Celebrimbor: 30-Day Character Study by cloudyhymns

Day 13: Home Sweet Home, Part Two

One home studio to rule them all?

Thank you for all of the sweet comments, I'm sitting down to reply to them this weekend over a pot of tea!

If Ost-in-Edhil is on a floodplain between rivers and the mountains, I suspect its inhabitants would have to build vertically to escape the waters. Given the instability of silt, unless they were going straight into bedrock, I don't think they would build down, although this was likely different where the city met stone. As the ruler, Celebrimbor's home would likely be amongst the tallest of the buildings, although I sincerely doubt he would want anything particularly fancy. In fact, I suspect it would be connected to his forge, further reducing the work-life separation in every way they tell you not to do.

Vertical building was not uncommon, even during the Bronze Age--look at the site of Hisarlik if you're curious--so it certainly would have been an option for the Elves of Eregion. The city of Ost-in-Edhil as a whole would likely be raised above the floodplain, whether by fill or by fortuitous natural design, to prevent issues with sanitation and pestilence in the summers. Given that lead is known to be worked in Middle-Earth, I think it reasonable that Ost-in-Edhil would have some sort of pipe and aqueduct system like that of Rome, especially given lead's history as a byproduct of silver smelting (the ancient Romans gathered much of their silver from lead ore).

And now I'm wondering if Elves are subject to heavy metal poisoning. We know that they are subject to poisoning of other forms, so why not the metals? But how would the Gwaith have survived their work while maintaining reasonable lucidity for hundreds of years?

I'm getting off topic--let's just say there's reasonable sanitation and Celebrimbor can sleep without getting covered in river water. What else is important? Keeping his materials safe, and keeping his people safe from his materials. With regards to material safety, they would need to be kept dry to maintain their integrity, indicating the need for either underground or elevated storage bunkers or chambers. Since many materials he might use are highly flammable or malleable at low heat, they would do best kept away from the forge, so the layers of his building or tower would require insulation and stopgaps in case of fire. Additionally, if the storerooms were up high and there were a fire, any sort of discharge could spray flaming debris all over the city--which all of the Gwaith would likely wish to avoid. So: the storerooms are likely separate from the forge and living quarters, and perhaps sealing doors could be designed with low-melting-point metals to slam shut in case of heating by fire? I have no idea about the practicality of that, but to me, it sounds intriguing.

Ventilation is also required; Celebrimbor would, of course, have windows, but I suspect he would want to have a large chimney or the like to funnel smoke out of the workshop. He would also likely want to limit open flame apart from the furnaces and rely heavily on natural light, so I wouldn't be surprised if he had some notable contraption that moved very large window panes back and forth for work during the day. I could even see him using steam to accomplish such a task.

I won't get into the structure of the forges now, since I know that is a rabbit hole that I won't crawl back out of, but I will say I wouldn't be surprised if Celebrimbor followed the Golden Ratio in the construction of his chambers. I picture him as the kind of character to have a very fancy spiral staircase, too, almost like something you'd see when climbing up to a church's belltower or through the records hall in Gondor. Something about Celebrimbor strikes me as very old-fashioned, despite all the progress he makes in changing times, so perhaps that's why I associate him with them.

When it comes to furniture, I believe Celebrimbor would favor wood as a side-hobby. He would certainly know carpentry, and I could see him loving rich and colorful woods like cherry and red walnut, using them to add spots of brightness to enclosed spaces. The native trees would be, I believe, beech (see Day 4), and their furniture more similar to Rivendell's, but I also wouldn't put it past Celebrimbor to wait for as long as it takes to get the right material to accomplish his vision. While I don't picture Celebrimbor cooking often, I can picture him being well-stocked with a kettle and plenty of pottery, and enjoying supporting the other local artisans of Eregion. If he had dyed fabrics, my bet would be on reds or greens to mesh the colors of his family line and those of nature--and also because I find red woods and green cloths a gorgeous combination. While he's fond of tapestries and hangings, I can't help but picture Celebrimbor as slightly afraid of fire, and therefore cautious with what he places about his quarters. His living arrangements would be connected to his workshop and forge, after all, and stranger things have happened in the night.

I don't think Celebrimbor would often host guests who would stay the night, but if he did, he would probably have a daybed or the Middle-Earth equivalent of a Murphy bed for them. He's certainly handy enough to construct those, don't you think? Still, I suspect his bed and a personal study would take up most of his space, since his priorities are clear, and those are not exactly downtime. He would most likely house designs and records in his study, along with some administrative work from the city--unless, of course, he found it best suited to feed to the fires downstairs.

As discussed on previous days, I believe Celebrimbor would lean towards fire-resistant fabrics like silk and cotton when planning his spaces--besides, those always feel quite luxurious! Tyelpë can feel spoiled while avoiding becoming extra crispy.

We don't hear much about pets in Middle-Earth, presumably because animals are more often from working lines with jobs to complete rather than purely for entertainment. That said, I could picture Celebrimbor having a dog or cat to Rubber Duck with, talking his way through problems as he spins his wheels in the back of his mind or keeping his hands busy until a solution presents itself. I do think Annatar would be quite jealous, though, so maybe I hope Celebrimbor doesn't have a pet!