lus tnous architects of the era, was commissioned to design the Castle, it has been described as his finest work Certainly it was his longest-lasting, as portions of the central keep and much of the perimeter wall are standing to mis day The estate surrounding die Castle included approximately five hundred hectares of arable land enclosed by a wall two meters thick and fifty meters m height built of varicolored Caladanian granite and strengthened by flying buttresses Within the wall lay fields of pundi nee, both for home consumption and export wheat and other grains, al] manner of vegetables and fruits, and a complete array of livestock, both native and imported The Castle was, in short, capable of total self sufficiency m keep ing with the desires of its original owner (Wesle was a lifelong student of history and wished to pattern Castle Caladan after the manor of a feudal lord of Old Terra) Various dwellings, comfortable it not grand, were provided on the estate for the retainers who tended all of its flora and fauna A military barracks housed the detachment of Atreides soldiers Wesle had been granted by his brother The Castle proper was centered on this tract of land and was constructed of the same beautifully tinted stone that made up the boundary wall In its heyday the building was a marvel it contained twenty fully outfitted bedroom surtes, a kitchen capable of leedmg four thousand if completely utilized, conser- CASTl CALADAN 151 CATCHPOCKET vatones with plants from a hundred worlds, and a library which had been favorably compared to that of the Court on Kaitam More than two hundred servitors were employed in its maintenance When the Castle was com pleted in 8722, the Sindar-Duke now Paulos XVI, moved his household to occupy the new residence From 8721 to 9350, the Atreides' lived quietly if splendidly on Caladan Many of Paulos's descendants followed his example and became noteworthy scholars (in particular Orestes II [r 9222-9249], whose theories on the ongms of novae remained unchallenged for six centuries) Others followed artistic or even religious vocations, bat whatever then-pursuit, each generation held one charactens tic m common a marked disinterest in recapturing the Imperial throne Nowhere in their history ts it indicated that any of the Caladaman Atreides felt the urge to rule Castle Caladan, with its emphasis on comfort its priceless art collection, and its persistent lack of any military touch-aside from that token garrison-reflected this serenity In 9355 following the assumption of the Dukedom of Phihppos XIV1, all of this was changed The Castle underwent a series of alterations walls were removed and rearranged to provide room for the extra servitors needed by a ruling House, the military barracks increased tenfold, and the already sturdy defenses were strengthened to full capacity, at which any but an all-out planetary attack could be rebuffed The quarters which Piultppos and his heirs occupied slowly evolved from their luxurious state to more utilitarian-occasionally Spartan-forms Drawing rooms and studies became military headquarters and training rooms for the younger family members who were now born into the family of a political ly ambitions Dake and destined to face all of die dangers such a birthright made unavoidable The studios and galleries so central to the lives of the earlier inhabitants became divertissements for the Atreides ladies rather than places in which the lords of the manor would spend their days Within a century even the great library had fallen into disfavor, its volumes conscientiously dusted but seldom studied As the nerve center of their fief, Castle Caladan served the Atreides for another twenty-two generations It was left in the hands of numerous caretakers following the assign ment of Arrakis as fief entire to Duke Leto Atreides (Although Count Hasimir Fcnnng was appointed Smdar m Absentia of Cdladan after Leto s departure, he did not relocate to Caladan and there is no evidence to indicate that the Count or his Lady ever so much as visited the Castle) Upon her return to Caladan m 10196, the Lady Jessica took up residence m Castle Caladan again and remained there-with one interruption, from 10218 to 102202-until her death in 10256 Following the Lady's burial m the Atreides Family cemetery on Caladan, the Castle was declared an Imperial monument Many generations of Imperial citizens toured the building and grounds which made up the birthplace of Paul Maud'Dib Atreides treating them as things to be venerated for themselves In tune, the fact that Castle Caladan had once been a stately and gracious dwelling was almost completely forgotten, dwarfed by comparison to its importance m the Atreides legend NOTES 'in this year [he Siridar Duke s brother Count Gamck and all his family were taken hostage when a rebel force attacked Hestia The invaders wished to bargain with the lives of the Atreides-known loyalists to the Crown-in order to obtain passage to Tupile from Ezhar XI the ruling Cornno Emperor The emperor replied with his usual firmness after sending a rather cryptic message of apology to the captives he ordered his troops to raze Hestia completely Nothing on the entire planet was left 2This was the period m which she trained young Farad n Cornno in the Bene Gestent Way Further references ATREIDES DUKE LETO ATREIDES HOUSE PROMINENT MEMBERS ATREIDES LADY JESSICA CAtADAN Orestes Atreides A Life in Transition Lib Conf Temp Series 166 Princess Imlan Atreides Cornno MuadDib The Ninety Nine Wonders of the Universe tr G W Maur (Grumman United Worlds) CATCHPOCKET.