Caerwynne Castle

The castle at the heart of the capital rises as a monumental blend of awe-inspiring architecture and natural beauty It occupies a vast expanse in an already massive capital city. Its silhouette a labyrinth of soaring towers, expansive terraces, and winding, verdant gardens that stretch outward and upwards, almost melding with the city itself. In general, there is very little of the magical engineering of the surround structures. The seeming austerity of the grounds in contrast to the surrounding Ring Noblese is marked, but leave the impression of timelessness and a world outside the frivolity of the

The outer walls are made of a pale stone, marbled with silver, gold and clear topaz, catching the sunlight in a cascade of colours and at twilight glow faintly with intricately patterned runes and sigils of protection. Ornate guard towers dot the span of the walls. Each in itself a work of art, adorned with carvings of mythical creatures, celestial beings and scenes from the empires history. Each tower is topped with a spire crowned with banners that flutter in the wind bearing the empires sigil (A phoenix soaring over a crescent moon??). There are no battlements between the towers, in fact the walls seem to curve inwards as they increase in height narrowing to a single railing of polished silver.

Inside the walls there are towers of a grander nature, each serving a different purpose with distinct architectural features, the space between spanned with beautiful and impossibly diverse gardens.

• A the center, the Imperialis Keep.
• Left front tower, the Dusk Spire, dedicated to the royal court, the Obsidian Council, looms.
• Left back tower, the Eternis Tower, the mage tower of the Infinite Sigil.
• Right back tower, the Crescent Tower, dedicated to the Silver Crescent Guard, the might and intelligence network of the Empire.
• Right front tower, the Luminal Spire devoted to the Luminaradiant Synarch.

Beneath the soaring spires of the keep and towers lies a network of gardens; lush green expanses spreading out like a web, interwoven with flower-lined paths that twist and turn. Leading visitors to hidden alcoves, reflecting pools and mostly secret glades. Surprisingly, the paths almost instinctively know how urgent the traveler is and magically adjusts to get them where they are headed in time.

(Xyst, Xystum or Xystus (pl. Xystos, Xysta or Xysti): n: a garden walkway, either lined with trees (with canopy arching overhead) or covered.)

At the heart of the castle’s sprawling grounds lies a garden of three ancient trees. Their trunks wide enough to walk through, their roots entwining the pathways and alcoves and even to the stone foundations. Legends say these trees were planted by the first rulers of the realm, and that their roots reach deep into the heart of the realm, entwining with the very lifeblood of the Empire.