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The World Beyond
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OVERVIEW 
Edit
Paradisa is not a castle, but rather an entire world. Although most of the residents have come to know the castle itself as Paradisa, Paradisa stretches far beyond the limits of the town. Cair Paradisa acts as the centre of the world of Paradisa, and beyond the town are different “rings”, each surrounded by an invisible, magical barrier. These barriers are odd, and peculiar; while some residents are able to walk past them, others are immediately transported back to their rooms the instant they attempt to cross one. This has led to a strange discrepancy amongst residents; some believe the barriers are present for everyone, while others have comfortably gone very far away from the castle with no problems.
As for what dictates who can travel how far, no one knows. It changes frequently, and the vast majority of characters simply don’t try to pass the barriers often enough to realize that they can pass further, sometimes. It is interesting to note that characters cannot even properly see beyond the barriers; one may see mountains, while another may see that the trees just continue forever.
Interestingly, the castle cannot control the barriers; the world itself does.
The outside world has a bizarre and surreal quality to it; everything is perfect. Even if there’s a dying tree, it crumbles and falls in a way that would make it appealing and beautiful. There is an art to everything.
LEAVING THE CASTLE Edit
From the castle it takes approximately ten minutes by foot to get to the city.
From the city it takes approximately four hours travel by foot to reach the forest, and only a few more minutes from there to reach the edge of the mountains that ring the castle. It would take approximately a week to two weeks to travel by foot from the First Ring to the Second Ring, depending on which direction you head. The end of the Second Ring marks the start of the dead zone.
The odd thing about the outside world is that things tend to diminish. Powers start ebbing away at the second barrier, particularly ones that enhance the body, meaning residents that can run very fast suddenly move at only an above-average pace, flight becomes impossible, and super-intelligent minds dull. Computer, combustion and digital technology stops working at the end of the second ring, as well.
People can feel something, too, while they get further away from Cair Paradisa; a hum in the body, powers slowly getting weaker, while they get the distinct impression that something is crying for them and calling them back –– they don’t hear it, but they feel it resonating inside of them; they’ll distinctly feel that something wants them back, that it’s dangerous to continue. While residents don’t know it, this is the Castle clawing for its life force back, feeling as though its food is crawling away from it. This is the castle screaming for its residents back.
However, no matter how far away from the castle a resident gets, they will just know where the castle is. It's ingrained in their mind, and they can recognize that they "know" without having any logical reason to know.
THE CENTER Edit
Cair Paradisa, a portion of forest, the City Royale, and the farmlands. After that the forest starts up again.
THE FIRST RING Edit
More trees; it’s about a three hours’ walk to the other side of the forests, where tall mountains begin. The mountain chain is passable if you fancy a long, winding walk snaking between them, but there is a break to the east, leaving a wide trail. The next barrier starts halfway down this passage and follows the crest of the mountaintops.
THE SECOND RING Edit
This ring is wider than the first, stretching for miles. From the top of the mountains, all one can see are grasslands and grasslands; a huge steppe. In the winter this is a snowy wasteland, but the rest of the year it’s a lush expanse with 5’ tall grasses. There are herds of buffalo, and an eerie feeling of loneliness clings to everything here.
At the edge of the next barrier is a stretch of steep hills, though they do not exactly follow the contour of the barrier.
Upon closer inspection of the roots of the grasses, one would discover that there is a flaky dark red powder scattered everywhere.
The Tower Edit
There’s a crumbling tower of in the middle of the sea of grass, rising several stories up above the grass. Hidden under all that grass are the remains of what appears to be a destroyed castle, reduced to nothing but foundation and rubble. The tower can be entered; it’s very large inside, much like how Paradisa changes size on the interior, but there’s nothing there. Just a stone floor, and the rest is just a stone shaft with no roof, letting light flood directly in when the sun reaches the right point in the sky.
The Lake Edit
A small picturesque lake with a small pier. It looks fairly abandoned; the little boats tied to the pier are well-kept and polished, but there’s that distinct atmosphere that no one’s been around for a long time...
The Pillar Fields Edit
When one drifts North, they’ll find a bizarre field of carved stone pillars. They are all large rectangular boxes, maybe 4’ x 5’, made from granite, smooth and polished, and they are all evenly placed with three feet between them. While the nearest ones are barely a foot tall, they gradually get taller and taller, until they are towering nearly forty feet high. There are two options; walk between the pillars, or jump across their tops, which gets more dangerous the higher one gets.
Oddly enough, this place harbours a distinct feeling of “fun”; residents may be compelled to run around and play tag or hide-and-seek in the grid, no matter how mature or stoic they are. If one listens carefully, they can always hear laughter, and all fear seems to leave people when they enter the place. It’s bizarre, and pleasant, and it always feels welcoming, despite its cold grey pillars; a strange contrast, given the eerie, abandoned feeling all the other “outside” places tend to give off.
The Wanderer’s Yard Edit
An area fenced off by a eight-foot stone wall. The wrought iron gate is locked and chained. The walls, however, can be scaled and climbed over without a problem.
Inside are dozens of stone tablets, several feet tall and a few feet wide. The pillars are numbered, and each has a plaque with a title. Each tablet has a list of names engraved into them, some with enough names to spill over to the other side of the tablet.
However, the only the last tablet is readable -- all those before it have had the names gouged out beyond recognition, and the title plaque broken off.
The last tablet is titled “Paradisa”. The list of names, numbering in the thousands, is of all the people who have ever been in Paradisa. Engraved names of residents who are still in Paradisa have been filled in with red paint, making them stand out.
The place seems to imply that there have been other places in this world like Paradisa –– or perhaps there still are.
The Buffalo Herd Edit
The herd is much like any herd of buffalo, and two differences. Firstly, they all look very well kept and groomed, despite having no one taking care of them –– another after-effect of the “perfection” clause the world seems to maintain. Secondly, none of them have any eyes. They seem to be able to see regardless, and they never have any problems navigating their way around.
They are not very trusting of human contact, and they’ll run if approached.
THE THIRD RING Edit
Past the stretch of hills lies the third ring, largely ocean, surrounding the entire circumference of the land. There is only one access point to the Fourth Ring, and it is currently impassable.
While the castle still wants you back and is likely making you feel VERY inclined to turn back, powers are completely gone at the barrier, and start slowly start returning the further you get, as if there's something past the ocean acting as a DIFFERENT energy source. It's impossible to describe, but it feels a great deal like Paradisa... but changed. A different "personality"; it feels almost motherly.
And even eerier: it moves.
The Stone Huts Edit
More towards the South oceanfront there is a series of small stone “houses”; they are empty and abandoned, and missing their roofs, making them poor shelter.
The Stormlands Edit
If one continues East from the huts, they’ll eventually get into a stormy, dark-clouded area where it is always thunder-storming. There is no oceanfront here; just a long stretch of grasslands. The storms make the area mostly impassable. Curiously, the rain falls UP.
The Ocean Edit
The ocean is calm; there never seems to be any activity there, no animals nor people on it. There isn’t even a tide, so as bizarre at it may seem, the entire ocean is a perfectly still pool, despite its sheer size. It definitely gives off the impression of something abandoned, something that used to harbor life but is now still and dead. Towards the West there is a large section of coral, and an outcropping of rocks that run about six miles long, like a narrow stone road across the ocean. It stops, midway, however, as if something very large took a large chunk out of it to prevent passage, and very far off in the distance one can see the other side, where it continues. Unless one swims, there is no way to get there.
The Railroad Edit
Far west of Paradisa, the opposite direction from everything else, is a lonesome station in the middle of nowhere. It’s the “end of the line.” Train tracks run from there westward, over the water.
The Fog Edit
Discovered on an expedition in April of 4CRE. A motley crew of intrepid explorers led nominally by Raine Sage, Rin Asano, Jr., and whoever else picked their way across the misty spring landscape. The old shell of Paradisa Town stands out this way, and not far from that is the abandoned house of Doctor Fog.
THE FOURTH RING Edit
Unknown.
MAP Edit
This is temporary until Fanfare gets some, uh, cartography skills. Or someone kind enough to make a better one comes along and lends their talents ;)
GALLERY Edit
