Great Mire Road
The Great Mire Road was an enormous boardwalk that spanned from Undertown to the Deepwoods, passing over the Mire and through the Twilight Woods. It was constructed in the time between the Twig and Rook trilogies.
History
Once Stone-Sickness put an end to the First Age of Flight, trade between Undertown and the Deepwoods became impossible, cutting off Undertown and threatening to destroy the economy of the Edge. As the situation became bleaker, Vox Verlix came up with the idea of building a road to connect Undertown to the Deepwoods. However, he was faced with the challenge of figuring out how to construct the part of the road that went through the Twilight Woods. With its hallucinogenic effects, a large construction project inside the Twilight Woods was impossible.
Vox's only option was to enlist the help of the shrykes, the only creatures in the Edge immune to the effects of the Twilight Woods. When the project was completed in 47ᴇ.ʏ., after three years of construction, the shrykes seized control of the Great Mire Road and claimed it for themselves, building The Eastern Roost at the Deepwoods end of the road and thus controlling all trade between Undertown and the Deepwoods. Shrykes also used their control over the Great Mire Road to cheat travelers out their goods and vehicles by imposing a shryke tax.
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Architecture
The Mire Road Gates were supported by towering poles and suspension cables, and the rest of the road was held up by thin wooden poles stuck into the Mire mud. The road twisted and wound its way over the Mire, and sometimes dipped up and down. Shops and stalls were erected along the sides of the road. Suspended from the beams were a large number of round cages which the shrykes stuck some hapless travelers in and left them to starve.
On the Twilight Woods section of the Great Mire Road, the path thinned considerably, and the balustrades became curved and taller. Travelers through this section secured themselves to a rope attached to a cable running through the entire Twilight Woods section. They then walked single file down the road. Any holdups could delay the entire line, so anyone who stopped was cut loose from the rope and chased off the path into the Twilight Woods, effectively condemned to an eternal living death.
In the Third Age of Flight, Vox Verlix was highly respected for his inventions and architectural knowledge that enabled him to build the Great Mire Road.
Role in the Rook Trilogy
During the events of The Last of the Sky Pirates, Rook, Magda Burlix, and Stob Lummus crossed The Great Mire Road on their journey to the Free Glades, assisted by Partifule. At the beginning of Freeglader, the Dark Maelstrom destroyed the Great Mire Road.