The Duchy of Shadows is an Unseelie Freehold/Fief of the Shadow Court in Washington, D.C.
Overview[]
Cloaked by dark Glamour from casual notice, the Shadow Duchy is housed in the basement of an old book bindery that is now a rock club called the War Zone. Upstairs, the club features a dance floor, seating area, three bars, a mosh pit, a stage, and dressing rooms. Loud music inundates the building from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. on weekends.
Downstairs, reached by a set of stairs, is a cellar where beer and other potables are kept. A concealed door leads into the freehold (which also has a separate sewer entrance). The tunnel that leads from the cellar to the actual holding pulses with the sounds from above, but one through the far door, baffling and sound proofing provide peace and quiet within.
The holding itself opens out from both entryways into a chaotic jumble of darkness and strange swirls of color accompanied by flashes of strobe-like light, odd noises, and weird angles that are wildly disorienting. Enhanced through tainted Glamour, the room can cause changelings to enter Bedlam if they are left within it long enough. Duchess Kali and Duke Siva, the twin Unseelie who claim the freehold, bypass this room through a hidden tunnel that leads directly to the heart of the freehold. Those not led blindfolded through the tunnel must brave the chaotic entry hall. Should they find the exit (through the ceiling and reachable only by piling up some of the room's furnishings), they can enter the actual freehold. Otherwise, whoever enters must wait until the duke and duchess allow them to leave.
The freehold proper consists of little more than a series of rooms swathed in dark cloth, lined with pillows, and draped with spiderweb-gauzy curtains. One chamber is reserved for meetings of the inner circle of the true Shadow Court. It houses a huge black-glass oval table and several twisted-wood armchairs with black velvet.