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, and more liquid-like with depth. However, the plenum's relative density may manifest differently depending on the context of the shard.

There is a nondescript light source along the horizon and interface of the Velethe. This helps define the interface of the Velethe and causes shards on the interface to be illuminated as if by the light of a full moon, but shards can otherwise have their own illumination effects. This light does not have a defined source, but most shards tend to manifest this light as coming from overhead, and many shards have a day-night cycle where this light intensifies and diminishes. Some shards may manifest this as a sun/moon, others might be less defined, or others may yet exist in a perpetual world of sunset, pre-dawn twilight, or a perpetual world of night. Shards maintain their own context of light source, otherwise the far horizon of the Velethe has a dim light that helps define the boundary between vacuum and plenum.

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. Attempts to resurrect a fallen ally may function if ones ally was slain in the context of their own shard, but any and all attempts to resurrect or return will fail if they dissociated by the Velethe or lost to the Viaduct. This is a universal truth that the effects or abilities of a shard (magic/abilities/or divine providence otherwise) are limited to the context of that shard or entity, and cannot be used to much effect outside of the shard in most cases (a traveler from one shard to the other is, in effect, reset to "level 1" for that shard)

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 significantly 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.

This dissolution also applies to the intent of any effect, magic or superpower, aimed at the Velethe; attempts to control it dissolve upon contact, rendering the Velethe uncontrollable. At most, a shard may be able to stabilize or otherwise isolate the base materials that have increased resistance to the effects. They cannot influence the Velethe directly, but they can influence and manipulate the things resistant to the Velethe. Thus, some shards may have developed the ability to resist the dissociative effects of the Velethe at large to some degree, or to establish demistable routes through the Vanishing Viaduct.

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 otherwise 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 from shards now lost, shard slivers, or exiled from an existing shard but twisted by the effects of the Velethe.