The Celestial Palace

The Celestial Palace is the home of the Verthica Draconians, sitting atop a tall mountain that shares its name in the Far East on the edge of the Uncharted Desert.

The Mountain

The Celestial Palace Mountain is a giant mountain that looms over the lands of the Ophidians. Climbing this mountain is such a treacherous journey that very few have survived the trek. The current statistics indicate that only about 10% of those that have climbed the mountain have ever made it back down, but these numbers are considered higher than they should be because not everyone that climbs the mountain has documented that they were going to attempt it, and have died with no one knowing.
It is called the Celestial Palace because it is a mountain that reaches up into the heavens themselves, and the summit levels out with a plateau. Atop this plateau, a large palace was built. People climb the mountain to reach this palace in search of knowledge.
On the journey, there are many twisted creatures, deformed Dragons, and falling rocks that impede the path of those that intend to climb it. There are sharp gales that knock people off of the mountain, frequent tremors at the base, and torrential rainstorms caused by the High Magic Area that the mountain is situated in.

The Palace

Heise Zhi by andreaspsillos4

Atop the mountain sits an opulent residence for the Verthica Draconians. The Verthica are distinct from normal Draconians, as they were created by Tiamat's brother Bahamut rather than the Goddess Tiamat herself. They were a response to the Draconians, which Bahamut was worried for, and were meant to serve as just protectors. They deviated from this path after finding the Celestial Palace mountain, where they exclusively reside.
The Verthica, like the standard Draconians, ravenously pursued knowledge. They had no desire to protect the other Draconians, and instead wanted to live in isolation and collect information. Thusly, they kept themselves separate from the rest of the world in an attempt to preserve the integrity of their findings.

Within the Walls

The knowledge they store is pooled together in their great libraries within the palace, which stretch up to incredible heights. The palace itself is unbelievably tall, and the libraries within are separated into different floors for various subjects.
Floors exist for different races, civilizations, magic affinities, and studies/practices of different sciences and the like. Each of these libraries are curated by smaller factions of scholarly orders, led by Grand Scholars known as Zhi.
Because they train not only in study, but in magical application, they have magical testing rooms, infirmaries, and arenas where they can practice and spar between each other. These arenas are designed specifically for each elemental affinity, such as a lava room and a lake. This is thanks to the defensive outlook of the Verthica, which makes storming the Celestial Palace near impossible.
There are lodgings for the Verthica to live in, living in their scholarly orders communally. Generally, those born with a specific magic affinity reside in those factions, but there are neutral factions affiliated with them like medicine. The Zhis have chambers within these lodgings, meaning that unlike their followers they do not necessarily sleep communally, but they do eat with everyone.

The Legend of the Palace

When anyone thinks of the Celestial Palace, the major thing that comes to mind is climbing the mountain on which it sits. This is due to legends surrounding the palace, which feature the tale of a man that climbed the palace and gained incredible knowledge and power.
The tale tells of a Jihdi Human by the name of Gong He. Gong He was a renowned Ace, meaning he had every magic affinity. Yet he was not satisfied with this. He wished for more, and climbed the mountain.

Gong He by Jarhed

It was a treacherous time, and he disappeared for years. He was believed dead, yet after twenty-five years, he had returned to Shixing with an advanced knowledge of every type of magic, as well as subjects of knowledge around the world such as history of places the Jihdi were not even familiar with like the Korvians.
Ever since this legend was spread around, people have tried (and often failed) to climb the Celestial Palace to gain this knowledge. Even those that do have not the patience nor skill to learn as Gong He did, and leave within the year.

Mistranslations

Mistranslations of the tale, as it is written in Jihnish, say that the Zhi that wait atop the palace are not Draconians, but instead ancient Dragons without wings. Other mistranslations say that those that climb the mountain do not need to study, but instead the Dragons instantly bestow the knowledge unto them.

Tradition

The Celestial Palace is not only steeped in legend, but also in strict tradition.

Guang Zhi by andreaspsillos4

One of the old traditions is a hatred towards those with Weave Stain. Many of the old guard in the Verthica society still discriminate against the Weave Stained. However, the new guard has adopted a new tradition where they believe that Weave Staining can be beneficial for those that wish to study, and allow the Verthica that have the condition to apply their magic in new and interesting ways. This came to pass after the tale of the Dòngxué hēi'àn became well-known.
In terms of the Old Guard, the head of this movement is the Zhi of light and martial arts, the second oldest Zhi, Guang Zhi. He is renowned for not only his immense magical prowess but his incredible martial skill as well. His fighting style is that of debilitating opponents through chakra points. He is not only the proponent of some negative traditions, though.
Another tradition that Guang Zhi champions is that of the nameless Zhis. This means that Zhi do not keep their names, but instead take the title of their elemental affinity, for him Guang is light and thusly is his name. What this tradition encourages is the idea of a collective push for knowledge. It allows for the idea that anyone among them to become a Zhi, and that they are all working towards the same cause.