The Maze

1. "The city dreams of its dead neighbourhoods, and its dreams are made of bricks and stones", the Arvarians of Adamantia say. Certainly the winding passages that run under the whole city and are the dwelling of criminals and grotesque or frightening creatures, are mostly the remains of what it was once, and which has slowly sunk under the weight of new buildings to be swallowed by the soil. Still, unseen by most, parts of luxurious palaces remain buried, with their frescos still visible to the few that venture there; secret passages still hold hidden treasures; old mysteries and lost items wait for those that can recognise them.

2. But the Maze is not only a remnant of the past: every day, frightened noblemen build escape passages under their houses, the administration digs and paves new sewer tunnels, people bury their dead in subterranean catacombs, and the mysterious race of the Gumrach expands its trap-laden dwellings far from the surface.

3. The philosophers say the Maze has ten levels one under the other, alike to the ten realms of death and dream. The tenth would be a cave with a natural pillar, a stalactite that looks like a gnarled tree, and upon which the whole city rests.

4. The uppermost level of the Maze is almost trivial: some store goods there, beggars and fugitive criminals seek refuge from the cold and the law.  Under this, a level is filled with old garbage thrown from pits in the streets, and crossed by sewers. Nobody lives there but rats and crossing it is disgusting, if not perilous.  Lower still, the Philosophers bury their dead, and sometimes meditate, in crude arched corridors sided by niches where the remains of generation after generation of scholars have been placed, with some chambers, where the most important members of the schools lie surrounded by symbols of their art and knowledge. Statues of the Giver of Rest in admonishing poses are placed at every corner and entrance. This is a peaceful, arcane and disturbing place, and few resist its subtly horrific atmosphere.  Under this, some report a theatre of the old times has been turned to a subterranean arena where odd beasts and desperate men fight for the amusement of rich merchants and the aristocracy; nearby, the same beasts are bred, men gamble and frightful deals are concluded.  In the next level begins the labyrinth spangled with deadly traps where the last Gumrach of Adamantia live. Few have visited it and come back; a haunting sound, like of pipes, flutes or organ, is almost always heard here, mingled with the mechanical and hydraulic ones of the ingenious devices of its mysterious inhabitants.   No one in Adamantia is able, or willing, to tell what might reside deeper.