The Castle of Emerald Waters

The Castle of Emerald Waters, or simply "The Castle" to locals, is a fortified, partially submerged structure that separates the city of Devil's Cradle from the wider bay leading out to the Ocean. Built at a relatively narrow chokepoint within the bay, the castle is visible at night only by the slim towers that rise above the surface of the bay. These towers connect with the vast network of large, metallic cables that is suspended over Devil's Cradle, which among other things helps to ground the lightning that's frequently produced during the day by the Everstorm.
For a brief time after dawn, before the day's storm begins in earnest, the rest of the castle is visible through the waters of the bay. It's structure resembles a classic medieval castle except that it's constructed of a type of seastone that appears a deep emerald green in the morning light. Its ramparts rise to just above the level of the waves, forming a nearly invisible obstacle that's nonetheless guaranteed to tear open the hull of any ship that tries to pass directly into the bay without being allowed through the gates. 
What's not generally known to the public is that the Castle performs another function besides suspending one corner of the cables above the city and blocking errant ships from the harbor, and that is the function of serving as the headquarters of the city's rulers, the so-called Parliament of Silence. Visitors to the city, and even most long-time residents, believe that the ominous black marble building near the center of the city is said headquarters, but in fact it is only a minor functionary space used for hearings and the rare public appearances by the strange beings of parliament. The only real relevance the tomblike structure has, besides being intimidating, is to protect an underground passage that leads to the Castle in case members of parliament want to hold audience in the building without having to go outside.
The main sections of the Castle are part laboratory, part library, and contain much of the information that the parliament has gathered over the years concerning Lens and its many anomalous properties. The parliament are not, in fact, undead as is rumored. Rather they are some of the surviving crew from the original voyage of the ark, the great ship that first brought human colonists to the planet of Lens. Having elected to preserve their original bodies as much as possible, the members of the Parliament spend most of their time in large individual tanks meant to preserve their aged bodies and renew them so that they can continue to rule from the shadows. Each of these tubes incorporates a telepathic projection device that can selectively broadcast to individuals. Hence, the nickname "Parliament of Silence," as those who witness or accompany those successfully seeking an audience with parliament hear nothing except when they are being spoken to directly, an effect that can make visitors appear quite mad to one another when they begin speaking to no one in particular as though they were answering questions.
The Castle is one of a handful of structures that incorporates part of the original colony ship into its architecture, and the whole city of Devil's Cradle actually grew up around the bay after the castle was established. Nearby locals thought the mysterious castle might offer some protection from the dangerous creatures of the Allacraus woods, and while Parliament wasn't willing to actually allow the villagers to enter their sanctum, governing the area seemed preferable to having to constantly chase people away. That said, Parliament sees study as their main vocation and participates in civic affairs only reluctantly, meaning that few ever see the inside of the mysterious castle.

Type

Castle