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lin
Out from behind the sun



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  		   Posted 10/23/2008 2:27 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
your setting is essentially a citadel. I would call the cell a "hold", personally. or come up with original terminology like "the butt" because it was made from an old oak wine barrel or something.

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XFR5007B
Anchor, flank and hold



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  		   Posted 10/19/2008 3:08 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Slam
Big house
Graybar hotel
Stir
Lock down
SHU
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alphabeta
The Martian



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  		   Posted 9/29/2008 6:01 AM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
To me it sounds like:

The Heart of the Damned
City's Palace
The Citadel

Maybe the city is why the castle exists, like a:

Last Resort

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http://www.geocities.com/anarchystate99

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Charles Gramlich
Acolyte



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  		   Posted 9/7/2008 12:00 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
I'd agree, gaol is the choice.

Charles Gramlich
 

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Richard Stanbery
Stablehand

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  		   Posted 8/26/2008 10:28 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Yeah, I like that one!skull  As in "Black hole of Calcutta". Kewl !
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MichaelEhart
Sage



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  		   Posted 8/26/2008 12:00 AM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Or you could call it "the hole"

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Richard Stanbery
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  		   Posted 8/25/2008 10:51 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.

 You could just call it "The Terem", to borrow a little culture from the Kremlin. The meanings would not match exactly, but who would notice?

Or, you could call it the "Castrum", "Castellum", or the "Castra". You could even call it the "Buhrs", or "Stan-buhrs" (stone fortresses). Who knows, history is full of interesting and forgotten terms. Good luck with it.idea

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crystalwizard
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  		   Posted 8/25/2008 10:50 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
I think I'm going to go with Gaol. Thanks guys :) I really appreciate the help.

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Rob Santa
Sage



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  		   Posted 8/25/2008 10:22 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Now we're wandering into territory I like: the blending of modern ideas in a medieval/fantasy setting. "Gaol" and "donjon" are my favs, since they not only convey the meaning of the place but do it in a spelling that seems archaic. "Detention/Detainment Hall" are my least favorite terms as they sound "too" modern.

Depends on the rest of your storytelling style, I figure.


Rob Santa
Hopelessly Addicted Writer of Speculative Fiction
and CEO of Ricasso Press

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Dungeoneer
Bearer of No Clever Titles

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  		   Posted 8/25/2008 8:55 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
If you're talking about the area, or compound, used by the soldiers, then I vote for 'barracks'.  If you're only talking about the 'holding area', I suggest Detention or Detainment Chamber/Hall.
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Nathan Jerpe
Acolyte



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  		   Posted 8/25/2008 8:27 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Hold? Fastness?
 
Bear in mind that if you get stuck with particulars, you could always use a metaphor instead. (The Oblongs, for instance, if the cells were say, oblong)
 
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RHFay
Sage



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  		   Posted 8/25/2008 8:08 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Is it a tower? You could use the term "donjon" for the building, which originally meant the central tower, the keep. Later on, with some slight changes, the word became dungeon.

Otherwise, if it's a building built along one of the walls, it might be called a barracks, or "Quarters of the Royal Guard", or "Guards' Hall" (some castles had "Knights' Halls"), or something like that and then you could go on to describe the cells/chambers in the undercroft/basement.

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crystalwizard
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  		   Posted 8/25/2008 6:38 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
MysticWino said...
what's wrong with "cell"?


It's a building with a couple of halls and several cells, so I can't very well call the entire thing a cell...
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Hermit
Diavhrati Luminary



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  		   Posted 8/25/2008 6:09 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
what's wrong with "cell"? you can have a series of cells without an actual prison, too.
Or the cage or cages
lock-up
cool-room
miscreants' suite
demeanor correction hall

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darkbow
Rabbit lord



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  		   Posted 8/25/2008 5:01 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Brig
Stockade
Keep
Gaol
Bastille

... all depending on your cultural background, of course.

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crystalwizard
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  		   Posted 8/25/2008 4:15 PM (GMT -5)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Assume a large castle in the middle of the capital city. The castle is actually more of a small village enclosed in a heavy stone wall, complete with courtyards, practice grounds, parade grounds and so on, than just a place where the royals keep house.

Assume a time period that is somewhat modernish and somewhat medieval (yeah, fantasy world)

Assume a decent sized army, with a special regiment of royal guards.

The royal guards are stationed inside the castle. They have their own area and buildings, including what can be used as a jail if one of the guards does something that he needs to be locked up for.

I can't call that "the dungeon"
I don't want to call it "the jail"

Give me some ideas for decent terminology, please.
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