What is the Summer Palace, how was it created and why? Read further to obtain the knowledge to answer these questions!
The Summer Palace was a structure located in the Kingdom of the Sea. It was hidden inside of an island somewhere in the Bay of a Thousand Scales. It was only accessible via an underwater tunnel, which included multiple small caves for one to replenish their air supply. The interior housed the pavilion, a towering, organic structure with twelve floors. It was created by the first animus SeaWing, Albatross, and intended to be a place for visitors from other tribes to stay.
The pavilion was used for many purposes, such as council meetings and housing a library. The top level of the structure was meant to be used as a place to formally greet visitors; found not far below the visitor level was the armory, which held weapons and armor (as the name would suggest). Another notable level was the feasting hall, which had a long oval table surrounded by chairs.
The Summer Palace was destroyed by Burn’s forces 2,003 years after its creation. The palace’s location was a secret, but, during the events of The Lost Heir, Webs was unknowingly followed by a MudWing named Crocodile, who brought the attack with her. Said attack ended up destroying the palace, leaving few survivors. The primary source of destruction came from a technology known as firebombs, which are simply logs that have been set on fire.
As stated previously, the Summer Palace was created by Albatross, the first SeaWing animus. As the first animus dragon in the tribe, the consequences of the magic were not yet known. While he created the Summer Palace, he was also the perpetrator of the Royal SeaWing Massacre, an event in which at least nine dragons lost their lives. This added historical context greatly increases the value of the structure, as Albatross was willing (either intentionally or not) to sacrifice his sanity to create such a magnificent piece of architecture.
The Summer Palace was used in the modern day for many important activities, like the aforementioned council meetings. It also served as a halfway point between the SeaWings and dragons from other tribes, making it invaluable for alliances and inter-tribe peace. It also served as the home of many dragons: civilian, royal, and military. It was significant enough to be rebuilt after its destruction during the War of SandWing Succession. This would likely cost millions of dollars (or equivalent) and take many years, considering that, even with magic, the pavilion originally took almost ten years to be completed.
In book two, The Lost Heir, Tsunami and the rest of the Dragonets of Destiny are taken to the Sumer palace to meet Queen Coral. A sizable portion of the book takes place in the palace. Darkstalker takes place during the creation of the Summer Palace and Fathom is taken to see it.