Description

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The Island of Auskerry

It is located in Scotland in the Orkney Islands on the land of Auskerry. The island is fairly far from the main islands of Scotland and is serviced by a muggle boat once a month for maintenance on the lighthouse and for supplies for the muggle farm. With dangerous tides, swimming is a no no for long distances, but along certain parts of the shore it is quite possible. Overall the island is flat with a small ripple of hills near the ruins end of the island.

Auskerry is roughly triangle shaped with different corners being used different ways. Low tide allows access to a shallow swim to three different submerged rock formations which the sheep mostly dominate in their search for food. Otherwise the other islands are largely inaccessible except by broom which makes them excellent for nighttime broom practice. The island has 250 acres of heather, native grasses and flowers - all of which are eaten by the sheep, but they mostly like to eat the seaweed. This is particularly true in winter when the seaweed is rich in protein. At low tide you can see the sheep as far out on the rocks as possible, vying with the waves to get at the freshest bits of living weed. As the tide returns, they jump over rock-pools or swim across gullies in order to return to the beach where they will graze the long fronds of washed up weed called 'kelp'.

The tides around the edges of Auskerry are mostly broken rock reefs and impossible to bring ships near, much less do much swimming although the sheep manage. Between two corners however (the ruins to lighthouse in a brief cliff face area) there is a small inlet where the supply boat comes in. With carved steps up the rock face, this small sandy beach is one of the most swim-able areas of the coast. Once during the summer some locals from the other islands come with the boat to enjoy a rare day, but otherwise, few if any people come to the island becuse of it's hard-to-get-to nature.

One corner of the island is inhabited by muggles who think they are the only ones on the island. Here they run a fairly successful sheep farm using North Ronaldsay Moorit Sheep, with fine hair and black color. While they do fish around the island, they mostly stick to their end staying quite busy and their children are going to school on the mainland so not roaming everywhere. The sheep are nervous about strangers, but simply avoid them getting close enough to touch so they are mostly ignored by the wizards.

The second corner exactly opposite of the farm is the automated lighthouse run and maintained by the Scottish government. The once monthly checks are done efficiently and never interfere with the use of the island following a strict path along the coastal edge. They are equally ignored by the wizards as one of the ways of keeping muggles off the island long term. The ruins fill in the last corner which is farthest out to the North and the ocean wind's break as it were. Here since the early AD period, few know the background of the ruins or what their history was. The remains of three buildings are still quite visible defined as the farm, chapel and monastery. The stone pasture walls can still also be found around the old barn area.

The chapel and the Monastery are made of two different materials, the chapel of brick and the other of stone. While some doorways are still visible and a couple of window frames, the buildings themselves are now just historical with no other value in themselves. Under one corner of the chapel is a buried vault unknown to anyone alive with several old burials which would give the dates and details of the ruins, but they will probably never be discovered much less examined professionally. The old Monastery side door (a section of fallen wall) is a natural meeting spot to find the entrance to the Manor House which is completely out of sight in the green field beside the ruins.

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The Moon Manor House

Upon the death of her father at the end of this last school year, Lindsey and Alice became the last of the Moons and the family lawyer contacted them about the old house, closed up while her dad had owned it. He had always had a traveling nature and she had been unaware of the house in truth. It is located in Scotland in the Orkney Islands on the land of Auskerry. The island has one the ruins of an ancient chapel on one end of the island opposite a muggle lighthouse (automated) and the Burke manor sits hidden next to the chapel ruins.

That first summer she made arrangements for the lawyer to get it cleaned up and aired out and the sisters (and the lawyer's representatives till they come of age) lived the summer there. Consider this an old stone house with dungeons and magically shielded from detection (although certainly Dumbledore could manage it). Now when they are legally of age they will own it out right and enough money to manage for a few years decently enough. With an apperation license few will be able to find the home giving them a secure location for retreating too far from the normal reach of most wizards and witches.

The house is a three floor stone cottage style mansion, expanded inside and with deep basements not possible in muggle construction. It has an arched entrance wall which surrounds it and is tall enough to prevent flooding of the interior in bad weather unlike the muggles on the island so there is a rather decent sized yard around it on all sides. Since any wizard or witch inside the wall is magically hidden from sight from those outside it, brooms can go up to a hundred feet up without being visible making a low level quidditch game possible, but cramped in size and with no goal posts.

Since the house has been here quite some time, there have been a few plantings in the garden in the past around the base of the house, only one of which has survived to the present day in the ocean air. This heavy climbing root has grown up the backside of the house and blooms green near the edge of the roof providing the only color to the house stone itself. Entrance doors are secured by large metal bars and magically enhanced to prevent entrance except by the rightful owner. Guests must be brought inside the wall by the owner to be accepted into the magic zone of the home as well as brought in on each visit to the home to be able to come and go as they like.

Further magics are possible for marriages and children raised here have an automatic 'aura' the house accepts.

The entrance hall has a lot of very old wood, worn over the years, but still solid and in good shape. Stairs to the upper floors and a door to the basement levels as well are here. Open arches lead to the hallway for first floor. It should be noted there are more rooms here then described -- the house has been home to more then one branch of the family at a time in the past. Consider the rooms described as a sample of what is to be found throughout with plenty of room for family growth. Lindsey has been thrilled to learn there is already a ghost here in the Entrance way. An old retainer (dressed in 17th Century garb) named Abraham still greets all visitors and inquires to their business, guiding new guests to their rooms and giving a short tour of the building.

An engraving of him is in the front closet, tucked behind the hats above the level most guests can see, but not forgotten by Abraham himself. With very old manners, he represents the house's acceptance of people as well as monitoring where they go on the wishes of the owner. Without permission from the current owner through this retainer, the house will not let people into sections of the building, simply having the entrances hidden away as if they do not exist in reality. This is especially true with the dungeons where sometime in the past a rather effective system of floor cages were installed with ladders on the wall. Prisoners are allowed to climb down, then the ladder is removed. Chains can be hooked to the top of the cage away from the door effectively controlling anyone that is imprisoned here.

The first floor has two parlors, both of respectable size, but very different in decoration. The first is a proper sitting room with several wizarding portraits here from both the Moons and Silvers with connected family members who married into the family. Thick rug, a solitary spinet, and plenty of sitting spaces are scattered around. The other is much more a drawing room in looks; dark, thick tapestries, and an atmosphere of business. Used most often for meeting with special visitors, this room would be like the modern world's office without a desk visible. Both of these rooms Lindsey has plans to try and alter, possible to keep the sitting room the same just for those old stogies she has to deal with some days.

The dining room has a good sized table in it, with leaves in a nearby storage closet to expand the table up to twenty people. The walls have a secret themselves actually, the paint covering over a fake wall. Under this is a textured and detailed large map of the Scottish islands on it, complete with elevations of the topography. The attached kitchen is actually down a flight of ten steps allowing the kitchen fires to circulate their smoke into an inventive shaft of roman design which warms all the floors in the mansion to comfortable temperatures. Thus despite being a stone building, the floors are suitable for bare feet even in the early mornings as long as a fire is left burning. Since only wizarding fires have ever been located here it is quite sufficient for the building. A back servants stair comes down into the kitchen accessing the upstairs floors through concealed doors.

The second floor has mostly bedrooms, set up in hallways to separate the various ends of the family. The end which is currently being used contains four large bedrooms, only one of which has a single bed in it of king size with a rather unusual canopy. Lindsey has plans to change the colors in here, but has not managed to get around to it at this point yet beyond turning the room from powder blue to crimson red. The second bedroom which deserves note is a two room suite with single beds, all done in a very rich woodwork which is very recent, in the past generation probably by her grandmother who she never knew. This room and the Breakfast room are the only two windows in the house with stained glass. Vincent and Darius have their bedrooms at the far end of this floor.

The Breakfast room was clearly made for normal family life with several small tables, tiled floors, and sunny views over the wall surrounding the house. Evidence of the room being cleared and used for dancing or small parties. A smaller extension room holds enough space for all the furniture. This room is the center point of the second floor, but by far not the largest. On one hall is a two floored room which is an odd library. With a circular stair for access to the second level and many windows above for good lighting, the room still holds very few bookcases making it a grand room for very few books. However it is very comfortable and light. Mostly it contains Lindsey and Osiris research books.

On the third floor is an odd collection of rooms in two sets in one hall. The first is a four room suite making up the nursery. With one room for babies, a playroom, nanny's room, and a child's bedroom (two beds) it's an excellent space for keeping children out of sight and not underfoot. With good soundproofing, it also is the quietest place in the house when the windows are shut. A closet in the Nanny's room contains a number of magical toys for different ages, well worn and obviously well-loved from the past. Simple toys, but still with a spark of their former glory. The baby of the family currently inhabits this space while Darius has just recently moved out.

The fanciest rooms in the building make up the rest of the third floor and were last used nearly a hundred and fifty years ago by one of the 'grand-dames' of the Moon family still pictured in a portrait in the first floor sitting room. Seeing herself as the "Queen" of the thirteen child family (despite the fact most of her children were killed early on or didn't have descendants), she claimed it in her furnishings and sitting room for herself rarely leaving the grounds to mix in Wizarding society. Her rooms feature elegance, detailed carvings instead of roofing beams, and many delicate glass items as well. The rooms have been closed up longer then most of the building in respect for a different time. The two child ghosts in the house have taken over this space in the sitting end as their favorite play space. Both of Vincent's sisters have the last two rooms on this level.

As Attics go, this one is rather huge, being nearly four hundred feet long and divided in three sections. The main center is filled with all kinds of past items from furniture to clocks to even a few boxes marked with people's names which no one seems to want to open as they are coffin sized. On one end the large rounded window has been closed into room space suitable for some other space. Whether bedrooms or craft rooms of some kind, they are white and very light, airy. The other end (with matching window) is in a half-wrecked state from some past magic never cleaned up but in process by the lawyer's people during the summer occupancy. When finished, it will be a nice large space which could be used for any number of uses. The roof of the space is not directly above but divided from the roof by another three foot section stuffed with heavy insulation and topped with slate tiles. Not only does it make it warmer then the normal attic, but much quieter during storms as well.

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Vincent Silver-Moon's Bedroom

Vincent's father got control over the decoration of his eldest son's room and set him up in egyptian style, wanting him to be immersed in the cultural background he comes from. The actual bedroom is very nice and rich feeling! However, although he has grown up with it, Vin has also got a vary fascination with steampunk type styles and found a cabinet room he has added. In the corner of his bedroom a small metal wardrobe holds the space he spends far more of his time in.

It is a long space inside the cabinet (wizarding expanded space), not so much separate rooms. Using the pictures and items he collected he got his father to show him how to outfit the interior and it's far more a working space. It begins with a sitting space with a wall chart with pins for all the places he has managed to go so far. A low couch and chair here allow him to sit occasionally, but he spends most of his time beyond.

The lab itself comes in two spaces.

The sink is a combination library and component area, the space under the sink often used for temporary storage. The lab itself has a working desk (folds open at the touch of a wand), shelves, and a second case which unfolds into a large working table. In addition at the far end past this is a bedroom space which more fits his style then the Egyptian.

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Anne's Bedroom

Anne's room on the third floor was designed to look like a true castle. The windows have been replaced with stained glass for the light effect and stenciling has been run up and around on the walls. The floors are stone flagstone, though with the warming features of the building it doesn't get very cold. A few small rugs are scattered around it anyway. A few table and chairs set up for tea or writing fill the rest of the space besides the main furniture

With a bed below, the top space is often filled with things for her hideaway, everything from writing to toys and stuffed animals from younger years. The ladder up to it also is in front of a rack of drawers which hold her clothes and there are shelves in the bed part where she can put all her most treasured things.