Beltane 2021: A Door in the Woods

[The Druid]

The time of Beltane is nearly upon us! The Veil has thinned, but this Friday the 30th of May, the path to the Fires will not be the only Way newly open.

Beyond the Mirror where the May Queen will be chosen is the entrance to a maze, lined with towering silver birch trees. The treetops are wreathed in impenetrable mists, while ivy dangles like curtains from every branch, restricting travelers to small glimpses of what may lie beyond their current path. The first fork is marked by a white stone cairn in the center, branching into three paths and diverging in character, too. Silver birch is supplanted by rowan, oak, hawthorn, and thick hedges in place of ivy; but from each path comes another three, again and again. For those that trace back, Ways that would seem to intersect never cross, and not every path is as you left it when you look back.

A meaningful effort to exit the maze always occurs in three turns in the path, regardless of how far one has strayed; but for those who press on, doorways await. Near-forgotten faces from the past, and the unknown faces of the future, may be glimpsed through the small gaps between hedges and trees; voices carry faintly on the wind that rustles the leaves; and the mist thickens, dropping from the canopy to enshroud the path, and may separate those who venture into the maze with companions. These are the signs that you are about to encounter a doorway, which may be a stone arch curtained in ivy, two standing stones with a lintel, two trees with their trunks bent towards each other and branches entangled, or something more extraordinary: a wooden door with a handle, with or without a building around it.

On the other side is a place in the past or in the future. It may be something that you or one of your number remembers occurring, or an alternate past, something that could have occurred if things had been different; or something that may yet happen.

In some of these worlds, travelers may be ignored; in others they are seen and acknowledged, and may even encounter their doubles, for good or ill. Items may be taken back to the other side, great changes may be wrought by your visit and seem at first to have no effect, but Time has a way of rippling strangely to the present, especially at this time of year.

To leave such a place, simply seek the door you entered by, though it may appear somewhere else entirely, and you will be outside the maze once more.

But take care what, or who, comes back through that doorway.

((Please feel free to post or link to threads here with your character (and any friends!) exploring the maze. The Mirror will open from April 30th until May 7th, but anyone is welcome to post their characters' adventures or experiences whenever they like!))