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THE MYTH WORLD
THE MYTH WORLD
The myth world is not a separate reality, it is an underlying layer of reality most humans can't perceive that only myths (and occasionally children) can. The mythical world of the Guardians' Earth has a long secret history, unknown to humanity. The Guardians' secret battles with Pitch and other dark forces have often run parallel to the more dangerous times in human history, as dark beings have sometimes grown more powerful during tumultuous and war-torn eras, growing stronger from any suffering and fear humans have caused each other.
Alongside myths and spirits, some mythical places came to being over the millennia as well, either being believed into existence by humanity and becoming inhabited by myths, or being built by myths and sometimes occasionally glimpsed at by humanity. But as myths have thinned out and faded over time, many mythical locations have been depopulated and grown derelict; they now lay hidden, dusty, and forgotten. Many of these places are hidden just beyond the veil of occupied human structures. For instance, Camelot, now crumbling and abandoned, is hidden under the London Tube, sunk underground by Merlin long ago.
The Guardians are some of the strongest myths left due to the gifts they provide and the strong beliefs they've cultivated while bringing joy to children. As such, the Guardians' respective lairs are some of the most colorful, lively, beautiful and intact myth locations left.
The Warren is Bunnymund's domain, a place where spring lives all year. Green, verdant, and suffused with the life-giving spirit and light of the now-dead daughter of Mother Nature, Eostre, the Warren is a hugely important realm. Though it is a secret Bunny has not told even the other Guardians, the spring Bunnymund brings is now tied to the pooka himself and his realm. If he were to die or the Warren were destroyed, spring would never come again and all life on Earth would die.
The Warren has the stone ruins of the long-dead pooka people, killed long ago by Jokul Frosti, Old Man Winter, the carved stone long overgrown with vines and moss. The carvings depict the pooka and their methods of making chocolate and eggs. Large egg-shaped stone guardians animate when the Warren needs protecting. Special flowers produce eggs that walk themselves into a river of colorful magic dye, then walk themselves out around the world to be found by children on Easter.
The Warren is a place of respite and relaxation. It can be entered if Bunnymund opens a magic tunnel to it or if people go through one of the hidden magic tunnels the eggs use to hide themselves around the world on Easter, which can be pointed out by Jack.
While Bunny can be territorial about the Warren, if a character needs peace and quiet, especially if they're traumatized by an event, or injured, some dispensations can be made to allow them to rest and recover there.
The Tooth Fairy's palace is hidden in the Western Ghats of India. It hangs down from the carved out underside of a mountain in six large columns. Each column represents one of the inhabited continents of the world. In each column there are billions of small cylindrical puzzle boxes emblazoned with the painted face of a child, somehow stored in a space that should be too small to hold them all.
These hold the baby teeth of children, allowing their owners to remember the most important memories of childhood and the kindness they once had while young.
The rest of the palace is open and airy and has a few places with cushions to relax, though they were rarely used by Toothiana herself.
There is also a little tower with a covered gazebo where the Tooth Fairy once coordinated the movements of her tiny mini-fairies, the ones that actually collect the teeth. Currently, the mini-fairies are directed by Baby Tooth, one of the most capable of the mini-fairies. She has stepped up to run things due to Toothiana's capture.
People are free to relax in the palace as long as the operations of the mini-fairies are uninterrupted. There will also be times that the Tooth Palace needs defending as the theft or destruction of the teeth could be catastrophic.
Located in South America, the Golden City came into being because of the belief people had in it thanks to rumor, but after it sprang into being, local spirits hid it away from the conquerors who tried to find and exploit it. Only other myths have been able to come to it.
Though it is city sized, it only houses about 2000 myths at any given time, with more myths passing through temporarily. Still, this is the highest population of myths in one space in the Guardians' world. Myths from all over either live there or pass through to trade or gather supplies.
The city is far less golden than it once was, though, much of the gold having faded to fool's gold as belief in the city being real has faded. In other, more seedy areas, unsavory sorts have pried away the gold for personal gain. In many places, the missing gold has been painted over with magical paints that seems like gold upon first glance, but is obviously fake on closer view.
PCs can visit the city at will, and avail themselves of some of the nicer aspects, like restaurants of magical and mythical foods. For instance, the Athenian ambrosia is to die for, though it doesn't make myths any more immortal than they are.
El Dorado is also a good place to barter, buy, or trade for magical items and supplies. Information can also be brokered there. Helpful myths can provide intel freely if they have it. On the other hand, some nameless bars and other dens of iniquity harbor unsavory sorts of mythical creatures that can be be convinced to offer information, either through trade, persuasion, or intimidation.
While they will be new Guardians, the reputation of the Guardians will allow PCs to curry favor with the myths friendly to the Guardians, and intimidate those who are usually scared of them - as long as they can be as friendly or intimidating as each situation calls for.