Sithern Environment :
Stepping through any portal into the Spring Court gives way to lush, verdant life, a wild space that offers beauty and welcome. The sithern is full of small forests and wildflower meadows near the portal, giving way to the paths that lead toward the capital city built around the Palace of Joy itself, though mountains far in the background, and many other smaller settlements exist in the sprawling lands.
The palace itself is surrounded by gardens, from formal to whimsical. It is a building of luminous white material similar to marble that shimmers endless colors, almost more like opals than true marble. It is the perfect canvas for the riot of color of the countless plants and flowers that bloom everywhere, and there is no column within the palace not wrapped with vines or flowers. Small demifey flutter in the gardens and the hallways, tending to the flowers and wildlife, with their own honored place among the court. The Palace of Joy is obviously not built as a stronghold, though any who attempt to cause harm will quickly realize that the flora and fauna of this Court are fierce guardians.
Beyond the capital city of Lady's Blessing there are countless hamlets, deep thick forests, sweeping plains, rolling hills of fields, rugged mountains, waterfalls and a celebration of earth at its best. Countless sacred places are honored. The Spring Court is often the one that took in artists, writers, creators, as their magic is part of creation, and so their accessibility and warmth shaped some of the notions around elves and faeries with certain creators.
Seat of Power : The Wildflower Throne in the Palace of Joy
The Palace and Capital
Palace of Joy
Located near the main portal the Palace of Joy was crafted around the flow of a river and the slopes of tall green hills thick with trees. It is a place of natural beauty with the shimmering white opal like stone of the buildings refracting light and rainbows through the sprawling city connected by bridges and gardens. The Palace itself is made up of several wings, the aerial view like a flower unfolding, with a wing dedicated to healers, another to creators, the Queen's private wing and then the Court's formal space at the heart, as well as space for countless guests and infamous balls. The whole structure is filled with climbing vines and trailing ivy, flowers of countless colors and breeds displaying their blossoms like jewels. Through the palace there are hundreds of little courtyards as well, open to the sky above with trees within them, spaces for mingling, dancing, performing music or enjoying another person.
Other Locations
Cradle of Dawn
The Cradle of Dawn was built prior even to the Palace of Joy, the first true place of Spring's power, touched by the first Dawn Queen. She, and her healers, built the temple around springs they infused with their power. The rarest, and most powerful of fae routinely go to the Cradle, and offer up a portion of their power to ensure that the waters always shimmer with the gift of freely given energy to aid those in need. While the focus is largely on the healing that takes place, physically and emotionally, the Cradle also boasts lavish gardens, entertaining spaces and the halls of learning for future healers. The healing space grew into almost a city's worth of people over time, though there is Dawn's Grace, a village beyond the protections of the Cradle that holds merchants, theaters and a music hall.
Prism Academy
Set high in the mountains lies the Academy that has given rise to some of the greatest artistic talents the fae have known; the Academy holds a School of Melody (for musicians), a School of Feeling (for thespians), a School of Impression (for traditional artists) and a School of Inspiration (for other creatives, and often writers). Built in a remote location to safeguard the young that might attend, the Academy is not as large or storied as the Autumn University, though there are at times friendly rivalries between the schools. The Academy accepts all ages, though some come incredibly young, seeking out some passion that inspires them. The only way to reach the high peaks is by specific portals or flight with the right markers by the wards to allow entrance.
The Wildwood
There are countless small forests and woods in Spring Realm, but the Wildwood is the beating heart of the realm itself, a place teeming with power and life. Thousands of leagues long and wide, it seems endless to those who are not prepared. Some born of Spring never venture beyond it's bounds. The Wood itself is said to be alive, intelligent and ancient; watching over those in need and taking those who seek it's depths to where they need to be most. It is often a rite of passage for Spring-born to spend a moon within it's depth, seeking out the true awareness of themselves and their place, though even elder fae return at times, to a place where they are humbled by power that has far out lasted their ancestors and will themselves as well.
It is said the wood whispers, to those who can hear it; dryads can hear the treesongs, but to hear the whole Wood itself is a feat only accomplished by a rare few.
The Meadow of Blessing
Beyond the capital city and to the north, past the peaks of the mountains lay sacred high mountains where the Meadows of Blessing begin. It is not merely one meadow, but several. Endless slopes and valleys of flowers, a kaleidoscope of color and vitality. It is here the nymphs and dryads dance to gather ambrosia for the court, here the Rites of Dawn are carried out. Traveling to them passes the Keeper's cottage, the fae who tends the wide meadows and over sees the others who might assist, typically an older fae with knowledge and experience to guide those who come seeking to the right meadow.
