A Castle Planner's Guide to Sand Castles

     You have joined me on the shores of Meridell for a quick lesson in castle architecture, taught by yours truly, the Castle Planner for Meridell Castle, Gaius Gallius! Now if I know anything as an architect, it’s castles, and if I know anything as a Bori, it’s digging and sand. So I don’t think you will find a better teacher on this subject.

     Here in Meridell, we have long been near the coast line, which has been a crucial part of our kingdoms nautical history, especially in our trad- Oh sorry I’m rambling. You kids are here for sand castles, not history! I suppose we will start with our first step. Take your bucket, and let's go to the water, and fill it up. Be careful, let the waves come to you, lest the waves carry you away!

     Now that we have our bucket of water, consult your handy Kreludor moon chart to know what time the tides are! What do you mean you don’t have one? Okay fine, you can borrow mine. Just know that the best time to build is as the tides are going out to low tide, otherwise later on you will be playing Castle Defender against the natural force of water… and let me tell you, ‘Water always wins.’

     Pick a clear spot with compacted sand that has been smoothed out by the waves, but has become dry on the surface. Go ahead and use your shovel to dig a small hole. It should be wet a couple inches below the surface! That’s the ideal place to find your castle! Wet the sand with the water from your bucket so it’s easy to work with. Next we are going to go over a few terms for things our castle should have as we add them!

     Castle Feature Glossary

     Moat- Dig a ditch around your castle’s land! This is a defensive structure that makes it so that there is only one spot to come in and out of the castle. Its easier to defend if you know where they are coming from! Krawks are optional. We can fill it with water later. If you are close enough to the sea’s level, your moat might even fill with water naturally!

     Ramparts- Once you have a moat, you can move that sand you dug out for the moat to raise the earthen-works on the side of your castle. Use your paws and claws to mold the sand up. These ramparts act as soil walls that make attacking your castle much harder! Tire our the attackers trying to go up a steep hill before they even reach your castle walls

     Draw Bridge- Use a piece of driftwood to bridge your moat. The guards in the gatehouse can then decide who is allowed to cross in to enter.

     Keep- Fill an empty bucket with moist sand, and then over turn it where you want your main castle building. The keep is the main “body” of the castle. This is where the King lives! Its thick walls and tall structure give it strength. You can use a stick to draw in the stones and mortar lines on your castle.

     Curtain Walls- Get some sand and make a nice tall wall behind your ramparts, and around the Keep. These will be your Curtain Walls! These walls are what everyone sees first, and what keeps your Keep safe! If you want to make your Curtain Walls stronger, Add some Towers for thickness, stability, and a place for your knights to get up to the Battlements!

     Bailey- Leave some space inside your castle walls that is nice and flat. This is a nice place for your castle residents to enjoy the outdoors, while still being safely inside the walls. Perhaps find some moss or seaweed to make a little garden in there!

     Portcullis- This is the giant door-like structure on the front of our castle! Carefully dig a hole in the Curtain Wall where your Draw Bridge connects. Use some sticks to make a defensive gate! This gate would normally be lifted up by big chains to open the Castle walls to visitors allowed to be there, but they can be suddenly dropped if some bad guys are coming across the drawbridge!

     Battlements- These are the square zig-zags (us architects call it crenelation) on the top of the Curtain walls and the keep! Your sandcastle’s archers can hide behind these while they are reloading, for safety! Build these by using your shovel blade to cut out little squares!

     Crests and Banners- Add some decoration that says who owns this castle! Take a leaf, and plant your flag!

     Now its time for the final step: adding detail! Windows and arches can be hard, but give them your best shot. Carve them into your sandcastle with your trowel! What do you mean you don’t have a trowel? All the best Castle Planners carry one at all times. You never know when you will need to repair some masonry, or dig something up! Fine, you can borrow one of my spares.

     Everyone’s castles should be coming along nicely, so now I’ll show you a trick that I learned from my teacher on how to make little trees. A couple of feet away uphill from your castle, dig a small hole as wide as your paw until you hit water. This will make a little cenote, where you will have access to some soaking wet sand.

     Take a claw full of the wet sand, and as the water drips out, keep a loose grip on the sane, to let it drip away with the sand too. As you let it dribble onto drier sand, the drips of wet sand will “freeze” in place! You can keep dripping sand into spires, bushes, and trees. Perhaps use this technique to add a steep and textured roof to your castle?

     Did everyone enjoy building their sand castles? Wonderful to hear! Now think of wonderful stories about the residents who live there, and how they use the castle for their everyday life. Did you build your castle strong enough to last? Why... this reminds me that one of the earlier forms of Meridell castle was destroyed in a very similar way to a sandcastle when it- Oh whoops sorry, you kids don’t want to hear about that, huh?

     Well, now that your lessons are done, let’s go have fun at the beach!