Ludovico Amescua's Mansion, Floor One

Description of Second Floor

1. Entrance and Colonnade: The main entrance is protected by the overhanging upper level of the building, providing a little shelter from the summer's sun and the winter's rain. The pillars supporting the colonnade, and the tiles of the entry patio, are made of expensive white phraetes. The heavy double doors are the typical Saldonian dark wood, with great iron rings for knocking should the doormen, for some reason, not anticipate an arrival.

2. Doormen's Posts: These two small chambers are rooms for the doormen-cum-guards, and have windows that look out onto the entrance. The rooms themselves are virtually empty except for the one-legged stools that the doormen sit on. The glass in the windows is heavy but clear—before the Theophany, it had been Glassteel, but now it is regular glass again.

3. The Inner Hall: This is a gorgeous hallway in the best Saldonian style, with phraetes columns holding up dark wooden ceiling beams. The floor is smooth phraetes, as well, so polished that it is probably quite treacherous when wet. Narrow shelves on the walls display beautiful Saldonian glasswork, ancestral weapons and portraits, and on either end the House Acaos coat of arms, a golden serpent coiled around a branch and the legend Noli me tangere, or Touch me not. The House Acaos colors—green, brown, and gold—are gently reflected in the colors of the glasswork, scabbards, and clothing of the men and women in the oil paintings.

4. Stairway and Landing: These stairs connect the inner hall with the upper level of the manse. They are made of white tile and dark wood.

5. The Sunken Ballroom: One of the Acaos manse's most unique features is its sunken ballroom. The upper section of the ballroom, on a level with the rest of the first floor of the manse, is a gold-and-brown tiled balcony looking down on the dance floor. Opposite the balcony is a raised musician's gallery on which musicians would play for the dancers below.
The dance floor is made of smoothly polished dark wood inlaid with lighter woods of all shades in a gorgeous serpentine geometric pattern. Six chandeliers hang from the very high ceiling, and can be lowered when they must be cleaned by ropes attached to the walls. The ceiling of the ballroom is a Saldonian fresco of the night sky crossed by exotic flying beasts and beauties.
Glass doors (usually locked) lead out into a sunken patio beneath the colonnade.

6A. Gentlemen's Restroom

6B. Ladies' Restroom

7. The Banquet Hall: This beam-ceiling hall is decorated with imported tapestries and is dominated by a great carved wooden table, its top a beautiful inlay of multihued woods in geometric patterns. The table is left uncovered for breakfast and dinner, and is usually covered for supper. The chairs are all ornately carved wood with fabric cushions; they're not as comfortable as one might like, but that's typical for the aristocracy. Glass-fronted cabinets contain the house's plate, crystal, and silverware. The tapestries on the walls depict woodlands and oceans, hunts and sailing ships.

8. The Kitchen: This room is usually quite busy, as the cook and assistants prepare meals for the household. Shelves, racks, hanging racks, cabinets, and workbenches are scattered throughout the room, filled with cooking utensils, pots and pans, spices, and more.

9. Food Stores: The dairy, pantry, and larder are here, although like most Saldonian households, much is purchased fresh in the marketplace each morning.

10. Servants' Entrance

11. The Library: This is an extensive library filled with generations of House Acaos' collecting. Most of the books are in the common tongue of the realm, Low Empyrian, although a few are in other languages. The books are primarily leather-bound, although a few are bound in wood, bone, shell, or fabric. The collection includes handwritten, block-printed, and printing press books. History and natural science are the most prominent subjects, although there are the usual works of literature and philosophy that one would expect to find in an aristocrat's collection.

12. The Study: The study is a comfortable room with overstuffed leather chairs and footstools and a writing desk beneath the window.

13. The Day Room: This room gets some easterly sun in the mornings and is used to entertain visitors during the day. A cabinet contains bottles of liquor and wine. A bookshelf on the south wall stands slightly ajar.

14. The Not-So-Secret Room: This room was built by some long-dead ancestor of Ludovico's, and he's never bothered to keep its presence secret, finding its existence rather amusing. The room contains a table and chairs, but has the musty smell of little use.

15. The Morning Room: A good room for taking in a light breakfast or enjoying the morning sun, this chamber has been furnished in light colors and fresh flowers. Chairs and small tables are scattered about to facilitate easy and shifting conversation.

16. The Billiards Room: Two billiards tables dominate this room, although there is also a dart board, a card table, and two chess sets, for visitors' amusement. Ludovico Amescua has a bit of a reputation among the aristocracy as a fine billiards player.

17. The Smoking Room: A manly men's room, filled with wooden paneling (undoubtedly to hide the smoke stains), leather chairs, and many ash trays and cigar humidors. This room is primarily used for entertaining gentlemen visitors after dinner.

18. The Parlor: A delicate chamber decorated in pale, fresh colors and Saldonian tile and glass, with small tables and fragile chairs and lounges. A white ivory-and-gold harpsichord and a standing harp are set to one side. This room is used for general entertainment of a formal sort, and for the ladies when the men retire to the smoking room.