Great Reaper Palace

The Great Reaper Palace is a Shard of Sundry. It is an amalgamation of an old castle in the capital city of Reaper and the future-palace built in honor of the Mirage King.

Appearance
The main attraction of the Great Reaper Palace is its namesake - a great palace in the middle of what appears to be a city courtyard that doubles as a graveyard. The Palace appears to be split almost halfway between dilapidation and great splendor. It is built almost in the style of a great cathedral, and rises an amazing 100 feet high, easily. The odd chronistic split is not symmetrical; rather, some spires will be clearly new and restored, and other nearby patches of construction will look dated and almost ruined. Where there is not graves or stone, there is scarred debris, scattered weapons, and other myriad signs of battle. Some corners of the Palace even have faded blood stains on them.

Inside, the Palace has the appearance of a home of great royalty, just as one would expect. Most of its innards are wreathed in gold and red, with massively high ceilings, beautiful (and equally grotesque) paintings and frescos on most of the higher surfaces, and meticulously crafted carpets, drapes, and other cloth decorations. The palace also, notably, has a very high quality and abundance of solid gold doors - and no windows. On the inside, it is not ruined at all.

Outside of the palace in almost every direction is a landscape of uniform ruin. Here, too, things are split - some parts of the nearby area have the ruin of dilapidation, poverty, and destruction, with lots of debris, wanton garbage, and broken glass; other parts of the area have the ruin of lost glory, and showcase shattered marble, fountains blasted apart, and scattered artifacts. Uniformly, the area is almost covered by plain gray gravestones.

Phenomena
The innards of the Great Reaper Palace soon proves itself to be a labyrinth of illusions. Its insides are always scrambled about and are rarely the same for anyone entering it. Unlike a labyrinth, though, the Palace is completely random, unpredictable, and even inconsistent in its illusions.

A list of the most commonly encountered layouts:
 * A linear foyer and hallway that leads to a single perch room overlooking an endless abyss. Past the chasm is an undetectable mirror of sorts that shows the observer their self.
 * A simple room that leads to a simple stairwell with two possible staircases opposite each other. The stairs intertwine and twist about in the air like snakes without following any logical construction or physical rules. They are likely endless, as the top of the staircase has never been found yet.
 * A normal castle filled with mirrors on almost every wall. The destruction of any mirror shows a golden doorway behind where the mirror stood, whether one could logically stand there or not. Entering this door places one in the foyer of the Palace at its default state, effectively resetting its layout.
 * A cathedral's innards, with nude statues that have exaggeratingly oversized sexual organs. A rusted stone throne sits where an altar would be.
 * A normal castle whose staircases all lead to the floor beneath, whether or not one was actually going up or down the stairs. Attempting to go beneath the first floor leads one back to the first floor.
 * A normal castle littered by great statues that appear to be tributes to images of either AFE's Elknin or DS' Old Dragon Gods. Making eye contact with the statues (the ones that have eyes, at least) has been reported to shake explorers; extended exposure to the statues has been reported to result in hearing whispers in an incomprehensible, ancient language. The whispers persist until one leaves the site of the Shard, not just the statue's presence.

Observed Inhabitants

 * Lityania, the Envious
 * Loeve Nazshe

Field Notes
The Palace reminded me of Zeta Academy. Not because of its impressive architecture - though it be impressive - and not because of its semi-ruined state - though it is in need of a good contractor. Rather, the Palace reminded me of Zeta Academy because it was constructed almost completely randomly.

I was able to map out Zeta Academy within a few years. The work was slow going, and tedious, but it was possible, and - dare I say it - fun, at times. It was mindless and productive; I was able to think as I worked, to imagine, to plan. That was not so with the Great Reaper Palace.

I heard whispers, and I saw things. There were no creatures there, of course, and no warriors sprung any of the runic traps I set behind every door I passed through, so I knew I was alone. Yet I heard whispers. At times of exhaustion, the whispers would send me to my wit's end, so I would leave and they would quiet... but on return, the innards of the Palace would reset completely, and all of my maps would prove worthless wastes of paper.

This Palace taunts me. It knows I want to find its throne and seize it. It knows how useful, how intimidating, and how magnificent a base of such size could be. It knows I want to rule it. That is why it works against me. I have roped along, threatened, and bribed various random vagabonds and rogues to aid in my exploration, and all of them report being terrified of what they found inside - as if the Palace somehow molded itself to intimidate or drive off the person exploring them. I have yet to enter the place with someone along with me, and I have yet to find a single corpse beneath the huge number of graves in the area... but my research has not stopped yet.

I will conquer this place.

-- Crown Princess Vainia Sestrum