The Mirror
From Summoner
Contents |
The Nature of the Mirror
The Mirror is difficult to describe, and even within its rigid themes, there are almost infinite variations. There are a few truths, however, which can serve as guidelines to understanding the realm. First and foremost, the Mirror is not a reflection of the world as it is. The Shadow represents the spiritual nature of the extant world, and that realm that is influenced by the World and influences it in kind.
The Mirror, however, reflects the possibilities of the World. Things that were whispered in legends or predicted as future trends. The Mirror possesses abstractions of everything that was, everything that will be, and everything that never was, but could have been. In this vast maelstrom of possibilities, there are no true landmarks or solid points. Space is relative to importance and the perspective of beings who travel the Mirror, so there is no such thing as returning to the same place. This can make navigation difficult, to say the least.
The Mirror interacts with the World through ideas, dreams, rumors, legends, and other constructs of thought and idea. Sections and islands of the Mirror gravitate towards similar sentiments. A high-class may draw closer a realm of hungry beasts, dominated by demons of the Devil arcanum. A town square that was subject to the stoning of witches may naturally attract Shatters with an affinity to the Hanged Man. There are as many possibilities are there are human events...and perhaps more, if theories of 'other' minds are to be believed.
Gaining Entry...Or Being Called
To deal with the Mirror directly is a difficult prospect. It takes either exceptional effort or exceptionally bad luck. There are two potential pathways to the Mirror. The easiest, relatively, is to search through a Shatter for a way into the Mirror itself. These paths are areas in a Shatter that lack meaning or definition. From windows that should lead outside or hidden doorways that evade easy notice, these doorways are the safest and stablest way to get into the Mirror. They are also the least subject to any sort of rhyme or reason. Where the traveller ends up is a matter of fate, and while it is likely they'll return to the original Shatter if and when they escape, if that Shatter is gone, they'll arrive at another. That new Shatter could be anywhere in the World...or rarely, in the Shadow.
The second method to reach the Mirror is through cultivating a special sort of Shatter: a Bound. A location is selected, and through manipulation of culture, rumor, and symbol, powerful ideas are wrapped into the very stones and soil. Imagine, if you will, a park where everyone knows that The Avenging Angel walks. Rapes happen there often enough, but rapists are found dead every crescent moon, their reproductive organs cut open like some sort of augury. Girls who have been abused are rumored to leave little notes in the park's lake, with the name of the man they want her to kill. If the rumors grow and take on their own life, a Bound may come into being...and a very particular part of the Mirror becomes open to someone able to find the doorway - usually by tracing the steps of what's already escaped. The Avenging Angel has go home before dawn, after all...
The Kingdoms of the Mirror
The Mirror itself follow certain themes, though it is an often-argued theory among the Peasants whether this was always so. The first order of Wand Peasants to 'explore' the Mirror and compile organized information may have inadvertently defined the very realms they sought to understand. It's a hotly-debated issue, and movements to 'redefine' the cosmology of the Mirror are common, though rarely successful. The Demons tend to be opposed to sudden alterations of their ephemeral real estate, after all.
The Kingdoms, as they've come to be called, are ranked in tiers, based on the concepts they embody and the likelihood one will find themselves within it. Muladhara is the likeliest terrain one will find themselves within, and the one that most closely reflects the nature of the World. Sahasrara, on the other hand, is a place few haveisited and none can fully explain. Demons of all ranks populate each realm, though some certainly consider themselves superior to their neighbors for sometime arbitrary reasons. The Mirror makes very little sense when taken as a whole. The disparate parts, however, each form concrete ideas, merging them into an otherworldly gestalt of ground, ceiling, and gravity.
Those words may have very different rules, however, depending on the minds involved.
Each Kingdom has its own common denizens (with notable exceptions, of course) and its own impacts on the soul. Only Muladhara is safe to travel without environmental risk. The other Kingdoms range from scalding flames to sounds that tear apart the very mind. All of the Kingdoms, however, possess a few places where demons sharing an arcanum congregate, creating cities or stranger things. These places are called the Thrones.
Muladhara
Foundation. A place of solid stone and jagged metal. Home to the Thrones of the Knight: the Devil, the Hermit, the Hierophant, and Strength
Swadhisthana
The Endless Sea. A churning place of simple, base emotions and churning liquid, with few islands and endless causeways. Thrones: Queens - the Empress, the High Priestess, the Lovers, and Temperance
Manipura
The Crucible. A realm of light and fire, energy brimming, ready to burst. Thrones of the King: The Chariot, the Emperor, the Magician, and the Sun
Anahata
The Swirling Heights. A place of air and interactions, drawing together opposites. Love is in the air, and anger knows no mercy. A maelstrom of chaotic possibility. Thrones of the Page: The Hanged Man, Justice, the Moon, and the Star
Vishuddha
The Echo Plains. A place of word and symbol, from which any idea can be found...though some ideas are more ravenous than others. Thrones of the Ace: Death, Fortune, Judgment, and the Tower
Ajna
The Hall of Reflections. Light shines, and truths are revealed. Madness is common here, as is zealotry, and more rarely...epiphany. Thrones: ?????
The Legend of Sahasrara
That which can be obtained. The Throne of Union. The place of pure consciousness.
