Its mountains look too perfect to be real; even their asymmetry seems idealized by any Earth standards, as if designed.  Forests of towering leafy trees cover the steep slopes to the edge of the large, fjord-like, deep-blue lake, mostly beachless.  This landscape and the innumerable, equally idealized others in its universe could be collectively thought of as Olympus, but their inhabitants are more players than gods.

At one point the mountains do not plunge into the water.  There a valley comes down with its stream to the lake, a valley U-shaped without benefit of any glacier ever.  Near its mouth spreads a rich lawn-like meadow, almost a putting green, never having known a caretaker, yet innocent of weeds, though not of tiny flowers that sprinkle it with color, blue as flax, yellow as buttercups.  Structures of marble are scattered artfully, their style reminiscent of Hellenic Greece, but gracefully gracious instead of imposing, with roundness the principal motif.

All in all it looks like a Maxfield Parrish painting, rather than like any place on Earth.  (Parrish was an insightful man, more than he knew.)  Everything here is beautiful.

But for the beings who base in the Maxfield Parrish universe, interest and adventure are elsewhere.  In a metaphorical sense, the Maxfield Parrish universe might be thought of as a balcony or mezzanine, although the analogy is weak; video arcade might fit better.  At any rate, for a very long time, its "occupants" have had most of their attention in another universe, just as on Earth, some people spend much of their time at the theater, or playing video games.

Over the ages, the avoidance of boredom has been highly developed by the immortals dwelling here.  Intricate and ingenious machinery and rules have evolved, and play engrosses the inhabitants almost totally.  But of course, the Maxfield Parrish universe requires no maintenance, no production, no service; it exists and functions without attention.

Actually, from the standpoint of play, its inhabitants could almost as well be based in empty blackness, but the Maxfield Parrish universe is better than limbo because it is aesthetic.  It has been there since long before the universe of interest, and in it, bodies require no care or feeding.

In the Maxfield Parrish universe, interpersonal communication has nothing to do with the compressibility of air, although its rules of communication have some things in common with speech.  For example, it is subject to the volition of the "speaker."  However, it is also subject to the volition of potential "listeners:" unwanted communication is not received.  Nor is spatial proximity necessary, although it is often enjoyed.