Dimensional planes are uncharted realms that lie beyond the boundaries of the familiar world. They are parallel dimensions where enigmatic existences roam freely. These realms exist independently yet can hold intriguing resemblances.
Certain wizards of the Transcender spectrum possess the potential to perceive and sense energies from these dimensional planes, to intuit and interpret what unfolds in the unseen. While the notion of traversing these alternate realities might seem fantastical, certain artifacts hold the power to breach these barriers, allowing access to other dimensions — an accomplishment Yves has aptly demonstrated.
As Yves’ journey carries him into the heart of the intricate world canvas, where the threads of reality intertwine the familiar realms and the boundless expanse of the uncharted dimensional planes, this page shall reveal further truths about the realms that frame and define the world he treads upon.
DIMENSIONAL PHENOMENA
PHANTOM PRESENCES
Phantom presences describe energies, typically Alladharian light fragments, perceivable through first sight.
Fragments of Light
Powerful phantom presences like fire or lightning in the Material Dimension correspond to densely compressed light fragments in the Alladharian Dimension. In its potency, lightning surpasses all other natural phantom presences within the Material Dimension. Its density of light fragments outshines daylight, fire, and anything created by the commonplace lightgiver artefact.
Each individual phantom presence comprises distinct shards arranged in an equally unique structure. For each phantom presence, for each source of light, there exist thousands of light fragments.
Unlike the volatile, ever-shifting amalgamation of light fragments that forms the sun, the light fragments that cover the world from the ground to the realm of the dragons remain fixed, their positions undisturbed unless shifted by wizards or other ethereal forces. [B1.C13] Yet, phantom presences of light seem to gravitate towards Midnight after she gained her darkness form in [B1.C13].
The [Un]known World
The Material and the Alladharian Dimensions
The Material and the Alladharian Dimensions
As a common student of Emery Thurm, you are taught that reality comprises physical matter and energies, the latter perceptible through second sight. Contrary to this doctrine that you so diligently internalise, the forbidden recesses of the academy’s underground libraries reveal that physical matter and energies are not mere components of the world; no, they form two distinct dimensional planes.
ON THE DUALITY OF REALITY
One dimension holds the tangible, where all physical existences are anchored. The second plane interweaves with the first and contains all those energies perceivable by wizards through second sight and sensed by other beings in various ways. From these various energies, a wizard can consciously take in Adhar, raw and free energy, and use it to realise the abilities predestined by his spectrum and disposition.
The arcane tomes offer a variety of enigmatic names for these dimensions, but Yves simply labels them the Material Dimension and the Alladharian Dimension, alladharian being his own neologistic shorthand for the obvious this is where all the energies are.
There is more. Your body, contrary to the doctrines of your academy masters, is not an “outer layer” or “shell” that encapsulates your Rothar, the energy that is you. No, as a wizard, you exist dually within the two dimensions. You are both the tangible substance comprising your body and the amalgamation of energy that comprises your Rothar. The former is anchored in the Material Dimension, the latter in the Alladharian, and somehow, they are linked through your essence. The continuum of your existence relies on the integrity of this link. In other words, you do not just die when your body gets killed. The entity that is you faces demise if either part is depleted or destroyed.
Lifeless matter has no energies. Similarly, plants carry only minimalistic traces of Rothar, much like how light fragments have but a phantom presence in the Material Dimension.
ESSENCE — THE CORE OF MULTI-DIMENSIONAL EXISTENCES
"The essence was the immutable center around which everything revolved, yet paradoxically, it seemed that it could not exist independently." [B1.C13]
At the core of those existences that inhabit both the Material and the Alladharian dimension lies their essence, which serves as a link between the tangible body and the ethereal energy that is Rothar. While an individual’s Rothar may be depleted and his body irreversibly maimed, his essence might continue to exist in some form.
"Essence was not bound to the physicality of the body, nor was it the ethereal Rothar. It was the thread that connected them, the force that tied body and energy together, and yet it was neither. Essence existed in a realm that was somewhere between, somewhere else entirely" [B1.C13]
While struggling with the drastic changes brought forth by her darkness transformation, Midnight develops a deeper understanding of the correlation between a being's essence and existence. She compares essence with an arachnid spanning a net, whereby all that is claimed by the net correlates to the temporal expansions that are the body and Rothar.
WIZARDRY, THE ABILITY TO TRANSGRESS DIMENSIONS
When you absorb Adhar, the energy that was you incorporates the energies that surround you, be they free, encapsulated in energy crystals, woven into artefacts, or lingering in the physical remnants of a familiar’s existence. You draw energy across the boundary between what is you and what is not. This transgression of boundaries occurs in the Alladharian Dimension.
This ability to absorb stray energy is not what renders you a wizard, though; several races can tap into Adhar. What sets wizards apart is their capacity to transform and realise this energy across dimensions. This is the true essence of wizardry —
This is Magic.
So when, in the Alladharian Dimension, Yves absorbs Adhar to then create matter, like in the form of physical illusions, the conveyed energy becomes anchored in the Material Dimension. Such magic, anchored in the Material Dimension, then affects an enemy’s physical body.
Not all magic operates in the Material Dimension. Unlike magic that manifests matter, light magic does not traverse dimensions. It only affects the Alladharian Dimension. So when Yves compresses and directed light fragments into an attack, they remain there. Although a visible light beam traverses the physical world, the true target of the assault is an enemy's Rothar. Light magic, along with any seals rooted in the purest of energies, exclusively influences the Alladharian Dimension, leaving the Material Dimension untouched.
Shards embody an extraordinary versatility, possessing a rare duality that allows them to influence both dimensions simultaneously and in varying degrees. If you understand how to adjust the ratio of transgressing energy, you can create extraordinary conjurations, from blade discs that decapitate sea beasts to enormous structures such as the dome. Building on the duality of reality, Yves taught himself to create shard structures immeasurable in their density yet almost completely anchored in the dimension of energies — shards infused with light fragments.
Mirror World
The Dimensional Plane of Shards
„Everything appeared shattered and in constant movement. It was as if the entire world was made of glass and darkness, with vast crystal constructions stretching off into the distance.” [B1.C3]
The Mirror World holds no true matter, only more material and more ethereal shard formations. All else is light fragments and energy, incomparatively dense, raw and poweful.
The presence named as Mirror World Stalker by Yves called this dimension the birthplace of the Gods. [B1.C7]
APPEARANCE
The Mirror World is a dimension characterised by its disorienting, surrealistic crystalline landscape. It is shaped by structures that defy logic and imagination. Towering shard-formations dominate the realm, giving it a fractured appearance. The dimensional traveller encounters shadow constructions that twist and turn in impossible ways, and structures that seem to be made entirely of fractured ashen light, with distorted tree-like poles and jagged mountain formations jutting out of the ground. The structures consist of reflective, glassy surfaces, a duality between solidity and ethereal abstraction, rendering them tantalisingly otherworldly. Sky-high wades of grey masses seem to correspond to oceand and lakes in Yves' dimension.
The sky is a deep shade of grey. The air is thick with an acrid smell and diverse unfamiliar energies. Ashen light reflects upon the various structures in bizarre ways, creating unreal reflections and adding fluid ripples to the eerie athmosphere that is otherwise dominated by ever-present hollow and harrowing sounds. It is an ominous soaring that penetrates the air; the thundering of mountains breaking apart in the far distance, of rushing sand constantly underlined with indistinguishable mechanical ticking and clicking.
ROAMING ENTITIES
Moving entities appear in the form of shattered silhouettes that wander the lands like fractured shades. Some embed a sensation of beauty, with wings that in this monotonous world have the faintest traits of colour, while others are grotesque, with twisted limbs and teeth that gleamed in the strange ashen light. To the unfamiliar eye, they often seem to blend into one another or their fractured surrounding. In the presence of Yves, they have never interacted with one another or himself.
THE MIRROR WORLD STALKER
“I̥̹̾̉ͫ͝t͚̪͠ͅ wa̰̦̠̒̐͆s̭ a l̥͎o̓̕ņ̈g͔ͭͣͧ t͚͋im̰e̴͇̜̐̑͑ͬ s̢̮̜̞͎in͗c̻͗̋ͪ͋ḙ a w͚̞̜ͤ̕it͉c͇͉̥̮ͯ̚͢h͉̻̎ c̛̥͐͗a̸͔̳͠͡m̧̹̫ͪ̄́̔e͍͑̋ t͎̄o̤̾͘ ç̴̙̚͟h͎̆͡a̭͌ͫ͞l͎͔̺̪̝̯̄l̛̳ͧ̿͑̕͢e̞͇͇͑ͩ͠n̦͂g͈͆ͬe͋̓ͅ t͒ͩh̦͈̓e͞ Ǵ̢̃̊o̕d̹͑̀̀̅s̠ͫ.” [B1.C7]
The voice of the ominous Mirror World Presence appears distorted and multi-layered as if borne from the rushing sands. He spoke to Yves both in Faramyr and Byrmir.
In [B1.C7], Yves perceived the Stalker as a being of the brightest ashen light, distorted and at a greater distance than his voice implied. He was not much taller than the wandering entities but lacked their geometrical intricacy of shards and light. His form had the fluidity of smoke, which in the fractured Mirror World appeared surreal and false.
Yves felt him more than seeing him; his presence was raw energy compressed into a fluid form, not insubstantial like mist, but a silhouette so potent that it seemed severed from the world. As he expanded over and enveloped Yves, he obscured everything around him. Yves faltered under his heavy, intense presence.
It seems that the Stalker is able to conjure black light.
ACCESS
The Witchmoon Dimension
As the story progresses, information on this and further dimensions will be added.