Howdy Valthakai!

We’ve got a special edition today, as we’re doing a compilation of questions, considerations, and developments from our original Writers’ Workshop releases.

Obviously, we can’t spoil everything, as certain details haven’t been released across The Wanderings of the Crone or Arc’s Journey, but this will consolidate and clarify several ideas you have already been introduced to, and, if I’m being honest, provide slight retcons. The Glossary of the Orrery will also be updated to reflect this, and these two dives will be the best way to keep track of things!

In that vein, releases of Arc’s Journey will continue as we further develop the following concepts, and we’ll be editing the four arcs of The Wanderings to better fit this mold with the intent of a physical release.

Let’s get started.

As best the characters of the Orrery can understand, the Many Forms was the first instance of creation. It was what formed the universe, utilizing its various bodies to structure the very fabric of reality. Best to think of it as a hive mind composed of angelic beings, creatures subservient to a single instinct.

Of these designs, the most important were the Primordial Essences. They have been covered by our Glossary of the Orrery, but to save you time:

Creative - The original impulse. The Creative Essence is the largest Domain across the Orrery, encompassing the most planets and species compared to its siblings.

Recreative - Also known as the Mirror Essence, Recreation is the domain of the Fae, and is typically associated with the color silver. Recreative magic draws its strength from eidos: memories, blueprints, or other physical or metaphysical structures that act as templates to guide the Recreative process.

Miscreative — Known as the Warping Essence, Miscreation is unique in that only a single planet exists within its Domain: Karkinys. Where Recreation produces something independent of its template, Miscreation twists the original, producing something entirely new at the cost of the old blueprint.

Decreative — Not blatantly discussed, but a philosopher’s description for what is commonly known as destruction. This is the Essence of entropy, the decay of reality, and—spoiler warning—the progenitor of fungus across the Orrery.

This list is by no means exhaustive in terms of what the Primordial Essences are capable of, but the rule of thumb to follow here is that each Essence can only affect themselves or those above them on the list. Recreative can only utilize Creative or Recreative eidos to produce their spellwork. Miscreative can warp both Recreative and Creative, and Decreative can destroy all three!

Now, the One of Many Forms was rather… prolific in the early ages of reality, and it was by no means a flawless process. The unleashing of the four Primordials wracked existence in an uncontrolled storm.

So it was forced to cordon them off, withdrawing the Primordials from the physical Realm—the Corporeality—and fashioning the Ethereality into four parts to contain them, known as the Upper Worlds.

More importantly, the restructuring of reality severed the Many Forms from their original identity, leaving an entire pantheon newly awakened to autonomy and selfhood. While the Many Forms was a single entity, each of its faces was specialized, overseeing different facets of reality, much as cells specialize for various functions.

The Forms, now independent, began to development across the Orrery, finding worship, solace, and love among the peoples they had created when they were unified.

It wasn’t to last. The separation of the Ethereal and the Corporeal was anathema to the many Forms¹, though as they weakened, they discovered another aspect of this new age: the Ethereality was imperfect and permeable.

Energy of all four Essences leaked back into the Corporeality, suffusing various planets and locations across the Orrery with wellsprings of power that could stave off the decay the Forms were experiencing—temporarily.

These godheads began hunting for these wells, competing, collaborating, or otherwise claiming these limited sources of power. Most of the Forms faded away, left to the dust of old religions and superstition across the Orrery, but the few who managed to survive this initial decline changed.

The interaction between godhead and Primordial produced something new, but something only slightly less unstable. These deities continued to fade. Some sought to prolong their ends, continuing their hunt for wells, while others accepted their fate, persisting in their initial or found purposes before they vanished.

Yet the godheads do not die as mortals do; their influence lingers, absorbed over generations into vessels exposed to their magic.

And thus we get: Fragments!

Now, this is where most of the retcons will occur. Trust me, it’ll be good for everyone.

With the devolution of the One of Many Forms to disparate godheads to what’s left, one can now encounter Fragments of the divine on just about every planet.

These are broadly classified into three major categories: fauna, flora, and elementa, referring to animal, plant, and non-living material vessels, respectively. There is a fourth: funga, but we’re not too focused on those just yet.

When the godheads faded, what was left of their power consolidated within living and nonliving objects most deeply tied to their identity—a concept we will refer to as the Self moving forward—which, in turn, developed over time during their journey across the Orrery, what Primordial Essence they aligned to, and their original purpose as a part of the Many Forms.

Bereft of their deities, societies across the Orrery, whether they were direct descendants of these godheads, mere worshippers, or those looking to profit from a power vacuum left by dead gods, sought to control, farm, or otherwise harvest these Fragments, eventually exposing themselves to a specific class known as Mindfragments.

These were the strongest manifestations left behind by a godhead, and consequently, retained the most of their original Selves—impulses, personality, and drives.

When an individual inevitably succumbed, we were left with mortal forms piloted by the identity of a god. Naturally, these first Incarnates were confused, unstable, destructive, and would destroy themselves when they drew on more of the Ethereality than their new bodies could handle.

Now, if you assumed the various species of the Orrery would call it quits there, forever dispose of or avoid Fragments, and warn their children of the hubris of utilizing them, you’d be wrong. As it was through the Mindfragments that those who would eventually become known as Essentia (mages) would discover Anchoring.

When an individual claimed a Mindfragment, they died, their original Self crushed by the divine weight of a godhead. But when a group bore the burden, they were brought closer, their Selves linked through the Fragment, known as the Oneness, moving closer to the original impulses of the godhead but tempered by multiple mortal identities.

From here, these Incarnates became aware of the Asthiah, the worlds beyond, and their own Essences. They studied how the Mindfragments were bound to the Ethereal aspect of their own existence, and soon, learned how to gift this awareness without tying an acolyte to the Incarnation.

The first covens rose —the precursors to modern-day Guilds —and slowly began to develop Anchoring techniques that incorporated multiple Fragments, binding them to specific Corporeal structures—blood, bone, flesh, eyes, throats, etc. Various organizations further refined these ideas, developing Anchoring traditions based on Fragment compatibility, iconography, access, and political landscapes.

All Fragments bear traces of the original Self of the godhead who left it, known as the ethos, though none stronger than a Mindfragment. Specific Fragments can be traced back to a singular Form, left behind as it spanned the Orrery, though each Mindfragment is unique to a singular godhead.

To this day, the ability to manipulate one’s Essence is directly tied to their Mind being awakened, and therefore to Incarnates of a Mindfragment.

Since we published the glossary, we have delved deeper into the concepts of the Ethereality, namely, its structure.

To summarize:

Asthiah — Also called the World of Action, the Asthiah is the portion of the Ethereality that an Essentia is awakened to via an Incarnate. It is within this world that one can sense Fragments clearly enough to perform an Anchoring.

Yetzir — The World of Threads, so called because Ethereal senses define this world as a collection of endlessly entwined strings, which define Corporeal aspects and Ethereal connections. The Coalescence ritual occurs here, which formally destroys the original ethos of an Essentia’s Fragments and melds them under the wielder’s Self.

Beryen — The World of Genesis, and the world that most deeply defines the presence of a Primordial’s Domain. Siphoning this energy is one such ability an Essentia develops, though its exact capabilities and the esotericism associated with the process remain undisclosed.

Atzil — Never formally named, but I will share that it is known as The World of Emanation. This is the highest of the Upper Worlds, with little else known regarding it. For now…

While most Essentia view Fragments alone as the path to power, either via Incarnation or by collecting as many as possible, there exist the esotericisms: rituals that refine and strengthen Anchored Fragments through deepening their connection with the Upper Worlds.

In summary, Essentia require access to the Ethereality in order to begin Anchoring Fragments. This can only be achieved with the blessing of a Mindfragment, granted by the Incarnates of the same. How an Essentia makes use of a Fragment depends on where it is Anchored to, as well as the original godhead’s nature, and that of the vessel, though certain consistencies remain:

Obviously, this may be overwhelming, but I hope you have been enjoying the glimpses into the Orrery you have received so far, and that this dive has sparked even greater interest in what else is out there!

We’re going to keep working and keep writing! Because the best kind of magic system is one that is shared with others!