Traveling

"Why do you think we are called Travelers? Some people believe it is because we can travel from one place to another quickly, but not all Territories are suited for such transport. So why are we all Travelers? [...] Because we must Travel through our own Territories. It is the only way for us to grow." — Grandmaster Naraka

Traveling is the magic system of Amalgam. It allows its practitioners to collect and draw power from Territories. People who use power from one or more Territories in this way are called Travelers.

Mechanics

"A Territory is the severed limb of a dead world... A healthy world dies, fades, floats away. It dissolves into pieces, most of which also wane away. But some small pieces—a tower, a forest, a house—hold tight. They drift across an infinite void until they tack themselves to a healthy world, a world such as ours, like ticks on the back of a dog." — Valin

A Territory is the source of a Travelers power. In order to become a Traveler, one must enter a Territory through a Gate and earn some kind of artifact, power, or ally within that Territory, and then return. For most Territories, it is impossible to do this accidentally or unaware, but Elysia is an exception.

The exact nature of a Travelers power is dependent on the Territory they draw from and what they have earned from it. However, all Travelers can summon something from their Territory, such as a beast, a weapon, or an element, to aid them. The exception is Valinhall, which focuses almost exclusively on summoning powers to yourself. They are also all capable of summoning Gates to their Territory. Many Territories can be used to travel through the world quickly, but not all of them are suited for this.

The Territories give incredible power, but there is a cost. When a Traveler loses control over their powers, they become an Incarnation. Incarnations, while much more powerful than any regular Traveler, are bent towards the will of their Territory. Though they are likened to natural disasters, and often cause a large amount of death, not all Incarnations are violent without prompting. There can only be one Incarnation of a Territory at a time, and attempts to become one while an Incarnation already exists will result in death or worse.

Territories

Before they became the Territories, they were the broken fragments of dead worlds which ended up attached to the Iteration of Amalgam. Because the Way between the Territories and Amalgam is thin, they often bleed together, which typically manifests in the form of natural Gates not opened by any Traveler. Ordinarily, when worlds bleed into each other like this, the bleeding gets faster and faster until they collide. However, Amalgam has uniquely formed a stable relationship with these fragments, which means that they are free to grow without risking the Iteration.

When a Territory is young, it requires a Founder, which is the person whose will shapes the Territory to the highest degree. In time, a Territory will grow more stable and no longer require a Founder. Valinhall is the only known Territory which still needs one. The Avernus Incarnation believed that a Founder could not become an Incarnation, but this was proven wrong by Valin, the Founder of Valinhall, becoming its Incarnation.

List of Known Territories

• Asphodel, the Gardens of Mist
• Avernus, the Feathered Plains

• Endross, the Lightning Wastes
• Helgard, the Tower of Winter
• Lirial, the Crystal Fields
• Naraka, the Cavern of Flame
• Ornheim, the Maelstrom of Stone
• Tartarus, the Steel Labyrinth
• Elysia, the City of Light
• Ragnarus, the Crimson Vault
• Valinhall, the House of Blades