Quote:
Originally Posted by Brett
Besides the Victorian mansion, there are two genuine castles on the estate: Kinlochaline (12th century, ruined in 1690, rebuilt since the 1990s) and Ardtornish (15th century, abandoned at the end of the 17th, still ruined).
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Splendid!
Either would do, I suppose, depending on size and how ruined 'ruined' means. The rebuilding of Kinlochaline could, of course, have been at the behest of the Queen and done in a way that would not interfere with the use of parts of it as a magical sanctum.
But what are we talking about in money terms? Tens of millions? Hundreds?
She could maybe 'disappear' (or at least avoid the press discuss the use to which she put it) a million or two a year from some combination of Privy Purse, Civil List, income from the Duchy of Lancaster and grants-in-aid, assuming her Treasurer is onboard with her, but beyond that, she has to rely on influencing others to shovel it out. Granted, she has truly monstrous influence with various charities and semi-governmental trusts and organisations, but still, moving large sums of money for murky purposes is one of the best ways to end up blowing something clandestine sky high and onto page one of the Sun.
Of course, one or more of the early conspirators might have been stinking, filthy rich and not using his private fortune at the moment. And the Raven family who own the place could be involved in the conspiracy, of course, which means that there would be no need to buy the estate. And the sustainable energy project looks like it would be the kind of thing someone could 'invest' in without any questions being asked, even if he never recoups the investment. As a bonus, the use to which a lot of royal land in Scotland has started to be put recently is connected to sustainable energy (windmills), which could have provided a way for the Ravens (pioneers in the field, active in various charities connected to it) to meet various early conspiracy members within the Royal Household.
Even so, what do you reckon fixing up a castle or two, adding various features*, concealing a small Killing House somewhere on site and then building a bunch of housing for your scores of secret people would come to, roughly, in pounds?
How much could you save by having maybe ten to twenty people (maybe five of whom could be chosen partially for their handiness) willing to do a lot of the weirdest and most mystical stuff themselves, over a period of some ten years, for no monetary recompanse beyond consideration by the Queen when it came to sinecures and maybe jobs within her power to influence? Or just from loyalty to the Royal Family or Her Majesty alone or such loyalty combined with a recognition that researching the supernatural (and later, defending others from it) is worth doing, even it must be done in secret.
*Like a wing without any modern amenities, constructed using only 'traditional' building methods and then another with every piece of communication eqiupment and digital gadget you can imagine. And a cellar for containment, a morgue and some labs.