The 'Summer Palace' was a palace belonging to the SeaWings that was
hidden on an island within the Bay of a Thousand Scales. The palace was
created by the animus magic of Albatross, and it was used by the
SeaWings as an overwater sea palace for themselves and their visitors.
The palace was so well hidden that it remained out of harm by enemy
tribes for two thousand years until it was finally destroyed in the War
of SandWing Succession by Burn's army. The palace is, however, being
rebuilt by Queen Coral and other SeaWings under her ruling, but this
time it will not be hidden and it will be used for diplomacy and Coral's scroll readings. As of Moon Rising, it is titled on
the map of Pyrrhia as "Ruins of the Summer Palace."

## Description

The Summer Palace was well hidden by a thick canopy of trees. This
coverage was Fathom's idea, so enemy tribes could not spot them from
above.

The entrance of the palace was located within an island shaped like a
giant Dragons|dragon skeleton with gaps and holes throughout the pale
stone. The stone skeleton's nose pointed towards another island ringed
with forbidding rocks and a high, sheer cliff face on all sides. The top
was a rioting jungle, with thick green vines and leaves pressed so close
together that there was no clear spot through. Between two spiraling
rocks, sharp and evenly matched like dragon horns, there was an
underwater entrance leading to a dark tunnel. It was covered by a
curtain of long, sun-colored tendrils of kelp and contained at least ten
small, above-ground caverns.

The tunnel led into an open lake and sea-green-tinted sunlight. The
inside of the island was surrounded by towering cliffs on all sides, and
the green canopy was located far above the lake, woven so thickly it
looked like a jungle from above. Waterfalls cascaded down from several
holes in the cliffs, bursting into spray as they hit the lake. Four
pillars of blue-tinted white stone spiraled out of the water, winding
towards one another until they formed a towering pavilion in the middle
of the lake. The pavilion had twelve circular levels, each smaller than
the one below. There were few walls, most of them very low, and the
entire structure was latticed with curving spaces and holes and small
wading pools. There were ledges within the cliffs, and the only sounds
were the splashing of the waterfalls, the soft hush of dragons
breathing, and the quiet lapping of waves on beaches around the lake.
There were several cave openings and rocks that jutted out of the water.
The largest waterfall was located nearly as high as the leaf canopy and
divided around boulders. Up close, the leaf canopy contained small blue
flowers.

The lake beach was composed of white pebbles and faced a tall cave
opening lined with sand. The caves dotting the cliffs were used as guest
rooms, and one, used by Blister, was lined with extra sand. Blister's
cave was the only cave where fire was allowed. Each level had a
different purpose, such as dragonet school visits, celebration
spectacles, SeaWing Council|Council meetings, and war planning. The
lowest levels were clustered with several guards resting, eating, and
playing games. They contained a table with a niche containing a pair of
heavy silver keys.

In Darkstalker's era, it appeared to be
spectacular, beautiful, and was shaped like a gigantic narwhal tusk.
During its creation, Albatross allowed Fathom to design small corners of
the palace as well as the blueprint of the SeaWing throne on the top
level of the pavilion. It was built upon a large island rising from the
ocean floor; all around the island, gray boulders and tall spires of
rock jutted out of the water. A wavering forest of sticky, orange-yellow
kelp guarded a dark underwater tunnel in the cliff, which lead to a
wide-open lake that was located in the heart of the island, surrounded
on all sides by craggy, soaring cliffs that formed a circle over the
lake. The center of this lake was the birthplace of the Summer Palace;
described as a vast, strange shape growing out of the water, it looked
as if someone had taken four towering pillars of white stone and braided
them together. Huge, flat bubbles of stone grew out of the pillars at
regular intervals, and it slowly, constantly grew. It was an amorphous,
misshapen blob, a strange growth within the interior of the beautiful
island. The lakeshore was covered in pebbles, with greenery, shrubbery,
and foliage growing around the top of the cavern, which would later
become a full canopy that obscured the palace from view. The temperature
inside the island was cool. It took nearly ten years to reach its final
form.

After its destruction, the Summer Palace was reduced to smoking foliage,
charred ruins, and corpses.

## Notable features

### Feasting hall

The feasting hall was located two levels above the kitchens and
contained a long, low oval table. Queen Coral's seat was higher than
everyone else's, but Blister's, right beside her, was not much lower.

### Council Level

Council meetings were held on a level halfway up the structure in the
center of the lake. Twelve dragon-sized pools were arranged in a circle
with small channels running from one to the next, criscrossing the
center. Glittering emeralds the size of fish eggs, embedded in the
stone, spelled out words by each pool, including DRAGON HEALTH,
AQUACULTURE, WAR, HUNTING, MAGIC & PUBLISHING, COMMUNICATION, TREASURY,
DEFENSE, JUSTICE, and SECRETS & SPIES. The largest pool was labeled
queen|QUEEN, and a pool entitled DRAGONET CARE was located two pools
away. The wet stone was chilly.

### Queen Coral's chambers

Queen Coral's chambers were located in a vast underwater cave below one
of the waterfalls, lined with waving tendrils of forest green and
brilliant golden anemones. Stone carvings of dolphins were scattered
around the entrance, and the walls were studded with emeralds and
pearls. The beds were soft expanses of bubbly seaweed, and the sound of
the waterfall splashing overhead could be heard. Where the waterfall met
the lake, just behind the cascade and right outside the cave entrance,
there was a small pocket of air.

### Library level

Four levels from the top, the library level was a pavilion with low
walls and several shapes like large cauldrons, filled with neatly rolled
scrolls, molded into the stone. Black and blue webbed talonprints
trailed all along the floor, and a raised podium stood at one end, with
space for an audience of thirty dragons in front. The other end of this
level held a long gray stone table with a scroll spread out onto it,
held down at either end by small seahorses: heavy, intricately detailed,
carved from dark wood, and containing dragonlike expressions on their
tiny faces. The top corner of the table contained a small pool of black
ink. There was also a curved white boulder that could be used as a
chair.

### Visiting level

The visiting level was located on the top pavilion and was composed of
polished ridges in the blue-white stone. The level was large, with a
spiraling starburst of webbed talon-print shapes carved into the floor
and filled with glittering water, lined all along the bottom with tiny
pearls.

### Kitchen level

The kitchen level was described to sound like the clatters of pots.

### Armory level

The armory level was located high within the pavilion. It was shaped
like a bowl, with low walls and a slight slope down to the center.
Weapons were lined along one side, including twisting horn spears,
battle armor of chain link or scales, gleaming metal claws, and metal
breastplates.

### Electric eel prison

The prison cave was high up on the cliff wall, not far from the canopy,
overlooking the pavilion below. It glowed with a strange blue light, and
crackling sounds could be heard from inside. The hard stone floor was
damp and the light was dim, and a path wound into a huge cavern. The
cages had no bars or doors; instead, a channel of water as wide as two
dragons encircled each prisoner, trapping them on islands of stone that
varied in size. Water poured from grooves in the ceiling down to the
channels, creating cascading walls along all of the islands. The water
and moats all glowed the same bright blue and gave off the same fizzing,
crackling sound, and the pathway wound around and between the islands
like a long bridge. The ceiling was covered in glowworms, casting the
prison in an eerie light, and iridescent purple jellyfish added to the
dim lighting. The freezing water was controlled by a chain hanging along
the wall; when pulled, the mechanisms within the stone clanked and
groaned, opening a small doorway in the underwater wall of the moat and
releasing electric eels into the water.

## History

### The Dragonet Prophecy

#### The Lost Heir

The Summer Palace was first introduced in The Lost Heir when the
dragonets of destiny were escorted there by Shark and his guards. It was
destroyed at the end of the novel by Burn's forces, forcing the SeaWings
to evacuate to the Deep Palace.

-----

### The Jade Mountain Prophecy

#### Escaping Peril

Peril mentioned that Queen Ruby had pulled back all the fronts of the
war since destroying the Summer Palace.

#### Darkness of Dragons

In her letter to Turtle seen in the epilogue, Coral mentioned that a new
palace was being built and would not be hidden from the world like the
Summer Palace.

-----

### Legends

#### Darkstalker

The Summer Palace was built with the magic of Albatross and Fathom. The
amount of magic Albatross used to create the palace proved to be too
much and he went insane, thus causing the Royal SeaWing Massacre.

After the SeaWing massacre, Pearl decided to use the palace
because nobody would ever want to go back to the Island Palace after the
traumatizing incident. The SeaWings fixed some parts of the palace, then
settled in. The Summer Palace was used for the next two thousand years.
The palace was decided to be kept hidden from other tribes, with a few
exceptions like using it to house allies in wars.

-----

### Field Guides

#### A Guide to the Dragon World

In the SeaWing chapter of the guide, the Summer Palace and its
destruction was mentioned in Coral's scroll about the War of SandWing
Succession. Additionally, the palace was indirectly mentioned by Lagoon (L1)|Queen Lagoon in her letter to Albatross. Later in the chapter, the
palace was also mentioned in Anemone's letter to Tamarin.

## Trivia

  - The location of the ruins were not plotted until the publication of
    Moon Rising with a new map and guide by Starflight.