Ways in Chaos
- "Leading Rheaine, and trying to visualize Astin as a focus to finding him in these Ways of Bantling, you proceed up the hall...or twist and turn upwards anyway, in the peculiarly changed geometry that is the normal for the Courts.
It's hard to try and use the Pattern here, and indeed it seems sometimes that you can't even make progress with it...but eventually you come up out of the ground, it seems onto a small porch. A familiar pink sand desert is all around you...but nearby, maybe a half a kilometer away, you recognize a larger building...it must be the "porch" you trumped into the Ways...and presumably, Astin is there. The Blood Red Sun shines down on the scene.
Before either of you can step off the porch and onto the sand...you see movement...like the disturbance of a large fish in water..."
- From the Tale of Malachi
Chaos can be a confusing, maddening place for the uninitiated. The Geography, if that is the right word for it, can vary from turning to turning or even redsky to bluesky. Shapeshifters have a huge innate advantage over non shapeshifters in terms of getting around, both in the Courts themselves and in individual ways. But what the Courts are actually physically like is a mystery to those who never have had the experience of visiting them.
What is a Ways?
A Ways is the estate of a person or a House in the Courts of Chaos. Thanks to the riot of shadows and semi shadows near the Courts themselves, Ways always wind up traversing multiple shadows. This can lead to some interesting geography, as witness Malachi's adventure mentioned above. The creative designers of Ways are called Shadowmasters.
ShadowMasters?
The ShadowMasters Guild. Not controlled or dominated by any one House is this group of Chaosians trained in building Ways. With a combination of sorcery and Logrus, they can meld shadows together and create places to live. Theirs is an honorable profession, and surprisingly uncorrupted. A Shadowmaster is strictly forbidden to take a bribe to perform shoddy or entrapped work. In a land where duels happen everyday, political intrigue a fact of life, and poison everywhere, a Chaosian is secure in the knowledge their Ways themselves are safe.
What can the outsides of Ways Look Like?
Entrances to Ways can be simple portals, elaborate doors, or hidden from plain view. It depends on the owner of the Ways and its use. The Ways of Hendrake, for example, has large statues in front of it's door on the Boulevard. Mandorways, on the other hand, is reputed to have many, hidden entrances.
Is there a difference in calling something 'Ways of X' and calling it 'Y-Ways'?
There is no hard and fast rule, but in general, the Ways of a House are referred to in that manner. Thus, the Ways of Sawall, the Ways of Bantling, the Ways of Hendrake, the Ways of Marbane. Personal Ways are usually appended to their name: MandorWays, SuhuyWays, RheaineWays.
What can Ways look like on the inside?
Almost anything imaginable! There are Ways which cut through open terrain like deserts, or are entirely closed like a building, or anything in between. There are Ways filled with water, and Ways which cannot be navigated except by fliers. Ways with a rather regular layout, and Ways which change their passages, connecting and reconnecting different rooms in the expression of all possibilities. Escher's imagination is amateurish compared to some of the designs of Ways.
Where in the Courts are the major Ways?
The Boulevard. The Boulevard is Main Street of the Courts, running from the Plaza at the End of the World all the way to the Fire Gate. The Entrances to many of the major Ways line this street. Most of the highest ranked of the Major Houses are closest to the Plaza end of the street.
Plaza at the End of the World. I've heard of that!
You bet you have. It is the "center" of Chaos, even though it really is at one of it's edges. At one end of the Plaza is Thelbane, the Dark tall thin Spire which is the Seat of the Emperor, and the other end, on the very edge of the Courts, hanging over the edge of the Abyss itself, is the Cathedral of the Serpent, the religious center of the Courts.
Tell me More about Courts Geography
The Courts are an Island, geographically. The Entire Courts are surrounded by the Abyss, which acts like a moat. The only physical Way out of the Courts is the Abyss Bridge, a large long Bridge of silver colored metal. Beyond the Bridge is rolling hills which would be familiar to those of Amber as the scene of the end of the Patternfall war. Also here is an arch of Red Stone called the Fire Gate. This arch is actually a portal into a nearby Shadow, and is a common method to leave the Courts and enter the Black Zone.
What else is in the Courts themselves?
The Courts are a busy place. Plazas are common, such as the Plaza at the end of the World as well as others like Tor Plaza, and Electrum Plaza, the site of many restaurants. Plazas often have streets in all directions, and even above and below...a quite confusing sight to the new visitor. The entrances to Ways in the Courts are concentrated at the center, as if huddling from the edge of the Abyss. The partial shadows are richer there, too, say the Shadowmasters.
Tell me more about the Abyss
It has many names...the Abyss, the Great Pit, The Hole...the edge of the Abyss is sometimes referred to as the "Rim." It is the perfect moat as mentioned above. The Abyss prevents physical exit from the Courts...even the shadows of Ways cannot cross the Abyss. It may not be a power in the sense of the Logrus and Pattern, but it does, in a sense, represent true entropy.
It really is a hole in the fabric of shadow and the universe itself...keeping the universe from being completely closed. Things can float out of our universe...and fall into our universe as well, by means of the Abyss. The Unicorn and the Serpent both were described as erupting from the Abyss in their respective first appearances.
So what else is the Abyss good for?
Well, it is not a means of transport, or at least not intentionally. Only a logrus-insane person would decide to jump into the Pit. However, there are those called the Pit divers who spelunk into the Abyss, looking for artifacts and other treasures that might find their way into the Abyss from above or below. It's not an easy life by any means, or one favored by the upper classes.
In addition, the upper, upper regions of the Abyss actually are home to some classes of Demons, especially the Ty'iga. See the Bestiary of the Courts for more information on them.
Has any of these pit divers actually found something REALLY good?
Oh, yes. There is a legend the oddly carved Jade mask that is one of the special magical possessions of House Helgram actually was retrieved from the Pit. Members of the House, though, neither confirm or deny this story. Like anything, though, in the courts, it may really have any degree of truth. In any event, the detritus of the Abyss is commonly sold at markets in the Plaza of Gold, the mercantile center of the Courts, dominated, of course, by House Minobee.
On his site, Arref Mak has additional information on the geography of Chaos...the mysterious and
dangerous Lost Ways of Chaos.
