Menastel’s Guide to World Travel, Entry 3: Labyrinths

Once prepared for void travel, one must select a labyrinth to travel to. Before selecting one, however, one must know what a labyrinth is. There are a number of definitions, most of them utterly wrong or written by the untravelled. Many Sovereigns just make up nonsense and spread it around their world to look smart. They usually burn my guides when I distribute them.

The true definition of a labyrinth is somewhat simple. They are, essentially, interdimensional nails holding the physical and ethereal together. The two realms intermingle within and, by the labyrinth builders’ genius design, construct the most complex locking mechanism ever conceived. It doubles as an exceedingly strong anchor point between realms and an extremely mana-dense location where all the wonders of the Myriads naturally manifest. The shifting paths of a labyrinth are simply the locking mechanism constantly reshuffling pieces.

For a precise examination of labyrinth pieces (corridors, rooms, safe boxes, etc.) refer to the dungeon layout table on page 132

In the countless aeons since the labyrinths’ conception, nothing has ever unlocked one. They have been broken, however, to disastrous results.

There are, perhaps, only a handful of truly ancient powers that knew the Myriads before the labyrinths. Supposedly, magical worlds were few and far between. They inevitably faced the problem of the ethereal drifting from the physical, weakening their magic until it simply ceased to be. Given the infinite nature of time, the creation of labyrinths or their equivalents was inevitable. What gives researchers more pause is just how incredibly widespread they are.

There has been some debate over the overarching morality of making every world magical. See: Void Expansion (pg. 178), World Homogenization (pg. 190).

How the labyrinth architects achieved such a feat is yet unknown. They used a similar method when spreading the Myriads standard language (MSL), ensuring a communication baseline on every world with a labyrinth. Though some worlds decide to be special and refuse to speak it. A few religions and governments have even enforced a ban on MSL. Travellers may want to simply leave such worlds at the first opportunity.

When selecting a labyrinth for travel, one must take note of the labyrinth density. Anything higher than 10 layers is highly inadvisable. You will be arriving at the bottom layer, where connection to the ethereal is strongest. This will also be the most difficult of the labyrinth layers to survive. Below the tenth layer is where the physical begins to bend outside natural laws, producing extremely dangerous and unpredictable layouts.

Refer to the risk table on page 153 on how to select a labyrinth density suitable for your party. Do this before scrying the ethereal. Dense labyrinths are to light labyrinths as a sun is to a candle. For the weaker parties, finding a light labyrinth with five or less layers will take a considerable amount of time and effort. Do not underestimate the difficulty of this task.

For more detailed information on labyrinths, refer to my specific guide on the subject. It is still completely accurate contrary to the opinions of Alephna’s crybabies, who have barely travelled the void. They just can’t stand a nonhuman being right.