Tree Palace
During the first several centuries of Somnos’ existence, there was no Tree Palace. In fact, all that stood in its place was a knee-high stone wall, which encircled the Founding Tree. In keeping with the more informal nature of early Somnos, its leading citizens would gather and sit on the wall to discuss the most important matters of the day. The wall was initially built to prevent animals from getting near to the Tree. Eventually, the wall was heightened in order to protect it from curious Dormians who often tried to climb the Founding Trees' massive limbs.
With time, as Somnos became an important city and the capital of Dormia, it was decided that a palace ought to be constructed around the Tree itself. The first part of the Palace to be built was the Great Amphitheatre, a magnificent open-air stage and meeting place, which sits directly at the base of the Founding Tree. In subsequent decades, the palace was expanded to include the Grand Vizier's offices, the Grand Vizier's residence, an armory, a banquet hall, a museum, the Royal Gardens, an astrological clock, and barracks for the Palace Guards.
In the Dormian year 3288 (376 B.C.), a crazed Dormian leapt over the wall – with a torch in hand – and succeeded in burning part of a limb from the Founding Tree of Somnos. The Grand Vizier at the time – Stevichan Perplostan – undertook a major renovation project, building a wall of marble around the Tree Palace which stood 100 feet in height and eight feet in width. In order to build the wall, workers excavated marble deposits in the mountains surrounding Somnos. It took almost 100 years to build these new walls. The extra marble from this project was used to renovate the Great Amphitheatre and the Grand Vizier's offices and residence.
The result was stunning and the Tree Palace of Somnos is often considered (by Dormians) to be the "Eighth Wonder of the Ancient World" – a construction as impressive as the Colossus of Rhodes, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Return to map