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Labyrinthia
Link to the template page
North Parade Avenue (day)
Organization type Research facility
Headquarters Storyteller's Tower
Leader Storyteller
Organizational structure High Inquisitor:
Darklaw

Inquisitors:
Zacharias Barnham

Affiliated groups Labrelum Inc.
British government
Status Active

Labyrinthia is a medieval-style town ruled by the Storyteller. It was being terrorized by witches when Phoenix Wright, Hershel Layton, Maya Fey, and Luke Triton visited it.

In Labyrinthia, magic and witches are common place, and are seen as logical. Witches are generally hated and feared due to the chaos they can and do cause, and are traditionally executed via being dropped into a fire pit in the Witches' Court.

In actuality, the town was a research facility built on top of an old town that burnt down during a terrible fire.

History[]

Main article: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

The precursors[]

The Altar Room

The altar room used to store the Bell of Ruin.

An ancient civilization once populated the island that would eventually become Labyrinthia. The inhabitants built a bell out of pure silver, which they used for ceremonies. However, a toxin in the groundwater gave them a unique, peculiar condition: they would fall unconscious upon hearing the sound of pure silver being struck. The inhabitants came to believe that they were cursed, and sealed the silver bell (which came to be known as the Bell of Ruin) underground in an altar room. The people left messages warning people against ringing the bell (or risk "Bezella" being released) before fleeing elsewhere.

New town, new tragedy[]

Main article: Legendary Fire
The Bell Tower

The Bell of Ruin atop the Bell Tower.

Many years later, the area became the site of a new town built over the ruins. Two inhabitants of the town, Arthur Cantabella and Newton Belduke, discovered the ruins and the bell. They decided to bring the bell back to the town, hoping to use both the ruins and the bell to draw people and attention to their forgotten town. After pursuing their own interests, both men founded Labrelum Inc., a pharmaceutical company that marketed drugs derived from the local flora. Both men eventually returned to the hometown and placed the bell atop a bell tower, where it would be rung for special occasions.

Legendary Fire

The Legendary Fire.

However, tragedy would strike once again while the two men were out out on an expedition during the town's Fire Festival at the unwitting hands of their young daughters, Espella Cantabella and Eve Belduke. The two girls scaled the tower themselves and Eve rang the bell, causing all the townspeople to fall unconscious, including themselves. Tragically, the bonfires set during the festival went out of control with no-one to watch them, and the entire town was consumed in flames. Arthur and Newtown returned to find their home destroyed and everyone dead, including their wives. The only survivors were Espella and Eve, who had been spared from the inferno by being atop the bell tower. The girls were mentally scarred by the incident which would come to be known as "the Legendary Fire", with Espella believing that she caused the fire and shutting herself out from the world.

Founding of Labyrinthia[]

Espella's trauma

Arthur attempting to comfort Espella.

Desperate to save his daughter from her mental anguish, Arthur began an elaborate plan. A town called Labyrinthia was built as a research facility with funding from the government, under the pretext of observing the effects of a town under hypnosis using an anesthetic developed by Labrelum that had powerful hypnotic effects. In truth, the main driving force behind the fake town's creation was to try and suppress Espella's thoughts that she was a legendary Great Witch called Bezella who had caused the fire spiraling out of control.

The town's inhabitants were made up of members of the public who had all signed a contract agreeing to take part. All "test subjects" then underwent hypnosis using the drug, suppressing all their previous memories. They were then given simple instructions: they would receive new names and occupations and would not be able to see anything that was pure black (i.e., did not reflect light). The test subjects' minds filled in the rest.

Storyteller parade

Arthur as "the Storyteller".

Arthur himself took up the role of "the Storyteller", who wrote stories that would "always come true". Eve was given the pseudonym of Darklaw, and became the town's High Inquisitor. Along with her father, Eve organized the witches and magic that would be seen throughout Labyrinthia. In reality, the stories were written with ink made from the same brainwashing anesthetic, thus making those who read them believe whatever was written, and all the magic demonstrated was engineered by means of machines and materials that were colored pure black via a material also made by Labrelum. Due to exposure to the hypnosis, the town's inhabitants were completely convinced that magic was real.

In order to illustrate the stories of witches being punished for their misdeeds, witch trials were set up in which people found guilty of witchcraft were condemned to death by fire. In actuality, condemned witches and their "victims" ended up in a village outside Labyrinthia, where they had their memories wiped and were reborn as Shades. These Shades would follow Darklaw's commands to help engineer the magical illusions and make more quantities of the anesthetic.

The truth revealed[]

Main article: The First Story

After the truth behind Labyrinthia was revealed (i.e., that the town's witches and witchcraft were all a hoax, and that the true purpose of the town's creation was to make Espella believe that she had not caused the "Legendary Fire"), Arthur officially discontinued "Project Labyrinthia". However, some of the residents decided to continue living in Labyrinthia, with a number of these residents (such as the the man who served as judge for the witch trials) getting new jobs owing to the removal of witches and witchcraft, whilst others retained their previous occupations.

Name[]

  • The city's name is likely derived from the Labyrinth of Greek mythology.

Development[]

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