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OoC: Like the rest of this thread, The Center's description is not finished. For those of you who are wondering I still have to finish writing up the castle's description, the hedgemaze, and the rest of the non-physical sensations.

Light, omnipotent, bright, and harsher than that of earth. The sun, our sun, lies hugely in the sky. So close that you and everything else should burst in flames. But they do not. In fact, the light isn't as bright as you would expect either. It's like a clear summer's day with a little more light from the wider sun. These are the first things you notice as you first arrive on the outskirts of The Center. The first of many oddities.

You are standing alone on the edge of a cliff. Behind you stretches a barren wasteland devoid of even the remnants of life. It seems to stretch into eternity and an involuntary shiver crawls through you as you contemplate what going into that endless land. The ground beneath you feet feels stable. It is slightly warm, just enough for you to realize that it should be much hotter at this time of day. The massive sun hangs overhead, slightly to the west; yet the naked stone under your feet are simply warm and not scalding hot.

The air has a rich taste to it, a scent of life and vigor. It is heavy not just with moisture, though laden it surely is, but with the weight of ages. The realization comes to you without any sudden flash of insight, just a slow dawn of what now seems obvious. There will be no flight here, no extra-physical movement, but not because you are being held back by any visible field. No, this is so simply because the place will not allow it. Tradition and ceremony holds sway in The Center, and its presence demands an unwritten code on your very soul.

The sight before you takes your breath away. The cliff at your feet drops sharply and curves around to outline a massive crater. After the drop it tapers down to a gentle slope and finally onto flat ground. However, it is not the perfectly formed crater that is so stunning. It is what lies within…

The castle, if it can be called that, dominates the area from the middle of the crater. It towers into the sky improbably, an creation flowing with life and brooding with ancient power. Made of gray slate and white granite, marble in red and black, tan limestone and jewels throughout the spectrum. The massive structure was nearly a mile square and nearly two tall. That this fact seems completely improbable doesn't seem to bother the castle as it towers into the sky. At its center rose a huge onion dome covered in gleaming mosaic. Its peak seemed to poke huge holes in the cloudless sky. At nine points around the dome's perimeter, ornate fountains clung and shot water up the tiled roof. The liquid gleamed as it ran back down, sluiced into channels, and poured from nine waterfalls into floating pools below. The streams descended nine flying buttresses to nine twisting minarets. From there, the waters followed the spiral grooves down to join a wide lake below. The crystal clear lake radiated from the castle like a perfect mirror. Light reflected off it's surface coolly, in complete opposition of the massive sun above. It extends only a short way from the castle, spanned by graceful arches made seemingly of purest spun silver with the fragile appearance of glass. Just as water draped the palace in finery from top to bottom, so did foilage. Hanging gardens filled the castle, brimming with fruit and verdant life. Enormous balconis held whole glades, palms flourishing amid fields of orchid. Vines trailed down to dig their tips in the flood. Everywhere, curtains of moss veiled the lower reaches.