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Anything can be found in Shadow, including places. If one desires a realm totally of water, it can be found. If one wants desert plains and a helium atmosphere, it can be found. A world where one can travel through space as part of some Federation? That can be found as well. There are, however, some places of interest and knowledge that should be mentioned.
Alone atop Mount Kolvir lies Castle Amber, a huge four story castle in which the Royal Family lives. It has grown since it was last written about in Merlin's chronicles. Castle Amber is heavily ensorcelled, with the ability to grow and adapt as the situation warrents. At one time a magical explosion occurred within the heart of the Castle, and Merlin watched in amazement as the stone sealed itself back up, repairing the castle as if nothing had happened. The actual design of the Castle changes over time as well. If more rooms are needed, then they appear, ready for use. Other, yet untapped, enchantments may exist.
A grand hall leads from the doors through the very middle of Castle Amber, from which a number of doors and archways lead off to rooms and corridors. At the end of the Main Hall lies a grand staircase, leading upwards to the upper levels.
The most important room here, and possibly of the entire Castle, is the Great Hall. It is in this large room where much of Amber's history and politics is decided. Weddings are performed here, treaties signed, and crownings, should such arise. Feasts and gatherings are also held here, with much politicking with guests and the like.
The main kitchen lies at the rear of the Castle, as does the castle armoury, which holds weapons of all kinds, from swords to rifles. A number of luxurious guest chambers lie upon this floor, and the Royal treasury, under heavy guard.
The second floor holds the personal quarters of the elder Amberites, your aunts and uncles. Even those Amberites considered or known dead still have rooms here, kept as they were since the Amberite died.
Also on the second floor lies the Library. It has grown greatly in size. The main room stands as it always had, with plenty of sitting space, with a few bookshelves and pieces of art filling the room. It is still used as an unofficial meeting place, where policy and plans are discussed. King Random's drums still sit at the northern end of the room, and he can be heard playing them from time to time. But, branching off from the library exist two wings of books and other sources of information. Rarely has an Amberite entered this part of the Library, as the books and references are rather obscure, and it is usually much easier and useful to ask the Librarian, Zachary.
The Dining Hall is on this floor as well, and Amberites are known for their great appetites. Common meals are usually eaten here, and talk is just as likely here as in the Library or Great Hall downstairs.
The King's bedchambers are on this floor, as does Aunt Flora's large apartment. A number of other chambers lie here, awaiting various Dukes and Duchesses to arrive in Amber to claim their room. If of the Blood of Amber, a room will be chosen for you, and it will then be forever yours.
A laboratory and medical center are here as well, as up-to-date as either can be without electrical power. A gym and fencing area allows for the Royal Family to spar and practice, no matter the weather outside. One hallway has an open bannister, which overlooks the main part of the Library below.
Most of this floor is unused, mostly for excess storage. Plenty of room exists for more rooms to be placed here, should there ever be a need.
The dungeons extend deep into Mount Kolvir. It is here that prisonors are kept to wallow in their sentences. Guards patrol the main dungeon tunnels, but there is one that is left alone. A main tunnel leads off from a spiral staircase from the main floor. Branching off from this are a number of side tunnels which hold small cells in which to keep prisonors of all types. Many of these tunnels are unexplored, though, leading off into the unknown.
The first tunnel holds political prisonors, the second, prisonors of war. Amber's own criminals are housed in the cells of the third passage, and those convicted of treason to the Crown in the fourth. The fifth holds the mentally insane, either too dangerous to others or themselves to be allowed freedom. The sixth tunnel is rarely visited, as it holds loathsome creatures from Shadow. The seventh tunnel is used only by those of Royal Blood, for it is the one that leads to the Pattern.
To get to the Pattern, one must enter the dungeons and travel down this tunnel. AT its end lies a lone door, locked and barred from the outside, as if to keep something in. Once the door is opened, all lights may be extinguished as the Pattern gives off a light of its own.
Surrounding the Castle is an immense, intricate wall, standing some sixty feet in height. Just outside the walls lie the Royal Stables, where the personal riding horses of the Royal Family are kept. Also outside are a number of pathways leading to a variety of gardens. In front of Castle Amber lies a small gathering of shrubs and flowers. Paths lead to a garden much like those of eighteenth-century England, as well as to three seperate Japanese rock gardens. Behind the Castle lies an artificial lake in which one may swim if they have the desire to.
Surrounding the base of Mount Kolvir lies the True City itself, Amber. The city itself appears to be very much like a city of the Renaissance of Shadow Earth, though at times odd tidbits of other cultures appear within the city. Whatever would be considered beautiful most likely found its way to Amber, one way or another.
The city itself stretches eastward from the mountain towards the sea. The eastern section is mostly residential areas for the citizens of Amber, while those nearer the castle are more commercial. All kinds inhabit the city, from the poorest beggar to rich nobles. Carpenters, stone-masons, artisans and crafters all inhabit the True City, selling their wares to citizen and visitor alike.
To the south of the city, along the coast, lies the harbot, in which the Royal Navy and the Merchant Fleet both dock. Extending in all directions eastward lies the Great Sea, upon which ships travel to and from the Golden Circle, or other points in Shadow. As the coast stretches southward, it also cuts in towards the west. To the west lies the Forest Arden, a dense, lush forest of evergreens and deciduous trees. The Forest is constantly patrolled by Julian and his rangers, while the waves are likewise patrolled by Gerard and the Royal Navy.
It is interesting to note that not much beyond this is known of Amber. With all of Shadow to explore and tantalize potential explorers the 'backyard' of Amber itself has held no appeal.
From Amber, one reaches into the realms of Shadow. It should be known that the Realm of Amber is not itself the actual basis for reality, but is in fact the First Shadow.
When Dworkin cast the Pattern in his own blood, it was not in Amber. The Realm of Amber in fact became the first shadow of the true realm, referred to as the Primal Pattern. It is here that Dworkin is rumored to spend most of his days. To travel here, however, is all but impossible, but it has been done. The Unicorn has led others to the Primal Pattern, and Amberites, through great efforts of will, have managed to shift their way to the first Pattern.
The primary shadows of Amber. Rebma is an underwater realm, an almost perfect reflection besides that fact. Not far from Amber itself, a staircase descends under the Great Sea. As long as one remains on the staircase, they will be perfectly fine, experiencing an intriguing feeling of being able to breathe and move normally underwater. If they should move off the path before entering the reflected city of Rebma, they will be crushed by the immense pressure of the sea.
Rebma is a near-perfect reflection of the City of Amber, only in reverse. The castle itself is like Castle Amber, only that the walls are made of mirrors, both inside and out. It is said that meals are quite interesting to consume in the reflected city.
Like Rebma, Tir-na Nog'th is an almost perfect reflection of Amber, only this one exists in the sky. Only on moonlit nights does the city appear. At the very highest point of Mount Kolvir, there exists three stone steps leading upwards. When the moon shines, a shimmering staircase appears, leading up to a ghostly city in the clouds above. The stairs are solid enough to climb, and one can enter into the city of Tir-na Nog-th. One must be careful, however, for if the moon is covered by clouds, or sets, the city shimmers and fades, leaving the visitor high in the air. It is customary for a visitor to be in Trump contact with someone on the ground, so that they may be pulled to safety if need be.
Tir-na Nog'th is a ghost city. One can wander through its streets and castle, observing all that goes on around them, but one cannot interact with the denizens there. It is said that the ghost city also portends things that have past and things that are yet to come. But like all predictions, they are cryptic and not always true in the way one thinks.
In both Rebma and Tir-na Nog'th are reflections of the Pattern, as potent and usable as the one in Amber. Like in Amber, the Pattern of Rebma is deep within the dungeons, behind locked doors. In Tir-na Nog'th, however, the way is unguarded, and the Pattern there is the only thing a visitor may interact with.
A number of kingdoms that surround Amber as shadows. Similar and yet vastly different than the True City, the barrier between Shadows is extremely thin betweent them all. Trade routes have been established between Amber and the Golden Circle, and merchants and travellers may make way to any of the realms with only a minimum of knowledge of Shadow. To go beyond is impossible except for those with the power of the Pattern, however.
To help conceive the universe, Amber can be thought of as a pebble thrown into a pond. The ripples caused by the stone can be thought of as the infinite Shadows, each growing more dispersed and less like the original the further the ripple is. At the edge of known Shadow lies an immense chasm, with no known end, and no known depth. To fall in entails certain doom, for only one thing has ever emerged from the Abyss that has ever gone in, the unicorn.
Beyond the Abyss lies the Courts of Chaos. Here lies the enemy of Amber, the enemy of Pattern. Here time moves much faster than it does in Amber. The land is bleak and unending, the sky literally divided into four sections of colour as it lazily turns overhead, from white to blue to purple and finally red before the cycle begins again. Very few have visited here, the old hatreds and distrusts still alive on both sides.
