When reading about mages in Britain and the seven covens of the Alliance, you have probably encountered the term ‘purlieu’. But what is a purlieu, where did they come from, and how do they work?
What is a purlieu?
The word ‘purlieu’ historically referred to a small area of land on the verge of a forest, and mages use this term to refer to their often forest-surrounded homes. In magedom, a ‘purlieu’ is a strictly defined area which is magically protected and usually not easily detectable by unmages.
Each of the covens has their own, main purlieu, except for Coven Ewen. Coven Ewen instead has seperate, hidden streets within existing unmage towns, which they live fully integrated with. Each is protected in its own, unique way, but there are some similarities between the kinds of protections placed on purlieus, and there are several rules set out by the Alliance about the kinds of protections which must be placed on any area where mages intend to perform magic:
- they must not be detectable with satellite technology
- no magic can be visible from beyond the purlieu’s borders
Most covens solve these problems using a combination of spells, some of which will need regular maintenance. Other covens, such as Coven Derwen for their main purlieu Deva, rely on ancient magics whose origin and precise mechanisms have long been forgotten.
There is one purlieu which is not associated with any of the covens; Twelvelms. The purlieu of Twelvelms was created to be an entirely neutral ground for learning and cultural exchange between the covens. It was supposed to also be entirely seperate from any government and politics, but the Alliance’s base of operations relocated to Twelvelms after the fall of Avalon, which was previously the only other purlieu created to have no associations with any specific coven.
Each coven’s main purlieu is not usually the only purlieu inhabited by mages who belong to that coven. What sets the main purlieus apart from the others is that they host each coven’s main point of information, and they’re also connected to the Liminus.
The Liminus
The Liminus is an apparently naturally-occurring, non-euclidian corridor which connects all the covens’ main purlieus, and the street upon which Coven Ewen’s consul of the Alliance traditionally lives. Nobody really knows how the Liminus was constructed, or what magic was used to create it.
From inside, the Liminus is around thirty feet in length. Along the walls, which are raw stone, like the inside of a cave, there are fourteen doors. Twelve of these doors line the long, parallel walls; these are the ones which lead to each of the covens’ main purlieus. At the either end of the Liminus are each of the final two doors. One of these is nailed shut, but supposedly once led to Avalon. At the other end of the is the door to Twelvelms.
The Liminus is illuminated only by veins of light inset in the walls. Legend says these lights were created by the leaders of the Alliance covens after the fall of Avalon, though this story has no evidence behind it and doesn’t come up in historical records until at least three centuries after the estimated date of the fall of Avalon.
The door to each coven’s main purlieu is made with its sacred tree, and despite the fact that the Liminus has no clear origin but is at least a thousand years old.
The Liminus does not seem to have a physical location. It has a constant internal temperature of 17.5 degrees celcius regardless of the time of year or the weather in any of the purlieus. Doors to the Liminus are always the perfect median temperature of the weather in the coresponding purlieu and the constant ambient temperature of the Liminus itself. Liminus doors can all be locked and unlocked using special keys which are only given to coven leaders, specific people holding office at the Alliance, and the Chancellor of Twelvelms.
Quickpaths
One possible origin of the Liminus is that it could be an unusal kind of quickpath. Quickpaths are naturally occurring phemona which consist of a small strip of land which, when walked on, takes you to your destination far quicker than you would anticipate. Quickpaths occur naturally all over the world. Many of them have been used for millennia and are trafficked by mages and unmages alike.
Most quickpaths are universally accessible, meaning that naturally, they can be walked on by anyone who comes across them. It is possible to restrict access to a quickpath, such as been done in Coven Ewen to provide quick, mage-only access between its isoltated, magically protected streets. However, there are a few notable quickpaths which seem to naturally only be accessible if certain conditions are met.
Twelvelms 