Timescape

The Timescape is the sages' term for the multiverse. It contains manifolds and the Astral Sea between them.

Manifolds, also called "worlds", "planes", or "universes", are defined primarily by their energy level, from the dead Abyssal Wasteland filled with ruined cities to high energy worlds like Axiom, the Plane of Uttermost Law. Lower-energy worlds rely on sorcery, but psionic power is increasingly accessible within higher-energy manifolds, where minds can power technology and light hits as hard as steel.

Worlds of the Timescape

Sages on Orden index the planes of the Timescape, beginning with Orden as Manifold 1. Other known manifolds include:

• The Abyssal Wasteland, at the bottom of the Timescape, home of the demons.
• Arcadia, the manifold of Val the god of elves, home to the true Celestials.
• Axiom, the Plane of Uttermost Law, home of the memonek, containing the Five Cities of Ordos.
• Equinox, home of the shadow elves.
• Proteus, the Sea of Eternal Change, home of the proteans. (Sometimes called "Primordius")
• Quintessence, the Plane of Elements, containing Alloy.
• The Seven Cities of Hell, home to devils.
• The World Below, home to the Voiceless Talkers and the Olothec.

Traversing the Timescape

The space between manifolds is the Astral Sea. It connects all worlds, but its geometry is variable between different parts of the Timescape.

Deep in the Timescape, manifolds behave like flat planes, and interplanar travel is difficult. Entropy rules. In the Abyssal Wasteland, the lowest-energy world, magic and prayer are dulled, and even a capable mind cannot form thoughts more complex than base emotion and survival instinct.

In the lower Timescape (Orden, its concurrent worlds, and below) the Astral Sea is a liquid ocean blanketed in fog. Stars, deep beneath the water, are a mirror image of the constellations visible from Orden. Provided they have a way to get there, mundane ships can sail the sea of stars without special equipment.

High in the Timescape, near Axiom, manifolds behave more like planets. The Astral Sea there is like outer space, and psionic vessels like Memonek mindships or Protean changeships ascend from spherical worlds to travel amongst the stars.