ManseRelay/ShadowSewingStone
Shadow-Sewing Stone
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Shadow-Sewing Stone
The Flag Tower (FourWillowsWeeping)
- North.
At the top of a mountain is the Flag Tower, which can hardly be distinguished from the rock of its foundation. They are both covered in black ice, from the soot that comes from the tower itself. It is a cluster of tapering structures; from the outside it makes the mountain seem to be raising a claw to scrape the sky. Inside each tower burns a single candle, and the strand of black smoke from that candle rises from the its unfinished peak. Hundreds of white flags are hung against the wallls, but because of occult air currents that move the smoke in an intricate design, they remain unstained. Instead the smoke's pattern casts a shadow on each one, that of a being slumped in resignation or struggling to escape. These are shadows who are kept caged here as punishment for their transgressions. The stone forms in the smoke of the central tower's candle, turning and spinning in the air.
The Umbral Stairwell (Charlequin)
- West
Sitting upon a small, isolated island in the Skullstone Archipelago lies the Umbral Stairwell, a pyramidal Manse built from black sandstone. Its exterior is solid and largely featureless, bearing only a set of steps progressing up each face, and a single, smooth double door leading inwards. Inside, the building is hollow, with no rooms or walls; instead, numerous black staircases climb up from the floor, bending repeatedly at right angles in their upward climb. Between them are numerous square mezzanines and platforms of various sizes, ranging from four to forty feet in diameter. The interior is lit by thousands of floating glowing lamps, featureless spheres about three inches in diameter, which give off a harsh, unforgiving light. These spheres are so numerous and omnidirectional that no shadows are seen in most parts of the Manse -- only those places where two mezzanines overlap, creating a square of shadow. Within each such square, the shadow of a creature lies trapped, unable to escape into the oppressive light outside -- the low moans and howls of these shadows constantly fill the manse with unnerving sounds, just beyond the edge of mortal hearing. The stone forms upon the penultimate landing, upon a square of soulsteel which is precisely shielded from the light by a tiny higher platform directly above it.
The Midnight Theatre (Telgar)
- East
One of many Manses in the decadent city of Great Forks, the Midnight Theatre is owned by the Goddess of Shadow Puppetry, Akiry Tanaka. Within the Theatre no light is allowed save for the single blue-flame lantern behind the great white screen on which the Shadows perform. In a rush of darkness, the shadows of the Manse gather from all the dark spaces within the Theatre once an audience is seated and begin their performance. For the duration of their display, the Manse is lit by nothing, yet everywhere it is light. The shadows, performing on the screen, are unable to cast darkness through the Manse, but no light falls. Because of this it becomes impossible to see anything inside the Manse except for the screen and its performers for the duration of the show. When the shadows have finished their show, they return to their natural arrangements. The blue-flame lantern itself is the source of the Shadow Sewing Stone, held within its oil vat.
Black Weaver's Web (Quendalon)
- Center
In the Incas Prefecture of the Blessed Isle, upon the eastern slopes of the mountain Gar Pan, there lies a cave with six entrances. A natural-seeming stairway winds down into the depths beneath the mountain. At the end of the stairway, a crevice opens near the top of a vast spherical cavern thick with black webs; wisps of shadowy Essence flow endlessly through the webs, sapping the strength of those who would intrude upon the Manse. The webs grow thick near the center of the cavern, where vast ropy strands as thick as tree trunks converge upon the nest of Au-Nara, an elder pattern spider of soulsteel, exiled long ago from the Loom. The Hearthstone forms in the heart of the nest, at the center of an inauspicious array of soulsteel eggs.
The Sleeping Cave (Telgar)
- South
Used by the Dune People as a sacred meeting place, the Sleeping Cave is burried deep under the desert dands of the South, a hollow pocket of shadows and air that holds back the sands. Patterns written in the sand of the walls and ceiling make the eyes hurt if they are studied too long, for they seem to shift and change at every glance, moving across the sands as if they were alive. Within the Manse itself, shadows cover the sand in cool, soft darkness, making it an ideal resting place in the heat of the desert. The stone itself is burried in the center of the cavern, a slight lump that none of the Dune People have yet dared to disturb. While wresting this Stone from their clutches would be dangerous, it would be well worth the price as they would keep all intruders away from the Manse and never dare disfigure their sacred space.
Comments
So... how does this Relay work, exactly? Details please for the slow of brain! :) - Quendalon
- Each theme is one Hearthstone, either from the wiki or from canon. Then a Manse is constructed in each Direction for that Hearthstone. - Moxiane
- Okay, here's the deal. At the beginning of each theme, someone picks a stone, either from the Wiki or a book. Each person then picks one of the five directions and designs a manse which could appear within that direction of Creation and produce the stone in question. Once all five directions have been done, someone picks a new Stone and it begins anew. This was Willows' idea, btw. -- Charlequin
- Thanks for the explanations! Working on the Center manse now... - Quendalon
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