Velethe

Cosmology

Discarded Worlds exists within an infinite half-space, with one half being complete vacuum and the other half being complete plenum of dense fluid. The closest analog would be an endless sea of infinite distance and depth below and endless sky of infinite height. The interface between the two is known as the Velethe proper, although Velethe can equally be applied to the infinite vacuum or infinite plenum.

Most shards come into emergence at the Velethe and their landmasses "float" on the surface of the plenum. Some shards may be suspended within the vacuum above or embedded within the depths below; shards exist in the velethe within their own context.

The matter composing the plenum is an inky-black low viscosity fluid, almost mist-like at the Velethe. However, the plenum's relative density may manifest differently depending on the context of the shard.

Shard borders

Most shards tend to have a barrier or a no man's land where the main landmass of the shard contacts the Velethe. These regions tend to be bleak and lifeless, and prolonged exposure to them can cause a slow draining of one's life force into a hollow echo of one's former self.

Direct exposure to the Velethe dissolves everything it touches without the possibility of ever coming back, all that remains is the memory of its existence or any recorded accounts.

People or objects cast into the Velethe disassociate almost instantaneously into primordial energy, however some inanimate "world objects" like landmasses, liquids (in particular water), and base materials tend to have a much higher resistance to the effects of the Velethe. These base materials will tend to accrete onto other shards over time; both the vacuum and plenum have these effects. The Velethe does erode landmasses over time by dissociation, however dissociated materials will accrete. Many shards remain in stable equilibrium as a default state but this is not a universal truth, as shards may be doomed on a diminishing path towards complete dissociation.

Vanishing Viaduct

The Vanishing Viaduct is related to the Velethe. Where shards can accrete together and unify into a quilt, there are "seams" of Velethe at their internal interfaces. These seams form the Vanishing Viaduct, which exists in a state of perpetual dissociation/reformation. The matter inside the Vanishing Viaduct carries aspects of the Velethe's influence, but is stable matter that can be moved in and out of shards.

Losing one's way in the Viaduct will, in essence, lead the unfortunate soul into the Velethe and their own dissociated annihilation. However, the Viaduct is a form of habitat in its own right, where creatures that may not fully exist on a shard might find their existence within the Viaduct. In many ways these creatures can be echoes of shards-never-formed, or exiled from their shards and twisted by the effects of the Velethe.