The Spirals

Overview

The Spirals are a network of chambers and passages beneath the Shroud. No one built them. They formed where massive roots, bone, and old magic intersect underground. The walls are living or once-living matter: root, petrified marrow, and resin. Pools of stagnant magic and strange sap collect in low places. Entire insect colonies claim sections as territory. Crews report hives stretched between root arches, beetle warrens bored through fossil bone, and centipede coils used as moving bridges over deep shafts. The Spirals are the birthplace and present breeding grounds of the Hollowmask. This fact shapes every rule and risk tied to the region.

Location and Structure

The Spirals lie directly beneath the Shroud. Entry points shift as roots grow and collapses open or seal routes. Most surface mouths are sinkholes at the base of titanic trees or vents where resin has dissolved soil. Once inside, delvers move through repeating patterns: tight root-tunnels, swollen chambers, curtains of webbing, and sudden drops into dark. The layout encourages circular travel. Paths loop and rejoin one another, but seldom in the same way twice after quakes or growth spurts. Maps from one season are unreliable the next. Unlike the Greatclub Tunnels in Odrun’s Handle, which track through stone and worked gates, these paths are alive and change with the forest above.

Access and Control

There is no single gate into the Spirals. The Cudgel monitors known mouths along the Shroud’s interior trails. Patrols tag openings with silk pennants, then remove tags when shifts make them unsafe. The Promissory issues contracts for legal harvests and recovery jobs, but each contract requires a Cudgel stamp for route approval. The Barleys sometimes request capture of living specimens for controlled breeding or counter-breeding studies. The Ashcoats request shells, webbing, and bone suitable for tools or armor research. No guild claims ownership of the Spirals. Each claims a narrow operational right within them. The Regent’s authority applies in theory, but enforcement is difficult far under the canopy.

Environmental Conditions

Light is scarce. Bioluminescent spores occur in patches and may flare when disturbed. Air pockets vary from fresh to stale; some hold sweet resin fumes that numb the tongue, others carry acidic bite from fungal blooms. Floor textures change quickly: slick sap films, brittle web sheets, loose marrow gravel, and hard root bark. Water collects in cold pits where magic leaches from the roots. Touching or disturbing these pools can cause minor illusions or nausea. Heat rises near heavy swarms and decays near fossil chambers. Sound travels unpredictably because of the root lattice and curved surfaces.

Native Life

Insects in the Spirals are larger and more coordinated than those near the surface. Rootbee clusters build waxy membranes across vents to regulate air. Hook-mandible beetles carve transit grooves along roots and defend them as roads. Resin weavers stretch living silk nets between ribs of bone where small prey gather. Centipede pillars coil and uncoil to cross pits, returning to the same anchor points each night. Hollowmask packs patrol along familiar loops and track voices through the lattice. Their mimicry is perfect at short range and improves with echoes. Hearing a companion call from two different directions is the most common warning that a pack is close.

Known Dangers

The greatest danger is the Hollowmask. They lure crews with trusted voices, split groups, and strike from blind angles. They retreat when threatened and reappear after routes shift. Other dangers include resin floods that harden around boots and gear, root-shear collapses that drop delvers into marrow caverns, and swarms that respond to light or heat with coordinated stings. Some chambers drift with spore-mist that heals wounds while slowing breathing; overexposure can cause suffocation. Stagnant magic pools discharge brief illusions when crossed, creating false ledges and phantom cover. Delvers often carry poles to test footing and to break resin films before stepping.

Valuable Materials

Crews seek the Spirals for materials not found in the city’s normal supply lines. Oil nodules that burn without smoke collect in root pockets. Spore clusters can knit flesh or restore faint breath when cooked into poultices. Petal-films shed from certain fungal blooms disperse illusions when ground and blown into the air. These goods are rare and spoil quickly. The Promissory pays high rates for fresh stock but rejects any shipment that shows Hollowmask taint or carries active larvae. The Ashcoats prize marrow-bone plates that hold an edge after chitin tempering. The Barleys prize live resin weavers and rootbee queens for trial domestication.

Routes and Wayfinding

Wayfinding relies on three tools: sound checks, sap marks, and cycle counts. Sound checks test echo shape to detect open pits and side chambers. Sap marks score shallow lines in root grain to record direction of travel; marks can regrow over in days. Cycle counts track how often a passage is used by natives. Fresh resin scuffs and web repairs mean recent traffic and a likely patrol return. The Threadspire Archive’s Living Loom does not map the Spirals; it is tuned to Odrun’s Handle. Spiral charts are hand-drawn logs maintained by guide families in the Hilt and traded at a premium in the Spindle. Each chart expires with the next root shift or collapse.

Entry Protocols

Cudgel crews enforce a strict four-point protocol for any licensed descent:

Voice control: no shouting names; use click-code and rope tugs.
Path discipline: travel single-file across web spans; double-line across resin floors.
Air checks: test vents with smoke threads; avoid sweet fumes.
Proof of life: mark exits with dated sap pins; remove pins on exit to close the route.

Unauthorized entries draw fines or labor assignments. Repeat offenses result in confiscation of gear and a ban from contract boards. If a licensed crew fails to return, the Cudgel posts a rescue notice only when a second licensed crew confirms a stable route.

Politics and Trade

All four guilds profit from successful Spirals runs, but none can secure the area. The Promissory dominates buying and selling in the Spindle. The Ashcoats pay bounties for marrow plates and high-tension silk. The Barleys issue occasional brood requests and farm small keeper-pens in safe side caverns. The Cudgel controls permits and escorts and refuses to recognize private claims to tunnels or nests. Crews that try to hold territory usually fail after the next shift. Profits are high, but supply is irregular, so prices swing sharply week to week.

Comparison to the Greatclub Tunnels

The Greatclub Tunnels below Odrun’s Handle are heavy with stone, fossil, and old insect lairs. They support caravans, gates, and regular patrols. The Spirals are different. They are shallow to mid-depth, organic, and unstable. Swarms move routes; roots grow into new walls; resin floods seal rooms. The Handle breathes with the city and can be mapped with effort. The Spirals shift with the Shroud and must be tested each time. Delvers trained in the Handle should not assume the same rules apply underground in the forest.

Practices and Superstitions

Delvers keep to a few simple practices:

Wear dull colors and wrap metal to reduce echo.
Carry spare rope and bone pitons; wood swells and cracks in resin.
Burn oil nodules outside the Spirals only; the smoke can call packs.
Never follow a single voice that claims an alternate route.
Common superstition states that leaving a mask at a marked exit buys a safe return on the next run. Crews argue over it, but most still leave one when they can.

Guidance for Crews

New crews should hire a guide with current route marks and accept reduced shares for safety. Avoid solo delves. Limit loud tools. Treat all open chambers as claimed, even if they look empty. If a companion’s voice calls from ahead while they stand beside you, retreat to the last pin and wait one hour. If resin starts to flow, move uphill and cut away gear that sticks. If spores thicken and breathing slows, lie flat, cover the mouth with wet cloth, and exit by the shortest known route. These simple steps save lives.