The Hawthorn Fort

[Kiba]

So I'm writing an urban-fantasy story about the Fair Folk that's set in Ireland, and the climax involves the human protagonist getting dumped into a hawthorn maze by the Wild Hunt. Her father then kills the Wild Hunt's leader before they can kill the protagonist, and he unintentionally gains the Wild Hunt's title as king of a Fair Folk region. He's not having that after so much fairy-induced trouble, so he refuses the title and heads back to America while his daughter takes on the ruler's mantle because SOMEONE has to rule.

The story ends with her restoring the castle after a thousand years of neglect. It only takes a few weeks to do so, but that's because she calls in about five or six hundred people for the cleanup crew in addition to LOTS of magical repair work.

Basic facts: There's nine towers of drystone connected by bridges, with trees as support (the gates are marked as such). The outermost bridges double as curtain walls, and are also constructed with drystone. Everything is built on the perimeter of a giant 3-acre hawthorn maze that's enchanted to be even larger on the inside, and it extends to form a triskele when viewed from above. The three towers within the spirals are watchtowers.

The throne room is in a cave underneath the keep, and it's somewhere by the moat since people nearly get flooded while tunneling underground to ambush the Wild Hunt's leader.

The directions are intentionally reversed. It's a plot point that my protagonist gets literally turned around in the maze because she doesn't know the Otherworld's directions are the opposite of the human world's.

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Artsy Writer's thoughts: The Hawthorn Fort is meant to feel like Stonehenge: Old and massive, but not too ornate. It would also be impractical to live in without magic because you'd have to be a marathon runner to walk up seven flights of stairs and cross a network of bridges all the time.

I didn't want a standard "square/rectangular castle with a keep and a few towers," so I watched my favorite movie Pan's Labyrinth and went, "THAT. THAT IS MY AESTHETIC. This castle is built around a maze, and the throne room is in a cave under the keep. Everything is twisted and crumbling thanks to the Wild Hunt's neglect, but it's still meant to be beautiful in a primal and nameless way."

My friend saw my sketch of the towers and said it looks like an Elf castle, which tickled me. XD

If it matters to see the intended aesthetic of the Hawthorn Fort, here's a couple sketches of the towers and their bridges, as well as the underground cave of the throne room. (Please ignore the throne room's scribbled walls and ceiling. It's supposed to be covered in cave paintings that record the Fort's history. Not enough space in my sketchbook for that. )




Thoughts on the concept and how to continue with the map?