Bianco (#2500)

(an instance of Generic Room with Seats made by Steelgrave)

     An apartment in the Petit Socco section of the Medina, large airy, and luxurious. The walls are white, the floors white marble veined with grey, the ceiling an expanse of intricately carved cedarwood. To one side of the door is a decorated Zenata saddle on a bronze stand. A display of daggers crisscrosses the wall above. A deep chair and sofa of supple white leather curve around to the south wall, separated by a round table of etched brass. Hanging over the sofa is an embossed Kashan of lustrous silk and metallic threads, and a vivid, richly detailed Tabriz lies below. Across the room small trees are set in pots of copper and brass. The softly furred flames of a bottlebrush tree hide an alcove bed, and flourishing palmettos half conceal a door. An armchair of embossed leather sits in front of a large desk of marquetry. On the north wall, fretted doors open onto a balcony of wood and wrought iron, overlooking the bay of Tangiers. 4he interior is shaded from the brightness of the afternoon sun. Outside the sky arches above city, a dense, vivid turquoise misting over the sea. Gulls wheel and cry, the weather flirts then sulks, alternating the tang of sea salt with sultry heat.

You sink into the welcoming comfort of the white leather sofa.

You notice some details:
      You step through the fretted doors onto the balcony. The Great Mosque is an invisible yet potent presence behind you. Soon the muezzin will stand atop the minaret and call the faithful to prayer. From the balcony the rooftops of the white city fall away, tier upon tier - all the varied rooftops of Grand Socco and the Petit Socco like stepping stones leading down to the Bay of Tangiers. There sky and sea blur into one luminous horizon. In the distance, a single streak of gold marks the shores of Spain.
      A mosque pattern - the central medallion radiating straight lines that cross and crisscross to form varying diamond shapes. Between the bold outlines, each area is intricately detailed, the surrounding border elaborate. Echoing the Kashan, but reversing its dominant colors, the rug gleams with deep opulent reds - crimson and scarlet, maroon and carmine - their glowing vibrance accented with black and gold barely flecked with cream.
      Gleaming like gilded cream, the woven ground displays an embossed Tree of Life. Russet and scarlet, persimmon and pomegrante, maroon and crimson - vivid reds pulsate as the raised nap of the trunk branches across the pale silken smoothness. The tree burns with life, leaves opening, buds unfurling, blossoms dripping like bright flames - all edged with the dazzling glitter of pure gold.
      Creamy white, the fine leather is lustrous and soft. The sleek curves of the sofa modern and elegant.
      Matching the sofa, the chair is of soft, creamy leather.
      The Arab saddle is developed from those of Zenata tribesman, with their leather-covered wooden cantles, and broad rectangular stirrups set high. Seat and blanket, headband and collar, the background of the saddle and its trappings is a deep green satin bordered with black. Metallic gold embroidery covers the surfaces, encrusted with paillettes and hung with tassels, great and small. Inspired by the elaborate geometrics of zelige, the saddle glitters with a pattern of interlocking stars.
      Kenjar and Koumiya, a dozen curved blades bedeck the wall. Intrictely wrought of silver and copper, the handles and sheaths of the blades are inlaid with mother of pearl and semiprecious stones.
      Enclosed inside a tall cabinet, the desk is built from burls of thuja wood. Its lustrous, richly mottled surface is elaborated with dark and light inlays - fragments of ivory and ebony, citrus woods and gleaming mother of pearl form intricate mosaics. Open the cabinet and the writing desk descends revealing an array of small shelves, drawers and pigeon holes.
      Smooth carved ebony and deep oxblood leather create a handsome chair.
      Concealed behind the bottlebrush tree, an archway of carved stucco shows the raised bed inside the alcove. The walls and ceiling are carved cedarwood painted with a tracery of multipointed stars. A voluptuous haven within that shadowy, cedar scented interior, the wide mattress offers firm but yielding comfort. Cool cotton sheets are a rich paisley of swirling red flames laced with bronze and black, and pillows abound.

You see a painting here.

EXITS:
      A wooden door of narrow horizontal panels, finely carved and varnished. [ door ] Exotica.
      [ down ] Bolthole.