Altered Lore

The Maze

3 min read

The Maze

Overview

The Maze was a vast megacavity within the City of Scholars, representing the deepest explored level. Few dared venture into it due to extreme danger. The space was composed of floating Tesseracts—black stone blocks veined with gold that constantly rearranged themselves. The Maze was destroyed in 393 AC during the confrontation with The Hunger.

The Tesseracts

Regular polyhedra etched with geometric carvings—interweaving lines, parallels, and concentric patterns—appeared to possess a life of their own. They flew, assembled, separated, regrouped elsewhere, revealed hidden chambers, created new ones, or sealed off others. This formed a maze in perpetual flux. The shifting layout did not appear to follow any discernible logic or pattern, though without understanding the periodicity of cycles, certainty was impossible. Configuration changes could take weeks or years.

The blocks were composed at least in part of Aerolith. The inhabitants of the City of Scholars appeared to have mastered the antigravitational mineral far beyond Asgarthan capabilities. Nothing explained the blocks’ constant automated movement. Axiom theorists believed the system was governed by a code—that blocks followed precise rules or could be activated by specific stimuli. Yzmir researchers proposed that ideas were embedded within the blocks, functioning as information storage units capable of combination and reconfiguration to trigger unknown sequences.

The Hunger

The Hunger—a primordial entity—dwelt within The Maze, moving between the floating tesseracts. The creature caused the Oblivion affliction by devouring memories from those who ventured into its domain. In 393 AC, Section 57 of The Aegis was massacred by The Hunger while attempting to reach the Scholars’ Vault.

Destruction

In 393 AC, the Exalts confronted The Hunger within The Maze. Axiom machines flooded an arena with Sap to lure the creature while Fen and Teija attempted psychic contact. When The Hunger became aggressive, Atsadi and Kojo Oduro attacked with lightning and fire. Treyst then triggered explosive charges that detonated the Aerolith cores of the Tesseracts in a chain reaction, destroying The Maze entirely. Akesha Adhikari slowed the collapse while Yzmir mages opened portals to evacuate the Exalts.

Relationships

  • Aerolith: Material comprising part of the tesseracts
  • Axiom: Faction theorizing about tesseract code mechanisms
  • City of Scholars: Parent location containing The Maze
  • Leocardius Sree: Oneiros scholar who documented The Maze in journals
  • Tesseracts: Floating blocks composing The Maze
  • The Scholars’ Tomb: Level above The Maze
  • The Tumult: Suspected Singularity in the depths
  • Yzmir: Faction proposing tesseracts store embedded ideas; mages who evacuated Exalts (393 AC)
  • The Hunger: Entity that dwelt in The Maze until destruction (393 AC)
  • Section 57: Aegis unit massacred by The Hunger (393 AC)
  • Oblivion: Affliction originating from The Hunger’s presence
  • Treyst: Axiom engineer who triggered The Maze’s destruction (393 AC)
  • Atsadi: Yzmir Exalt who battled The Hunger (393 AC)
  • Fen: Lyra Exalt who attempted psychic contact with The Hunger (393 AC)
  • Scholars’ Vault: Location Section 57 was attempting to reach

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