Description of the Dark Folly

[Haseo]

The Dark Folly

The Dark Folly's Appearance

The Floating Monstrosity known as the Dark Folly hovers above the ruined remains of San Fransisco, casting the former city in its shadow forever. The girth of the beast covers the entirety of the former city. To call the Dark Folly a fortress would be a partially innacurate statement. While part of it is indeed a part of a fortress, and the entire structure itself is surrounded by walls along the edges, it is, in actuality, its own city. Many smaller buildings surround the large and imposing black tower in the center of the floating structure, most notably the fortress that surrounds it in the shape of a coiled serpent. At the uppermost part of this tower is a large, mostly for decoration, statue of a snake wrapped around a crescent moon.

Everything beyond the fortress is the living quarters for the innumerable amount of soldiers, servants, and priests of Haseo, though the Priests often stay at the Temple that resides right across from the Fortress. While the building of this Temple was protested at first by Haseo, he later conceeded once he saw how ferverently they wished to see it built. The Temple itself consists of a single roomed building, with a large crypt beneath. It is a large, ziggarut like structure, with spines coming off the outer edges, each one decorated with runes of protection and calming for those within the walls. The windows, taking a nod from some of the human churches that had been seen within San Fransisco before becoming Dark Avalon, are of stained and hardened spider-silk. The windows, however, do not depict the Dark Emperor, but rather it depicts glimpses of the races' that follow Haseo home-realms. For the snakemen, it is the tropical jungles, the bandits (The few that attend) enjoy the scenes of the mountains from Alulaylaranti, and many others.

The Courtyard of the Dark Folly, just inside the coiled walls of the fortress, is an actual chunk from Alulaylaranti, a mixture of pieces from the Mushroom Forest floor, and with one section a part of the southern Swamps, consisting of a slightly muddy area surrounding a pool of dank water, with a single, purpleish black mushroom raising from it. Above the water floats orbs of light that emit pleasant, yet sorrowful moans of music. It is here that Haseo has his personal mount, the Giant Fox Javelin, as well as several other giant foxes and a few horses for his children to learn to ride.

The Trade Square is directly between the Temple and Haseo's fortress, north of the Residential district of the Dark Folly. Haseo has banned the use of any form of currency within the Dark Folly, citing it as a corrupting and disgusting form of gaining that which someone needs. The people of the Dark Folly are given supplies based upon need, and should they want anything more, they go to the trade market where they may barter with goods to gain something else. They may also preform services for the Temple, such as cleaning and upkeep to earn more goods and services.

The residential area of the Dark Folly is just as varied as the races living within it. Many of the homes and aparment-like buildings are made from stone, as the bandits do not find a true need to decorate and make anything aesthitically pleasing. The Snakemen, however, make large, wooden huts, similar to what they lived in upon their home-realm. These huts are large and slanted, as this is the style that they grew accustomed to making due to he constant rains of their realm.

The outside walls of the Dark Folly would suggest nothing of anything resembling a community, however. The walls are decorated with humongous skulls who's mouths can open and spit balls of molten fire rocks. The walls are dark, scorched black by many failed assaults both from the humans of Earth, and past forgotten battles. Surrounding the Dark Folly are several other, much smaller Floating Fortresses. They are not nearly as lavishly decorated, and are purely militaristic in nature, often run by Darkfallen or just high ranking Dread Knights, along with Priests.

There are several towers reserved for pure military use on the Dark Folly as well, though they are generally only used for planning strikes against enemies marked for death, or worlds that will be either conquered or glassed. Glassing is a technique used by Haseo, his High Priests, and his most powerful Darkfallen to 'melt the world beneath into glass'. This ray of destruction is fired downward from the Dark Folly's bottom most area: A tip. Whereas the top of the Dark Folly is filled with buildings and ledges, and rough hews, the bottom is smooth and rounded, coming down to a single, rounded point. This point has an invisible metal set into place, so that those inside of the Glassing Chamber, may look out of it as the deadly incantation does its work. The incantation takes several days to complete, and only hours to cover the world that has been targetted.

Within the Fortress

The insides of the Dark Folly is a long and complicated thing to discuss. There have been very few people to have ever been able to completely navigate the Dark Folly, all of its halls and chambers. However, Haseo and Treble's personal chamber resides at the uppermost tower, and their children's rooms are right across the Hall from them. The halls of the Dark Folly generally look alike; The floors are made of the front teeth of Haseo's enemies, as well as failed creations, while the walls are made of skulls and stone. In-laid into the stone are several lines of skulls, that run from chamber to chamber, hall to hall. There was a time when the entirety of the walls were made of skulls, but this was later abandoned as Haseo found that they, while pleasing to his eyes, were not very sturdy when he knocked the stray fool out of his way. From the ceilings hang glowing stalagtites of black stone. They gain their glow from bioluminescent dead insects found in the jungles of the Snakemen's home-realm. They are inset within the stone, which is then enchanted to be semi-transculent and allow the light to filter out and cast a reddish glow on all of the Halls. The rooms vary from chamber to chamber, each one different than the last. Some are large, ball like rooms, while others are simply empty rooms. There are several rooms however, that are set up like lounges, where many Bandits can often be seen relaxing in the only way they know how; Drinking and yelling at one another in fits of laughter.

There are a few training rooms however, and adjuscent to each of these training rooms (or at the very least right across from them) there are showering rooms. Haseo's personal training room, in which he increases the gravity to train, has a shower both connected within it, as well as a small kitchen, but it also has a showering room right across from it. The general, over all theme for most of the Dark Folly are reds, grays, and blacks. However, since Treble and Haseo claimed each other as mates, there have been a few changes made, since Haseo gave her a bit of reign decorating their home.

Within the Temple

The inside of the Temple is filled with large circular benches, each one with high backs, and dark velvety cushioned seats. There are also large pillars within the Temple, each one lavished with stone gargoyles that are positioned to appear as though they are holding up the structures. Should an invasion ever occur, however, these statues will spring to life and attack any intruders.

The tenets of Haseo's Temple are upon a large, obsidian stone in the middle of the chamber, and they read as follow in the hissing script of the dead Freyalin race;
To disobey is to invoke the wrath of the Master.
To betray the Master is to invoke His wrath.
To kill another follow is forbidden. Only if you are caught doing so.
To steal something and get away with it, obviously whatever was stolen is deserved.
To harm the Master's family, is to suffer forever within Cold Harbor.
Treat your fellow followers as you would a family member.
Always fight for the Master and protect your Family.
All followers of the Master are Family.
The somewhat clashing and hypocrytical tenents can be viewed as the same as Haseo can; Conflicted.

(Possibly more to come)