Seals


In the center of this cosmology, at least as far as those who are aware of it, is a great wall. This wall is a metaphysical wall, really, representing the edge of a mutable reality. Beyond it is a reality of complete stasis where all things are perfectly distinct and unchanging. The realms that lie on the border of this barrier are distinguished by what are called Seals. Each of these realms has at its epicenter a distinct pattern where its connection with the complete natural order is strongest. These realms, while all distinct, each represent a complete and ordered system. The natural inhabitants of Seal realms, while often limitted in number, often possess unique gifts and retain their supernatural abilities when traveling to other realms. It is theorized that such creatures are extensions of the Seals they habitate and they carry its influence where-ever they go. They are often organized in familar units similar to godly pantheons.

Because of the existance of multiple Seals each of these realms seems to be built on a different natural order or universal system than the others. Despite these radical variations, it is theorized that they all tap into a commen, more complex, order. The one thing they all have in commen is they all have complex but stable natures and they all have what is recognized as a Seal which is often located as the center of their world or universe. To use our humble world as an example, the Feng Shih would probably attempt to locate a Seal near the Forbidden City of China.

Because of their stability and their proximity to a Seal, travel towards these realms becomes more and more laborous, and technologies and magics not rooted in one of the local Seals often fails before it can reach these points. From a cosmological, metaphysical, and tactical sense, influence in these realms is very desirable because of their unique traits and ease to defend.

The scientific or magical theories of these Seal realms always leads those who study it to the discovery of other worlds and the means to travel between them. As discussed before, traveling away from a the infuence of a Seal is much easier than traveling towards it. It is easy to think of a metaphor where the apex of order is surrounded by a slippery slope into disorder. This does not mean it is easy to actually reach the abyss of Chaos though. The worlds become more and more unstable and volatile as a traveler becomes closer to Chaos, and their borders all begin to blend. It becomes very difficult to tell where one world begins and another ends. The time it takes to leave one reality and enter another is difficult to judge, especially as times flows more erratically in these parts. It is unconfirmed if any travelor has actually escaped from the influence of the Seals and left the Shadows of Maya into the depths of Chaos. Some theorize that it is actually impossible as the influence of the Seals is similar to gravity, and thus always present though it diminishes with distance.

Travel away from Chaos though is just as dangerous, though for different reasons. As each reality becomes more distinct, it takes greater and greater energy to move between them and it taxes the spells or devices employed for such a purpose. Few magi within the illusionary realms of Maya have the power and understanding to make it all the way to a Seal realm. Most often their energy or theories begin to fail as they enter different worlds and they become stranded. The Seal worlds are the most extreme of this, and it is theorized that a Seal is the farthest reachable location from Chaos. Any worlds that may exist farther lie beyond the barrier and could not admit a traveler, as they exist in perfect stasis, incapable of adding or subtracting from their nature. Like a material partical attempting to reach the speed of light in our own world, such a process would require infinite energy to move what seems to have infinite mass.


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