House of Fragrant Cassia
Mistress: V'neef Kalla. Residents: V'neef Kalla.
The House of Fragrant Cassia is a large manor house and garden amidst the Patrician estates of the Imperial City’s Eastern Districts, north of the Eastern Market. Formerly possession of a wealthty mortal scion from House Nellens, upon his passing fromold age it was willed to his young Exalted wife, the outcaste singer V’neef Keersa Kalla.
Though its location, surrounded by patrician homes, is poor by the standards of the Scarlet Dynasty, the House is large and well-appointed, with extensive gardens. A high wall surrounds the property, pierced by a main gate to the South and a servant’s gate to the east.
From the main gate can be found an entry courtyard, with shelters for visiting palanquins to park out of sight behind a vine-woven trellis and await the return of their passengers. From here, broad steps ascend to the doors of the manor house, opening into a lobby from which corridors lead east to servant’s quarters and kitchens, and west to dining rooms and galleries. The lobby also houses couches and tables where guests might be received and entertained on their arrival, and a grand staircase ascending to the upper level as well as a rear doorway leading out into the gardens.
The upper floor is connected by a grand corridor crossing East to West, with the staircase and the balcony overlooking the lobby at its center. To the west are several chambers for musical performance (kept stocked with an extensive array of instruments both for use and for display) as well as numerous guest chambers, while to the east can be found the master bedroom, nursery, and libraries (in rooms converted from their previous role as vaults and accounting offices).
The mansion garden is expansive and well-maintained, with several elements arranged along its paths in the traditional style of the Dynasty: From the entrance, the path winds out towards a Rain Pavilion surrounded by banana and fern. This had previously been the site of a Sun Pavilion, replaced when mistress Kalla took control as it was considered rather crass. From the pavilion the path turns east past a grove of peach trees and tigerliles, with clearing off to one side wide enough to accommodate table and chairs should one wish to take the breeze with one’s tea. It continues through a bamboo grove, turning north and then back westward before finally twisting north again to come to a small artificial lake which dominates the back of the gardens. Here, stone benches are arrayed for taking in the sights (with the still waters serving in the night as a broad Moon Pond), and steps descend so toes might indulge in the waters when the summer breezes run hot in the Fire season.
The path circles the lake along its western bank, coming to a range of small artificial mountains. A staircase shaped into the rock allows ascent to one of the summits, where one can take the air and the vista seated at table and benches, while the path proceeds through a tunnel, at the centre of which is a small chamber shaped to offer rich, vibrant acoustics for singing.
The path proceeds eastward, splitting with the main northward turn reaching a grove of cherry and plum trees in the northeastern corner of the property, around a covered pavilion for blossom viewing and poetry recitations. The other branch turns south to reach the servants’ gate, alongside which is a small hut for housing the garden staff. From here, a path for the household staff follows the wall southward just outside the bamboo grove, then west to the kitchen doors, allowing servants and supplies to move without disturbing the ambiance for the ladies and lords taking in the gardens.
