Labyrinths of Night

A Mother-That-Was in her palace

The Labyrinths of Night are mysterious mobile realities that roam the Liminal Gap.

## Description

The Labyrinths of Night are a category of layered infinite realities that move within the confines of the Liminal Gap. Labyrinths are notable extremely resistant to Tor's influence, to the extent that individual Labyrinths are able to ward off greater Tor fragements and contain no blightlings. Labyrinths actively seek out isolated individuals and small communities of sapient beings to abduct, often directly attaching to realities and teleporting their inhabitants into it. Each labyrinth is divided into levels, with each level or layer varying in size from being only a few hundred cubic metres in volume all the way to being spatially infinite. All labyrinths shares the same levels, from the interior or exterior of structures large and small, planetary biomes and environments, unending voids and other strange spaces. Some of these layers may appear unstable and have their laws and environments warp and change. The danger of these levels to Bound and sometimes even fully realised Transcends vary, from fully safe and secure to being almost incompatible with existence. Likewise, the concentration of Astratoteles in these layers can greatly vary between levels, from nonexistent to being completely infested. Tens of millennia of research has revealed that each and every single Labyrinth of Night is ruled by a Mother-That-Was.

## Levels

The Labyrinths of Night are divided into 100000 levels. The most important level of any Labyrinth is the starting level, also known as The Hub. The Hub is a rocky planet covered in ocean, with locked portals and spatial connections to each layer of the Labyrinth. Each portal can be unlocked by retrieving a small orb from its corresponding level and using it on spatial gates that are found on each level. The Hub is the closest a level can be to completely safe, with no Astratoteles and plenty of self-replenishing supply caches. Many prisoners of the Labyrinth use The Hub as a place of rest and to replenish their supplies.

The other most important and final level is the Obsidian Throne, where the Mother-That-Was rules. This level, and the one preceding it, are the most dangerous levels by a significant margin, often being nearly incompatbile with existence for non-Transcends, Shardbearers and Old Brethren. Every hazard from previous levels is found here in abundance, from dangerous phenomena, Astratoteles hordes and the Mother's personal court.

## Astratoteles

The Labyrinths of Night contain very few **I** designation Astratoteles, but contains an abundance of otherwise rare phenomena and exotic life forms.

Among the most prominent of Astratoteles is the Mother-That-Was, designation **E1**, is a type of malevolent figure native to the Labyrinths of Night. An instance of the Mother-That-Was spawns in every single Labyrinth. The Mother-That-Was is one of the most heavily researched beings by those inside and outside the Liminal Gap. Each is a clone of the original, who had since been slain by the Order of the Umbral Star. Each Mother-That-Was is a shadowy being that appears as a bare outline of different fauna or humanoid figures when they manifest. Should they be injured, however, the first layer of their body falls off, revealing a gelatinous mass inside. A Mother-That-Was acts as the beating heart of a Labyrinth of Night; should they be killed, all the non inhabitant Astratoteles within the labyrinth die with her. These Astratoteles only manifest in Level 100000 of a Labyrinth of Night, otherwise known as the Obsidian Throne and the level preceding it. The Mothers-That-Were seek to drive those trapped in their labyrinths into insanity, before corrupting them to become their servants. Those that are mortal are slain outright before being raised as their servant.

Another prominent Astratoteles in the Labyrinths of Night, designation **I1000**, is the Red Scourge. The Red Scourge is a Shardbearer/Transcend hybrid whom has since been mutated after the collapse of the Weave. Who they were previously is something they have revealed little of, and only to those who have gained their trust. The Red Scourge is chiefly known for their hatred of Astratoteles native to the Labyrinths of Night, and actively seeks out these mobile realities to clear. Upon entering a Labyrinth, the Red Scourge does not leave until the entire reality has been turned into a dead zone devoid of all non-Shardbearer/Transcended life. Such cleared Labyrinths are regarded as fairly safe and habitable for those with the right metaphysical protections, with sizeable local communities of several trillion forming in their confines.

A mysterious group Astratoteles have sometimes been observed inte Labyrinths. These are given the designation of **E2**, and are known as the 17 Siblings. The 17 appear as fauna formed out of gossamer thread, appearing at key points in the Labyrinths. The entities are always seen from afar, and upon approach by prisoners quickly fade from existence. Thus far, these beings have made no attempt to communicate or respond to communication attempts by prisoners. The motivations of these entities is thus unknown, and subject to wild speculation by researchers and prisoners alike.

## Order of the Umbral Star

Within the Liminal Gap is a an organisation of Mauretarian adherents known as the Order of the Umbral Star. The Order is based within the Liminal Gap itself and carries out operations to free those trapped in labyrinths and to either destroy the prison realities or render them into more normal universes.

Should a being be trapped in a Labyrinth of Night not all hope is lost, even on the most dangerous levels. Occasionally, a black tablet with glowing violet transcript may appear in a layer or multiple layers of a labyrinth. These indestructible tablets are completely visible to all friendly Astratoteles in the layer that it is present in, even through obstacles. Upon any sort of physical contact with the tablet or upon being struck with Void Arcana, the tablet floats and its transcript begins shining before verbalising a pronouncement;

*To the weary and desperate, we hear your pleas. Your struggles in this cursed plane are over. To those who torment and hunt the ones within:*

*We've found you. We see you. We unmake you.*

Upon tablet activation, all non-hostile Astratoteles and travelers become surrounded by a protective barrier that defends against the attacks of Astratoteles. Once the pronouncement ends, violet light illuminates every level of the affected labyrinth from above. If there are obstacles in the way of the light, the light incinerates its way through them until reaching the entirety of the level. This light stabilises any unstable layers while also disintegrating and erasing all hostile Astratoteles in the labyrinth from existence (with exceptions made to I designated non-blightling Astratoteles that are reverted back into regular Transcends, Old Brethren and Shardbearers). Afterwards, the aptly named Umbral Star manifests in every level. Once the manifestation finishes, all the layers of the labyrinth dissolve and merge into one, rendering the labyrinth into a normal reality.