#the dawnlight blusters

[thecourtofindigo]

Melaco Town Pt. I - Natural + Main Areas

MELACO TOWN - MAIN AREA A small, semi-rural town nestled between several large, dense forests and shielded by misty black mountains to its far north. Train tracks run through it, and a freight train runs daily, sometimes at strange late hours.

Melaco Town is an eerie, odd place that becomes darker the deeper one looks at it. It feels quaint, old-fashioned and often abandoned by daylight, but lit up in fluorescent colours, seedy and sinister by night. Many of its citizens are nocturnal and very eccentric, and seem to be hiding dark, unthinkable secrets that they will likely take to their graves.

The weather in Melaco is inconsistent, but always windy and the air bears a chill even in summer. The local soil is of note, being extremely rich, oily and black and sprouting rare flowers that appear nowhere else in the world. Despite its unsettling qualities, the vast stretches of trees and nature around Melaco Town can be quite breathtaking to find oneself in. This quietness and magical aura was part of what drew Alexia and her brother to settle there.

WOODWARD FIELD A huge, grassy, hilly meadow that stretches across eastern Melaco Town to the foothills of the dark mountains surrounding its north side. There are sparse houses, but little else in the field - save for two unusual landmarks.

One is an archway that seems to have once been the gate to something, inscribed with the text "To the land of tomorrow for two - if one again breaks my heart to pieces". Its origin is unknown, but it seems old, is carved of stone and marble, and seems to have once been painted in garish shades of pink, violet, gold and blue.

The second landmark is a marsh spring with deep green water, surrounded by drooping willow trees. Several decayed, moss-laden stone totems jut up from the water. The spring is the haunting ground of two sister nature gods - Tar-Rokka of the Swamp and Tir-Ranna of the Storm.

THE FOREST OF VEILS A mysterious patch of deep woods located a short walk behind St. Martin Street, beyond the train tracks. The trees here have black bark and silver-white leaves and blossoms. The forest floor is also covered with silvery grass and flowers, and no other colour of flora will bloom there.

The forest gets its name from the pearlescent veils and strings of jewels strung up like spiderwebs between the trees - this is a naturally occurring phenomenon. Its treetops are extremely dense, allowing little sunlight in, yet it remains fairly well-lit due to the shimmering plantlife. The forest's sole inhabitant is an ageless, ancient child-eating witch named Wysteria, but there are hints that there was once a native group of beings there - whom Wysteria likely ran off, killed, or ate the last of long ago.

THE DAWNLIGHT BLUSTERS An extremely windy, forested patch of hills on the eastern edge of the town that seem to be perpetually stuck in autumn, painted year-round in bright greens, gold and red. It is a wondrous, beautiful place with an aura of childhood adventure, yet can become quite lonely and wistful, with few houses or people around.

The deepest groves of the Blusters also harbor a sinister place - Jane's Hours Estate - a supposedly cursed Edwardian-era manor that belonged most recently to the Rondo family, all of whom but the youngest member, Robin, met a tragic end there.

Robin Rondo still resides in the Blusters, in a fort of his own design, in the woods on the farthest edge of the Estate. Robin's fort is constructed of wood, scrap metal, bright colourful quilts and miscellaneous "junk", and is surrounded by pinwheels and childlike novelty objects of all kinds.

ABANDONED PARK The abandoned park lies concealed by tall tangles of grass and densely-woven, overgrown trees in a field between Julian's backyard on St. Martin Street and the small barrier of forest behind Goodnight Plaza.

All that remains of the actual "park" are rusted, unusable skeletons of playground equipment and a canopy laced with tiny baby roses. Outwardly, there is nothing special about this area, but upon entering, one can sense a "living force" there, like a massive heart slowly beating just beneath the soil.

Hidden deeply in a thick grove within the park is a disturbing monument of soft, oily scarlet stone that feels like candle wax to the touch. It is made up of a square door in the ground guarded by a statue of a man screaming in great agony, thick blood streaming from his eyes and mouth. Beneath it is the pathway to the Court of Indigo (the Depthless Stair). The monument itself, while worn by time, still serves as a seal to keep the Indigo under their curse - a curse set by a warlock which entails they will die in their natural forms if they touch either sun or moonlight.

One From the Clocks uses this path to stalk the above world for victims to use in his and Kanabiel's experiments (or for cruel pleasure), since he is still part-human and the curse does not affect him.

[thecourtofindigo]

Good Night, Tortureland Masterlist

A basic list of every major character, chapter and location featured in the main story. Type a name / title into the search bar on my blog to see all posts and tags about them.

STORY CHAPTERS

ALEXIA'S POV The Forest of Veils Bookhouse Blues The Feasting Famine Blood for Phobos The Pennyroyal Riddle The Lover of Drains Marsh Soil, Stormy Weather The Nightmare Garden In a Plastic Land The Court of Indigo

THE INDIGO'S POV Of Death's Black Apple Of the Rose's Briars

CHARACTERS

MAIN PROTAGONIST Alexia Corai

MAIN ANTAGONISTS One From the Clocks Kanabiel of the Rose

SECONDARY CAST Cantrell Corai Julian Chords Cassidy Jocasta Wysteria One Beyond the Core One in the Guts Dorian the Damned (One Between Lungs) Tamnobog of the Indigo Murdoch Fortunehouse (M.) The Moongore Tumult Mars Jonathan Birch The Pig Man The Lover of Drains Jack Goodnight Jennifer Bloodcrain Duchess Eden Tar-Rokka Tir-Ranna Robin Rondo X and Y Sangruel Mother Alicja Velvet Father Butcher The Ravener Moon (Mentioned-only)

LOCATIONS

MELACO TOWN ("ABOVE") St. Martin Street -Includes the Corais' trailer, Jocasta House and Julian's house Woodward Field Melaco Public Library Get-Out-Quik Luna Labyrinth Hill The Forest of Veils -Includes Wysteria's house and the train tracks area The Dawnlight Blusters -Includes Robin's fort and Jane's Hours Estate Goodnight Plaza -Includes Desired Bargains store, Pearl Lotus Pool and Goodnight Grocery Abandoned Park

THE COURT OF INDIGO ("BELOW") The Depthless Stair The Great Indigo Hall -Includes the Rose Hall, the Gallery of Doors, the Harvesting Rooms, the Celestial Mystery, Darkness Slumbers, Core's chambers, Clocks' chambers, and Vessel Labs Plastic Orchard Briar Gardens Torture Tower -Includes Dorian's tree, Guts' chambers, and the 'kitchens'