The Bear Hill in Xeno-Meso

Bear Butte, SD

To the northeast of the Black Hills, the plains dip into Iron Horse valley, which then begins to rise again into rolling hills. These hills are riddled with gates. Go a bit further to the east, and look north. You will see the Bear Hill.

The Giving Hill rises high above a windswept green plain. Buffalo rest and graze in the mountain's foothills. Pines rise all the way to its top, although much of the mountain looks bare from a distance. Get a glimpse of it, and it will call to you. To arrive is to know you are in a special place.

More than one prophet has found his or her calling here. The different peoples of the plains make their journeys to the Bear Hill to pray, meditate, and leave offerings. Many of these prayer bundles and cloth strips are tied to trees at the base of the mountain; others are left at the mountaintop. Peace treaties can be negotiated here - if the parties are really prepared to make peace.

Photo copyright 2013 John Everett Till.

Strangerside Scholar: The Seven Unlucky Spherewalkers

Although the Sphere of Xeno-Meso is very far away from Everway, The Paddlers are not the only Everwayans to have visited the Sixth World. According to the scroll-book Things Seen In the Obsidian Mirror by Lightning Diviner Crookstaff  (and from the title we assume you can guess the name of the book's author), seven other Everwayans have visited that Sphere.

Apparently, none of them returned.

Instead, the scroll-book tells us they became Petty Gods among the peoples of the Sixth World.

Mr. Lightining Diviner Crookstaff's cursive is quite crabbed, and consequently his scroll-book rather difficult to read. But we are slowly making progress with the text.

In time, the Strangerside Scholar will have more to say about these unfortunates.

Strangerside Scholar: Interpolation

http://downloadsourcecodes.com/matlab/
image-interpolation-matlab-code

One conjecture about why the dragons created Mousetrap Realms was to conceal something else behind them. In this sense, the Mousetrap Realm becomes a form of Interpolation, the magical art of creating a new object between two existing ones. At the dawn of history, the Bridgeworlds, the first human intersphere empire, used the art of Interpolation to build a chain of Fortress Realms as center-realms acros a chain of spheres. (This "chain" of course was many different chains of spherepaths that radiated out from a central hub. It is said that the foundations of the Library of All Worlds are drawn out similarly to one of these Fortress Realms.)

What were the dragons up to when they built the Mousetrap Realms? They may have been concealing their own Nest Realms behind fortress walls. They could interpolate Mousetrap Realms between existing worlds on a spherepath.

For example, suppose a certain World A at a certain point in a chain of worlds; let's call World A, the Spider's Web. The adjacent World B might have been the Nest Realm known as The Red Hatchery of the dragons. Through the art of Interpolation, a Mousetrap Realm - No Floor - might have been inserted between World A and World B. No Floor is conjured into existence as the center-real between the other two, a so-called World A-Prime.

Thus a chain of spheres can be broken. The Mousetrap Realm of No Floor becomes a deadly dead-end for  most Spherewalkers going through a gate from there towards No Floor. Meanwhile the dragons cavort or sleep safely in The Red Hatchery beyond. The Red Hatchery no doubt has other gates that go other places. Or it might have not gates. Some dragons can still make their own gates. And they have worked out numerous serpentine paths to get around.

Strangerside Scholar: On Mousetrap Realms

Merode Mousetrap, c. 1427-32
http://historiesofecology.blogspot.com/
2012/05/merode-mousetrap.html

After the dragons lost in their war against the gods, they turned to other pursuits. Partly due to spite, and partly due to boredom, some of the dragons began devising and setting traps among the spheres.  They created the Mousetrap Realms to catch and kill Spherewalkers.

The Mousetrap Realms have one way in: a Gate which opens into a new realm, beckoning a Spherewalker to come explore. But unlike normal realms among the spheres, the Mousetrap Realms have no way out. Either their Gate works in only one direction, opening only into the realm, or else once entered, the Mousetrap Realm becomes a more active and deadly trap.

Death by starvation. Death by plenitude or lack, whether Earth, Air, Fire, or Water. False epiphanies. Entombment. World-creatures. Treasure of Infinite Counting. Doppel-craft. The dragons have never lacked for imagination in devising their traps. And they were masters of misdirection.

Humans have often attributed the creation of Mousetrap Realms to capricious gods or demons. Few have seen the Dragons' Stamp: The House of Knives, The Box of Under, the Ocean-Hole, Mother of Cankers, the Roundel, the Whorl, Pop-Up Drop Down, the Meat Grinder, the Flower That Ate Itself, and The Limbless Tree. Even the names of the Mousetrap Realms sound like curses.

There are in fact hundreds of Mousetrap Realms on record at the Library of All Worlds. As many as one realm in one hundred may be Mousetrap Realms. It is wise to consult the collection of spherepaths within the Library of All Worlds, or the Chamber Platinum's special collection (these are usually the most up-to-date) before planning a particularly long journey among the spheres.

Most Spherewalkers will encounter a Mousetrap Realm if they travel far enough.

Table 6: Table Of Gates

Do you need to determine the nature of a gate? 

Roll a D30 and consult the table below. If you want to create a Hybrid gate, combining the features of two or more gate types, just roll twice on the table.

Die Result:

1-10: The gate is an Earth gate. This is the conventional type of gate featured in the Everway game. A Spherewalker uses this kind of gate to walk to another realm or sphere.

11-13: There is no gate. Instead, a Tidal Pool forms a interstitial zone between adjacent realms or spheres. Slip into a Tidal Pool and you disappear. You may reappear at the same point of departure later, or depart into an entirely different realm or sphere. Tidal pools often combine one or more elements (earth, air, fire, water), or extend the local features of a scene into a much large space (i.e., an infinite library or a colossal Gormenghastian castle-city).

http://blackskull18.deviantart.com/art/
Fire-Masked-Djinn-181597296 

13-17: The gate is a Water gate. These form in rivers, streams, ponds, oases, waterfalls, swamps/marshes, lakes, seas, and oceans. They connect two spheres by water. The Whiteoar family of Everway were masters of such gates.

Fire Masked Djinn by blackskull 8
http://blackskull18.deviantart.com/art/Fire-Masked-Djinn-181597296 

18-20: The gate is a Fire gate. The user literally walks through flames to move from one sphere into another. These are often found naturally in volcanoes and lava flows. Temporary fire gates are often formed as a result of a magic ritual involving conflagrations. These gates are difficult for humans to use, although they are favorites of demons and djinn. 

Friedrich Johann Justin Bertuch (1747-1822)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bertuch-Bird.png

21-23: The gate is an Air gate. These gates connect the skies of different worlds. These can be used by a range of avian creatures, such as the godlike Rukh, Hawk- and Eagle-Men, and shapeshifting Eagle Knights. 

http://suite101.com/article/aztec-jaguar-warrior--eagle-warrior-knights-a251303 

24: The gate is a Floodgate. This is a pluripotent gate that creates a new realm on the other side of the gate the first time it is used.

25: The gate is a Puzzle gate. Most of these gates are portable, and take the form of a clockwork device. They are used to summon fearsome gods and demons from the planes beyond. Sometimes they are used by assassins; more often they are the playthings of foolish hedonists. Their creation and use is prohibited in many realms, including Everway..

26: The gate is a Paradox gate, also known as a Fractal gate. These living, growing gates seethe with magical energies and open into many other spheres simultaneously. Prismatic gates have a prismatic effect:: passage through the gate will split the Spherewalker split into many different copies of him/herself that wander the spheres never to reunite. There is a sect within the Walker's Pyramid Cult that believes this has happened to The Walker.

27: The gate is a Timelike gate, connecting a realm to a different time in either the past or future. The destination may be to the same realm at a different point in time, or to another realm entirely. Many of these gates are one-way. Some connect to realms that have imploded and no longer exist.

28: The gate is a Fleshgate. The gate is part of the body of a dead or living god, and draws the Spherewalker deeper into the god's being and essence. Few Spherewalkers return after traversing such a gate. Those who do are radically changed.

29: The gate is a Caster's gate, created by the potent magic of a mortal wizard. These gates always have a flaw. Some are always open - any person or monster can use it at any time with no need for a Spherewalker to guide them between the realms. Others bleed strange radiations that warp the realms adjacent to the gate.

30: The gate is a Dream gate, allowing the Spherewalker or other persons to enter the realm of dreams. Such gates can be found in unusual, dreamlike locations, such as the lakebottom ruins of dead cities or ancient battlefields where the corpses of the slain haven't rotted. Temporary dream gates can also be created for a price by the potent drugs of the Pipe Dreamers.

The Unfamiliar, A Rather Nasty Magical Parasite...

...which can travel from sphere to sphere clinging to a Spherewalker's body. They know when someone is looking for a familiar. They oblige and find a place for themselves. Inside or outside the Spherewalker. 

The Unfamiliar finds a suitable place to cling to a Spherewalker and be carried to another sphere.

Mature Unfamiliars look like a suitable if unpleasant-looking familiar or companion for a Spherewalker. The Unfamiliar uses Illusion Magic to create the impression that they are augmenting their host's powers and abilities. Gradually, they sap the life energy and vigor of a Spherewalker.

Eventually, the Spherewalker host will become so weak that s/he cannot finish an astral journey from one sphere to another. Reaching this point takes a number of spherewalks equal to the Spherewalker's Earth score. 

When a Spherewalker collapses between the spheres, this is when the Unfamiliar reproduces. It releases a swarm cloud of embryos: barely noticeable gaseous apparitions that lurk in the astral substance between the spheres.

Pity the innocent Spherewalker who breathes-in one of these swarm cloud embryos on their journey between the spheres. The Spherewalker will carry the infection into the next sphere they visit, whereupon their physical form gradually begins to warp and shift with each successive spherewalk. 

They will begin to take-on the appearance of an unpleasant or diseased creature. After a number of  spherewalks equal to their Earth score, the Spherewalker experiences a precipitous decline, falling completely victim to the parasite. Shrinking, shifting, the infected Spherewalker takes on the semblance of a potential familiar and becomes a mature Unfamiliar. The cycle of infection continues.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Mature Unfamiliar:

Fire 1, Earth 2, Air 5, Water 6; Illusion Magic: One Element, Magic Level 6 

Strangerside Scholar: Does the Multiverse Have a Structure?

Does the multiverse have a structure? Most Spherewalkers wonder about this at some point in their journeys; a very few study it. Of course, there are the ready-made answers. You need look no further than the Pyramid Priests who surround the Walker's Pyramid at the very center of Everway.

Many people believe that the multiverse has an arborescent geometry. That is, the countless worlds branch off a main stem-world. The universe looks like a tree. This is an old concept; many cultures and spheres describe the multiverse as a Tree of Worlds. Most see their own sphere as the trunk of the tree.

Stefanus Rademeyer, Arborescent Geometries III (2010)http://www.argief.litnet.co.za/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_news_item&cause_id=1270&news_id=106518 

The Pyramid Priests claim that Everway is the trunk, and that the branches of the tree represent the Walker's countless steps, which created the million spheres. Yes, Everway is at the center of all, which is why any good pilgrim should make offerings to the cult when they visit the Pyramid. It is a debt that we owe the Walker. So the Priests say.

A more cynical view is that the Tree of Worlds represents an example of how Everway rules. Repressive tolerance. "Yes, your world is important" say the scholars in the Library of All Worlds. "Tell us about it, so that we can make an entry in the Codices of All Worlds." When you describe in rich detail how your world is unique or different, the scholars unctuously say "Well, yes, yes - that's interesting, but you are missing the point. Your Creator got a few details wrong. That's why your world isn't like Everway. But you can still see the relationship to Everway here, here, and here. Focus on what you have in common with us and you will be happy."

Thus does diversity ever reinforce the status quo. It is good for trade that all branches lead back to Everway.

But what if the universe took a different form? The wise already know of other ways that spheres are connected besides the Earth gates connecting worlds to Everway. Tidal Pools. Cenotes. The Floodgates.  And so on. The Whiteoars ran afoul of this.

What if the multiverse was rhizomatic rather than arborescent in geometry? How would that complicate things? Would it lead to another civil war? A capstone? The Usurper?

http://candidcandidacy.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/rhizome.jpg  

Albert-László Barabási
http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/v1/n2/fig_tab/nphys162_F1.html   

http://immanentterrain.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/spinoza-god-and-immanence/  

The Guide to Spherewalking: The Floodgates

The Floodgates are a very special kind of gate; they are pluripotent gates. While almost all gates among the million spheres connect only one specific sphere to only one other sphere, the Floodgates are completely undifferentiated gates until a Spherewalker uses them.

Jean Cocteau, Orpheus (1950)

Look for a heat devil or other disturbance in air or water. That's the Floodgate; it reflects what waits beyond. Floodgates not only have no set destination; there is literally nothing but undifferentiated, pluripotent Chaos on the other side. Until a Spherewalker steps through it, there is no realm on the other side of a Floodgate. 

Once the Spherewalker crosses the gate threshold, a new realm begins to form. The crossing usually takes a month, rather than the usual week.When the Spherewalker emerges, an entirely new realm appears beyond the gate. And the Floodgate undergoes a change in state to become a stable inter-sphere connection with a normal gate on either end. Usually. But that is a matter for another time. 

The new realm will have same the Virtue, Fault, and Fate of the Spherewalker who created it. For that reason, the realms called into being by Floodgates are known as Mirror Realms. 

Jean Cocteau, Orpheus (1950)

Spherewalkers should be forewarned that Mirror Realms are usually cul de sacs in at least two senses. First, Mirror Realms typically have only one gate - the one created by the Spherewalker. This can create very advantageous trade conditions for unscrupulous Spherewalkers seeking to create monopolies. Secondly, Mirror Realms pose certain ontological risks for Spherewalkers. They are dangerous, seductive, still places for the Spherewalker who creates them. Journeys often end. Floods recede. Water becomes still.

Jean Cocteau,Orpheus (1950)

If ever I to the moment shall say:
Beautiful moment, do not pass away!

Then you may forge your chains to bind me,

Then I will put my life behind me,

Then let them hear my death-knell toll,

Then from your labours you'll be free,

The clock may stop, the clock-hands fall,

And time come to an end for me!

––Goethe's Faust, lines 1698–706.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Goethe's_Faust

The Guide to Spherewalking: Cenotes

The Tidal Pools are elemental interstices, and are typically dead-ends. But this is not always true. Some Tidal Pools lead to sea caves. Some sea caves lead to cenotes. And some cenotes - the ones used for sacrifices - are points at which someone can swim into another realm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mexico_Cenotes.jpg

You can recognize such sacrificial cenotes from what lies in the muck at their bottom: human bones, jewels, fine obsidian blades, or animal sacrifices. You may taste blood as you break the water's surface. Hopefully, you have found a cenote with ladderworks, where it is possible to ascend to land. If not, look for vines or other plants, or for simple well-worn hand-holds.

 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Bolonchen_Cenote_Catherwood.jpg  

When you ascend, some of the simple folk may believe you are a creature from the Underworld. The local priests may host you, but don't be surprised if they distrust you. More than one Whiteoar spy has traveled this way before.

Mechanics: This is not Spherewalking strictly speaking. If someone has access to a Tidal Pool, they can swim through a sea cave to a cenote without having or using the Spherewalking power.

The Guide to Spherewalking: Spherepaths

This is the first entry in The Guide to Spherewalking, one of the most frequently read texts in the Library of All Worlds. Entries in The Guide describe matters pertaining to spherewalking, gates, and travel between the spheres and realms.

Spherepaths: A spherepath, also known as a gatepath, is a particular sequence of realms or spheres traversed in order to arrive at a desired destination realm. Spherepaths trace the route from a realm of embarkation to a destination realm that is more than one gate distant from the place of departure. Spherepaths take many forms.

Many Spherewalkers commit 'paths to memory by brute force. Others use songs or poems for that purpose. (You never know if the drunken doggerel you hear in a Strangerside pub has such references in it.) Of course, for a price, members of the Keeper family in Everway can teach the most commonly used paths to frequently visited realms. Caveat emptor: some of the gatepaths the Keepers peddle are longer and more complex than necessary - with many expensive inns and wayhouses along the way.

The Snakering, Crookstaff, and Scratch families of Everway have proprietary spherepaths. More than one rogue has met their end trying to steal what they know. Fortunately, many other 'paths are recorded in scrolls and books. Inquire at the Cartographic Department in the Library of All Worlds to examine these, and compare their 'paths to the ones you know.

Walk the city of Everway, and you will find other 'paths hiding in plain sight. Carpets and tapestries, and even fine pottery and porcelain may display coded representations of spherepaths. Examine the geometric patterns of the temples in Everway, and you will find many more. Even the landscaping of the sacred grove outside the Library of All Worlds hints at such revelations.

Finally, a word about the use of codes and symbols in spherepaths is definitely in order. Cyphers, codes, and symbols offer information security, but at a price. Meaning can be lost; even worse, deception or misinformation can occur. For example, the Snakerings often encode gatepaths with logic bombs that confound Spherewalkers while they are in-transit between gates. Spherewalkers have been lost forever due to the conceptual slippage caused by their traps.

Simple Leather Thong Ankle Bracelet

Image source is Etsy.com and www.avety-styles.com

Fortune Card: Drowning in Armor, Reversed - True Prudence


It's the plain looking one that's special. After losing Everway's civil war, the Whiteoar family gave these simple leather thongs to their agents. While these ankle bracelets are not powerful enough to open one of the Whiteoar's Seagates, they do allow their agents to make a quick if temporary escape, by hiding in Tidal Pools - elemental interstices that can be accessed from river, lake, or sea water. In a Tidal Pool, the swimmer will be in an area with air and water. S/he will need to swim, tread water, or have something to float on like a surf board in order to avoid drowning. They may have strange company swimming below them in the Tidal Pool, and it is often quite hungry.


Mechanics: The anklet must be immersed in river, lake, or sea water. The wearer upon willing it so, will find him/herself shifted to a Tidal Pool until the next low tide, when they are ejected. The anklet will not work again until the next high tide. 


Questions:

1. Where did the Spherewalker obtain the anklet? The Whiteoars were all thought to be long dead...(Playing Guide, p.16)
2. Who does this Spherewalker need to escape or avoid?
3. What happens when someone drowns in a Tidal Pool?