaptations already incorporated.

Behind every such scroll there stand two figures which hold it up, and it is known by all men of the Isles that these six figures represent the Six Divine. There is one exception though: behind the eastern scroll stands the statue of Ris. He is not one of the Six Divine, but since Ibrahan is no longer worshipped, his statue was removed later in history, and replaced by Ris’ statue. Members of the Old Creed speak of blasphemy. This little history shows itself in the awkward position of the hand of Ris holding the scroll: the wrist is quite twisted. This hand actually was the hand of Ibrahan, though the artist of Ris’ statue was not quite able to make his statue so that the arms would naturally join Ibrahan’s hands, and no-one dared remove these hands in fear of damaging the intricate words written on the scroll.

Besides these three monumental statues, there are four massive pillars in the center of the hall supporting the immense building’s roof. In the northern corners of the hall, two small spiral stairways lead up thirty-five feet, upon which they reach a narrow balcony which looks upon the interior of the hall and leads past the outer walls. From this balcony, on its southern side at the centre, a stairway elevates further through the roof into the dome.

Despite its religious appearance, the Hall of the Creed is not used for official religious practices. There are no gatherings and preaches here, as the building is not a temple. Here though anyone has the opportunity to read up on his knowledge of the Creed and revel in the splendor of the Six (Five) Divine. As such, it is also a place of pilgrimage.

The Centre Hall
In the centre of the Hall of the Creed a spiral stairway leads down into the underground Center Hall. The stairway descends like a praying eagle into the hall along its walls, and while going down it encircles the huge statue of the laboring Scorfane. From the wall hang many candles, joining the stairway in its plunge into the underground hall. It is a round, relatively small hall, with a diameter no more than thirty feet. It is also a very dark Hall, purposefully so, so as to make a majestic and mysterious atmosphere. Scorfane’s penetrating stone eyes seem to observe anyone entering very closely.

Once below (after a descent of about fifty feet), four double doors, normally each guarded by one guard, peer into the room and at the great bare feet of Scorfane from all four directions. Above each is written on a golden board in a delicate handwriting the name of the hall.

The Hall of Visual Arts
To the northeast, the door leads into the Hall of Visual Arts. This square hall of nearly eighty by eighty feet and also fifty feet high houses Port Rislan’s finest paintings and other eye candy. Many of the great paintings are so large that within a short time the entire wall was covered, and architects decided that, instead of creating new walls and thus divide the hall into many rooms, it was better to also use the higher levels of the outer walls. As such, a wooden construction now stands against each of the outer walls, with stairs running up from left to right and back again along the walls, with scaffolds allowing for passage besides the paintings up to nearly fifty feet above the ground. Light comes from many candles and four great chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. The room is relatively well-lit as a result.

In the centre of the room, four great square columns hold aloft the ceiling. Nowadays, even the high walls of the Hall provide little left room for an expansion of the collection. As a solution, construction is currently in progress to build a staircase winding up against these pillars, to allow for the placement of yet more paintings. Some artists have expressed their disgust for this project, claiming that for a painter to allow his painting to be hung against a column instead of a wall is like affirming the work is simply redundant. They say they will not accept it and claim a further excavation and expansion of the Hall is the only way to recognize true art. A hundred years ago, this was also the case with the construction of the scaffolds against the outer walls though…

The Hall of Sculptures
To the northwest of the Center Hall is the Hall of Sculptures. It has the same dimensions as the Hall of Visual Arts and the other Halls. This room is quite a regular museum-type room. Statues line the walls often atop small stages or inside niches in the wall. Like in the Hall of Visual Arts the full height of the walls has been used, and scaffolds reach all the way up running past many niches filled with statues. Between these niches, candles burn. Upon entering the Hall, one may find himself overwhelmed by countless of stone or marble or bronze faces looking from all possible angles down upon him.

This feeling may well be greatly enforced by the colossal statue in the center of the room. Instead of the usual pillars, one great statue of an extremely muscled giant holds up the roof of this particular Hall with both his arms. The giant, naked, is a representation of a Giant god by the name of Rhromsden, of northern lands on the mainland, where Scorfane the dwarf originally hailed from. It is yet again a work of the great Scorfane himself.

The Hall of Literature
To the southeast is the Hall of Literature, also referred to as the National Library. Against all four walls, fifty feet high bookcases loom high over the Hall, without intervals. Ladders can be rolled along the wall over iron rails and as such each and every one of the thousands of books and parchments can be reached with only a bit of courage. In the centre of the room four columns stand, and crisscross between these stand many desks behind which anyone may sit down to study on nice and comfortable chairs. Candles rest on these desks, as well as ink and quills, provided and replenished by the state. Inside this Hall, utter silence is demanded, and the doors are, contrary to the doors into the other Halls, closed unless someone goes through. More guards patrol here than in most other Halls, if only to assure peace and the respectable use of the books. There is one section of books that is off-limit to most people though, containing the nations most valuable and original pieces of literature. These can only be looked into upon agreement with the librarian, who sits behind a desk as well. This person will then, most likely under many stern conditions if at all, allow someone to look into the book. Not a single book is allowed to be taken from the library though, and all users must report to the librarian when taking a book and when bringing it back. The librarian will require identification to register everything. Guards tend to be very strict in making sure no books leave the library. For instance, bags or such things must be left behind near the door, where the door guard maintains their safety.

The Hall of Relics and Heirlooms
To the southwest is probably the most famous of all halls. It houses less, but each part of the collection has at least some great renown among some people. Safety measures here are extraordinary. The Hall itself only houses the “lesser” treasures, while a vault excavated further to the south of the Hall safeguards the treasures that are simply too precious to allow them to be seen. Guards stand on the lookout, the locks are truly masterwork and not even magic is eschewed to safeguard the place. As a result, no-one has ever breached the vault, nor ever dared to try, but its existence and location are, curiously perhaps, known to all and hardly hidden. Perhaps that very fact makes burglars frighten away. Apparently the protection of the vault is so waterproof that hiding it is no longer necessary.

But in the Hall itself the treasures are to be seen, and they serve as a reminder of the past and present glory of the kingdom. Inside many glass showcases (magically protected of course) are shown jewels of long gone kings and queens, the legendary artifact swords of great generals, even the age-old and half-ragged green banner with golden cross of the forefathers of Port Rislan’s founders, who sailed under the leadership of prophetess Deska to Gremia.

Besides royal history, there are also many religious relics to be seen here. The most renowned of all these is most certainly the magically preserved corpse of Ris in the centre of the Hall. His body lies with its back inside a sarcophagus-like coffin but it is not closed and as such one may still admire him. In his pale hands he holds a scroll of the Creed and a rose, symbol of love. He is clothed in an incredibly intricate and many-layered gown of gold and purple, and the old face that sticks out features a grey beard and a bold forehead, but long grey locks still grow from the back of his head. These are combed very regularly. The sarcophagus itself is inside a glass showcase, as always magically protected.

[TheZebraShakes™]

It looks pretty neat based on my first glance. I think I will like it once I find the hour or two to finish reading it.

[VemuKhaham]

yeah its hard describing a place with all its dimensions and features and use only a few words, but maybe I got carried away a little. Anyway, as always, a map may help and if other people also deem that it is necessary I am willing to work on that.

[Japic]

Wow, that certainly IS a read, but it can be managed; and in far less than two hours.

Well done Vemu; I like this place quite a bit. And I share your sentiments about 'lifting' things from such a locale. I'd designed a museum and accompanying adventure for my Thieves game long ago and thought it a difficult venture. Though I must confess, yours is far more detailed than mine.

I only have a few (minor) critiques to offer; and those revolve around size/measurements.

You may want to consider putting the whole underground structure a bit deeper. If you climb steps to get into the main hall, then descend fifty foot of stairwell and then view these other halls whose walls are another fifty foot tall, you find yourself above ground; not atleast twenty or more feet under (to make it structurally sound).

In addition, there are many mentions of 'four great pillars' down here to support the roof. While this is a good idea, I have to wonder at their actual size. Say that they're ten feet across, then you're automatically making your 80x80 room into a 60x60. which isn't very much. If I may, I suggest making the rooms larger. The bigger the rooms, the smaller those huge pillars will seem. Either that or say that the guy was so brilliant that they didn't need those huge pillars because of some other engineering breakthrough.

As a minor point, when thinking of the best way to map such underground rooms I ran into a problem. You say the upper hall is 100x100, the lower hall is 30x30, through each door off the small chamber there's another square chamber featuring 80x80 rooms. If you put them all together you end up with massive overlap (25 foot to a side).... Then again, there's two thoughts just now on how it could work without changing dimensions.... assuming you intended to center those rooms.

I did a few quick mocups of the lower rooms as I'm seeing it, and how to fix it.

The first is how I currently see the rooms overlapping. The Second, uses the same dimensions but offests the rooms so as to kill the overlap. The third allows the same dimensions, but adds... depth(?) or just a different feel to the rooms.

       |        | 
       |        |
|--------|    |-----
|      | |    | |
|      --|-^^-|--
|        }    {  
|        }    {   
|      --|-^^-|--  
|      | |    | |
|--------|    |-----
       |        | 
       |        |

-
-

   |          |
   |          |
   |          |
|--------|-^^-|
|        }    {        |
|        }    {        |
|        |-^^-|---|----|      
|        |        |     
|        |        |   
|        |        | 
|--------|        | 
         |        | 
         |        |
         |--------|

-
-

   /\ 
  /  \ 
 /    \   
/      \ 
        \|-^^-|
         }    {
         }    {
        /|-^^-|      
\      /  /  \  
 \    /  /    \  
  \  /  /      \  
   \/  /        \
      /          \
      \          /
       \        /

well... there's my thoughts.... That's alot actually based on how minor the issue is. Another quick fix on room dimensions could be putting a shortish hallway between the main chamber and the room, or changing dimensions to be 40x120 instead (for instance); with the short sides meeting off the little stairwell.

I dunno if any of that helps or not, but I'm trying to help rather than hinder. Hope I actually did.

[VemuKhaham]

thanks for the input your comments are certainly true and should be fixed.

The suggestion about making the underground part deeper seems sound, to compensate for the stairs at the main entrance. It also may fix another issue I thought off must be dealt with.

If the spiral stairs run besides the walls of the Centre Hall, then there is a need to get there from the absolute center of the Hall of the Creed. Maybe therefore the underground part is deeper, about 20ft, but the Centre Hall remains of the same height (fifty feet). That way, from the centre of the Hall of the Creed stairs could descend in a closed tunnel towards the outer wall of the Centre Hall. Problems fixed. To clarify, I'll give Japic's example maps a go as well:

         |                               |        Outside
         |     Hall of the Creed         |
         |_____________   _______________{ Main Entrance
                       / /                \ Outside stairs
           __________ / /______________    \__________
          |          |  0   |         |
          |          | /|\  |         |
          |__________{__/\__}_________|
               Hall    Centre    Hall
                       Hall

Note that proportions aren't correct, but this shows the twenty feet layer between underground and surface. It also shows the beautiful statue of Scorfane in the Centre Hall.

As for the overlapping problem: maybe we could go with no solution, simply cutting the Halls at the corners that overlap. That would no longer make the Halls square, but it creates a nice little entrance into the great Halls: the more narrow part between the cut corners. I like that idea, and we may expand the Halls further in size to compensate for the loss of space.

The columns: it depends on the size of the room and that off the columns. What if we'd keep four square columns each ten feet wide, and expand the hall twenty feet into the wall furthest away from the Hall's entrance, to compensate both the corners and the columns? It would make the room 80x100ft (increasing the room 120 square feet) minus 40 square ft. for the columns and some more for the corners (I'm not planning on doing the math to determine that part .

[Japic]

Is all this stuff supposed to be directly underneath the Hall of the Creed, or can it branch out under the neighbors or under the aforementioned square? If it must be directly under the building and not branch out to any other side then you might have to increase the upstairs size, though it seems a bit empty for more space.

By what you're saying Vemu, it sounds like you'de prefer to see something like this for the downstairs rooms:

      |          | 
      |          |
|------\        /---
|       \      / 
|        |-^^-|
|        }    {  
|        }    {   
|        |-^^-|  
|       /      \ 
|------/        \---
      |          | 
      |          |

If we cannot leave the foundations of this building, and the upstairs is only 100x100, then downstairs would have to be within those constraints. For the sake of your idea, logistically speaking, it would make sense that the underground portion actually went outside of the foundations of the original building. In your above diagram, if you added in another 20-40 feet of depth, it could potentially cross out under the plaza (at a safe depth) and not disturb any neighbors.

I think that you sort of addressed that point in your columns section;, if you take each hall out 100 feet from the center, then your underground length from one side to the other is 230 feet at its widest. This is 130 feet larger than the building up top. {EDIT} Or, the rooms are situated the other way, making it 190 across and only 90 feet over the foundations.

I'm way good for the idea, but didn't know if you had reasons why not to do it.

The reason I'm being so particular about this idea is because I like it so much and would hate to see it all smooshed up therefore destroying the grandeur. If we get the specifics figured out, I'd love the opportunity to actually map this building out. I'd run it through Dundjinni and give her vivid colors/details, though try to keep the place somewhat 'clean', lest it be too busy to comprehend. Let me know if you'd like any help on this one Vemu.

[VemuKhaham]

It's no problem at all if the underground complex expands beyond the space covered by the Hall of the Creed. So there's plenty of room and that's not a limit. Maybe my picture gave a wrong impression but like I said the proportions were not correct.

Your picture seems like a good option, and I think we should use it. I must confess I was once again thinking the impossible with my idea, as after your reply I realized a space can only be used once.

And I'd like it if you were to map out the place in Dundjinni. I haven't the tool myself but I've seen stuff made with it and it's a cool tool. I hope everything's clear for you to get started, if not then let me know.

[TheZebraShakes™]

I suck at dimensions and measuring and all that which is pretty much the primary reason why I can't make maps. I don't think in terms of numbers and measurements, I can't even tell you how large the room I'm sitting in is and I wouldn't have any idea how large an average sized room is.

Which is why I have no problem with anything that Japic is suggesting in terms of measurements. He seems to know what he's talking about and that's usually how you get people to trust you.

I'd love to see it mapped out too. I'm a fan of museums and places like this. I think it would be a good piece for the city. I've yet to finish reading it all but I've read a bunch(I am an extremely slow reader, so yes, over time it may take me two hours, though most likely just one) I know you have some stuff in there about prohibited spaces or spaces which have limited access but for the most part, this is all descriptive text for the physical aspects of the place, which is not a bad thing by any means, but is there anything about monitary cost of entrance (into the place as a whole or into speciffic areas) or the fees for certain services and use of resources which the place provides? If not, do you think that there should be, and what services to you think the place can provide (other than functioning as a museum of course). Is there a membership type of system that grants members some perks, programs, and access which regular Joes don't get?

I know it's probably too early to think about the internal workings, though maybe a sketcy idea in terms of fees, services, prohibited or reserved areas, and any other noteable things worth mentioning in this regard would help flesh it out for the game a bit more.

[VemuKhaham]

Two city guards at all times stand there on both sides of the door with their ceremonial lances and outfit. They allow entrance to all free of charge, though there is a dress-code saying that one has to be clothed and cleaned in a proper manner, and the guards are free to disallow anyone entrance based on that. This code often functions to keep out the beggars and socially deprived in a legal way. The doors are open from twelve to six o’clock, when the main bell inside the building’s dome sounds twelve times at opening and six times when the doors are closed for visitors, accompanied by a great orchestra of the many other smaller bells in the dome. These lesser bells only sound at these two hours of noon, upon which many of the city’s shop owners also open and close their establishments. At every other hour the main bell simply sounds the appropriate number of times according to the hour.

Besides the above, I provided in the Hall of Literature-section a few notes on the services provided there and how things work. Also, I described the places where guards normally stand or patrol, though not very precisely.

To explain the free entrance fees: I figured this national museum's first purpose is to build a sense of nationalism among the populace of Port Rislan of Gremia. Showing people great things is always a way to achieve that. However, if the place would start asking entrance fees, no-one would go in except maybe for those who have more money than they can spend, since I think there won't be much tourism, normally the most likely visitors of such a place. So I think the government is more than happy to finance this place fully. There may however be a price for services like the library, or membership for the library.

The bells would be a second function of the place. The main bell sounds every hour, the entire system of bells ring at 12 and 18 o'clock. At these hours many shops in the city open up and close down after hearing the bells.

Other functions? The vault may be the royal treasury. The Hall of the Creed is a destination for pilgrims. There's the library, which doesn't only store books but also serves as a quiet place for study and possibly for writers to work. Possibly art societies may use the place and rent a Hall, to make events including reciting poetry or the like and, possibly, if there's room, for theatrical plays or orchestra's. But maybe we shouldn't try to put every kind of art under one roof, allowing for more than one interesting building concerning art (theatres etc). I don't know in how far a grave can be a function, but maybe we could say the museum functions as a mausoleum for Ris.

But besides that, I think the place is pretty static. There shouldn't be things like tours for a fee or the like. That's all modern-day, and wouldn't work because of the lack of mass tourism. Maybe there are a few managers around that know things about the displayed stuff. There is the librarian for example, who could be an interesting character. I could work him out, or someone else could if desired. Any other characters that could work at the place, besides guards? A janitor? A guide in each Hall? I'm not quite sure how much the government would be willing to pay for such a facility.

[Japic]

Vemu, I'm gonna send you a PM to better discuss the dimensions of all this stuff. No need to clutter up the thread any further than necessary.

Hopefully my thoughts and yours can find common ground here and make this place shine.

Map progress: under construction and subject to change.