The Imperial Palace of Eldra, as its full name proclaims, rises in the very heart of the city, enclosed within The Imperial Quarter. It is not a single building but an immense fortified domain that unites the palace itself with vast gardens, the ancient fortress of Elveo, encircling walls with their towers and bastilles, an artificial lake, and even its own aerodrome. With an expanse exceeding seven and a half square kilometers, it ranks among the largest palace complexes in the world.
Its ground plan forms an imperfect rectangle aligned almost perfectly with the cardinal directions. Along the eastern wall stretches the Palace Square, the largest square of Eldra, through which the great Askaru Avenue runs north to south. The northern wall is followed by Lugiak Avenue, and further west lies the Square of the Empresses, dominated by the largest cathedral in existence. The western ramparts once stood upon a sheer cliff, which across centuries was gradually filled and leveled, though traces of the original precipice still rise more than eight meters near the northern wall. Around the western and northern sides lies the Old Imperial City, while Palace Square embraces the complex from two directions.
From above or at first glance the symmetry is clear: three eastern and three western wings run north to south, bound together by transverse halls aligned east to west. At the eastern end stands Elveo, the ancestral castle core of the complex, while the western end is crowned by the monumental Bell Tower. Once, this tower was itself a magical bastion linked to Elveo by a defensive wall, its line still reflected in the present northern hall. Above all soars the Imperial Mage Tower, a slender basalt shaft sheathed in marble and crowned at 177 meters with a radiant diamond shaped crystal. To the west, the Bell Tower balances it with its 142 meters of height and double crown of battlements, the oldest surviving structure whose bells still resound across the city.
Encircling walls measure roughly five meters wide at the crown and rise on average eleven meters high, reinforced by sentry towers, artillery bastions, and strongholds that proclaim the fortresslike nature of the palace. Three great gates open the way: the Porta Publica from Palace Square to the east, the North Gate used mostly for restricted functions, and the Golden Gate in the south.
The Porta Publica is the most common entrance for visitors. Just beyond, public gardens unfold across nearly fifty hectares along the eastern ramparts and toward the square. These grounds are freely accessible, with gazebos, promenades, and small stages for music and plays, and here the Crown hosts communal and cultural gatherings. Attendance is limited for safety, and when the gardens are full new arrivals must wait for entry. The Rose Garden and the Crystal Gardens are not open to the public; they belong to the guarded inner sanctum, with the Mage Tower rising at the very heart.
From these gardens one also enters the administrative quarter, home to ministries, high offices, the Imperial Post, and the Imperial Chancery. Here denizens come to resolve their affairs, but most of the palace remains closed, reserved for the emperor, the imperial family, and honored guests, where residence is considered a rare privilege. Inside, ancient court etiquette endures, upheld by a service that has vanished from the city outside, and many chambers preserve their forms unchanged across centuries or even millennia.
At the center spreads the Grand Courtyard with its singing fountain, a marvel of enchantment that alters its tones in harmony with the moods of those nearby. On the northern side an Arch of State spans the court, its halls filled with grand portraits of rulers. The eastern facade draws the eye with the soaring windows of the Great Hall of Festivities, where the most splendid ceremonies unfold.
Southward and throughout the gardens stand traces of older fortifications. Watchtowers reborn as viewpoints, walls transformed into colonnades and shaded promenades, and above all the remains near Elveo and the western wing with its Clock Tower that lifts its face above the roofs toward the courtyard.
The palace maintains its own transport and infrastructure. In the southwest gardens lies the aerodrome, designated KEL/CEL, with a combined surface of six hundred by nine hundred meters laid in stone, earth, and trimmed grass, and three vast hangars each nearly five hundred by eighty meters. It connects to no public network but serves only imperial and sanctioned airships. From the southern spur of the city rail runs a supply line to a station by the western wall, technically open to all but in practice used for logistics and provisions. Road access is through the three main gates, with the Porta Publica once more serving the majority.
The Imperial Guard watches over it all, an elite corps whose discipline is legendary and whose presence is felt at every gate, in every garden, and at every ceremony. Spellcraft within the palace is forbidden except for the imperial family, designated guards, and trusted officials. For this reason the palace presents itself outwardly as traditional, defined by personal service, exacting etiquette, and ordered calm.
The architecture is known as the Imperial or Crown style, a local expression of high renaissance. Facades with pilasters and architraves weave measured grandeur, broken only by the vast arcaded windows of the eastern Great Hall. Interiors are designed according to the so called draconic measure, with scale suited to residents and guests of greater stature, often two and a half meters tall and bipedal, and adapted to many different kinds. Alongside tradition stand modern provisions: potable and heated water, ventilation and cooling to temper the tropical valley of Wekki, and crystal powered magical lighting with variable modes. For state visits there are sumptuous apartments such as the Diamond and Sapphire salons, while the western quarter houses the Imperial Hospital that offers exceptional care to the court and high nobility, and in dire times extends its service to the wider population.
From afar the Imperial Palace appears a fortress of towers and bastions. Up close it is a harmonious assembly of wings and halls, with the crystalline Magi Tower gleaming overhead and the ancient towers of Elveo and the Bell Tower ever in sight. Though most of its grounds are sealed, the public gardens and the administrative halls offer enough of a glimpse to understand why the Imperial Palace of Eldra is not only the sovereign’s residence but also the foremost landmark and proud emblem of the city.