Aviary of the Éan Sídhe
by Wm Jay Carter III, 5/12/15
Attraction: Aviary
Weather: Damp
Conditions: Vacant, Wild
Color: Seafoam Green
Keyword: Awesome
As you crest the peak of the seaside cliffs you are met with the largest birdcage you have ever seen, easily matching a two-storey mansion in height. Composed of not only one, but dozens of cages of cascading sizes, the whole must be taken together as a labyrinth of barred-off spaces carpeted with patches of green-and-purple heather and bright golden-haired lichen. With a framework of cold-wrought silver and draped in a mesh of thin gold links, the expansive aviary sparkles in the foamy splash of the sea and the light of the setting sun. As the crash of the waves dies, a faint twittering reaches your ears. Yet, eerily, you see no birds anywhere...
Legend has it that the cliffs near the sea once overlapped harmoniously with another world. Some say it was the land of the dead, while the local superstition claims it was the realm of the Fair Folk. In those days, the villagers tell, a great duel was fought between two powerful wizards, whose numerous spells depleted the local leylines of their inherent magic. The resulting scar on the land ripped the two harmonious worlds apart, leaving only echoes of that other world behind. The wizards were never seen again.
As the centuries passed and superstitions faded, some young children would brave the cliffs against their parents wishes and return with stories of invisible birds whispering secrets in their ears. Though the parents could never accept that any bird could speak—let alone an invisible one—they could not deny that the secrets the children told were all true.
Tempers in the village rose, accusations were made, and finally the children’s claim to having heard the words of invisible birds was investigated by the village elders. None but the elders know what they found on the cliffs that evening at sundown, but when they returned the chief elder issued a proclamation that the cliffs would be forbidden until the matter could be seen to.
Some weeks later a wise man arrived from the nearest college, bringing with him silversmiths and armorers, and a caravan of clinking wagons all shut tight and closely guarded at all times. The wise man and his workers labored at the cliffs for many more weeks, and after their work was done a silvery shimmer could be seen there at sunset.
The children still climb up to see the aviary on the cliffs, though the chief elder never formally revoked his proclamation. The invisible birds are still there inside the aviary, the children say, but now they tell no secrets. Instead, they only sing sad songs.
These sound like birds that might have adapted to exist in the harmonious overlap. Once the overlap was split forever, their bodies remained in one world, able to be seen but not heard though they chattered away silently. Their voices were trapped in the other world, appearing as though coming from an invisible being. Their consciousness still remains connected between the two, meaning the split is what allowed them to learn how to gain access to secrets to tell.
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