It’s my birthday and I decided to do some work on Agwilcress again.

The Veli Cliffs stretch across the region and pose a formidable barrier between the northern and southern areas. When the nations divided, the cliffs acted as a natural defense for the capital city of Cresselecapera against the Akelikans, preventing them from forming any kind of major assault. Agwilcress was in part founded to protect an access point up the cliffs near the Antalle River.

I’ve been bothered by the size of the cliffs for a while. They were somewhat underwhelming at a height of about 64 nwen (16.4 meters/54 feet). I’ve gotten around to correct this, and now they cliffs are about 160 nwen (41 meters/134 feet) tall. Here’s pictures to visualize the change:

Because of the change, the stairs and ramp previously existing to get up the cliffs were no longer feasible. Instead, the travel is made possible by a major Ayra Katrin Engineers project – the Great Elevator (working title). That’s the new big structure just left of center in the second picture. It has a large cargo lift and two smaller and faster lifts for people. It closely follows the design of the city walls. You can also see that Tama Point on the right side is a much more significant structure.

The Ayra Katrin Library was constructed with four main floors and and a small basement area in its center. However, the landscaping on top of Tail Hill ‘buried’ the lower floors, creating an illusion that the library is smaller than it actually is.

The set of covered patios in the lower part of the picture are a new addition to the design. There was only an empty, sloping hill where these now stand.

Here’s a rough idea of the extent of the lower floors at this point, highlighted in white. Underneath the big hexagon patios are some common areas, including the library’s kitchen. The four triangles adjoining the hexagons are open down to the bottom floor and connect to sets of personal rooms (the two sets of four rooms you can see by each triangle) . Both the main building and south tower have two lower floors that connect to the rest of the underground area.

A view inside the underground area under the hexagon. The pillar design was recently updated, making them thinner. This gave the area a more open feel. At the very right of the picture is where the Library’s kitchen is located.

Here is the entrance to the underground area, looking back from the hexagon. The doors on the side go into the covered patios, and the front door leads under the archway serving as the ‘official’ entrance to the library.

Dominating the terraced hill leading up to the Ayra Katrin Library is the Tail Hill Complex, which is called “pog get bekonah” in the Agwil-Narryd-Prerart language.

Up front are two office-type buildings and the entrance to underground storehouses and workshops. Above those are a patio and a park area. Behind the park’s semicircle fountain is big square opening above the underground plaza. On the next level up and new to this version are the lower Ayra Katrin dormitories. The arch roofed section in the middle is the commons area, flanked on both sides by the individual living quarters.

Below is the last version of the Tail Hill Complex posted (almost four years ago):

Besides the building upgrades, you can see another big change. The area in which Agwilcress lies is an arid area, so much of the grassy land is being replaced with dirt, rock, and sand.

Here is an orthographic view of the entire tail hill:

Starting from the lower left and moving clockwise, the complex is surrounded by the National Square and a collection of circular gardens, Civic Square, Civic Hill, the Ayra Katin Library, Agwilcress Grain Factory, and Military Square.

It’s been a long time… one big reason for the lack of updates is that I have started a career job, and it’s been keeping me pretty busy. I have managed to get in some work in on places like the library, though.

A new design for the Ceremony Hall floor. At the center is an outline of Agwilcress.

The back of the Ceremony Hall now has a dais which includes tiered seats behind the speaking stage. New chandeliers, made out of pairs of three-stars, now hang from the centerline of the roof.

Another view of the dais. Here you can see the seven-star decoration similar to the one at the front entrance, and a better look at the seats.

An overhead view of the palace in its current state. Recently some circular garden beds and fountains were added to the front yard.

The name for the Kylal Palace in the Agwilikan language is “Prikaneko se Kylal”. Kaneko means home (from kanika beko, “people building”), and pri is a common prefix meaning great or greatest.

A version with labels for most of the major points of interest:

The standard Residential Block house was mass produced during later construction of the military base that would become Agwilcress. Each building contains four upstairs bedrooms, two restrooms, a kitchen, a water room (for bathing and laundry), general living space on the first floor, and a basement.

The roof can be accessed with a drop-down stepladder, and is a popular spot for gardening and leisure time.
Above the front double doors is the house address. This one has the address “2-12” making it the 10th house in section 2. (Agwilikans use a base 8 number system.)

Here’s how the sections are arranged in the Block:

The Agwilcress Grain Factory (Kel-et-eh-tone) produces products from the seeds of the Kelet plant. The facility has sections for cleaning, storing, and milling the seeds into flour. This all-in-one design was set up when Agwilcress was a military stronghold, and was intended to ensure a reliable supply of food even if the city was besieged.

It’s been a while since the grain factory was worked on. It used to look like this:

It was ridiculously oversized. The new design is a bit more down to earth.

This is the logo for the grain factory, which is stamped on to all products made here. The central three marks represent the purple flower of the Kelet plant. Similar marks are used in Agwilikan culture as a symbol of health and prosperity.