Dresdenverse Wishful Thinking - Locations

[Griffyn612]

I'm starting a thread to share real-world locations we'd like to see in the Dresdenverse, either visited or mentioned.

First up, Villa Farnese

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Name: Villa Farnese
Location: Town of Caprarola, Italy
Founded: ~1530 (fortress); ~1559 (villa)
Founder: Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the future Pope Paul III
Purpose: Initially a pentagonal fortress; later made into a private Villa; currently state-owned and open to the public.

Dresdenverse Relevance:
It's a pentagonal fortress with a circular core. Along with the U.S. Pentagon, it seems like an ideal structure to contain something (or someone). Not to mention founded by a future Pope? Clearly the Church wanted something secured there.

That it's open to the public now makes it seem like whatever or whomever was there isn't there anymore, or the original purpose was forgotten. Maybe they're hiding it in plain sight, and visitors are unlikely to impact its functionality.

It's not located in Tuscany, otherwise I'd say a tie to the White Court might be apt. Perhaps the Church was done with it and the White Court acquired it secretly using the state as a front.

[Arjan]

This one is obvious in any white council centered book.

[groinkick]

Vlad the Impaler's castle.  I see Dresden needing to go there for either a ritual, or to retrieve something that's still there.  Something to do with either the Black Court or Drakul himself.

I think it would be cool if either he did something that showed the past, or he saw a flashback to the location to see that there is a lot more to the history of the place.

[groinkick]

I'm starting a thread to share real-world locations we'd like to see in the Dresdenverse, either visited or mentioned.

First up, Villa Farnese

************************************
************************************

Name: Villa Farnese
Location: Town of Caprarola, Italy
Founded: ~1530 (fortress); ~1559 (villa)
Founder: Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the future Pope Paul III
Purpose: Initially a pentagonal fortress; later made into a private Villa; currently state-owned and open to the public.

Dresdenverse Relevance:
It's a pentagonal fortress with a circular core. Along with the U.S. Pentagon, it seems like an ideal structure to contain something (or someone). Not to mention founded by a future Pope? Clearly the Church wanted something secured there.

That it's open to the public now makes it seem like whatever or whomever was there isn't there anymore, or the original purpose was forgotten. Maybe they're hiding it in plain sight, and visitors are unlikely to impact its functionality.

It's not located in Tuscany, otherwise I'd say a tie to the White Court might be apt. Perhaps the Church was done with it and the White Court acquired it secretly using the state as a front.

Oh that is awesome.  I could see it as a location for a duel where both people choose magic.  They are on the roof with the empty circle between them.

[Griffyn612]

Name: Lazzaretto of Ancona
Location: Ancona, Italy
Founded: 1733
Founder: Pope Clement XII
Purpose: Quarantine facility

Dresdenverse Relevance:
Another pentagonal building commissioned by a Pope. The reason for it being pentagonal is unknown, but it was built in a man-made Island in the water. It has a well in the center.

Like the Villa, it's now used by the public, so it's current use for anything magical seems unlikely. But it being a secure facility for quarantine could have made an association with the never-never to interesting places related to containment.

[Griffyn612]

Name: Novomalyn Castle
Location: Town of Novomalyn, Ukraine
Founded: ~1392
Founder: Svidrigaylo Jagiello, younger brother of the Grand Duke of Lithuania.
Purpose: Tower of a castle.

Dresdenverse Relevance:
Ruins of a pentagonal tower in the Ukraine sounds like a place where magic might have been done in the past.

[Griffyn612]

This one is obvious in any white council centered book.

I'm sure we'll be seeing it again, but will it remain in one piece? Harry's visited it a number of times now and it's survived, unlike almost everywhere else he's been. 

Vlad the Impaler's castle.  I see Dresden needing to go there for either a ritual, or to retrieve something that's still there.  Something to do with either the Black Court or Drakul himself.

I think it would be cool if either he did something that showed the past, or he saw a flashback to the location to see that there is a lot more to the history of the place.

Going to the old place of power for the "founder" of the Black Court sounds like it might be dangerous, but also a good place to gather intel on the Blamps.

Oh that is awesome.  I could see it as a location for a duel where both people choose magic.  They are on the roof with the empty circle between them.

Yeah the inside is very cool too, but likely too small for a big duel, and the roof might be difficult to navigate for two combatants. But it being used as an entrapment or summoning site for a number of wizards to take on something in the inner circle, with them taking the high ground on the roof, might work well.

[Arjan]

I'm sure we'll be seeing it again, but will it remain in one piece? Harry's visited it a number of times now and it's survived, unlike almost everywhere else he's been.  ..

He was never in the town. Gated in went under ground and that was it.

Jim should visit. He could stay in the same room Rowling wrote her last Harry Potter book. https://www.therowlinglibrary.com/2016/06/01/the-balmoral-hotel-where-j-k-rowling-finished-harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows/

[Avernite]

I would think some waterworks would be an excellent low-side-damage kind of duelling spot. The Niagara Falls, or if Harry has to face a water mage, maybe the Dutch 'Afsluitdijk' for being associated with murdering a sea (don't tell me that wouldn't help the not-water-mage).

And Rome, Harry absolutely should visit the Colosseum or St. Peter's. And given what JB has already shown, I figure he could navigate that without getting gimmicky or offensive (for similar reasons, I don't think Jerusalem's in the cards - too much risk of being offensive by attributing local sources of power to just one faith; at least in Rome all the Pagan sites got picked up by the Church or Tourism so you don't have to say who was right).

Facing the Fomor at Cape Horn would be just the place to put them finally in their watery grave. If they can't stand there, they can never stand.

Meeting Ivy at one of the world's great libraries or museums, and finding just how scary powerful (and useful - I have hope she remains a good gal) she can be in a place where human advancement is celebrated. I think so far she's only been seen in places where animals are celebrated/remembered. She might even be a nice fit for Rome; Vatican Archives anyone, with her filling in the missing pieces Nick and the Nickelheads burned.

[Snark Knight]

I would think some waterworks would be an excellent low-side-damage kind of duelling spot. The Niagara Falls,

Collateral damage to a dam is generally quite the opposite of casualty-mitigating for anyone living down-river.

[Griffyn612]

I would think some waterworks would be an excellent low-side-damage kind of duelling spot. The Niagara Falls, or if Harry has to face a water mage, maybe the Dutch 'Afsluitdijk' for being associated with murdering a sea (don't tell me that wouldn't help the not-water-mage).

Collateral damage to a dam is generally quite the opposite of casualty-mitigating for anyone living down-river.

I could see a short story with Carlos and Listens, where Carlos learns that the largest dams in America are used to shelter the dormant Elder Thunderbirds. And somebody trying to cause chaos tries to destroy a dam to wake one, which would cause massive power shortages and turbulent weather.

With Carlos and Listens both being water mages, it would work well. And it could be some therapy for a Carlos after everything he's been through.

[magical_liopleurodon]

Vlad the Impaler's castle.  I see Dresden needing to go there for either a ritual, or to retrieve something that's still there.  Something to do with either the Black Court or Drakul himself.

I think it would be cool if either he did something that showed the past, or he saw a flashback to the location to see that there is a lot more to the history of the place.

been to this castle. man. if it weren't for this damn pandemic. I highly recommend Romania and a castle tour there. So awesome

[Kindler]

This thread is architecture pornography, and I'm perfectly happy about that.
Here's mine: Le Mont-Saint-Michel. A fortified tidal island in Normandy that is absolutely breathtaking.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont-Saint-Michel

A lot of media I've watched/read/played/otherwise consumed drew design inspiration from this location, which makes sense. The place looks downright effing mystical, like something you might find in, say, one of the Faerie Courts. Most recently, it was pretty obviously the design inspiration for the New Londo Ruins location in Dark Souls, with the tidal effect included in the gameplay, right down to there only being a single access bridge to the whole location.
Otherwise, I'd really like to see something happen more in the Eastern US, like the Appalachian Mountains. I don't think Harry's ever been to a mountain in the books, has he? Lets get a mountain in there. I'm not picky. Any mountain will do.