Guild Hall
The Guild Hall is a D'ni governmental building located in the capital on the island of Ae'gura. It overlooks the harbor and much of the lower sprawl of the island. This building housed the Council chambers, where matters of state were debated by the Guild Council.
Construction
Replacing an older Guild Hall
The current Guild Hall was originally constructed in 2502 DE under the reign of King Naygen, who commissioned it to replace an older, less impressive structure. It was designed to straddle and stand atop the Tomb of the Great King, a strong statement about the historical attitudes toward King Ahlsendar at that time.
Expansion under Kerath
In 6970 DE, only a few years before abdicating the throne, King Kerath decreed that the Guild Hall should be expanded. The new structure was intended to symbolize the increased status of the Guilds as the governing body of the D'ni government, now that there would be no more kings. When the expansions were completed, the new building completely covered the Tomb of the Great King, effectively sealing it off beneath a massive new government plaza.
Design
The Guild Hall has the appearance of a stylized tree. The "roots" of the structure extend down into the original plaza for the Tomb of the Great King. Six "branches" extend out from the central trunk of the building, forming multi-story offices, with each wing housing space for three of the eighteen major guilds that made up the Guild Council. Atop these wings sat the Council Chambers, where the Guilds would convene to debate and vote on legislative matters. These chambers were circular, with 18 columns supporting the roof, from which hung the crests and colors of each of the 18 major Guilds. Stairs, which doubled as seats, led down into the center of the room, where five stone thrones sat, reserved for the five Great Lords of D'ni.
Restoration
First Restoration
In the 9480s, Atrus and a collection of D'ni who had survived the fall of their civilization attempted to rebuild the city in the D'ni cavern. They uncovered the Tomb of the Great King after intentionally collapsing a portion of the plaza that had been damaged by falling debris. This, in turn, led them to Terahnee, where the rest of the D'ni's brethren had gone to escape the destruction of their original home world. When Atrus and his companions returned from Terahnee, they decided to abandon the cavern, leaving the Guild Hall in an unfinished state.
Second Restoration
When the DRC first began restoring areas of the cavern in the late 1990s and early 2000s CE, the Guild Hall was deemed too large of a project to take on, and only authorized individuals were allowed to go near it. In 2003, an interior wall in the Guild Hall collapsed on Phil Henderson, a DRC restoration engineer and follower of Yeesha. He had been communing with the bahro in the Guild Hall despite being directly instructed to avoid the area for his own safety. After days of digging through rubble, the DRC declared Phil dead despite the absence of a body. This event was one of several that led the DRC to shut down all restoration efforts in early 2004.
