Baille Mel (ˈbalʲə mʲelˠ)

"To reach Baille Mel, you must circle the ring seven times widdershins and then pass through the center in seven steps. Once beyond the border, follow the sound of music until you reach the great feast. This is the beginning of the road to Baille Mel, which lies to the west of dancing. But you must close your eyes and run along the road, or you will be pulled away from the path and lost in fairyland." - excerpt from "The Tale of Uail mac Fionn"

Baille Mel is a legendary place that exists only with The Dream, which features in several stories told among the Fir Fáinne of Oileán Fiáin. It is said to be a place ruled by the Fae, and is a constant feast and festival that draws revelers from all over the dreamlands. Reaching Baille Mel from the physical realm is a difficult task, and those mortals who do enter its boundaries rarely return again.

Those who have returned describe a psychedelic landscape with countless revelers. Strange lights illuminate the streets, and music of all sorts fills the air. The people are swept up into a hedonistic riot of food, drink, dance, and sex. Mortals often find that their perceptions are distorted while in the city; the party swirls around them, faces shift and morph, and the passage of time becomes impossible to track. Those who throw themselves into the party atmosphere find it no trouble to handle these shifts, and simply become a part of the surreal experience. Because of the conceptual nature of Baille Mel, it is impossible to both abstain from the party and still remain - those who withdraw from participation will find themselves suddenly elsewhere in The Dream, having become incompatible with existing in Baille Mel. This is the most common way mortals actually leave the city - they seek a moment of peace from the endless party, and find they are no longer there. Unlike other places associated with the Fae, eating and drinking in Baille Mel does not trap you there - one of the rules of the endless party is that there are no consequences for anything that happens while there. The one exception to this is time - while nobody in the party ages while there, time does pass in the physical realm. In many of the stories, travelers to Baille Mel return years, decades, or even centuries after they left, and find themselves in a strange new world that only resembles the home they left behind.

Demographics

The inhabitants of Baille Mel are a constantly shifting mix of people both real and imagined. The majority of the revelers at any one time will be of the Fae, although the variety encompassed under this term means that the population will always seem incredibly diverse. When combined with the perceptual distortions that are common in the vicinity of Baille Mel, it is almost impossible to accurately characterize the makeup of the crowd.

Government

Baille Mel is a true anarchy, with no authority beyond what can be imposed by individuals. In certain areas, individuals may establish rules at their whim, but they only last as long as they are enforcing them. In general, the eternal party has no rules, and no consequences.

Districts

While the makeup of the party is constantly shifting, there are a few regions that persist, or frequently recur (nobody is quite sure which of those is more accurate). The outdoor portions of Baille Mel are divided betwen The Meadows, where partiers dance under the open sky and play games of chance and luck in the grass, and the Woods, where the great fairy feasts are laid out beneath the trees and groups slip off into the shadows for more intimate engagements.

In the grand palaces, there are several smaller parties that have gained reputations and legends of their own. One is called the Festival of Meat, where all wear masks and feast on strange dishes brought from across the Dreamlands. Another party is known as Saill Dé Máirt, and combines huge amounts of alcohol with music and encourages spontaneous nudity. One of the more unusual gatherings is the Sluagh Stomp, a party where the music is loud and violent, and the dancefloor is a battlefield of slamming bodies and stomping feet.

Location under

The Dream

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