Somnos Prison
This building stands about five miles outside the walls of Somnos, in the middle of pasture lands used by the horses of Dormian Knights. Formerly, the prison was situated in the city. Yet, in the Dormian Year 2760, the prison's only captives – two twin sisters who had been convicted of breaking into the Tree Palace – busted out of jail and (it is believed) escaped from Dormia as well. They are the only Dormians who have ever managed to scale the mountains that surround the city. In any case, the leaders of Somnos decided that it was better to situate the prison in the open fields outside the city, where it would be easier to spot escapees. They constructed the prison quite quickly and in a slapdash manner, and it shows. The earth and stone walls are cracking in several places, and the ground collects standing water. This is because it sits above a wetlands that is especially dense with roots from the Founding Tree. The air around the prison is dank and musty and the mosquitoes are known to be the fiercest in the entire countryside.
To make matters worse, the prison guards are those skimmed from the bottom of the Somnos police force. Escapes are common, but in general they are tolerated because of the lack of serious crime in Somnos and because of the fact that (with very few exceptions) it is impossible to leave the Somnos Valley. There is only one way out, and that is guarded night and day by Sleeping Knights. Those criminals that escape the Somnos Prison are usually found within a few hours or at the very worst, a few days. The only evidence of the glory of Somnos in the prison is the washbasin for the prison superintendent. It is made of marble, and the water is piped directly from Somnos.
Return to map