Emperor's Fortress

The Emperor's Fortress is a Shard consisting of a large, fortified palatial building of black stone.

Appearance
The Fortress consists of a single large building, constructed from a black stone of unknown composition. Judging from the quality of the interior designs, various inscriptions and portraits, and the presence of a throne, it appears to have once housed a royal family. The exterior is largely unremarkable, except for it always being a vivid orange sunset in the proximity of the Shard.

Within the Fortress, it is unnaturally dark. The sunset is visible through the windows, but casts no illumination within the actual building. Light sources brought in by visitors have a diminished effect, with illumination fading entirely at a distance of one metre. This effect does not vary with the strength of the light source.

The Fortress is four storeys tall, with two levels of basements. No spatial abnormalities have been detected thus far. Many of the rooms in the Fortress feature signs of destruction and ruin, as if a powerful battle of magic had taken place there. Of particular note are the following rooms:
 * The apparent epicentre of destruction: a circular room, with much of the stone floor uprooted and destroyed. Two devices of identical construction point at an empty doorframe, five metres by five metres in size. One door, constructed of white marble veined with crystal, still hangs loosely from its hinges. The other appears to have been shattered. The devices consist of a spherical glass barrel attached to a metallic shaft. They are attached to a rotating base, and stand three metres in height. Each has a ladder leading up to another spherical chamber sitting atop the neck of the shaft, which appears to house controls for aiming and firing the devices.
 * A throne room: a heavy throne constructed from black crystal has been toppled on its side, atop a high dais. The words "Tessender Imperium" are engraved into the throne. Trapped beneath the throne are two circlets, one gold with the same black crystal of the throne; the other silver with white gems. Both have been partially crumpled by the weight of the throne. The room is otherwise intact, and is replete with banners and tapestries.
 * Portrait gallery: a connected series of rooms, carpeted in red with gold trimming. The artworks featured vary in style and time period, featuring both landscapes and portrait. In one room, all the portraits have been destroyed except one. The destroyed portraits have a small plaque labelled "Emperor [Name], Xth of Diabolos" inset into their frames. The last portrait shows a young man, pale and with long brown hair, staring almost nervously at the viewer through a pair of glasses. The plaque is blank.
 * A child's bedroom: incongruously painted and furnished all in white. A small stuffed doll lies on the pillow.
 * Laboratories: much of the basement is taken up by an extensive laboratory facility. Cells in the dungeons below it suggest possible human experimentation. A smaller replica of the devices described above sits proudly on the benchtop of the largest room. A partially shattered glass sphere lies on the floor.

Phenomena
The Fortress is dominated by the presence of a single phenomenon. Upon entering the Fortress, a distant alarm will sound, echoing through the corridors. This appears to awaken the presence that the Fortress is home to.

Due to the darkness within the Fortress, the presence cannot be directly seen. It can be detected visually by the disappearance of the orange silhouette of the windows as it passes by them. As the windows are, at the narrowest, five metres apart, and the presence never covers two of them at once, it can be surmised that it is less than five metres in length. Its precise form and height are variable, ranging between two to four metres, again measuring by the shadow it casts against the windows.

Other senses are more reliable for detecting the presence. As it approaches, one feels a sense of what can only be described as oppression. A choking sense of dread is experienced - one is almost paralysed by fear, shrinking into a corner instinctively and switching off any light source they possess. This sensation intensifies as with proximity; less than a metre away, one feels as if one's body is rapidly decaying. Within ten metres of the presence's approach, it becomes imperative that one must not be detected by it, at any cost. This knowledge is inexplicable and unsupported, except by instinct. Fortunately, the presence does not seem to have acute senses, and moves at a lumbering walk.

Two voices emanate from the presence. The more dominant one is inhuman and labile, switching rapidly from unintelligible muttering, to loud screams, to hysterical laughter, hissed threats and snarled proclamations of triumph. Volume and pitch change even within the same word. The second voice belongs to a human male. It apologises in a constant tone of grief. Both voices constantly speak over each other in a jarring discordance.

There is one other inhabitant of the Fortress. It is unknown if this is another phenomenon, a shade or a Warrior. This inhabitant is a young girl with pigtails, roughly 8 years old in appearance. Her skin, hair and clothing are all white, and she appears to glow dimly in the darkness. She does not appear to be an albino, as her irises are entirely black in colour. The girl is most often spotted at the end of a corridor or in a doorway, watching the visitor curiously. She flees when approached or called after.

Field notes
The darkness may be the more dominating presence, yet it is the child that I wonder about. What is she, that she can survive in such a Shard? I saw her at a distance, and she appeared to beckon to me; yet when I rounded the corner, she had disappeared. Shortly afterwards, the dark presence entered the same corridor. Is the girl a phenomenon that works with the presence, attempting to lead me into it? Or does the presence chase her?

Curiously, when I described my findings to Doctor Duncen, he uncharacteristically blanched and swore. I was unable to get anything out of him but agitated muttering for the next half hour. It is clear that he recognises the place - perhaps a Shard from his own world? I have pestered him about visiting it himself, as the interaction between a Warrior and their home Shard is one we have been hoping to observe. If only the Shard were safer! Eventually, he lost his temper and forbade any of the Fellows from visiting the Fortress altogether, at least until he was able to get someone he refers to as "that obnoxious woman" to guide us.

&mdash; I. Kallinar