Fractures
From Summoner
Contents |
The Places Between
The world is not always rough and rigid, set in stone and certain in proportion. Everyone has experienced a feeling that a road is longer than it should be, that a door should not be crossed. They felt a presence or a vastness, or perhaps a void where they knew there was only a broom closet or a garage. In most cases, this feeling is a mere trick of perceptions, the mind realizing that it's working on assumptions, and that anything could be just out of sight.
Sometimes, however, the World breaks down. Rooms become larger than the space can contain. Music begins to play, soothing but grating at the edges of the mind. This music, of course, has no source. The shadows move and watch, stalking freely outside of the light. In short, the uncertainties of the mind decide to make their own rules, and a Fracture comes into shape.
Why They Appear
A Fracture is a breakdown in the standard perception of reality. For some reason, the distortion of belief is so strong, reality must bend to those distortions. The stronger the distortion, the more pronounced the changes become, and the more extreme the experience, the more jarring the distortions. It is rare, however, for a positive experience to deeply shake someone's conception of reality. For this reason, most Fractures are dangerous and disjointed things, threatening or fearful to those who seek safe ground.
Common sites for a Fracture are places that are either locations where a traumatic event occurred, a place that is naturally distorting, or a place where a Summoner has Drawn the Fool. Sites of brutal murders are less common than one would think, but still take a prominent role: Murder in itself is almost old hat, but the sheer vindictive inventiveness of human beings should never be discounted. As far as natural distortions go, anything from places with occult significance to sites of miracles may draw certain demons and warped realities into play. The fact that the site where a Summoner Draws the Fool can often create a Fracture lends credence to theories that the Alter Self is actually called from across the Mirror, and not a self-creation. Of course, this begs the question - why do they come when called, and who tailor-made them so?
Sharp Edges and Distorted Lenses
A Fracture is exactly what it sounds like - a warping and breaking of the natural order. That said, Fractures are not chaotic by any means. They are shaped by the events that caused them, or by the presence of perceptions that react strongly to their unnatural air. Light is often more noticeable within the reach of a Fracture, either in its presence, absense, or strangeness. Lights flicker and gutter, or perhaps bend at right angles to illuminate important parts. Flashlights may even bend away from something eyes are not meant to see. In other places, sounds dance and rebound as something wholly different. Echoes may resound in reverse, or come back in sing-song tones. Perhaps the whispers of demons will reach the ear, but always just too muffled or too soft to be understood. Walls may feel wet to the touch, despite a lack of moisture. The scent of roses and antiseptics may intermingle without an apparent source. The possibilities are as endless as the senses that experience them.
Size is also an abstraction within a Fracture. It is often just the right size for the appropriate mood. The cramped aisles between lockers may go on, seemingly for miles, until one finds himself barely a dozen yards away. A vast mansion may have more rooms than it has any right having, and each door could lead to another version of the grand ballroom, each one more horrifying or inspiring than the last. Take little for granted in a Fracture, except that for all of its strangeness, there is usually nothing entirely unnatural, just an alteration of what already is, was, or could be.
Usually, that is.
Those Who Wander
Many of the demons who wander the places between are just as disjointed and confused as their haunts. Demons, while capable of conversation, rarely have the same mindset or motivations as a human, and can fixate on things that resound with their natures with a focus beyond that of mortal madness. More than that, many of them are lost, cut off from their native Mirror home. Most importantly, those without the means to return are often hungry, and that is frequently the guiding fact between the relations between human and demon.
The site of a ritualistic rape may be watched over by bloody-winged Erinyes, seeking promise-breakers to satisfy their bitter lusts, a lust in every sense of the world, from the sensual to the sadistic. A 'haunted forest' may draw the baying of the hounds of the Wild Hunt, seeking the most dangerous game. Possessed keris knives may float or hang from doorways, seeking to 'protect' the hearth of non-existant families, or to drink the hearts of unworthy wielders. The demons called to Fractures often are drawn by interest, and then trapped. This should be taken into account both for their nature and their consequent reaction to their new environment.
