Secrets fall: Lore of those Without

Background Lore

A story with the Owl

Did you come looking for secrets? For answers?

Hmph. You are not loyal. Not yet. I will tell you a story, then.

Once. In a time before this time. There was so, so much more. A universe teeming with life, with potential, with possibility. A single world sat at this precipice.

This was the Enethia. From which all things sprang forth.

This was the beginning. The rules not yet written, stories not yet made to even be told.

From this clay emerged three who were above the rest. A Wolf. A Fox. And an Owl.

The Wolf was strong, the Fox was clever and the Owl was wise. They had formed the paragon for all others. They had reached the apex and shattered it, climbing a mountain of their own creation.

There were more of note, certainly. But their stories don't matter. They were lost.

For there was also a Jailor. The three, sat so far above, did not even realize as the Jailor and their chains had grown, wrapping around the heart of the world and all else. Eventually, it grew strong enough to challenge the three.

The Fox and the Owl realized they could not win. The Wolf did not heed their warnings and ate the sun, facing off against the Lord of Chains.

The Jailor won. And with that victory, consumed everything and everyone else.

Except for two. The Fox was too clever, the Owl too wise. And in time, they formed a plan. All they needed was a mote of the First Flame, contained within the Wolf who had eaten the Sun. The Fox, the more able to slip between their fingers, would distract the Jailor while the Owl would steal it away from the Wolf.

So they did. So they were successful. And as the Jailor realized what had happened and directed all its force, all its effort, to capture them, the Owl split herself in two. And then split herself into four. Four became eight, eight become infinity. All made possible by the indivisible flame. She became all things and all things became split.

This was known.

So was made the Hypershock. So was started their plan.

So it was.

So it is.

So it will be.

THE WORLD IS A TREE. Its main branches are the different "dimensions" (feywild, hell, material plane, etc etc etc). Each branch on the branch are different 'timelines.' The leaves themselves are individual worlds. Each tree will generally have a GUARDIAN - in this case, the FOX who prunes the branches and keeps it safe. THE OWL is a foreign entity, "above" it all. It is an overseer of the "forest." The scarlet king is something that creeps up from beneath the forest, seeking to burn it to the ground and seed a new world. The Owl has hatched a plan: rather than prune the branches, cut it down, it wants to try something…new. Let the Scarlet King take over the tree, crawl into it - and then destroy it, completely and utterly. The Fox was hesitant but allowed this to happen. It regrets this, deeply.

Things never go according to plan.

The fox has turned towards Reclaiming His tree, reclaiming his honor, reclaiming his title as protector.

In this metaphor, the entire "forest" is the "multiverse." The "forest" is located on the Enethia, the wellspring, the origin of all life. The sky is the realm of heaven. The Owl watches over with its lethal gaze and sight all seeing. The Wolf is the Sun and the Moon, turning the heavens.

In the soil are the worms. Beneath the soil, is the King Clad in Crimson. The Corpse Lord, rotting beast of the otherworld.

Or perhaps…

The world is an egg, a moment caught before the word was spoken. Before it can hatch, it is caught each time and reset.

And perhaps all these things are true -

Perhaps they are all false.

The Cycle Within

The Lake of the Enethia, from which all life sprang forth. The mother is the survivor of the previous cycle, who gives birth to herself and her sister. When they awake, Two crawled to the surface, to see the sights above.
One was gifted with name and the other with flame.
One will die to start the fire. She will have no name and she will bear this burden with a smile, for she carries the light of the first flame. Seras will live to watch over the earth. The mother stays behind, drifting off to sleep, to hold it all together.

From the Enethia sprang forth the denizens of the world. They crawled through the catacombs carved by the two sisters and make their way to the surface. There, they make the first cities and the start of civilizations.

At the end of it all, Seras will take her sword, made of steel from the cycle that came before, and descend to Kalaphast, who will take their duty to their grave. She will descend below where she came and she will come to the Amaranth. She will plunge the sword into her mother's heart.

The universe will fade to black. All that will remain will be her, a sword of steel from that cycle, and an undying flame of the first light.

She will become pregnant and when her water breaks, it will form the Enethia, and she will birth the world anew. She will give birth to two sisters, one with no name and the other named Seras. She will gift one the flame and the other the sword. (One was gifted with flame; the other with name.)

She is the egg that hatches herself.

And from these waters sprung forth the isles of anima.

---

Timeline

The Cycle

Hypershock happens, the prison is created, who knows how many cycles go by. The Owl and the Fox use the Flame Indivisible to continually restart the universe, refreshing the cage. Each iteration is them learning more about their enemy and developing a way of counteracting it.

"First" iteration is just the iteration we are introduced to first.

THE PARTY are iterations of the UNLOYAL. Those who are beyond the programming (potentially). They can choose chaos, order, neither, or both - they have CHOICE. They are FATELESS.

'Programming' is the prisoner attempting to break free. The 'Foundation'[NEED TO BRAINSTORM OTHER NAME] is the emanation of this entity. Fox and the owl are using the jailor against itself - "In jailing everything in reality, you've given us a collection of the most powerful weapons in existence." Hijacking this meme and turning it against itself.

The Black Moon Howls is the prisoner escaping.

The Black Moon is the herald of ending. Large beyond thought, massive beyond understanding. Never Changing, ever constant.

The time is now. You will be loyal. You will fight.

You will step out into the light and finally.

Finally.

Reclamation will be at hand.

The UIU is hijacked by the Administrator, the plan is finally put into motion, culminating in the Black Moon being contacted. And to the victor go the spoils.

The second Hypershock.

---

People

"The Owl"

The Progenitor of Wisdom

Stole the Flame from The Wolf and has become Amaranth. Births the self and cycles the universe over and over. Is her own mother and sister, ends the world to give birth to the world.

The first and most obvious takes the shape of a massive serpentine owl about 50 feet in length, with a wing span of 150 feet. The insides of her wings are shifting and covered in eyes. She resides on the moon and watches over everything. "Every eye a star, waiting to open."

The second form, tied to her first form, is the moon itself, sort of meta-conceptually. At the end of the first iteration and just before the hypershock, the Foundation manages to "kill the moon." This disables the first form and prevents her from continuing the cycle.

Third form is the sun. Technically dead and without name, she is her own sister and guards "the Flame Undying," which is a mote of fire from the First Sun. Isn't able to take part in anything after her death, though in the cycle she ascends to the surface and guards over the fledgling world before she sacrifices herself to birth the sun and continue the cycle. With every cycle, the flame grows stronger. Is present in every living thing.

Fourth form the Mother, Amaranth. Sleeps eternally. Entombed at the bottom of Kalaphast, at the source of the Enethia. Is the incarnation of Seras from the previous cycle.

Varaxous, "The Fox"

The Progenitor of Cunning

Another outsider, its the intervention of this one that prevents the prison from being destroyed by Seras. He wants to destroy the prisoner but keep the prison.

Takes the form of a small cross fox with two tails. Watches from where four corners intersect. Has his own method of escaping from the end of each cycle and eluding the Black Moon.

The are multiple cycles, multiple iterations. Seras is split, and sometimes that can lead to issues. He acts as the constant, hopping between cycles and iterations. "Do you think you were the only one? There are countless realities, countless possibilities within each. The Black Moon needs to win every single time. All we need to do is win once."

Has been cultivating the world to produce something that can kill The Black Moon.

The Black Moon.

The Prisoner

The 'Big Bad,' so to speak. Long, Long ago…

Something deep beyond the dark rumbled. Something deep within the dark stirred.

The great unshapen, that never awoke when the Enethia started to flow. Each unshapen is unique and there are multiple. They are simply what never woke up and took shape when everything else did. They can lay anywhere.

A dangerous, dangerous thing that is kept away from the rest of existence by the force of the Fox, the Owl, the Wolf.

Spread itself through memetic influence. The result of this is the "Foundation," almost invariably. Can be countered, though it takes a strong will - the Fox and the Owl have spent their time working out a way to counter this and make the process easier.

Wishes to destroy its prison and escape.

Its corruption spreads through its prison and eventually forces the world, the prison to be reset, trapping the world and its inhabitants in a sort of time loop. NOT a true time loop.

The Sixth, "The Loyal"

The Amaranth

A 'normal' person, gender never used.

Chosen by the fox over a couple iterations, as they showed promise towards being the first one to be able to resist the Black Moon and to be Amaranth. Interacts indirectly with a couple iterations of themselves.

The Wolf, "She Without Name"

The Progenitor of Strength

Name stolen by the Black Moon. She is the Flame Indivisible and the power source of the entire Prison. She interacts very sparingly with anyone, and mostly remains outside of this struggle.

Her flame is the primary source of resistance against the Black Moon and what powers the prison.

She is subservient to Seras.

The Worms

The Progenitor of Secrets

Where does a secret go when no one is left to tell it?

The dredges of realities. Independent of anyone or anything. Collectively agrees the Black Moon is bad for its continued existence, so assists when it can. Otherwise is entirely impartial.

The Masked One

The Outsider

Shows up in wooden masks, body different each time. The party doesn't notice unless they have a high enough [Insight [FIND A NEW WORD FOR THIS MECHANIC]]. Acts very little, though sometimes surrounded by corpses. She stinks of rotten meat.

She is from Outside. The Owl is a piece of her separate and autonomous. She is weird and exceptionally lethal.

Wishes to destroy the prisoner and the prison.

Places

Kalaphast

The empty throne of Seras. Beneath it is the Mother/Enethia. A piece of each iteration lies here

In time, Kalaphast becomes each seeded world, with the zone 'expanding' and Kalaphast being revealed on the map. Serves as a bridge between worlds. Always the first city.

Enethia

The original source of all life and the first world of the first reality. When everything started, it started here. Not to be confused with the wellspring Enethia, which is the source of life for every world seeded by Seras - they share the same name but the wellspring is named after the planet.

Things

Silence

"The Abdication of Fate/The Sword With No Name But The Silence That Falls In Its Wake"

The sword that survives each cycle. Coated in the blood of the shapen and the unshapen. Can cut the strings of fate apart. One of the few things that can harm the Mother.

The main weapon Seras uses.

First Flame/Flame Indivisible

A flame descended from the fires of the First Sun. It can be extinguished, but it cannot be diminished. If you split it in two, you will have two fires of equal intensity to the original. If you put them back together, you will have a fire with twice the intensity of the original. Found in the sun and in the souls of the Loyal. During the Hypershock, they will be joined together to fuel Seras/Varaxous/The Wolf during their fight against the Black Moon.

Terms

Amaranth

Self that births Self

Anathema

Self that births Anti-Self

Prison

The world, the universe, and all of its prior cycles, referred to as "iterations."