Mayfair Greens is the name of a public housing project in Orpheus that served as the birthplace of the first major Spectral hive to appear in the series.
History[]
Located at 3965 West Burgan Avenue in the Park Slope neighborhood, the building was the result of a corrupt city hall, whose racist policies forced an African-American community to be torn down to make way for the Mayfair Greens project. Local activist Tyrone Brown protested until he disappeared. Shortly after construction began, the building's construction was halted due to budgetary concerns. After being labeled as "too costly", the construction was completely torn away in order to start again. Along with raising the costs far past what the initial building would have been (thanks to a corrupt union who had control of the job), the demolition uncovered the horrific fact that Ty Brown had been murdered; his charred remains were found underneath the building's old foundation.
Once it was completed in 1968, poor families were herded into Mayfair Greens until it filled its capacity of 1,600 people. The building became the site of rampant crime, drug use, and murder, and the surrounding neighborhood suffered because of its presence. At one point in the 1970's, a contractor named Clement Wallace attempted to purchase Mayfair Greens so he could demolish it and build improved housing. Jasons were sent to protect the building; they kidnapped and murdered Wallace, and turned him into a Spectre.
By modern day, the complex is mostly deserted; the 200 who remain are mostly the elderly, mentally imbalanced, and truly destitute. In addition, much the building remains uninhabitable due to the abuse it has taken over the years.
The Hive[]
It was these horrible conditions that allowed the Stormwall to thin and eventually crack, allowing tendrils of black Spectral matter through to grab onto the building. Time was needed for the hive to actually bloom and become habitable for Spectres, but they decided to make a push to get their first major hive established. Through their connections, they forced a dealer to poison over three hundred vials of pigment with strychnine before distributing them. The result was a massive massacre of pigment addicts at a rave, along with isolated incidents that only added to the body count. The souls of the pigment users were "harvested" by the Spectres, and, at a preappointed time, destroyed all at once. The energy expended allowed the hive to bloom, making it a habitable fortress for the Spectres to plot from.
The hive at Mayfair Greens was the first and largest of the hives to be formed; it caused much trouble later for the now Orphan-Grinder Wallace and his gang, the Hellboys. The Hellboys rest in a safe zone, a neighborhood called Dunreade, that is home to the Tubman Theater, a safehaven for spirits and hues. The Tubman and Dunreade are set in-between the massive Mayfair Greens hive and the smaller but no less dangerous Montgomery hive. To protect themselves, the Hellboys attempt to protect the Montgomery Spectres so that the growth of the Mayfair Greens hive is arrested in their direction. Needless to say, it is a complicated and tricky balance to maintain, but one the Hellboys feel strongly towards guarding.
- Orpheus: Shades of Gray, p. 133 -134
- Orpheus: The Orphan-Grinders, p. 125 -129