Am-Xitha, Parts I & II (Past Chronicle 2013-2014)
The Edge of Dreaming Hotel - by T.A. Saunders ©2013 v1.5
To see Es Xethyisri Dama Kamo, or The Edge of Dreaming Hotel today, one would not believe that the building had been reduced to rubble, leaving nothing more than the front door and part of the wall around it during the bombardment that had leveled the rest of Am-Xitha. With the restoration effort in 1346 AC, the hotel was one of the first buildings to be restored, though for whatever reason the original door that had survived so many centuries was preserved in the rebuilt structure. The vaulting Shei marble columns rise to enclose a dome of hammered gold, that crowned to a spired apex.
The first and most unusual thing about the hotel is, that it does not have a physical space within it. The building is completely solid. Opening the front door opens 
one into a dimensional space created by the renown conjurer, Ilys Jhal. The hotel's interior is considered a demi-plane, in terms of its infinite expandability, one that exists for the pleasure and entertainment of its guests once more.
Thanks in large part to Ilys and her magic, the inside of the hotel is as splendid as it ever was.
Dirt and cobwebs are kept at bay the sorcerous attendant known as Xandra. This attendant is constructed entirely of Mana and can appear in any room of the hotel at any time, instantaneously. She is also capable of appearing in multiple locations within the hotel at once, simultaneously able to attend to cooking, cleaning and maintenance. Xandra is a bit quirky however, no doubt a byproduct of her creator. She will sometimes have conversations with duplicates of herself, including sometimes arguments! She is hard to miss, taking the form of a shimmering pale blue Moon Elf female, with delicate, attractive features and pleasant gentle curves. Xandra is believed to be a representation of Ilys' daughter Tyana, who died under mysterious circumstances while in the company of a Shar'Vaire dignitary. Xandra, for all intents and purposes is the goddess of the hotel, in terms of controlling it, adding rooms, deleting rooms and managing it regardless how large it grows.
The rest of the hotel is equally impressive with its strange ability to ‘replicate' rooms to accommodate a growing number of guests. These rooms furnish themselves with lavish accommodations that suit the tastes of the person holding a room key. These keys are marked with Elvish runes that are tuned to the hotel in other ways, aside of tailoring a room to a guest's tastes. Placing the key into the door lock and turning it the opposite way can make the door into a portal, allowing the guest to travel anywhere on Imarel. Getting back simply requires a door with a keyhole so a portal can be formed to return. This little trick can only be performed twice a day, once to leave and once to return, so it always advised to plan accordingly.
The foyer and check-in area are well lit with little floating spheres of light that lazily orbit a larger sphere. The larger sphere contains a floating clock-face within that chimes out the hour and displays a gleaming representation of Ka for daytime and a softly glowing representation (including phase) of Ishaela during the night. The furniture and desks are fashioned from what seems to be Forgora wood and the floors are all carpeted with dark red carpet with delicate embroidery upon them. The truth is however that all of the furniture and interior is conjured by the hotel itself, or by Xandra through the hotel, the truth of it has been lost to time.
The main dining area is a vast, circular room that contains buffet tables that refill themselves with food and drink on the menu. For those fussy eaters that can't seem to find anything from the table, Xandra takes special requests she can cook in the hotel's kitchen. Round tables surround the center buffet table not unlike planets orbiting a sun, at the outskirts of which being lounging areas where guests can have private meetings away from the hub-bub of the crowd. These areas have couches and lounging chairs with small side tables. Finally, there is a giant hearth that stokes or cools itself by the southern section of the main room.
In the adjoining dance hall, there is a raised stage in an immediate view of the dining room where a vast Elvish Piano is situated with enough room to spare for other instruments. There is also plenty of room to dance and make merry in the room at large which has a Forgora hardwood floors and glittering decorations along the ceiling that cast their own light, giving the appearance of starlight above.
Built in 351 BF, The Edge of Dreaming Hotel was considered to be the grand masterwork of Scion Ilys Jhal. Created for the soul purpose of entertaining dignitaries from both the Shar'Vaire and the Humans, the Edge of Dreaming Hotel also became known as a favored establishment of many of the fledgling kingdom's rich and famous. Amongst those who frequented hotel in its heyday, were Ko'rashae Rivas and her protege, Nevi'sasha Stormwillow, both the King of Shei at the time Emrilan Telysaric the 12th and his queen, Abilisia, Arch-Duke Dracas DeBellicose IV of the Grand Duchy of Brookshire and a host of other Shalzaari celebrities.
The hotel stood as a shining beacon of Moon Elf craftsmanship and ingenuity for just over 140 years, acting as a place of peace-making and discovering common ground. Many treatises of the time were signed behind the mystical walls of the hotel, further increasing its prestige as well as that of its owner, Silivas Jiliaran. Something of a wheeler and dealer, Silivas went to great lengths to gain exclusive patronage from many of Imarel's most well-to-do and influential. Given the ungodly fortune he paid to have Ilys Jhal enchant the structure to give it an exotic appeal that couldn't be found elsewhere, it wasn't difficult to arrange.
This golden era of peace and prosperity ended in 213 BF, at the beginning of the War of Eternals. The Shar'Vaire campaign to destroy the Kingdom of Shei was well under way, having caused untold devastation in the north. The Elves of Am-Xitha felt that with so many Shar'Vaire still living within her borders and with the city's reputation as neutral ground that it would be spared from the D`Mirian Empire's fierce airships and devastating weapons. The Elder of Am-Xitha, Alora Misaleena even went so far as to welcome the Imperial invaders with food and drink. Her kindness was met with a very public gang rape and murder from Captain Delras Kajr and the crew of the Imperial airship, Vajarka. The hackles of the Moon Elves raised, they made a stand with whatever weapons they could find. Even Shar'Vaire who had been staying and living there, sided with the Moon Elves and faced imminent destruction, rather than willfully surrender Am-Xitha.
In the end their valiant stand was overwhelmed by both superior numbers and superior firepower. Those few who survived managed to retreat to the hotel and had Xandra sorcerously bar the doors. After bombing the surrounding area to nearly rubble, the Shar`Vaire assumed all inside were dead or close to it and moved onto their next target. The survivors voted amongst themselves and elected to remain in the hotel for the rest of their lives, rather than face the horrors outside. Given the infinitely available conjured food and drink and their relative safety, the Elves, Humans and Shar'Vaire within could live out their existence in peace, without ever knowing such horrors again.
It is uncertain what became of those survivors. It is believed that after a time, some left to return to the outside world, others lived, loved and died within the hotel's strange dimensional walls, never craving or seeking the outside world again. It could be the spirits of these people linger on, still reveling, dancing and singing the songs of their time, locked in an eternal soiree free from bloodshed and war.
The rebuilding of the hotel was completed in 1349 AC, to which a grand celebration was held at the beckoning of the new Duke, Arathys Blackthorne. Heroes, dignitaries and people of repute visited the Edge of Dreaming Hotel and ushered in a new golden age for the city many now call the Star of Vyss.