well, all i can say is THANK YOU ALL for the terrific input to my work. i have thought long and hard about each suggestion. it seems the idea of lifeless trees is pretty much unanimous,so ive put a "nasty" copse of trees in top right with the branches hopefully running in a nice curve which balances the ruin shape.and jfike's idea to break up the pool has been implemented. pakled thankyou for the link..i've tried to put in various warm blooded lifeforms including a praying amazon warrior (deleted) and a flying demon from an earlier work (also deleted)... i just don't know if this picture needs a creature, it seems to take away something everytime i put one in. i may go for an inanimate object in the pool of light ..what do you think?