First Year Dorms: SnowCap Castle

Snowcap Castle, 1849

History and Design 

Dogwood University was established in 1640 and while much is known about the school’s founding, very little is known about the most relevant spaces on this historic campus.  

The five dormitories of Dogwood.

The lore of these dormitories is as varied as the architects who built them. The dorms are as follows, in order from First year to Fifth year: SnowCap Castle, Dunestead, River Chateau, Treetop Lodge, and The Keep. 

As is tradition, freshmen live in SnowCap Castle. The Castle was the first dorm to be renovated and architect Lauritz Souffelli took up the mantle as the school's first designer to inspire a new way of living for DU's students in 1849. The gray stoned gothic castle is covered in permanent ice and snow. With sharp points and stained glass windows, the Castle sits old and imposing on the Wandola banks. A moat of icicles guards the dorm from unauthorized entry. Only First Years with the correct metal key card (encrypted with a student’s thumbprint as an extra security measure) can gain entrance onto the snow-covered bridge.

Although SnowCap Castle is the oldest and most dated dorm, the furnishings within are moderately stylish and comfortable. The marble halls and staircases create an icy draft that feels gratefully chilly during the summertime heat and positively dangerous during the winter. Students are often found bundled in scarves and coats scurrying from the hallways of this cavernous space into the respite of their common rooms. 

Inside the common rooms, deep purple banners and flaming torches line the walls, shaggy rugs cover the stone floors, and couches, wooden desks, and purple cushioned chairs cluster around six enormous fireplaces. 

Etched above each fireplace is the word Disciplina (Discipline), a reminder to the school’s newest students that while making friends is important, the primary purpose of a college is the pursuit of academic excellence. 

Castle Secrets

SnowCap Castle is said to be the only dorm home to a handful of ghost bats. While the existence of these bats have never been confirmed, students have reported strange occurrences in the rooms and bathrooms. One student, Mika Townley, reported washing shampoo from her hair, only for the bubbles to increase each time she rinsed. She believes that a SnowCap ghost bat continued to pour shampoo over her head as she washed, resulting in a nearly empty bottle and the remainder of her shower completed in the sink. 

Another student, Dominico Vittoni, claims that every time he opens a bag of sweet and sour puffs, it vanishes whenever he turns his attention to his homework or to socialize with a fellow classmate. He has taken to opening the bag and eating it all at once, and laments the time when he could leisurely eat without fear. 

Despite the high-jinx of these alleged ghost bats, the Lunines and Woodlands love the Castle’s cold climate and have been caught putting out the fires in the common rooms at night, which causes an uproar amongst their Tatzleskin, Fennex, and fire Elemental peers. The dorm’s unforgiving atmosphere is so legendary that the Tatzleskins have set up “safe houses” in the Castle, where personal heaters, fire rocks, and mattresses made of molten are crammed into tiny rooms for health purposes. 

Of course, anyone who rooms with a Tatzleskin or Fennex will argue their rooms are practically saunas. Despite the weather wars, bats, and unyielding architecture, SnowCap Castle is a right of passage for all students at Dogwood. And perhaps the architect Lauritz Souffelli knew what he was doing when he designed such a contentious building. Discipline is indeed required to survive your first year in the hallowed halls of SnowCap Castle.