(Rodney Matthews – drawing the Courts of Chaos since 1970)
The High Redoubt
His primary residence is the High Redoubt, out in the Black Zone, where he acts as the primary Helgram Family Representative.
The world is pretty small – maybe 100 miles across, and floating in nothingness, looking out towards the skies of Chaos. However, it is dotted with small settlements where his people live (human, humanoid and demon). He operates out of a high tower in the centre, which is around 1,000ft high (or roughly the size of the Shard in London), made out of a substance which looks like organic pulled and blown glass. Around the base is a busy barracks and stabling area, and the small town to support that, at least some of it under the cover of the bottom of the tower. The tower contains his personal quarters, as well as the homes of his key retainers, which are reached by a bank of three elevators to one side. Jowan’s own quarters are only accessible from the left-hand elevator, and there is a palm-print sensor to reach that level. They seem to be magically powered, as the exit to Jowan’s quarters is to one side, rather than in the centre.
His quarters are at about 600ft, with a higher viewing platform at 750ft that can somehow see the whole of this little world and also acts as his studio. His personal space comprises a single, circular room, about 50ft high in the centre and 150ft in diameter, with a large central fireplace, a curved ceiling, and windows all the way around. There is also underfloor heating throughout.
The room is luxuriously furnished and apart from a general lounge area around the fireplace, it is divided into different areas (bedrooms music room, games room, study, and a decent-sized library, kitchen, bathrooms, etc).
Apart from his library, which is delineated with tall bookshelves, the individual areas are separated with a variety of ornate oriental screens, both wooden and paper, which vary between 8ft and 10ft high: enough to keep each area separate, without losing the shape of the chamber as a whole. The screens have been enchanted so that they effectively act as real walls as far as sound carrying into the rest of the chamber is concerned, and the entrances to each area can be slid shut for privacy.
The ceiling is decorated with swirls and whorls of coloured glass, and there are sculptures of glass, stone and metal, dotted around the living areas, obviously placed for artistic effect. There are also books scattered on a lot of the flat surfaces, and from the titles, his reading tastes are eclectic, with areas of interest including: languages, music, art, chemistry, poisons, the occult, economics, history (Thelbane, Amber and Shadow), militaria (military history, field manuals, weapons manuals, etc), biographies and autobiographies, and law books from an assortment of different worlds. There are also a number of fiction titles from a variety of genres, including classics, sci-fi, fantasy and thrillers.
The High Redoubt is connected to Seòras, his holding in House Helgram, through a mirror in the upper chamber.
Seòras
Jowan also has a small Ways within the main Helgramways complex. It was originally called Jowanways, but he has renamed it Seòras (pronounced SHO-rahs). The main house is a small, Spanish colonial-style property, on a grassy island offset to one side in a small lake. On one side of the island, a number of bridges cross the water – which at that point is only about a hundred yards wide, and take the visitor into a variety of other landscapes, including formal gardens, à la Versailles, with glass installations in various places; a grassy dell with a stream running through it; an olive grove in a Mediterranean landscape; and a meadow with a fairy ring in the centre. There is also a bridge that leads off into Helgramways proper. In the opposite direction, the lake extends for some distance, and gives way to a view of snow-capped mountains.
The Zócalo
While he doesn’t have a residence, as such, in the Zócalo, Jowan is a regular visitor there, keeping an eye on things, and making sure it runs smoothly under the guidance of Mayor Lennox Helgram. A room as been set aside for his use in the Palacio Alcade.