The Shuttered Palace
The Shuttered Palace
"The Traitor Empress and her consort live safely in the Shuttered Palace, in the protective custody of the Bazaar. No-one is permitted to use her name anymore."
"Why is the Empress' Palace shuttered? Apparently the Empress doesn't like light. Or sudden movements, loud noises, foreigners, treason, peaches. When you're Empress, you can do this kind of thing."
The Shuttered Palace, at the very west end of London, likely used to be called Kensington Palace but was renamed after the Fall. The Empress and her family, with the scandalous exception of the ahistorical Captivating Princess, are confined to the palace... and for good reason. (See below, if you dare.)
It is a magnet for London's up-and-coming entertainers... though they have to stay quiet.
The Empress' Court
The Empress' Court is the inner sanctum of the Shuttered Palace; it is where the Empress and most of her family (the Consort, and eight of their ten children) live and the most famed artists in London work. It is most interesting to London's more Persuasive types, who can get a little, ah, bold in their writings, compositions, and deeds. (Something something threesome on the Empress' throne something something.)
 What lies beneath the Palace? [Not for the faint of heart. Fate spoilers for The Gift.]
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Murder Mystery at the University While solving a murder mystery at the University, one learns that the Duchess's husband (The Cantigaster) resides in the palace cellars, along with huge collections of objects - living, dead, and inanimate alike. The Gift (Fate-Locked) After an unfortunate episode involving either gaoler's honey or badly crossbred prisoner's honey, all of the Empress' children have been transformed into monsters, save for the Captivating Princess, who was born in the Neath and already is said to have fiery red eyes. One may see the siblings as they were before, but only in a mirror. Some intrepid players decided to link each epithet mentioned in the story to one of the Empress/Queen Victoria's real-life children:
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