“The Haters said I was daft to build a castle in a swamp. And they were right. Honestly, great call from the Haters.” -- Deathshead419
Determination can make miracles. Well. Determination, a lot of money, and special powers. When you can pay for anything, you can make anything happen. Including the castle of the moor.
Behold, the magnificence. The work of so much earth shaping, stone shaping, and a veritable mountain of gold. A work of magnificence years in the making.
The first of the thousands spent on it were in making an immense foundation. Melding and shaping boulders into one huge block of stone for the floor, and the walls around it. It sank halfway up to the walls before the supporting columns could go in. The work on the second floor began at once with the stairs that would meet it. More stone shaping immediately put the next floor in place.
It sank further, threatening the new floor before the walls could be shaped on. Another thousand was spent on gathering more shapers to craft the entirety of the floor before the water could seep in.
It worked. Despite being so far under the upper level of the mire, there's not a drop from outside that makes its way inside in an unwelcome way. Every floor is bone dry where it needs to be. The water, where it's wanted, is pure and sweet. The architecture is magnificent on all twenty subterranean floors.
And as for above the surface of the bog? You can see it for yourself. Sweeping arches. Complicated crenellations. The pinnacle of the architects' gifts, and only a minor step down to the ground floor.
Literally worth a fortune.
All made to spite a father who gifted the swamp to an heir. On the promise that, should that heir build something of import there, they would inherit an empire. The heir won the wager, evidently. But also wasted the empire's coin on this much folly.
On the other hand, the sunken basements are incredible.
[Photo by Carlo Lisa on Unsplash]
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