The Way and The Worlds
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The Way
The Way is a force that spans all of existence. It is the very essence of order, not chaos. Its presence protects against the destructive and corruptive influence of chaos, and its nature sustains reality.
The death of an Iteration is natural, a part of the Way. Death is meant to be the end; this is part of the cosmic order. Only when an Iteration lives too long does it becomes a danger. When a world's population drops so low that it weakens the influence of the Way, but not so low that the Iteration breaks into fragments, that is when corruption sets in. Chaos seeps into the world, infecting it, subverting the laws that govern reality.
At this point, the Abidan can destroy the remaining population, thus removing the Iteration's last hold on existence. But now the world will break into fragments, and those fragments are tinged with chaos. They might crash into other Iterations, infecting them, or combine to create worlds that are corrupted from the very beginning.
There is only one being capable of erasing an iteration from existence entirely, erasing it, without breaking it down into fragments of chaos. Ozriel, the Reaper of the Abidan. And he's missing.
The Eledari Pact
An ancient agreement between the original founding Court of Seven Judges — all of them originally ascended from Cradle — that both increases and restricts the powers of the Abidan. This pact is the tool that allows the Abidan Judges to control the power of the Way as they do. There are many rules in the Eledari Pact, but the most relevant one is the Abidan cannot use their powers to prevent the natural progression of an Iteration.
They cannot stop a global war from claiming billions of lives and destroying a planet, unless that war was started by outside forces or by a significant subversion of Fate. Abidan representatives only descend to correct a deviation, though they're granted a certain freedom of action in doing so. This law exists both to preserve the natural balance of existence and to prevent the Abidan from settling down in lesser worlds and ruling like gods.
The Worlds
When a new Iteration forms that may be able to support life, the Abidan select a new population of human pioneers and send them to inhabit a suitable planet. Worlds are formed from Worldseeds, one of the rarest and most powerful and valuable magical treasures in existence.
Iterations
Any universe that the Abidan recognize as capable of sustaining human existence and living out a complete life-cycle. The Iterations are described as fruits that hang from a vine that links them all together; this vine is known as the Way.
Every Iteration has a destined progression. A world is born, it lives out its existence, and then it quietly dies, breaking into fragments. These fragments float through the void, crashing and combining randomly until they form into a new universe.
They are called "Iterations" because the thousands of universes currently in existence are thought to be different versions of the same original world or worlds, spun out in different combinations again and again for eternity. Even the Abidan Judges do not know when this cycle began.
On its own, an Iteration should exist for billions of years, except for a certain underlying requirement: each Iteration is anchored to the Way by sentient consciousness. As long as humans📍 are around, the world is tethered to the natural law and order of the Way. The fewer humans there are, the looser that connection becomes.
When humanity dies, the world dissolves.
📍The Abidan definition of "human" is pretty loose, but never too far removed from the humanity we know.
List of Iterations
Listed in alpha order by name, if known
- Amalgam
- Asylum Sector 21? — Setting for Elder Empire Trilogy. Prison for Elders/Class 1 Fiends.)
- Commandment #246 — attacked by Vroshir
From far away, Suriel watched a rain of orange lightning fall across the eastern hemisphere of the planet, scorching it to bare rock in seconds. Dull gray vessels drifted away, bearing most of the people and objects of any significance. Around the planet, war raged. Vroshir defended their ships’ retreat with protective workings, barriers, guardian beasts the size of moons, and shields that could block exploding stars. Abidan attacked to seize the ships, lances of blue as they drew on the Way to reinforce their attacks with absolute authority. But it was too late; millions had died in the planetary barrage, and the Iteration’s relationship to the Way was weak. Color-swirling portals bloomed in front of the ships as they prepared to leave through the Void. (Bloodline, prologue)
- Cradle #110 — Birthplace of founding Abidan and later, of Ozmanthus Arelius)
- Harrow #217 — Destroyed, collided with Limit. All survivors quarantined on Scour
- Haven #002 — Abidan vault, where Angler stole Makiel’s cache of scythes
- Jester #247 — attacked by Vroshir Silverlords
- Jubilee
- Limit #216 — Where Ozriel was last seen when he stopped the The Mad King’s attack, and took away his most-treasured construct. (Bloodline chapter 8). Limit collided with Harrow.
- Oasis #129 — Recently, 200 years after Ozriel took away his construct, the Mad King attacked with a scythe forged from Makiel’s scythes, destroying it (Bloodline, ch 8 and 20)
- Obelisk
- Outpost #01 - Oversight. Headquarters of Makiel’s First Division: the Hounds
- Sanctum #001 - Headquarters of the Abidan organization, except for Makiel’s HQ
- Scour #213 — Quarantine area for Harrow and Limit survivors
- Solitude
- 986 Iteration #986 (nameless) — Where Pariana of the Titans saw Suriel defeat four Vroshir(Underlord prologue)
Few Worlds Left
The Vroshir, with the Mad King and his Fiend reaping away, destroyed thousands of worlds:
From ten thousand worlds before Ozriel’s departure, they would be reduced to.. . a hundred, perhaps. Even her Presence couldn’t speculate on the total number of lives that would be lost. At least those taken by the Vroshir would survive, but the Mad King and his allies would capture only those who could benefit them in some way. Most would perish. And some of the worlds they lost would be vital ones. (Bloodline ch 20)
As she watched, one of the lights from the cluster labeled ‘Sector 12’ turned black and withered away. Iteration 129: Oasis. The Mad King and his Scythe had finished their reaping. (Bloodline ch 20)
Sectors
The entirety of The Way, as known by the Abidan, is divided into sectors. A sector contains up to 10 iterations, and each iteration usually has one inhabited world. The magic systems within a sector may work in similar ways, with unique differences.
Sector 11
Sector 11 spans across all three series of books created by author Will Wight. It is considered one of the most important sectors.
Iteration-110: Cradle is a huge planet. It is the setting for the Cradle Series. Additionally, it is the birth place of the Reaper of the Abidan, Ozriel (nee Ozmanthus). Cradle is also the birthplace of the original founding members of the Abidan organization, who built the Labyrinth
Amalgam is the setting of the Traveler's Gate Series.
Iteration-112: Asylum is the setting of the Elder Empire series.
Sector 13
Birth place of current Phoenix of the Abidan, Judge Suriel
Sector 21
Iteration-217 : Harrow is destroyed upon collision with Iteration-216 : Limit. It was initially scheduled for demolition but Ozriel the Reaper and his scythe are missing. The infected of the disaster were quarantined to Iteration-213 : Scour.
