Cloud palace

A cloud palace or cloud castle was an abode of cloud giants kept floating on a single large cloud by magic.

Description
A cloud palace was like any other cloud giant castle, only it was constructed upon a magical, solid cloud. In addition to the castle structure itself, the island of cloud upon which it was built was said to contain giant-sized gardens with luscious fruit trees.

Cloud giants could not steer or control where a cloud palace went; they relied on the blowing of the wind and would dock their palace at various mountain peaks whenever they drifted to such points.

Construction
The construction of a cloud palace was an especially complicated endeavor, which was exhausting to all those involved. To begin, it required at least twelve cloud giants working together and using their inherent control over clouds and fog to gather a massive cloud centered over a single runecaster. This waiting runecaster performed a ten-hour ritual involving a rune-inscribed pebble contained in a small leather pouch. If he or she was successful, the mass of cloud solidified, and the other runecasters forced the cloud into the sky again.

After this, the lead runecaster had to take the leather bag with the runestone and hide it somewhere in the middle of the cloud. Tampering with the sack or the pebble it contained could cause the cloud to crash.

The rune required for the creation of a cloud palace was the most complicated rune ever discovered by any of the giants and took more than a year to properly inscribe.

Only after the cloud was solidified could construction of the palace itself begin, which was no different than the construction of any castle or palace on the ground.

History
The first cloud palace on Toril was created by the giant god Stronmaus as a small duplicate of his own realm of Stormhold. The father of the cloud giants, Nicias, won this palace in a bet with Stronmaus, but the palace eventually crashed somewhere in the region of Anauroch.

Many years later, runecasters were able to duplicate the magic that had kept the palace afloat.

Early in the history of the Vast, before human rule, a flying cloud castle was defeated in some magical battle. It crashed in the area, near the later site of Thindilar, and tumbled across the ground, steadily obliterated as it went, causing ground tremors and leaving a trail of destruction. Debris, bits of dead cloud giant, and giant treasures were left scattered across the countryside. Dwarves looted much of the treasure, reworking them into their own artworks.

Notable Cloud Palaces
It was rare for cloud giants to live on cloud palaces; most lived atop high mountains. A notable cloud palace was often docked at the storm giant aerie located atop an exceptionally tall mountain in the center of Lake Woe.

Stronmaus himself inhabited a fantastic cloud palace, which was moored to Annam All-Father's steading at Gudheim. The palace contained a massive pool with healing properties.

The Plain of Standing Stones, the central region of Anauroch, contained the ruins of a storm giant cloud palace called the Shattered Tower. Whether this palace was the original cloud palace of Nicias was not known.