Part 1The World

As a result of umbra’s disruptiveness, regions rich in umbra composition are prone to anomalous phenomena. Seemingly impossible events may occur without warning, including miracles and inexplicable disasters. Although these phenomena may appear arbitrary, they are not necessarily without logic or order. However, the principles governing umbra remain beyond the understanding of most civilizations. This unpredictability has profoundly shaped cultures that developed in umbra-rich regions. Their inhabitants tend to be more religious, spiritual, or superstitious. Those capable of deliberately manipulating umbra are commonly feared and revered as witches. For most of recorded history, umbra remains one of the greatest mysteries of the natural world. It is only during the Fourth Age that its underlying behavior begins to be scientifically understood. With this understanding comes the discovery that umbra can be harnessed as an extraordinarily efficient source of energy, eventually serving as the foundation of more advanced technology.

Soil, wood, and fire illustrate how different balances of coreons, fluxons, bonds, and phaseons produce distinct material states.

Soil

Soil would be high in coreons but extremely heterogeneous. Its mineral component contains high concentrations of coreons given its solid state. However, unlike stone, which is a single mass, soil is grainy and comprises smaller structures. Hence, it has a discontinuous bond network. Its particles are bound into separate grains rather than one continuous structure. Fluxons occur in the composition of soil primarily in the spaces between grains and in the organic material mixed throughout the soil. Wet or loose soil therefore has a greater fluxon influence than compact, dry earth. Soil also contains a complex phaseon mixture. Glacien predominates in its mineral matter, while fertile soil contains small but significant amounts of anima.

Wood

Wood contains abundant coreons arranged into highly organized structures through dense networks of bonds. Unlike stone, however, wood retains considerable amounts of anima because of its organic nature. Even after a tree dies, anima does not immediately disappear: some remains trapped within the bonded structure of the wood. Wood also contains a moderate amount of fluxons. In living wood, these participate in the circulation of nutrients and growth. After death, much of this fluxon activity diminishes. Fresh wood would have considerably more anima and fluxon activity than ancient, dried wood. Rotting wood is an exception to this, however. Its bonds are breaking down while anima and fluxon activity rise again because decomposers are consuming it.

Fire

Fire is a rapidly changing particle state dominated by fluxons. Particle bonds are continuously broken, formed, and rearranged, releasing previously constrained particles and energy. The most important phaseon in the composition of fire is aether. The flowing and constantly changing nature of fire requires large amounts of aether. This chemical nature of fire also explains why wood works so well as a fuel. Wood contains a stable bonded network of particles. Once enough energy disrupts its bonds, an immense amount of stored energy is released, fueling a dramatic increase in fluxon activity and releasing dormant aether particles, thereby producing fire.

Vision and light work differently in the system of Terra Somni. Since fluxons dominate most of the cosmos and govern motion and change, vision is a direct consequence of the neurological perception of interactions between matter and the energetic signatures left by those interactions in the surrounding fluxon field.

Color is essentially a particular signature impressed upon the surrounding fluxon field. Every stable arrangement of matter creates a particular disturbance in the ambient fluxons surrounding it. This is the matter’s chromatic signature. Free fluxons constantly move through and between matter. When they encounter an object, its internal particle structure alters their state. Some pass through, some become temporarily bound, and some are expelled again carrying information about the structure they encountered. As these imprinted fluxons reach the eye, color is perceived. Color is therefore the nervous system’s interpretation of the state in which fluxons leave an object.

At the center of the cosmos lies the Core, the largest and densest concentration of bonded particles known to exist in the cosmos. The Core contains all four fundamental particle types compressed into an extraordinarily dense structure. The Core has the greatest stabilizing influence in the cosmos, with matter naturally gravitating toward it. Planetary Plates are therefore continuously drawn toward the Core. However, they do not simply fall into it. The Core’s gravitational attraction exists in opposition to the movement of the surrounding Interplanetary Ocean. The resulting equilibrium allows planetary plates to remain suspended at different locations of equilibrium throughout the cosmos. The interior of the Core remains largely inaccessible. The immense density of its particle bonds makes direct exploration extraordinarily difficult, and theories concerning what lies deep within the Core vary considerably among civilizations. Sometimes, these theories manifest in the form of myths.

Suspended throughout the Interplanetary Ocean are enormous structures known collectively as Planetary Plates. The Plates are exceptionally coreon-rich structures suspended in the Interplanetary Ocean. In contrast to the Core, however, their particles are not completely locked into a heavy, stationary state. Planetary Plates contain sufficient fluxon activity to permit geological movements, chemical activities, and organic processes. Their bond structures are complex and varied, allowing myriad forms of matter to arise within them. The balance between coreon stability and fluxon activity makes planetary plates particularly suitable for the emergence of complex systems such as life. Most known life forms originated upon them, and nearly all known sapient civilizations developed on their surfaces. That said, it is also not unheard of for certain unique species to have originated in the midst of the Ocean.

Everything between the Core and the Planetary Plates is occupied by the Interplanetary Ocean. The Ocean is a continuous medium dominated by free-flowing fluxon particles, where permanent bond structures are uncommon. Fluxons within the Ocean form currents and streams as well as regions of relative calm. These currents circulate throughout the Ocean, sometimes interacting with the Plates and forming fluxon streams across their surfaces. The currents also help determine the positions and movements of Planetary Plates. The inward attraction of the Core constantly draws matter toward its center. Without the opposing force exerted by the fluxon currents in the Ocean, most, if not all, of the planetary plates would have been absorbed by the Core. Small quantities of coreon, phaseon, and bonded matter also drift through the Ocean, forming temporary bonded structures before dispersing again. These temporary cosmic structures are often observable from the surfaces of the Planetary Plates. Many such occurrences have been recorded in the historical and astrological accounts of various civilizations. If these structures happen to accumulate over prolonged periods, they may also eventually attach themselves to existing planetary plates or develop into independent ones. The Ocean is also the primary medium through which chromatic information travels. Fluxons move through the Ocean, interact with matter, acquire their chromatic signatures, and carry those signatures elsewhere. What living beings perceive as illumination and color is therefore possible on a cosmic scale because the universe is filled with fluxons rather than empty space.

The Chromatoperiod is the recurring cycle of illumination and darkness experienced throughout the Terra Somni cosmos. In plain words, it is the day-and-night cycle in Terra Somni. Rather than being produced by the rising and setting of a celestial body, the cycle results from rhythmic changes in the chromatic state of the Interplanetary Ocean itself.

A complete Chromatoperiod progresses through four principal color states:

And the cycle continues.

These states correspond respectively to night, dawn, day, dusk, and the return to night in terms of our world’s language.

For living organisms, direct exposure to the Ocean is extremely dangerous. Despite consisting of highly organized, complex bonded matter and therefore being far more resistant to Oceanic Resonance than free fluxons are, a living organism is neither as massive nor as stable as a Planetary Plate. Its particle equilibrium can consequently be overwhelmed by sufficiently powerful fluctuations in the Ocean.

Direct immersion in the Ocean exposes every accessible part of the organism to enormous quantities of free fluxons, rendering the individual highly vulnerable to Oceanic influence. Under relatively calm conditions, this may cause little more than temporary chromatic, sensory, or physiological disturbances. Under more extreme conditions, however, oceanic fluxons may begin forcing the body’s own particles into resonance. An organism caught within the Ocean during the transitional phases may become temporarily incorporated into this cosmic resonance. Its own stable particle structures can consequently be permanently altered and reorganized. Some transformations are fatal; others produce permanent deformities or disabilities. Rarer cases, nonetheless, may result in apparently beneficial adaptations or superhuman abilities.

Life at a Plate’s Edge

Organisms native to the borders of planetary plates face much greater exposure to Oceanic Resonance than organisms living deep inland. Over evolutionary time, many have developed mechanisms for tolerating these fluctuations. One particularly visible adaptation is chromatoperiodic coloration. Rather than resisting the Ocean’s changing chromatic states completely, some organisms allow parts of their external tissues to resonate with it. Their coloration, hence, shifts alongside the Ocean.

Biomes on the Planetary Plates form primarily according to the dominant phaseon composition of a given region. Because the climate of Terra Somni is governed primarily by regional phaseon composition, the world does not experience conventional seasonal changes. A region whose particle composition remains stable will generally maintain the same climate over time. This does not mean that climate is entirely static, however. Long-term climatic shifts can occur when the underlying phaseon composition of a region gradually changes. Short-term climatic fluctuations are also possible. Temporary disturbances in the local particle equilibrium and phaseon composition may briefly alter how a region’s climate manifests without permanently changing its fundamental phaseon concentrations and its long-term climate. Umbra-rich regions are particularly susceptible to such temporary irregularities, making climate changes especially difficult to predict in such regions.

Large Planetary Plates are surrounded by atmospheric structures known as Thin-Fluxon Zones. The high concentration of stabilized coreons and bonds within a Plate interferes with the free movement of the fluxons that compose the surrounding Ocean. As a result, the concentration of free-flowing Oceanic particles decreases in the region immediately surrounding the Plate, producing a distinct boundary between the greater Ocean and the comparatively stable environment near the Plate’s surface. The Thin-Fluxon Zone creates an atmospheric environment around Planetary Plates, separating the relatively stable surface environments from the far more volatile conditions of the open Interplanetary Ocean. This allows complex climates, biomes, and living organisms to thrive without interference from Oceanic activities such as the Chromatoperiod and the Oceanic Resonance.

Active Eruptive Landscapes form where accidental disturbances in the local balance of bonds destabilize a portion of a Planetary Plate. When the existing bond structure can no longer maintain equilibrium, concentrated coreons, fluxons, or a mixture of both particle types may violently escape through the Plate’s surface. These events are known as eruptions.

Eruptions can be divided according to their dominant particle composition. Coreon eruptions commonly carry large quantities of glacien particles with them due to glacien’s natural affinity for coreons. Fluxon eruptions, in contrast, carry aether particles due to aether’s natural affinity for fluxons.

A Dead Eruptive Landscape is the stabilized remnant of a formerly active eruption. Once the disturbance responsible for an eruption subsides, bonds gradually reestablish around the escaped particles. The resulting landscape depends largely upon whether the original eruption was dominated by fluxons, coreons, or a mixture.

Forest Landscape

Forests are the stabilized remnants of fluxon eruptions. During an active fluxon eruption, escaped fluxons form branching and bubbling structures above the Plate’s surface. As the eruption subsides, the local bond balance reestablishes itself as coreons slowly flow back into these escaped fluxon structures. The formerly fluid eruptions consequently solidify into permanent tree-shaped structures.

Mountain Landscape

Mountains are the stabilized remnants of coreon eruptions. Coreon eruptions tend to produce dense, heavy, angular, and sharp structures. When the eruption subsides, fluxons gradually flow back into these structures, establishing a new stable equilibrium. The erupted coreons eventually stabilize into permanent mountain ranges and peaks.

Dome Mountains

Dome mountains originate from coreon eruptions occurring unusually deep beneath the Plate’s surface. Because the eruption must push through a huge amount of matter before reaching the surface, its force is distributed across a broader area. Rather than producing narrow, sharp peaks, the Plate’s surface is pushed upward into large, rounded, dome-shaped structures.

Plateau

Plateaus form from exceptionally large coreon eruptions. The enormous volume of escaping coreons affects such a broad region that, rather than stabilizing into individual peaks, the erupted material forms an extensive elevated surface.

Jelly Spike Landscape

Jelly Spike Landscapes are produced by mixed eruptions containing substantial amounts of both coreons and fluxons. As the eruption stabilizes, its particles form tall, pointed structures resembling mountain peaks. However, rather than having the hard, rough texture of regular mountain peaks, Jelly Spikes more closely resemble rubber in texture: the abundance of coreons allows the structures to retain permanent spiky shapes, while the trapped fluxons preserve flexibility and elasticity within the bond networks. Most Jelly Spikes reach approximately three to four stories tall, although regional variation exists. Jelly Spikes are also an important natural resource.

Rivers are concentrated streams of rapidly flowing fluxons. Rivers are not exclusively bound to Planetary Plates. A river may flow independently through the Ocean, intersect a Plate for only part of its course, or travel across and through a Plate for its entire course. Rivers are not inherently associated with any particular phaseon either. They may contain high concentrations of aether, anima, glacien, or umbra; mixtures of several phaseons; or no significant phaseon concentration at all.

Glacien-dominated biomes are regions in which glacien particles have the highest concentration. Glacien possesses a particularly strong affinity for coreons. As a result, landscapes created by coreon eruptions, especially mountain ranges, are particularly likely to accumulate glacien and develop glacien-centered climates. Glacien primarily manifests as a cold energy. As its concentration increases, surrounding temperatures fall and particle activity decreases. At sufficiently high concentrations, glacien can temporarily stabilize normally free-flowing atmospheric fluxons, creating structures such as ice and snow.

Ice Caps

Ice Caps are extensive regions of permanent ice produced by exceptionally high concentrations of glacien. Under ordinary conditions, atmospheric fluxons remain free-flowing and resist permanent bonding. However, in an extremely glacien-dominant environment, their activity becomes sufficiently suppressed, allowing the formation of temporary bonds between atmospheric fluxons, glacien particles, and small amounts of other available particles. These temporary bonded structures manifest physically as ice and snow. Because the surrounding environment continuously supplies enough glacien to maintain these structures, accumulated ice can persist indefinitely despite the temporary nature of its individual bonds. Ice Caps are most commonly associated with the most extremely glacien-dominated parts of mountain landscapes, plateaus, and other coreon-rich regions.

Floating Ice

Floating Ice consists of masses of temporarily bonded ice suspended within the atmosphere rather than attached to the surface of a Planetary Plate. It forms when glacien stabilizes clusters of atmospheric fluxons directly within the air. Floating Ice can range from small drifting fragments to enormous airborne structures. Due to the dependent and temporary nature of its bonds, however, a mass of Floating Ice entering an environment with a lower glacien concentration gradually destabilizes and disperses back into free particles.

Cold Desert

Cold Deserts are dry, desert-like, sparsely inhabited landscapes characterized by persistently low temperatures without the extreme glacien concentrations necessary to generate extensive permanent ice sheets. They most commonly occur along the outer borders of glacien-dominated regions, where glacien concentrations remain high enough to keep temperatures low but are insufficient to continuously stabilize atmospheric particles into temporary bonds. The result is an environment that is cold yet barren and dry. Cold Deserts commonly function as transitional biomes.

Tundra

Tundra develops primarily in regions where glacien remains dominant but a significant aether concentration is also present. Glacien maintains the persistently low temperatures and induces the formation of permafrost in the region. Meanwhile, aether introduces greater fluxon activity to the region, preventing the entire region from becoming as static as an Ice Cap or a Cold Desert. As a result, if also given sufficient concentrations of anima, resilient species of organic vegetation can grow within the Tundra biome.

Cold Forest

Cold Forests are forest landscapes in which glacien coexists with enough aether and anima to sustain abundant organic life. This biome is particularly common around anima streams that pass through regions near the boundaries between glacien- and aether-dominated environments. Glacien maintains the biome’s low temperature, while aether prevents the region from becoming completely static. Anima streams, on the other hand, introduce the life energy necessary for organic vegetation to develop extensively upon the existing forest landscape.

Aether-dominated biomes are regions in which aether particles have the highest concentration. Aether possesses a particularly strong affinity for fluxons. As a result, landscapes created by fluxon eruptions, most notably forest landscapes, are particularly prone to accumulate aether and develop aether-centered climates. Aether manifests primarily as a temperate energy. It encourages a moderate degree of particle activity and maintains the surrounding environment at a relatively comfortable temperature. Consequently, aether-dominated regions tend to have mild, stable climates.

Forest

Forests are the most common aether-dominated biome. Because forest landscapes originate from stabilized fluxon eruptions, their underlying structures remain naturally rich in fluxons. Aether’s strong affinity for fluxons consequently causes it to accumulate readily within these environments. Organic forests typically develop where anima streams pass through an existing forest landscape. Most Forest biomes also contain some concentrations of glacien, which helps maintain the relatively mild conditions characteristic of Forests. Where glacien becomes increasingly concentrated, an ordinary Forest biome transitions into a Cold Forest.

Grassland

Grasslands are vast, open aether-dominated environments characterized by the extensive coverage of grasses and other low vegetation. The open, flat surfaces of grasslands allow aether-rich fluxon activity to spread broadly and evenly across the region, producing expansive areas of temperate climate.

Unlike glacien and aether, anima does not typically form extensive regions of its own. Instead, high concentrations of anima most commonly manifest within fluxon streams, forming what are known as anima streams. Areas surrounding an anima stream typically experience increased biological and organic activity. Regions with abundant anima streams are also exceptionally favorable for the development of large settlements and civilizations.