Fractured World

It's always heard before seen: purposeless noise echoing from every direction, accompanied by the rushing of agitated, cold wind. Landscapes stretch to the deepest regions of the infinite, towering labyrinths defy physical limits. Standing still against constant erosion; time becomes irrelevant.

Gravity is bent to the will of the architecture, molded into areas that change direction with precision to accompany the physics-bending layout. The labyrinths themselves are reminiscent of old Catholic cathedrals, and many areas outside of the castles are akin to ancient, barren mountains.

A thousand colors flash before your eyes

Everything is covered in a chiselled, marble-like concrete, each area having unique colors/decorations, such as displaying changing colors or animated illusions. Projectors can be found stuck halfway in the architecture playing unknown media, ominous symbols, moving patterns, or psychedelic videos.

Crude drawings are etched into the walls and pillars, telling tales of a civilization like today— but any signs of life are nil, leaving the once lively halls now desolate and lifeless.

Sparsely placed wooden doors lead to isolated cottages, all petrified in a similar unknown marble. Despite having no known connection to the regular world, old swing records can be heard playing quietly on brass phonographs, often floating in the air, held up by a single metal wire.

Kaleidoscope Tunnels & The Palace

Secret, large sea blue tunnels are dotted along the landscape, and connect directly to a hidden clandestine known as "The Palace". These tunnels have been compared to humongous kaleidoscopes, and despite the grand demeanor, it is not time-consuming to traverse through.

The scale of infinity in a matter of seconds

The faint sound of rushing water permeates the inside of the tunnels, and once the other side is reached, blobs of water can be seen with sea-like creatures swimming past.

The outside world above bears the structure of a giant, disjointed aquarium. Below the aquarium reveals the aforementioned palace below, with fossilized trees in place of stairs to reach the doorway below.

Walls of gold-veined stone shimmer with unknown crystals, their facets refracting light into prismatic bursts to assemble stained glass art and chandeliers.

Various paintings and sculptures are placed on exhibitions, although only two of them have any connections to real-world art pieces. The reception area is charred and all furniture have been burned to varying degrees, something not present anywhere else.

Faint coughing and whispers reverberate in all directions, its' volume static in contrast to the individual's location. The Palace's additional floors follow the layout of a traditional mansion, built with numerous rooms and hallways that intertwine and connect.

The Palace from above

Despite this typical appearance of The Palace's upper floors, various oddities are present in every room. The furniture inside the bedrooms are flipped upside down and stuck to the ceiling, unable to be removed.

The bathrooms are completely devoid of windows, electricity, and running water, which often makes them dead ends. Finally, all the books in the various studies are written in an unknown language and the ink usually has bleed through all the pages.

The living rooms and stairwells appear to be the only locations designated as normal, but they are far and few in between. A couple miles away from the stairwells of a floor, further exploration is cut short by an abnormal brick wall that causes rooms near it to become unnaturally dark. It is unknown if the wall can be broken.

When pressed against the wall, a faint ambience can be heard on the other side, followed by distorted gurgling and other vague human-like sounds. In the center of The Palace's ground floor lies a large glass sphere filled with a mysterious superfluid comparable to black opal. It will faintly glow whenever anyone gets near, but is unable to be broken, nor does it react to anything else. Pressing your head to the glass and starting at it for too long will cause dizziness and nausea.

Fractured World was written by ArcheNegation with critique from Ferrante, HidandSeek, and Aequilibrium. The images used inside the article are, in order: Foreign Nature by Julius Horsthuis, Psychedelic Fractal by Eric. A. Ton, Turquoise and Blue Abstract by Jean-Philippe Talma, and Treasure In 3D by Peter Sdobnov. The ambiance used in this article is 💨 Winter Storm Ambience with Icy Howling Wind Sounds for Sleeping, Relaxing and Studying Background by Relaxing Soundzzz

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It's always heard before seen: purposeless noise echoing from every direction, accompanied by the rushing of agitated, cold wind. Landscapes stretch to the deepest regions of the infinite, towering labyrinths defy physical limits. Standing still against constant erosion; time becomes irrelevant.

Gravity is bent to the will of the architecture, molded into areas that change direction with precision to accompany the physics-bending layout. The labyrinths themselves are reminiscent of old Catholic cathedrals, and many areas outside of the castles are akin to ancient, barren mountains.

Everything is covered in a chiselled, marble-like concrete, each area having unique colors/decorations, such as displaying changing colors or animated illusions. Projectors can be found stuck halfway in the architecture playing unknown media, ominous symbols, moving patterns, or psychedelic videos.

Crude drawings are etched into the walls and pillars, telling tales of a civilization like today— but any signs of life are nil, leaving the once lively halls now desolate and lifeless.

Sparsely placed wooden doors lead to isolated cottages, all petrified in a similar unknown marble. Despite having no known connection to the regular world, old swing records can be heard playing quietly on brass phonographs, often floating in the air, held up by a single metal wire.

Kaleidoscope Tunnels & The Palace

Secret, large sea blue tunnels are dotted along the landscape, and connect directly to a hidden clandestine known as "The Palace". These tunnels have been compared to humongous kaleidoscopes, and despite the grand demeanor, it is not time-consuming to traverse through.

The faint sound of rushing water permeates the inside of the tunnels, and once the other side is reached, blobs of water can be seen with sea-like creatures swimming past.

The outside world above bears the structure of a giant, disjointed aquarium. Below the aquarium reveals the aforementioned palace below, with fossilized trees in place of stairs to reach the doorway below.

Walls of gold-veined stone shimmer with unknown crystals, their facets refracting light into prismatic bursts to assemble stained glass art and chandeliers.

Various paintings and sculptures are placed on exhibitions, although only two of them have any connections to real-world art pieces. The reception area is charred and all furniture have been burned to varying degrees, something not present anywhere else.

Faint coughing and whispers reverberate in all directions, its' volume static in contrast to the individual's location. The Palace's additional floors follow the layout of a traditional mansion, built with numerous rooms and hallways that intertwine and connect.

Despite this typical appearance of The Palace's upper floors, various oddities are present in every room. The furniture inside the bedrooms are flipped upside down and stuck to the ceiling, unable to be removed.

The bathrooms are completely devoid of windows, electricity, and running water, which often makes them dead ends. Finally, all the books in the various studies are written in an unknown language and the ink usually has bleed through all the pages.