Outlands

From Atharen Wiki


Outlands.png


Overview

The Outlands are synonymous with the universe. Space, galaxies, the infinity of raw ether diffusing through time, eternally expanding into a black corridor of nothingness. The vastness of space makes the Outlands difficult to quantify, but it can be said that its boundaries are unfathomably wide, even by the Adac who once sought to explore them.

The Outlands are filled with Raw Ether, which is the make of the universe. Courlan often calls this Raw Ether 'atoms', and may describe aspects of it as 'matter'. The scientific, theological and magical branches of thought tend to have different approaches to how they describe the make of the Outlands, but what is known is that atoms or ether can be harnessed as energy, and are used to forge life. The thing that makes the Adac powerful is their ability to refine Raw Ether, turning its volatile form into a stable source of energy known as Divinity.

Simply put, the Outlands are composed entirely of raw, unrefined energy, aimlessly wandering about in the form of heat, or condensing into structures by means of the chemical properties of this energy. Through it all, structures and simple lifeforms are forged, though long ago an incursion into the Outlands has left the Plane largely barren.

Residents

WIP.

Krish

Since migrating to the Outlands, the Krish have become its dominant race, and are the vast majority of intelligent lifeforms within the plane. WIP.

Appearance

WIP.

The Outsider

What little is known of the Outsider is often spoken by the Krish, though unreliably. It is a being they hold an intense, even existential fear of, despite what many would describe as their bravery. "The Outsider is not to be trifled with," a common line among the Krishkir. It is not to be neared, disturbed, or even seen by; it is a hunter, a predator of all life, a consumer of all energy. Its origins are unknown, save for that it has always been there in the Outlands, long before anything else. It is a dark anathema to the denizens of the surface of the plane, who pray and plead that it will not sight them as it passes by.

In terms of appearance, the Outsider is a massive, black-colored shade that dons a set of bizarre, alien heads around the shape of what appears to be its skull. Its limbs are variable and many; pincers, hands, wings, any number of things. The form of the Outsider is as large as it is malleable, its shadowy extent spreading outward from its center like a vortex, every inch of it able to be reshaped. The voice of the Outsider is said to be deadly, like a weapon, devastating entire towns, blowing out the townsfolks ear drums and compressing their skulls until they burst. Mostly it resides within its 'lair' to the far north, only roaming out to hunt, in which case it tends to prey on - unsurprisingly - the warring Krish, consuming thousands of their souls to sate its hungering need.