The setting for this email based Role Playing Game is our own world, with a twist as explained below. Most of the game will take place a virtual version of Michigan as well as other parts of the Midwest of the United States and Cananda, however soem action will take place in otehr parts of the world as it exists in its virtual form here, as well as in "other planes of existence" and other magickal realms as noted below and elsewhere within this web site.
There is more to reality than what we see... far more.
Hounted houses, bumps in the night, shadows racing through the woods, strange lights, peculiar feelings, and glimpses of figures out of the corner of yoru eyes. Psychologists call the belief in these things do exist only in our imagination? What is our imagination? What if imaginaiton is simply another sense of perception? And what are the voices that schizophrenics hear? Could they be spirits? This chapter will explore the Secret World of The Everlasting, a world we can access through the power of our imagination.
Are things we just take for granted as being "real" actually part of everyone's reality, or are they real only within our own individual minds? Think of how no two people perceive perception. Hallucinations, delusions, insanity, and imaginings may all be altered senses, but they are jsut as real to the person experiencing them as anything you have ever experienced. We cannot define a sense out of context, so there can be other senses- or perception ranges- beyond our won. The Reverie is the easiest extension of human senses into what lies beyond.
The supernatural is all around us; we simply do not see it. Science, education, work, and dreary mundane life have dulled our senses of magick, and put blinders on us that allow us to see reality as a set of parameters, not as limitless possibilities. With mundane pressures and our lack of using our own imagination by simply accepting what comes on television, the innate magickal sense within us atrophies. Yet magick lies before us; there are things sciense cannot explain- wondrous magickal, mysterious, and exciting things. Ture magick exists within us in the form of imagination.
The eldritch protagonists are aware of magick because it courses through them in very blatant ways, forcing them to view reality outside the mortal scope of things. They can and much accept other possibilities, thus they can see into the Reverie. We as participants must view the world thorugh thier eyes; we must awaken to the magick of the world we live in.
Two worlds exist where we believe there to be but one. We experience the Real World, but what if all throughout the Real World, jsut beyond what we see each day, there is a Secret World, an enigmatic realm of magick and wonder.
The Real World is what we experience around us each day. Reality is based upon an epistemology that requires hard, physical proof. It ignores the spiritual and magickal, since such things are beyond the scope of science's emperical requirements. We rely upon what can be proven with our science and disdain all the mysteries that have been ignored or condemned as bubbish by scientists and political leaders. Thus the Real World is a reality based upon our limited and mundane concept of it, enforced by other people like ourselves who are equally afraid of what we might discover.
The exact nature of what constitutes the Real World has never been agreed upon, through science has gone a long way towards defining reality within certain parameters constructed by mortals who do not beleive in magick. Still, each person brings a spark of individuality to her perception of the Real World, making the Real World slightly differnet for each individual. What a person believes and places emphasis upon in her life shapes her world view. Just as some people have odd personality quirks, so might some people have odd reality quirks. One person may beleive in ghosts, so ghosts are real to her, though faerie are not. One person may believe that faith can heal sickness and for her it is true.
There are magickal events happening all the time. We cannot see most of them, and the ones we can see, we p[ass off as coincidence, tricks of the mind, or some other phenomena that science can supposedly explain. We often rationalize things by twisting what we experience so that it confirms our mundane view of reality. We imagine there was a gun in the hand of that man (not monster) which just fired a bullet (not a lightning bolt) at a car (not a spectre riding a shostly steed). We alter the experience enough that we can survive it with our sanity intact.
Rationalization is a survival instinct, but one we hone through everyday use over the course of our lives. We do this to prevent ontological shock, which is realizing that reality is not what we have always thought it to be.
There is a rare group of mortals, however who have active imaginations, open minds, and powerful wills; these people are the Fantasts. Some people also refer to them as the Sensitive. Fantasts are mortals who have ignored rationalixation and retained their magick sense. The degree of sensitivity varies among them, and some seem more sensitive to particular types of magick or eldritch than others do. Fantasts can see into the Reverie, identify the use of magick, recognize the eldritch, and sense the use of supernatural powers anywhere near them. Fantasts are highly likely to develoip psychic powers, study magick, and invovle themselves in the activities of the eldritch. Some of the original creators of fantasy roleplaying games, along with many gamers, are also secretly fantasts. In fact, there is a real guild fo them, and guild members gather together as "dungeon parties" and go on actual adventures.
There are creatu4res in other dimensions all around us, just a sidestep away from where we are now. Soemtimes these things can see and hear us. . . sometimes we can see and hear them. The barrier is alwasy there, but fantasts can sometiems open passageways between the Real World and Secret World. . . for good or ill. Many fantasts who explore the Reverie do not survive the experience.
The eldritch are the various supernatural races, unique beings, and mysterious forces which inhabit the SEcret Wrold on the fringes of our own. There are many differnt kinds of eldritch, many of which are described in this foundaiton book. The eldritch are the werewolves, faerie, sorcerers, vampires, ghosts, dragons, and unicorns of legend. They are creatures of our imagination, non-existent within our Real World, but extremely real within the Secret World. So real that hey can intrude upon our Real World when we look for them and they please to show themselves.
While the eldritch can see into the Secret World and are closely tied to it, they too still exist primarily within teh Real World. Most of them walk, talk, eat, breath, work, play, and live among us mere mortals. Only the fantasts are wise enough to avoid them. These sensitive mortals fear saying anything to otehr people, since most people would not believe them anyway and might even tyr to get them locked up as insane. The eldritch are everywhere, though their number compaored to the mortal population is small. Most eldritch live what seem to be normal human lives, since most of tehir supernatural activites occur out of mortal sight. They avoid bringing attention to themselves, but still manage to fight and befriend other eldritch, prey upon mortals, travel to distant worlds, and use their preternaturae.
The Real World is as real for the eldritch as it is for mortals. Though most perceive the Reverie continuously, they also experience the Real World simultaneously and must interact with it. Most eldritch spend a vast majority of their time dealing primarily with the Real World. With notable exceptions, they drive cars, hold jobs, pay bills, watch television, study in mortal schools, watch and play mortal sports, eat human cuisine, and have relationships with mortals. Many eldricth downplay their supernature so much that they exist almost totally within the Real World. Still, the cannot excape the Secret World, nor its many wonders and dangers.
The Reverie is the portion of reality that exists outside the mundante conception of what we call the Real World. It is part of our three-dimensional everyday world, but we jsut never notice it. The Reverie varis with an individual's disposition, natur, imagination, and sensitivity. It is not an unchanging, definable thing. A fantast disposed toward seeing the world in a gloomy way will see signs of doom, death, and decay in the Reverie, and will be more apt to notice a ghost than a manticore. On the other hand, a fantast disposed toward seeing the wrold in a bright, romantic way might focus on seeing benevolent faerie, bright colors, and beauty. Both fantasts mentioned above may see the same thiings, but each one focuses more on certain features of fringe-reality than on other features. It is like having specialties in viewing reality, as it is possible a fantast to sense the things to which she is magickally (or imaginatively) inclined, while missing those things which are of no interest to her.
In many ways, the Reverie might be thought of as extra details laid over mundane reality, at least at its most shallow points. The deeper one goes into the Reverie, the more unusual the world becomes - objects, walls, colors, and even beings begin appearing and disappearing. The true depth of the Reverie may be unfathomable, but at certain depths it is possible to see into and even enter into strange, unearthly realms.
It is easier to access the Reverie in certain places, specifically places along leylines and other locations where supernatural activites has occured. Leylines are invisible lines of magickal energy left by the faerie from their land stealing. Leylines have been mapped many times, but it is doubtful all the various branches have ever been cataloged. It is easier to work magick and use preternaturae in these places, since the Reverie is composed of magick. Some mystical locations serve as permanent gateways to particular realms.
Most eldritch tend to make their sanctums in places where the Reverie is especially strong, since it sometimes makes it easier for them to apply the magick of the Secret World for their own benefit.
Looking into the Reverie is not something done consciously; it simply happens or does not happen. Often a fantast will not even realize she is sensitive to teh Secret World if her magick sense is weak, if she simply does not discuss what she experiences, or if she believes her experience to be commonplace. Learning to look beyond the Real World and into the Reverie is possible, since it is an innate talent within everyone that must be honed. Everyone is born with a magick sense, but most people lose it as they grow older. The stronger a person's belief is the Real World, the harderit is for her to perceive the Reverie. Children may see real monsters in their closets adn under their beds, but with a little convincing by parents that the monsters are not real, the monsters eventually do disappear. In fact, skeptics can make it more difficult for fantasts to perceive the Reverie by convincing fantasts that their perceptions are merely mental aberrations.
Children find it the easiest to peer into the Reverie, but not all children can do so, as they lose their magick sense extremely quickly. Like Alice in Wonderland, some children actually do visit faraway magickal kingdoms, but most soon forget the Secret World even exists since their parents and teachers constrict their thought processes and define the parameters of the Real World.
Hallucinogens can also break down the walls of reality. However, they do so wtih a sledgehammer and most who take these drugs are not prepared for what they experience. Worse yet, they self-victims are trapped within the Secret World until the drugs run their course. Some people under the influence enter and remain in the Reverie, but others pass on into the Astra. Use of hallucinogens is extremely dangerous and there are many malevolent entities that prey on those who foolishly trap themselves in the Secret World.
Insanity is another means of piercing the shadowy wall that separates the two worlds. Delusions are often features of the Reverie that a person considers part of the Real World. Many fantasts begin to suffer what psychologists believe are delusions, when in fact they actually lose the abiltiy to distinguish between what is real to everyone and what is real only to those who can sense the Reverie. Some poor fantasts become so lost in the Secret World that they can no longer function in the world everyone else lives in. Most are forced into therapy and some are even sent away to mental hospitals for treatment. Such are the costs of dealing with what is beyond the realm of human comprehension.
It is possible for people to become accidentally ensnared by the Secret World. Eldritch can accidentally awaken the magick sense in mortals through demonstratiosn of their supernatural powers. Mass hysteria is also a possible outcome when many people are exposed to the supernatural all at once. Use of supernatural powers in front of mundane mortals almost always has a negative influence on the eldritch responsible (causing her backlash points). Because of this, most eldritch tend to avoid using their preternaturae in public.
Those who are awakened without any idea of what is happening usually beleive they are going insane. In many ways they are insane since what they experience is not real to most people. Some people cannot take the psychological strain and kill themselves, but more often they work to lose their magick sense through psychiatric treatment and medicines.
A few who retain heir sanity and cope with their newfound sensitivity become minions of eldritch. Some even develop psychic powers of their own. A small number become hunters of supernatural creatures, such as vampire-slayers, especially if the eldritch who awakened them ruined their lives.
Some eldritch choose to awaken their minions with or without the consent of thsoe minions. Eldritch always awaken those they empower, whether they want to or not. They often do this by demonstrating their preternaturae, but they might prepare them with prior instructioon in order to reduce the shock and fear. They might also take them on a tour of the Secret World, using their supernatural powers to show the person the Reverie, the Astra, and possibly some other realms
The various eldritch - both as races and as individuals - view the Secret World in different ways, just as mortal fantasts view the Secret World in different ways. Their preceptions are based on many things, especially their interests and the nature of their existence. Eldritch live in the Real World, but are constantly attuned to the Secret World. Tehir perception is alwasy warped to suit their bent on reality.
Angels perceive the clockwork functions that keep Creation moving. While they are in human form this is far more limted, but they still have a sense of it. They focus primarily on good and evil, but perceive mostly good in Creation itself.
Daevas focus on the passage of time. They can sense the time continuum and perceive the various branches of chance and fate almost as if they were future locations.
Demons see the world in levels of sin. The places and people where sin is at a low or non-existent level is where they try to increase it the most. They focus primarily upon corruption, but they also recognize features of goodness and holiness, which they either avoid or corrupt.
Dragons see the world as a combination of six elements- air, earth, fire, water, light, and darkness- the elements that compose their own souls and bodies. Individually, they also focus primarily upon the element that matches their own stirpes (races).
Elves perceive the world as a beautiful, fantastical realm. Elves have a way of seeing beauty even in the darkest and most horrible of things, though they do not necessarily like dark things. Elves focus on magick and keep up primarily with dwarves, orcs, dragons, and other fantasy gentes. They are also familiar with many fantasy worlds.
Faerie see chaos and endless possibilities, but restrain their vast perception in very strict ways. They are also inclined towards seeing the magick inherent within nature, as they are known to be land thieves.
Gargoyles see the world with the eyes of spirits. They are spirits trapped in earthly forms, and they are looking out on the Earth from the spirit world. Their lack of a sense of touch also makes the world a very distant place for them. They focus on the good and evil in the world, as well as the Reverie and Astra.
Magicians see the world in many different ways, based primarily upon the type of magick they practice and their overall understanding of magickal theory. They tend to focus on things of particular interest to their own work.
Manitou focus on the natural world. They do not perceive good and evil; instead they view things as natural and unnatural. The focus primarily upon things that are important to the animals they represent.
Osirians focus on the patterns inherent within everything. They view things as portions of a greater whole. They are keenly aware of natural cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Magick in its most raw and neutral form is easily visible to them.
The Possessed focus upon the illusory, daydream, and nightmare features of the Reverie. They especially focus on the Dreamworlds themselves, which are homes to the ochelum that possess teh mortal hosts. They also see good and evil every clearly and focus on corruption.
Questers perceive the world as divided between good and evil, the holy and the unholy, the spiritual and the worldly. Tehy focus upon divine and demonic activity within both the Secret World and the Real World. They also recognize blessings, curses, spiritual signs, and divine guidance more clearly than others do.
The Un-dead view the world with the cold, dark eyes of predators. They see death in every living thing and see a cold beuty in this darkness. They also focus on pain, sorrow, gloom, and decay.
Wer view the world as animal predators. They live on instincts and raw senses, most especially smell. They are also particularly adept at seeing spirits, just as dogs and wolves supposedly can see them.
Within the last twenty or so years, strange things have been occuring to the barriers between the realms within the Secret World. For some unknown reason, temporary vortices form, allowing individuals to wander from one realm into another. These rifts in time and space have allowed many strange things from other worlds to find their way onto Earth.
These vortices open and close in various places without any pattern or warning. Sometimes they are accompanied by actual spatial or temporal distortions, but they usually occur without notice. Only after an individual wanders from one world into the next do they notice it. A victime might be walking down a city street in modern day only to turn the corner and find herself in Camelot over 1,400 years ago.
Often people and objects that are transported through vorticies find their way back to their original places and times. A few victimes, however, do not survive to return, but those who do come back usually return as fantasts. Still, a few try to rationalize their odd experiences as dreams, hallucinations, nervous breakdowns, or even episodes of total insanity, while others simply repress them as forgotten memories.
There are some eldritch who hunt these vortices for a variety of reasons: to explore new worlds, to find their way back to their home realms, or even to destroy them, thus preventing things which pose threats from accidentallly wandering through the vortices.
Little is truely known about the Underworld or Purgatory (as the angels and demons call it), the home realms of dead souls condemned by Death to remain tied to a shadow of the mortal world. The Underworld is said by some eldritch metaphysisists to be an Astra of the Conscious Dead. Most believe the realm is merely a spiritual waystation through which souls pass on their way from life into the Afterlife, adn that those who inhabit the realm remain behind for reasons often unknown even to themselves.
Only a very small percentage of the world's human populations winds up in the Underworld as long-term residents. They are bound to the realm just as the living are bound to Earth; it is their home realm. Some learn talents similar to astral projection, which allows them to pass into other realms such as the Astra and the Dreamworlds. These bound spirits of the dead are called dead souls and the Condemned. The condemned even have something of a corrupt social structure all their own.
As the living die, their astral selves dies as well, passing into the Underworld. Rotting corpses of astral bodies can be found everywhere in the Underworld, especially in Ethereus. There are mass graves everywhere and many dead souls work at cmeaning up the rotting bodies. The corpses vary in their states of decay, but the nuver fully turn to ashes, meaning the real is filled with multyple corpses of every person that has ever lived. Many of the condemned never fully get over the continual stench of death that coats everything.
The Wnderworld itself is composed of several strange realms that are collectivuly considered one massive reality that the dead cannot escape. The realms are composed of nekrum (a substance very mucyh like the ephemera of the Astera and the morpheum of the Dreamworlds). Nekrum may be altered through sheer force of weill. The Underworld includes Ethereus, countless Shadoworlds, the Dreadlands, the Forbidden Lands, and several faraway realms, such as Tartarus, of whichvery little is known.
Aside from the inner realms to which eldritch and many mortals have access, there are other physically real worlds called the Agarthic Spheres. These planes of existence are collectively referred to as the Agartha. The realms may be entered physically by those who know where or how to do so. While the Underworld may be entered physically by ghuls and their living traveling companions, the realm is not considered one of the agarthic spheres. The Astra and Dreamworlds can also be entered physically in rare instance, but these too are not considered part of the Agartha, save for the Mythic Homelands, which some do consider agarthic spheres. Faeryland is also considered an agarthic sphere by many.
Finding an entrance into a particular agarthic sphere is nealry impossible, even for the most "illuminated" eldritch. Not all agarthic spheres have entrances on Earth, and those that do usually have only one or two. The entrances are difficult to find since most all are located solely within the Reverie.
Some entrances require keys, magick words, or specific actions performed in a particular order for the gateways to work. Some gateways function only at particular times of the day or during certain days or periods of the year. A few function only at one particular moment every decade or century.
Certain gateways are controlled by perticular groups, such as cults, magigians, conspiratorial enclaves, and government black projects.
Faeryland is the best known of the agarthic spheres. It is a realm composed of fantastical kingdoms ruled, and populated by, strange, alien creatures that are somewhat human in form; few know how to enter this realm.
Shardolm, or Shadowearth as most magicians call it, is another important agarthic sphere. Shardolm is a planet that is the same size as the earth. It is accessible through various magickal means, such as walking through mirrors and permanent invisible gateways. Shadowearth is ruled by three alliances of magicians.
There is soemthing of a cold war between two of the factions- the Magistocracy and the Consortium alliances. The third alliance, the Custodians, try to stay out of their conflicts. The magicians are numerous and powerful, adn msot lead double lives on both earth and Shadowearth. The Fir Bolg among the daevas have a great deal of contact with Shardolm.
Aside from the Reverie, which lies just outside our perception of the Real World, there are many otehr realms further away. They are worlds unto themselves, yet many exist solely because of the Real World's inhagitants. Without the Real World, these places of legendry would eventualy fade away. They thrive on the imagination within people and on the magick inherent in the realms, but virtually all see them as secondary in importance compared to the Earth.
Many of these otherlands seem very unreal to people in the Real World because they are almost never entered physically. Journeys are usually made solely within the minds of the travelers. People explore these other worlds thorugh dreams, altered staes fo consciousness, and trances. Things cannot be physically brought back from these inner worlds to EArth, so "proof" of these otehr realms is not possible. Skeptics will simply not believe even convincing evidence of shared journeys among people, since such things lie outside the epistemology of science. Most debunkers and skeptics rationalize such events as clever frauds or by other mundane explanations. Therefore, these otherlands are real only to those who make journeys through the imagination to reach them.
The otherlands include the Astra, Dreamworlds, and the Underworld. There may be others, but they are not detailed in this foundation book. The Astra is a spirit world of thought, entered by the conscious mind. The Dreamworlds are reflections of the Astra entered and controlled primarily by the subconscious mind. The Underworld is a realm where shosts exist, but it has never truely been explored by the earthly living.
There is a myriad of worlds composed of thought and accessible only through our own minds. They are called the astral aethyrs, or more commonly the Astra. However, the manitou and many other eldritch also refer to the Astra as the spirit worlds. The Astra, as a whole, is all the realms linked together by astral space and composed of the substance known as ephemera.
The Astra is not normally accessible physically; entrance occurs through meditation and trances. The conscious mind leaves the body through astral projection as an OOBE (Out Of Body Experience). --- game mechanics note cut from text --- Once in the Astra, the consciousness takes on a physical corporeal, astral form.
Everything in the Astra, the mindscape (buildings, plants, rocks, air, water, et al.) and the denizens (people, animals, monsters, and so on) are all composed of ephemera. Ephemera are thoughts given form. It mirrors the actual earthly substances it takes the form of, but it is mutable by sheer force of will. Thus, anyone can shape and mold reality to suit thier own needs, if their will is strong enough. Even preternaturae usually work more freely and are less costly to use within the Astra. --- game mechanics note cut from text ---
Space is the Astra is also mutable. Distance is seemingly real, but more often than not, it is measures solely by one's perception of it. It is possible to transport instantly from one place in the Astra to another, but it does require concentration and understanding of the true lack of dimension in the Astra. --- game mechanics note cut from text ---
The Astra is home to many different types of beings. Most living humans, animals, and plants exist in the Astra, though they are not necessarily conscious of their own astral existence. Entities native to the Astra do not, however, exist on teh physical plane. Some of these astral entities may however, freely travel the Dreamwrolds, (which some believe to be a mirror dimension of the Astra). Most astral entities were given life by human, animal, plant, or dragon thoughts.
Among the aethyrs within the Astra are the Inner Sanctums, the Collective, the Menagerie, Verdantia, the Netherworlds, the Void, the Mythic Homelands, and Primordium.
Humans each have their own personal realms in the Astra, which consist of their own psyches. These realms are called the Inner Sanctums. Every human and eldritch of human origin has her own personal realm. Inner Sanctums are virtually inaccessible and invisible in Astral space to all except the individual to whom a specific realm belongs. Only telepathic powers or similar abilites can locate specific Inner Sanctums. A character will typically appear wtihin her own Inner Sanctum upon entering the Astrq through OOBE. Leaving this personal realm(is not usuilly difficult and it takes only a little time to reach teh Conlective. --- game mechanics note cut from text ---
The Collective,!also known as Mnemosia, is a vast realm controlled by the collective unconscious of humanity. It is a place where potent, unseen forces are at work. It is less mutable than a person's own Inner Sanctum, but it is also a placw where different humans on the physical plane can join together consciously in order to explore the Astra. A charactrer can appear directly in a specific location of the Collective, such as a fellowship meeting place, instead of within her own Inner Sanctum. --- game mechanics note cut from text ---
The Menagerie, also called the Wildlands, is the collective unconscious of animals. It does not include humans, as humans have separated themselves from the rest of the animal kingdom. It is a placw where humans are not longer welcome and where all manner of animals play and prowl. The governing totem spirits of all animals inhabit this realm. --- game mechanics note cut from text ---
The Verdant Lands, also called Verdantia, represent the collective unconscious of plants. It is a vast realm into which other spirits are welcomed, so long as they do not harm the plant spirits. The Life Tree, often called Yggdrasil, stands in the center of the realm and casts its branches into the highest heavens and invisibly into countless other worlds. --- game mechanics note cut from text ---
The Netherworlds are the prisons and places of power for the demons. These realms were once shut away from the Astra by great bronze seals, but he seals ahve been broken on many of these hellish realms and the demons now run amok. There are even Netherworlds that are homes to the Leviathans, the dragons' own demons. --- game mechanics note cut from text ---
The Void is a nothingness place from whcih explorers have never returned. Some claim the Underworld lies on the otehr side of the Void, others cliam it is a gateway to another Astra, and still others cliam it is a place of certain doom. --- game mechanics note cut from text ---
The Mythic Homelands are the realms of the old gods. The Olympians, Ennead, Aesir, Vanir, and countless otehr pantheons formed their own worlds within the Astra. These gods are not the same as the daevas; they are spirit entities created by the beliefs of human worshippers. --- game mechanics note cut from text ---
Primordium, also called Dragonhome, is an unspoiled land that is said to be the collective unconscious of dragonkind. It is hard to find and virtually impossible to enter. Even the earthly dragons will nto speak of it to "monkeys" and "eldritch monkeys". --- game mechanics note cut from text ---
Getting around the Astra involves lots of walking. it is possible to float or even fly, but it costs 1 animus point per scene to float at walking speed, 2 animus points per scene to fly at running speed, and 3 to 4 animus points to fly at greater speeds. Distance within the Astra is determined by how strongly a pserson desites to get to a place and hwo far away they subconsciously perceive it to be. An individual, or even a group acting together, can create sort of an Astral landscape with specific locations and fixed geography. The subconscious mind is far from powerless, however, so the Astra is never a predictable place. Time flows fairly constatnly, since the Collective and most individual subconscious minds have internal clocks.
The Guide may determine distance, but a protagonist can consciously alter distance by spending 3 animus points and by making an Intellect (14-Rationalize) draw. The number of successes determines the degree of distance altered.
Airts are the various pathways that may be taken from place to place within realms that have no fixed geographical locations, such as the Astra and Dreamworlds. The native inhabitants of these realms somehow intuitively know many paths to various places. Strangers in the realms can generally get to where they are going, usually by focusing on wanting to get there, but they do not usually know how they are going to get there nor what areas and dangers will lie between them and their destinations.
Finding an Airt, an astral pathway, requires a Perception (11-Orienteering) draw. ASking a spirit to point out an Airt requires a Presence (11-Question) draw.
The shape and appearance of a person's astral form is based upon her subconscious self-perception of what she looks like and feels like. It may be altered, or even completely reshaped, by the conscious will. For the most part, the astral form looks like the Real World form, but it may be fatter, thinner, taller, shorter, older, younger, scarier, more or less attractive, more or less muscular, clothed differently, etc. Altering the form permanently requires a Spirit (12) draw and costs a destiny point and 3 animus points. The character will take whatever her altered astral form whenever she is in the Astra, but she may permanently revert back to her true form at no cost. The Guide may also spend backlash points to alter a protagonist's astral form in negative ways.
The astral forms of various immortal gentes have very distinct features.
All the everlasting tend to wear clothing in the Astra which has some personal meaning to them or which is especially appropriate for them. They can alter their clolthing at will, just as they can their forms. Tehy cannot, however, create numerous weapons, especially high-tech or magickally potent weapons. An Intellect (14-appropriate skill) draw and 2 animus points are required for creating an object. Spending a destiny point can make an object permanent; afterwards, it can be summoneed into the hand (or onto the body, if clothing) with just a thought.
The physical aspects of the astral form are based upon mental and spiritual aspects: Dexterity=Instincts, Resilience=Presence, Strength=Spirit
Anyone can enter the Astra once they learn how; it requires no innate talent. In The Everlasting it is a learned skill called Astral. (see chapter 2 for details.)
The Astra may be entered by a person through a trance-like state of relaxation and focus. This is accomplished by various meditative techniques. The person eventually becomes very relaxed and focused, and her conscious mind unfetters itself from the weight of the flesh, then floats upward out of the body, through a dense fog (or darkenss or light), and into the Astra. The astral form is simialr to the corporeal body, and it is bound to the actual fleshy body by a silver cord. Once inside the Astra, the silver cord becomes invisible and the mindscape fades into being.
Most mortals only learn to enter into their own Inner Sanctum within the Astra. Some eventually learn to enter the Collective through self-created gateways, but few mortals learn to pass into the other astral aethyrs. Shamans, however, are knwono to travel the Menagerie and the Verdant Lands at times. The eldritch generally learn much quicker and ahve longer to hone their astral projection, so they often enter directly into the Collective. Often particular spots are chosen by two or more immortals as future meeting places, should they ever wish to contact one another without having to do so physically.
Entering the Astra requires a Spirit (10-Astral) draw, with higher base difficulties for appearing in specific locations of the Astra rather than in some random location. ONce in the Astra, the consciousness takes on a physical, corporeal, astral from and the Astra iteslf is as real, solid, and complete as the earth.
Within each person there is a vast astral realm, an Inner Sanctum. It is the seat of power for one's psyche, and it is fully accessible by the conscious mind. The realm is home to the conscious mind, but there are other forces at work as well- the Id, Ego, and Superego. They too can influence what happens within one's own Inner Sanctum. These subconscious forces keep the Inner SAnctum full of surprises and dangers even for the woner of the sanctum. The conscious mind can, however, reshape things in the Inner Sanctum to suit its needs. In many wasy it is the playground of conscious dreams; a thought can build or destroy worlds within the Inner Sanctum. An Inspiration (10-Astral) draw is typically required, but a Guide might change the aspect and skill required, as well as the base difficulty.
Old memories are played out over and over in altered forms within the Inner Sanctum. There are countless memories. Some resemble places form teh Real World, others are locations from books, movies, and photographs. There are many entities that also resemble people whom the person has known perosnlaly or thorugh books and movies. These entities are like what the subconscious imagines them to be, so living people given life in the Inner SAnctum may be different from their real world counterparts.
It is normally extremely difficult for a person to enter anotehr person's Inner Sanctum, unless specifically led into it by that person from some otehr realm, such as the Collective. Some eldritch with telepathic preternaturae can, however sneak into the Inner Sanctums of others, adn what they find there is always very revealing.
The Inner Sanctums of human immortals are very expansive. The Inner Ssnctums of very angry or intense people may be very dangerous and active, while those of very calm and kind people may be very tranquil and beutiful. Conversely, outer appearnaces may be deceiving and the Inner Sanctum may reveal a different side to a person. The Inner Sanctum if insane poeple are often very confusing and bizarre.
The Colletive, also called Mnemosia, is the vast common realm of thought contorleed by the Human Gestalt, also known as the Collective Unconscious. The realm is mutable by those who explore it, but far less so than their own Inner Sanctums.
The Collective is made up of countless places, yet space has no meaning, so it is impossible to determine the actual vastness of the realm. It is easily possible to move from any one place to any other place as if the two places were adjacent. The traveler's perception of distance between two places goes a long way in determining the actual distance. The locations that lie in-between them. However, the Collective itself also has some degree of control over this location positioning. Since the Collective has existed since the begining of human sentience, any time period known to humanity may be explored simply by focusing on travelling to locations in that time period.
There are countless entities in the Collective, and many are features of the Collective itself. There are archetypal creatures from the human Zeitgeist much like the Id, Ego, and Superego creatures within the Inner Sanctums, but some somehow attain sentience and enough personal power to escape to otehr astral realms. Some of the demons may have been creations of the Collective, but now they are independent and threaten the Collective itself.
Above all else, the Astra is unpredictable and wonderous. It ties into countless astral aethyrs and may even link into many other totally different dimenstions, such as Faeryland and the Underworld.
The Menagerie, also called the Wildlands, is the collective unconscious of the animals. It is normally inaccessible to humans, who lack the instinct to find it. The manitou are drawn to the Menagerie, and the dragons have little trouble finding it as well. The Menagerie was so named by human eldritch. The realm is namelss to the animal totems that live there, though the manitou refer to it as one of the sacred realms, (the others are Earth, Primordium, and the Verdant Lands.)
Humans who accidently wander into the Menagerie feel the hungry eyes of countless animal predators looking upon them the whole time. If they remain for too long, the many animal totems will eat them. Daevas who have lordly auspices relating to animals and human shamans have an easer time traversing the realm.
All manner of animal totems inhabit the Menagerie, ranging from insects, to lions, to dinosaurs. There are even mythical creatures, such as the manticore, unicorn, and hydra. There are no human civilizations or even markings of human contact . . . save for a few scattered human bones.
The mindscape varies to suit the animals of a particular area. There are jungles, swamps, deserts, oceans, and all manner of other locations from countless timee periods. Some suggest the Menagerie is far larger than the Human Collective, but the truth remains unknown, since only the manitou and dragons can freely travel the realm.
Some animal totems can pass back and forth from the Menagerie to the otehr astral realms. Some are sentient and are capable of communicating with other astral entities, including humans. Some of these spirits even know how to pass into the Reverie. In fact, some mythical beasts have even taken up residence in the Reverie and other realms.
Within the Menagerie, totem spirits live in a natural hierarchy of predation and evolution, just as they do in nature. Each day cycle, totems killed and eaten by otehr totems are returned to life at sunrise. Only the manitou and the animal totems know the specifics of the animal hierarchy themselves.
The Menagerie is governed by a council of the wisest and most powerful of the animals, the totemic lords. Each species is controlled by a wise, sentient totemic lord who is served by similar, yet less powerful totems.
The Verdant Lands, also called the Verdantia, is a realm which is both strange and familiar. It is home to the Collective Subconscious of Plants, which takes the form of Yggdrasil. This tree is also called the World Tree, the Tree of Life, and Parijata (the "tree of knowledge"). Countless lesser plant spirits inahbit the realm. They range in intelligence from vegetative states ot complete sentience.
Yggdrasil is omnipotent and omniscient when it comes ot plant life. The World Tree takes physical form as a cyclopean oak tree reaching into the bright golden sky, casting a light greenish golden hue upon everything in the realm. Sentient, anthropomorphic vegetative spirits guard the tree and the realm. These guardian plant elementals keep out those who destroy vegetative spirits. It is said that thsoe who climb to the highest branches of the tree can pass into many lost realms.
Verdantia is difficult to enter, but animal totems and other astral travelers often wander into the realm. Most outsideers are allowed to consume plants within the realm, including plant spirits. However, some outsiders are drawn in intentionally, serving as food themselves for the large, animate, and mobile carnivorous plant spirits.
The Netherworlds are knwon by many otehr names- the Darklands, Hel, the Infernal Realms, the Fiery Pits, and so on- but regardless of the name, they are the homelands of demons, and places of great sorrows and overwhelming damnation.
There are several different Netherworlds, but only nine of them have ever been accessible to outsiders. They were once separate unto themselves from the rest of the Astra, but the bronze seals that bound the realms closed were broken on some of these Netherworlds. Demons emerged from these realms$into the Astra and on into other0realms, including the physical plane of earth itself.
Some of thse demons are tersibly powerful and ancient, but most are roughly equam to`most otehr eldritch in terms of power. The various demon races sometimes work together, but, just as often, they oppose and compete with one cnother for their own gain. Foul overlords of the demons are trying their best to bring their legions to the physical plane to corrupt mortals.
Fortunately, most of the Netherworlds remain locked away behind the great seals and wards of Solomon. Demons are unable to break these, and, so far, have been unable to even open them even through the coercion of otehrs. The seals can only be broken through particular ancient methods and only by those who are extremely powerful, good-hearted, and acting of their own freewill.
The Netehrworlds are nightmarish lands, cities, and charnal pits filled with human spirits captured by the demons. Some are vast, red and black labyrinths filled with horrible and perverse things. Others are dungeon-like realms filled with pitiful wretches forever tortured by demonic taskmasters. Some are places of intense cold or fire, some are massive lakes of ever-burning oil, while otehrs are . . . beyond imaginable terror.
Most everything "known" about these Netherwrolds is actually just legend and speculation. Knowledge is greatly limited because few earthly beings have actually visited the realms and come back to tell of them, plus demons lie, so their information is partically useless. Eldritch sages claim there are at least thirteen of these Netherwrolds though only nine are known.
There are nine well-trained netherworlds within the Astre. They are soemtimes referred to as the "nine planes of Hell" since each is a separate realm, but all are said to lead to Pandemonium, which some eldritch suspect is a gateway to the True Hell.
In addtion to these infernal realms are several other netherworlds that are not so widely known to outsiders.
All the known netherworlds are three-dimenstional worlds, unlike the Seven Heavens of the angels. The demons are forever cut off from experiencing higher dimensions,save for some of the devils that can sometimes briefly glimpse Heaven in thier waking nightmares.
The known netherworlds include:
Aralu
Avernus
Gehenna
Helheim
Malebolge
Meslam
Mictlan
Soku-no-Kumi
Stygia
Pandemonium is the stral nexus where the negative psychic energies of human emotion emanate. It appears as a great Spiraling Darkness that can cause normal humans who see it to die from the ultimate horror of the experience. Pandemonium is the spawning source from which new demons are born. It is also the central hub at which all the Netherworlds connect with one another and with the rest of the Astra.
Even the demons fear entering Pandemonium, for not only is it their source of dark power, it is a place from whence anything which enters never leaves. Many claim it is the True Hell, but this is but a rumor that the demons themselves cannot confirm or deny. Many demons suspect that when they pass through Pandemonium they lose all their own memories of Hell, as they could not function within three-dimensional reality with such knowledge in their minds.
Here are some of the other possible astral aethyrs that might be explored by adventurous protagonists:
There are other aethyrs in the Astra aside from those described previously, but they remain virtually unknown to all save the rare few who visit them and bring back tales. Only magick-workers and astral inhabitants know the secrets of otehr aethyrs, thus these otehr aethyrs are called the Far Realms. Among the Far Realms are the Mythic Homelands. These are places created by dieties that are no longer worshipped by mortals. These old gods retreated from the earth in order to spend the rest of their existence safe from a world of disbelievers. The fate of the various pantheons remain mysteries for the most part. The god-like inhabitants of these realms are peculiar, reclusive, and wrapped up in their own affairs.
Some astral explorers speak of a place/non-place found at the esge of teh AStra that is called teh Void. Nothing is known of this place, except that it is a nexus of possibilites and nothingness wrapped into one. Occult scholars speculate that it might be a gateway to the Underworld, others say it might be a portal into the Astras of sentient extraterrestiral and ultradimensional beings, while still otehrs say ti is the nothingness lying behind the edge of the AStra which is capable of unmaking reality. Primordium, or Dragonhome, is said to be the Collective of the Dragons, but no human has ever traveled there and told of the experience- either none have survived the experience or they simply fear and respect the dragons too much to say anything. Primordium is said to be a place untainted by humanity. Supposedly, even the glorius antediluvian cities do not exist in this land, as the dragons want nothing more to do with humanity. Some claim the dragons want nothing more to do with humanity. Some claim the dragons who left the Earth to explore other worlds, which were just as real and independent as the Earth, still come to Primordium to commune with the dragons which remained on Earth.
Between the Astra and the Dreamworlds lies a wall of chaos, stray thoughts, and half-conscious dreams. The barrier is half a thought away, for a full thought is too far and the barrier remains invisible and impassable. Those who knwo how to find the barrier think of it as a passageway into the Dreamwrolds. They pass thorugh the chaos barrier as if they are swimming vertically through morpheum (dream-substance), which takes a form simialr to water, though it is dry. Passage is normally possible only from the Astra into the Dreamwrolds, but it may be possible to pass from the Dreamwrolds into the Astra this way. Using the barrier as a passage is difficult, and only certain Astral-Dream entities can do so with ease. Within the barrier it is possible to become lost or trapped forever. The conscious astral form was not meant to venture into the dreaming, nor is the dreamself meant to visit the Astra. The journey can leave the traveler with her consciousness shattered and her body in a permanent catatonic state.
Surviving the passage from the Astra into the Dreamworlds allows the person to retain complete conscious control over her dreams. Her subconscious mind is powerless to oppose her actions while in this state. The Dreamworlds may be lft as usual by waking up, as the body simply fell asleep during the crossover.
Finding the chaos berrier requires an Insperiation (16-Astral) draw. At least 30 successes must be made on a series of Inspiraiton (13-Dream) draw in order to cross the barriers into the Dreamwrolds. One draw may be attempted for every five minutes of trying to cross the barriers by swimming thorugh them. If a disaster occurs, the astral traveler may bo into a temporary catatonic state.
The other books provide similar but different descriptions of the various places that exist within this setting outside of the Real World. There are also places that are not even mentioned above that are detailed in the other books. So I highly recomend purchasing them if you are interested in either the Everlasting game or the setting that Steve Brown has developed for it.