Sevenfold Mazework
Ervenian Era, 1051 AB
The Sevenfold Mazework is Set like a crown geode within the Great Dismal Delve and it is a living fortress of stone that reconfigures at a word from its master. Walls grind, veins glitter, and floors rise like patient tides, all bending to the edicts of Kabril Ali al-Sara al-Zalazil, Great Khan of the Dao. Markets, courts, vaults, and forges spiral through seven concentric rings with each ring having a function, each function a trap for the unwary.
Customs and Laws
Rule of Sevens
Tribute, fines, and tolls are assessed in sevens (weight, purity, labor-hours, or favors).Oath Copper
Any bargain struck on house copper becomes law; breaking it makes the stone itself hostile (doors narrow, floors tilt, braces fail).Silence of Stone
In vault districts, voices fall to whispers; disputes are tapped in code and judged by a Bailiff.Brace-Right
No new cut or tunnel stands without witnessed braces set and signed; violators forfeit goods to the Ledger Vault.Guest-Writ
Visitors surrender edged tools and receive a stamped geode token granting route-rights; unsanctioned earthglide voids the writ.Geography
The Mazework descends as seven terraced rings around a hollow geode heart, its facets lit by slow lightning inside crystal veins. Load-ramps and ore tramways braid between rings. Jade and hematite pillars carry the roof like a buried colonnade of mountains; keystones bear seals of past treaties. Stone rivers (tremor-conveyors) rumble through auction courts, and magnetite galleries tug at mail and coin. In the deep, the palace opens into pressure domes where contracts echo as if the rock itself is listening.
Notable Locations
Ring I - Tribute Quarter
- Basalt Weighhouse: Gravity-true scales; lies ring hollow against the pans.
- Grinder Arcade: Lapidaries and ore-buyers; the floor itself grinds tailings to grit.
- Seize-Yard: Collared loads and impounded caravans wait beneath tally-bells.
Ring II - Ledger & Law
- Ledger Vault: A mile of stone tablets and metal-leaf folios; debts are carved, never erased, only overlaid.
- Echo Clerkery: Whisper your total; the room repeats it in stone-drums if true.
- Surety Chapel: Post bond by casting ingot into a keystone.
Ring III 0 Forges & Foundries
- Seam-Forges: Vein-fired hearths fed by natural ore; heat follows the metal, not the air.
- Quench Galleries: Steam-veiled halls where azer foremen sing the temper.
- Bracefast Chapels: Crew oaths etched into load-bearing ribs.
Ring IV - Menagerie of Stone
- Geode Court: Fossil and crystal gardens; petitioners present gifts cut from living rock.
- Petrifactories: Galleries of the petrified, many of whom are oath-breakers, curiosities, threats on display.
- Khargra Pens: Metal-eaters penned behind magnet fences.
Ring V - Courts of Bargain
- Anvil Dais: Disputes decided by single strike on an oath-anvil—resonance favors the honest.
- Seam Theater: Auctions staged on a rotating fault slab; lots arrive through the floor.
- Witness Niche: Galeb duhr bench; their nod ends argument.
Ring VI - The Mint of Sevens
- Stamp Halls: Coins, seals, and geode tokens struck in lots of seven; counterfeits crumble.
- Magnet Vaults: Suspended caches in lodestone cages—reach too fast and your gear flies, not you.
- Cipher Tunnel: A rotating passage that shifts inscriptions with the hour-chime.
Ring VII - The Khan’s Rotunda
- Throne of Pressure: A seat carved from a fault heart; edicts here move halls.
- Oolite Garden: Rippling stone sand that records footfalls for a day.
- Audience Prism: A clear quartz chamber, where no lie can cross its facets unbent.
Travel and Access
Seven Gates
Each ring has a cardinal gate, Tribute, Ledger, Forge, Menagerie, Court, Mint, and Khan, guarded by dao phalanxes and xorn assessors.Anchor Cells
Teleports and ethereal entries pin to basalt rooms under anti-glide seals; release requires bribe or bond.Stone Rivers
Tremor-driven conveyors (safe, loud) run between markets and forges; quiet hours are chargeable privileges.Earthglide Lanes
Licensed, ward-inked lanes let approved parties pass through stone under escort.Economy and Practice
Tribute flows inward as ore, gems, crafted stone, and indentured labor; ingots, minted seals, warded keystones, brace maps, and contract enforcement flow out. The Mazework rents forges by bell, sells lien-rights on newly discovered seams, and licenses earthglide lanes. Quiet haul and sealed audience are premium services.Inhabitants
Dao nobles with silvered beards and stone-scale cuirasses; dao accountants and enforcers; xorn auditors (implacable, incorruptible about weights pech riggers pressed into brace-crews; galeb duhr bailiffs; gargoyle and khargra packs as living alarms; bulette breakers; oreads and deep gnomes as bonded artisans; rare efreet and azer envoys on Fire-trade; mercane brokers with rolling ledgers.Localized Phenomena
Oath-Resonance
Spoken bargains leave heat in the stone; sanctioned diviners read recent promises by warmth and grain.Magnet Haze
In lodestone districts, metal tugs and compasses whorl; ranged attacks with metal suffer.Healing Rock
Unbraced, unwitnessed cuts seal at a slow crawl, sometimes with workers still inside.Ledger Echo
Totals and tallies whispered in vaults return at half-volume if correct, fall silent if false.Grudge Slip
Breaking Oath Copper can trigger microquakes beneath the offender alone (Dex saves vs. prone).Seam Lightning
Quartz veins flash in silent lightning when the Khan moves the maze.Trait Type |
Description |
|---|---|
| Gravity | Objective; “down” is floorward. Heavy draw near vault cores (treat as increased encumbrance). |
| Time | Normal. |
| Shape & Size | Functionally infinite labyrinth of seven nested rings linked by shifting spurs, stairs, and pressure galleries. |
| Morphic Traits | Divinely/elementally morphic. The Khan’s edicts, signed writs, and oath-glyphs can move, seal, or carve stone; un-oathed passages slowly heal shut. |
| Elemental Energy | Earth Dominant. |
| Alignment | Neutral. |
| Magic | Earth, metal, rune, compulsion (oath/contract), and divinations concerning ore, stress lines, or debts are enhanced. Burrowing/earthglide is impeded unless bearer wears a licensed sigil. Air/water magic sputters; teleportation without a stamped pass diverts to an Anchor Cell. |
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