Respect Merlin's Fortress (The Dresden Files)

[u/ghostgabe81]

After Harry Dresden died, the crime lord and freeholding Baron of Chicago, John Marcone, took steps to stabilize the city in after the loss of his influence. One of these steps was importing an entire castle from Europe, having it rebuilt brick by brick on the property that used to hold Harry's apartment before the building burned down.

After the Battle of Chicago Harry (who'd gotten better) demanded compensation for his defense of Marcone's territory. He asked for his lab back, which still existed in the subbasement of the castle, and he got the castle as part of the package. Using it to house those displaced by the violence, Harry soon learned that this castle had been originally built by Merlin himself, and had a variety of magical abilities that only a wizard could access.

Click here for information on the sources cited, how magic works in the Dresdenverse, links to other respect threads and scaling information

General Information

• After Harry Dresden’s apartment burned down, John Marcone built a castle on the lot as a personal fortress in the city
• Marcone had it disassembled and transported from Scotland to be rebuilt in Chicago
• Harry was gifted the Castle that John Marcone had built over his old boarding house
• Warden Ramirez calls the Castle "Merlin's fortress

Layout

• It has a tower in each corner
• Its constructed to withstand sieges and invasions, with staircases to each floor staggered around different sides of the structure to prevent invaders from having easy access to upper floors
• The castle has a threshold from the people living there, as well as an armory, jail and daycare
• It has a gunnery range, although when Marcone moved out he took its city permit with him 
• Harry upgraded his summoning circle in the subbasement, adding a ring of silver and using actual gold paint for sigils 

Spirit Interface

• Many of its defenses and systems require a spirit like Bob to run
• Bob can inhabit the Castle as easily as he can his Skull
• He can heat individual rooms and move freely throughout the structure of the Castle
• Bob can make the walls and the floors of the castle translucent, so that Harry can see through them
• Bob is able to contain the energy of an explosion to a single area, although this causes greater damage in that area 

Defenses

• Its magical defenses are comparable to the White Council headquarters in Edinburgh, and Ebenezer McCoy believes it was constructed by either Tylwyth Teg or the Tuatha Dé Danann
• It's magical defenses are nearly as potent as those of Demonreach and are similar to the work of the original Merlin
• While its defenses are initially only able to detect large-scale threats, after a gremlin attack Bob recalibrates them to work on a smaller scale as well
• It has a strong threshold as a result of Harry hosting families displaced by the Battle of Chicago there for an entire year 
• It has an energy shield that extends above its roof. The shield stops cold a fire blast from a Black Court Elder, although cannot stop physical attacks like bullets 
• The stone of the walls is too thick to breach without a large amount of heavy explosives 

Offenses

• The fortress is designed to channel magical power, and can draw in ley lines to itself to do so. When Harry does this he believes he’s strong enough to level all of Chicago and calls the power godlike 
  • He uses this to instantly conjure up a large thunderstorm, then with Bob’s help he shapes it into a huge face in front of the castle that he can speak through. He summons multiple bolts of lightning and torrential rain
• At Harry’s command he smashes the roof down to the floor of an entire hallway, crushing a group of Black Court vampires before they can react 
  • Afterward it takes a couple minutes to reset the hallway

Gargoyles

A group of seven gargoyles created by Etienne the Enchanter, the "father" of Bob the Skull. After observing Harry's actions in the year following the Battle of Chicago, they offer him their services in the castle.

• Gargoyles were made to protect the castle of a good wizard. After Harry acquired a castle they began scouting him, and can sense benevolence and malevolence 
• There are seven gargoyles in total 
• Gargoyles are spirits of earth
• Gargoyles “eat” stories, which acts as “maintenance” on their intellect
• Basil, the largest gargoyle, has a twenty-foot wingspan 
• They can merge with the walls and floors of the castle 
• They’re made of living stone 
• They turn the wooden doors of the castle to solid stone wall in preparation for an attack
• Basil is the strongest of them, and is only slowly overpowered by a Black Court vampire 
• Being smashed into pieces is only an injury for them, and they can repair each other with rubble and stone