Maze (Hedge)
From Changeling Venue
Contents |
The Maze
Edinburgh's Old Town - the portion of the city resting upon the great whale-backed ridge of the Castle Rock - is masked from Arcadia by one of the Hedge's more unusual manifestations. Where much of the rest of Scotland is covered by a Hedge of moorland, ancient forest, and other wilderness, the city of Edinburgh has at its unseen heart a tangle of stone and brick.
Navigation through the Maze remains notoriously uncertain, far more art than science. The scarcity of views of the sky and the uselessness of compasses are only exacerbated by the shifting nature of the terrain itself. Even experienced Maze-travellers tend to stick to areas that they know comparatively well, trusting to their ability to recognise shifts in the form of the Maze to let them identify the areas through which they pass.
Entrances
The Maze can be entered through a wide array of Gateways, as can most other portions of the Hedge. At times, mortals blunder into its outer limits by accident, but for the most part it remains sealed to them.
Edinburgh's major difference in this regard lies in the In-Between, that odd fragment of the city that has slipped askew from reality and can no longer be considered a full part of the mundane realm. Most mortals seem unable to perceive those areas of the city that lie In-Between, but some few wander in or even appear to make active use of them. However, entirely normal mortals can from time to time catch glimpses of half-seen figures passing through doorways they cannot see, or notice flitting movement where none should be. This usually occurs as the Maze shifts or on nights of particular significance, and at such times of change it is not unknown for the Maze to link directly to the In-Between and the mundane world in ways otherwise unseen.
Form
The Maze wears many masks, some parts seeming truly ancient, others dating back to identifiable historical periods, and others apparently drawn from some cyberpunk nightmare. Scattered pockets of greenery and safety exist here and there, though the most common life seen within its more open sections is a thorny, black-husked vine.
For the most part, the Maze consists of enclosed stone passageways and chambers. Though lighting is rare, it is far from unknown - but one corridor might offer sconces for torches, while its neighbour might have electric light fitments, and a third be permanently illuminated by witch-fire.
Sections open to the sky are comparatively rare, and have usually been converted at some point in the past to gardens and orchards - though many such efforts have failed. As with any other section of the Hedge, goblin fruit can be acquired by those knowledgable in the arts of harvesting, though most known gardens in stable regions have long been claimed and defended by Changelings or other denizens of the Hedge.
History
Many old tales suggest that the Maze was a deliberate creation - though whether of some fae lord, the Border Tribe, or members of the Lost few seem able to agree. What is known is that much of it shifts and changes, whatever laws it obeys making sense to precious few Changelings. However, within its halls pockets of stability and comparative safety have always been found, and it has long served as a defence against both Others and Border Reavers.
Some ancient tales suggest that the Maze was once more rational and less hostile than it is now, though this has often been dismissed as nothing more than wistfully utopian nostalgia. What is certain is that there have been many different residents, with travellers through the Maze periodically finding abandoned Hollows, dust-shrouded meeting halls, and long-deserted orchards and gardens.
It is, however, speculated by some that it is the Maze itself - or whatever force might lie at its heart - that creates such variations and wonders, and that they are no more to be trusted as signs of the history of the Lost than they are to be taken as true havens of safety.
Locations
The following sites are only a small sample of the possibilities contained within the Maze. As a complex of corridors, tunnels, chambers, vaults, gardens, and caverns covering over two square miles of central Edinburgh, the Maze would be many times larger than the greatest of mortal buildings even if it entirely obeyed the restrictions of geography and physics.
As it is, even the In-Between often seems to "cheat" mundane rules of space, while sections of the Maze most assuredly do. This doesn't just mean that more (or less) can be fitted into the distance between two Gateways than might be expected by someone walking between them in the mortal world... it can mean that entire locations can appear or disappear without warning. Still, there are certain major features regarded as almost entirely stable "fixed points" within the Maze.
- Cathedral of Dust: A great, vaulted chamber featuring grand pillars, elaborate abstract carving, and fine paving... that tapers off into unworked stone and a ragged wall of bare rock. Several side-doors lead off in various directions, and there are persistent tales of hidden portals. Though too extensive to be properly guarded by any save the largest of groups, it nonetheless often serves as a camping-ground or rest-stop for travellers, lying at the junction of a number of routes through the Maze.
- Heart of the Labyrinth: The legendary (or mythical) heart and origin-point of the Maze, it has often been searched for through the centuries. Anyone who has successfully found it has either kept it secret, or failed to return at all. Still, it serves as a form of Grail for some Lost - and it has even been proposed that, with King Arthur supposedly linked to Arthur's Seat, it would make sense for his knights to have concealed the Grail nearby, behind suitable defences....
- Mortimer's Cages: Discovered in the early years of the 19th century by Tobias Mortimer, an explorer attached to the Ministry of Cartography, the Cages lie deep within the Maze. Reputed to take the form of a great, dark warren of cages and pens, they are said to have served some unknown master as a zoo or research centre, though Mortimer reported that they seemed to have been abandoned when he found them. Regarded as ill-favoured and dangerous even by the standards of the Maze, and hard to reach even for those who know the signs to look for en route, the Cages have rarely been visited since then and are often viewed as the source of odd creatures and dangers encountered within the Maze.
- Rat-Run: Though it rejoiced in different names in the past, this "organised" maze has for some time been thought to resemble a scientist's laboratory test. There are even high points from which the maze might be viewed by observers or an audience, and it has long been used as a testing-ground and secluded meeting point by members of the Lost.
- The Roof: Though there are many sections of the Maze open to the sky, it is remarkably difficult to clamber up and onto anything that might grant access to whatever lies above the closed sections. Indeed, even so much as a glimpse out over one's immediate surrounds is usually all but impossible to obtain. That said, there are some who have dedicated themselves to exploring this aspect of the Maze, though it seems to be an even more dangerous and less rewarding occupation than "conventional" Maze-wandering.
- Stone Orchard: One of the larger open areas yet found, this field-sized enclosure is exposed to the sky and rain, and was apparently once planted with dozens of trees bearing goblin fruit. Yet everything that was once alive is now part of the stone, merging seamlessly with the dead rock beneath a visitor's feet. Various legends suggest that this is either some elaborate lure or joke, or that there are secret methods of finding the orchard in bloom and alive.
Lore
- The Compass of Night: An artefact of local legend, said by some to be the result of an ancient Contract concluded with powers unknown in the early days of the Maze, and by others to be something more akin to a Will o' the Wisp offering false guidance. Sometimes, those travelling at dusk through the warrens of the Maze are said to find an ancient compass, sealed in a silver case like an antique pocket-watch. It opens to reveal a glimpse of a sky filled with stars, which wheels and turns as the holder changes facing. Supposedly, it permits those who learn its secrets to locate whichever exit from the Maze will take its wielder the shortest time to reach from wherever they then stand. Unfortunately, it does not warn of dangers, nor of the location into which the portal opens. The stories say that the Compass cannot leave the Maze, nor can it hold material form after sunrise, whether or not the sun's rays touch it.
- Forgotten Voices: Though becoming temporarily lost in the Maze is a frequent occurrence for those who seek to travel beyond its fringes, permanent disappearance within it remains comparatively rare save for those few who deliberately abandon the travelled paths. There are, however, tales of those who wandered too far, too deep, and for too long, and became... different. Losing Clarity and perhaps gaining something else, they are said to have become true denizens of the Maze, haunting its depths as unseen but occasionally-heard phantoms, serving the same goals as the Maze itself.
- The Labyrinth of Dreams: Once upon a time, in a place both far away and ever-near, many of the people were frightened and scared. There were evil things stalking the land, and danger seemed to be drawing in around them. Some tried to run away, and were caught by the monsters that lurked in the wilderness. Others took up arms and rode out to fight, and in time became like the monsters themselves, holding territory and hunting like prey those whose paths crossed theirs. Still another group tried to hide, burying themselves in the cities of men in the hope that the common crowds would shield them from notice and harm.
Some others shared a dream, and together they worked to build a defence. With their allies, they sought to build a great labyrinth, a sacred path of walls and wards that the monsters could never pass, at the heart of which their people could remain secure forever more.
But here the tale divides, and becomes a maze - for that is what became of the dream. None now know where the dreamers are, for the labyrinth in which they sought to hide themselves is lost to us. Some say that their plans were flawed, others that they were betrayed from within. Still others that the monsters themselves found the labyrinth before it was complete, and turned it to chaos and confusion. Another tale says that one of the greatest of monsters claimed the centre of the labyrinth for itself, and captured or drove out the dreamers.
But some say that there are still paths and secrets that might be found, ways to find and navigate the labyrinth that they claim lies at the heart of the Maze. Ways to find power, and lore, and secrets... and perhaps even safety.
But that's just a faerie tale, of course.
- Misplaced, but never lost: It has often been claimed that no part of the Maze is ever truly gone forever. Instead, the theory is, every room or region that "disappears" has merely been moved to a new location as the Maze perpetually changes and inches ever outwards. As a result, only those few chambers directly destroyed through dramatic conflict might have been truly lost. This notion opens up the possibility of finding rooms last used centuries ago, specific sites of historic interest... and even chambers that date back to the creation of the Maze itself.
- Predatory Coils of Stone: Another tale regarding the Maze is that it is alive. Those who favour this theory often fall out over whether it is sentient... but most agree that its perpetual expansion, apparently free from any direction or control, is a threat to the nature of the surrounding Hedge. Of course, for some residents, this can only be a good thing... but others worry about a declining source of goblin fruit, or what the Maze itself might do if it continues endlessly. The Ministry of Cartography has at times attempted to estimate the rate of growth, and has rarely suggested that it is slowing.
Denizens
A world unto itself, the Maze's tunnels and wynds are stalked by oddities and adapted forms of Hedge-life, and are said to serve as home to legends and myths dating back far beyond even the fabled time of True Thomas.
Though stories periodically emerge of some great monstrosity resident at the heart of the Maze, and the library of the Ministry of Seers contains more than a few references to such entities (minotaurs and dragons featuring prominently), firm proof of the existence of any such creature has remained elusive. Instead, the Maze supports a sparse population of Hedge life, often adapted to its predominantly stony environment.
A few Hedge creatures are better known than other residents of the Maze:
- Border Reavers: Members of the once-proud Border Tribe have frequently attempted to penetrate the Maze from outside - but in the millenium of history that has passed since their war with the fae, precious few have ever made it through to the protected inner side of the Maze. Rare members have, however, been encountered wandering through the Maze's corridors, and City-Warders and March-Warders active outside the Maze have at times been pursued into its outer edge. For whatever reason, the Reavers seem to find the Maze deeply unattractive as a place in which to build lairs or bases, and incursions tend to be brief or by very small groups.
- Maze-Rats: Foot-long rodent-like hedge creatures that reside in the myriad nooks and crannies of the Maze. Usually dangerous only in great numbers or when cornered, there are cautionary tales of encounters with rabid or disease-carrying members of the species. For the most part, they pose a threat only to the Lost's precious sources of goblin fruit.
- Tanglevine: The thorny, black-husked vine that endures and spreads through most sections of the Maze open to the sky. A bane of gardeners, it is exceptionally hard to eradicate from an orchard, but if left to its own devices it can sap the strength from almost any fruit tree and out-compete more productive climbing plants. Its sole conventional use is as a rudimentary defence or concealment, though it appears to respond with willful perversity to most attempts to tame or guide its growth.
- Tunnel Wolves: Wolf-like predators that might once have been confined in the Cages, but now lair within the dark and quiet places of the Maze. Lean and near-perpetually hungry, they are ambush killers and scavengers, usually seen alone or in very small groups. Though not sentient, they are certainly above normal intelligence for an animal and have been known to make use of the Maze's more dangerous areas to aid in their hunts.
- Will o' the Wisp: Distant lamp-light, the sound of echoing and indistinct voices, and even lamps and torches bursting into illumination (or going out) in sequence are all known features of the Maze, in addition to the more common "bobbing candle-glow" form of the Will o' the Wisp.
Credit
My thanks to Rob Collins for the original concept of Tunnel Wolves, on which my own are based.
Rick MacLennan very generously provided the banner.
| Freehold of Edinburgh | |
|---|---|
| General: | Edinburgh (VSS) • Edinburgh Who's Who • Edinburgh Offices |
| Places: | Oldcastle • The In-Between • The Maze • The Innocent Railway |
| Other: | Scotland • Domain Info |
