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Theories and Mysteries

“The answer to ‘what happened’ depends on who you ask. The answer to ‘what comes next’ depends on who you believe.”
—Elder Mira Thornwell

Theories and Mysteries: The Unanswered Questions Theories and Mysteries: The Unanswered Questions

Overview

Three centuries after the Shattering, fundamental questions remain unanswered. What caused the world to break? What is the Aether? Can reality be restored? Why does the Rot exist?

Different factions, scholars, and individuals have developed competing theories. None can be proven. All shape how people live, fight, and die in the shattered world.

This page examines the major theoretical frameworks and the mysteries they attempt (and fail) to explain.

The Great Theories

1. The Wound Theory

Proponents: The Constellation Clergy (official position), most academic scholars, ~50% of common population

Core Claim: The Apogee Working tore a hole in reality. Terrum Solidus “fell through” into the Aether, which is a sub-layer of existence. The Rot is the universe’s attempt to heal the wound by dissolving foreign matter.

Evidence Supporting: - The Shattering occurred at the exact moment of the ritual - The Aether has properties inconsistent with normal reality (breathable void, impossible physics) - The Rot behaves like an immune response—targeting and dissolving matter systematically - Pre-Shattering texts reference “veils between worlds” and “dimensional barriers” - Alchemical analysis shows Rot-corruption dissolves matter back into “base energy” (suggesting erasure)

Evidence Against: - Doesn’t explain why the constellations changed (wounded? angry? dying?) - Doesn’t explain The Voice Beneath’s apparent intelligence - If the universe is healing, why is it taking so long? - No mechanism proposed for reversal

Implications If True: - Humanity is living in a transitional state - The Rot is inevitable (you can’t stop a universe from healing) - Restoration may require reversing the Apogee Working (impossible with current knowledge) - The constellations may be as trapped as humanity

Cultural Impact: - Clergy uses this to argue for piety (appease the constellations, earn their aid) - Justifies Rot-purification efforts (fighting the immune response) - Provides hope (if we understand the wound, we might close it)

2. The Punishment Theory

Proponents: Religious hardliners, ~30% of common population, some Clergy members (unofficial)

Core Claim: The constellations deliberately shattered the world as punishment for humanity’s arrogance. The Apogee Working was blasphemy. The Rot is divine judgment.

Evidence Supporting: - The constellations went silent for a year after the Shattering (abandonment) - All Luminar Council members died in the event (divine execution) - Prayers are less reliable post-Shattering (gods are displeased) - The Rot targets the prideful and corrupt more readily (moral judgment) - Historical precedent: Pre-Shattering texts describe minor divine retributions for lesser blasphemies

Evidence Against: - The constellations were benevolent for millennia before—why destroy the world for one mistake? - Innocents suffered as much as the guilty (children, animals, unaware populations) - If punishment, why return at all? The constellations came back. - Doesn’t explain The Voice Beneath or Rot’s offer of “ascension”

Implications If True: - Humanity must atone collectively - Purification is spiritual, not physical - The Rot will end only when we are forgiven - Those who died in the Shattering were martyrs or sinners (debate which)

Cultural Impact: - Drives fundamentalist movements (purge sin, earn forgiveness) - Justifies persecution of “blasphemers” (Rot-Touched, Star-Readers experimenting with old magics) - Creates guilt-driven societies (Ironhold’s authoritarianism partially based on this) - Inspires acts of penance (pilgrimage, self-flagellation, sacrifice)

3. The Dimensionality Theory

Proponents: Alchemists, independent scholars, The Archivists, ~15% of educated population

Core Claim: The Apogee Working didn’t fail—it succeeded too well. Humanity was pulled partially into a higher dimension (the Aether). We’re now stuck “between” two realities. The Rot is dimensional friction.

Evidence Supporting: - The Aether’s impossible properties (breathable void, selective gravity, luminosity from nothing) - Corrupted individuals sometimes gain abilities that violate natural law (phasing through matter, knowing impossible things) - Time behaves strangely in heavily corrupted areas (hours pass in minutes) - Star-Readers report the constellations look “closer” now, as if viewed from a different angle - Mathematical models suggest the Aether operates under 4-5 dimensional physics

Evidence Against: - No mechanism to “unstick” dimensional states - Doesn’t explain why constellations changed or why Rot is malevolent - Theory is unfalsifiable (can’t test dimensions we can’t access) - Requires accepting reality is more broken than most people can psychologically handle

Implications If True: - Restoration requires understanding higher-dimensional physics (currently impossible) - Humanity may be permanently trapped - The Rot is natural consequence of existing between dimensions (unkillable) - Abilities gained from Rot-corruption are accessing higher-dimensional properties

Cultural Impact: - Drives alchemical research (find dimensional solutions) - Justifies some Rot-Touched philosophies (we’re evolving into higher beings) - Creates despair (no way home) - Inspires exploration (maybe there are other dimensions we can reach)

4. The Horror Theory

Proponents: Conspiracy theorists, some Rot-Touched, drunks in taverns, ~10% of population (whispered, rarely admitted)

Core Claim: There was something ancient and hungry beneath Terrum Solidus. The Apogee Working broke the seal imprisoning it. The Shattering freed it. The Rot is that entity, slowly consuming everything. The Voice Beneath is real.

Evidence Supporting: - Corruption spreads from below (islands rot from undersides upward) - The Voice Beneath demonstrates knowledge it shouldn’t have (reveals secrets, predicts events) - Corrupted individuals consistently report communicating with a singular intelligence - Pre-Shattering texts reference “the Dreaming Beneath,” “the Sealed Prison,” “the Hungry Below” - The Deeps pull downward (gravity-like but not gravity—something drawing you toward it) - Rot-corruption isn’t random decay—it’s deliberate transformation

Evidence Against: - This theory is terrifying and offers no solution (most people reject it for psychological reasons) - Pre-Shattering texts are fragmentary and could be metaphorical - The Voice might be mass delusion or the Aether itself, not an entity - Clergy actively suppresses this theory (burned as heretical)

Implications If True: - Humanity is doomed - Fighting the Rot is futile (you can’t kill something that vast) - The Rot-Touched are correct (accepting transformation is the only survival option) - The constellations may be powerless against it (or complicit)

Cultural Impact: - Drives nihilism and despair - Some embrace Rot deliberately (if doom is inevitable, transcend on your terms) - Creates underground cults worshiping “The Beneath” - Fuels resistance movements (die fighting rather than be consumed)

5. The Accident Theory

Proponents: Rationalist scholars, ~5% of population (minority view)

Core Claim: The Apogee Working was simply a catastrophic mistake. Miscalculation in ritual geometry. Flawed star-metal conduits. Unforeseen astronomical factors. No divine punishment. No cosmic entity. Just human error and bad luck. The Aether is where broken reality goes. The Rot is natural decay.

Evidence Supporting: - Occam’s Razor (simplest explanation requiring fewest assumptions) - Pre-Shattering experiments occasionally failed with localized reality distortions - Ritual magic is inherently unstable (documented failures in historical records) - No confirmed supernatural intelligence behind Rot (Voice Beneath could be hallucination)

Evidence Against: - Doesn’t explain constellations’ changed behavior (they’re alive and acted differently) - Doesn’t account for Aether’s consistent properties (if random, should be chaotic) - Doesn’t explain The Breath’s 27-hour precision - The scale of the effect seems too massive for simple accident

Implications If True: - No one is coming to save humanity (no gods, no cosmic plan) - Solution must be found through human ingenuity alone - Guilt and blame are pointless (it was an accident) - The Rot can potentially be solved scientifically

Cultural Impact: - Empowers secular movements - Removes moral dimension from Rot (it’s just physics, not judgment) - Justifies scientific experimentation (even risky ones—what’s the worst that could happen? Already happened.) - Alienates religious populations (seen as nihilistic)

Competing Sub-Theories

On the Constellations

Are they still alive?

The Living Gods Position (Clergy): - Yes, but wounded. They need our prayers to heal.

The Dying Gods Position (Some scholars): - Barely. They’re fading. The Aether is their death throes.

The Echoes Position (Cynics): - No. They died in the Shattering. We’re praying to corpses. Miracles are residual magic.

The Transformed Position (The Archivists): - They’re alive but fundamentally changed. No longer benevolent (or malevolent). Now alien.

The Imprisoned Position (Some Rot-Touched): - They’re trapped in the Aether just like us. The Voice Beneath is the only free entity.

On the Voice Beneath

What is it?

Hallucination Explanation: - Rot-toxins cause auditory hallucinations - Brain damage from corruption creates false voices - “Knowledge” it reveals is subconscious pattern-recognition

Counter: Corrupted individuals reveal information they couldn’t possibly know

Collective Unconscious Explanation: - All Rot-Touched are psychically linked - The “Voice” is the sum of all corrupted minds speaking as one - Knowledge comes from pooled memories

Counter: The Voice speaks to first-time infected who haven’t merged yet

The Aether Itself Explanation: - The Aether is conscious - The Voice is its attempt to communicate - Corruption is necessary to “hear” it

Counter: Why would a conscious Aether destroy islands?

Ancient Entity Explanation: - Something old, vast, and hungry was imprisoned below Terrum Solidus - The Shattering freed it - The Rot is its hunger made manifest

Counter: Unfalsifiable. Terrifying. Requires accepting cosmic horror.

The Serpent Explanation (Heretical): - The Voice is the Constellation of the Serpent speaking clearly - The “forbidden” constellation is actually honest while others lie - Corruption is evolution, not destruction

Counter: Clergy executes people for this theory

On Restoration

Can the Shattering be undone?

The Returners’ Position: - Yes. Find the Nexus Spire. Reverse the Apogee Working. Reality will “snap back.” - Requires: Locating the Spire, understanding the ritual, having power to reverse it.

The Archivist Position: - Maybe. But reversal would erase post-Shattering history. All Void-Kin (born after Shattering) would cease to exist. Genocide by restoration.

The Clergy Position: - Only the constellations can restore the world. Humanity must earn it through piety.

The Scholar Position: - Theoretically possible but practically impossible. The knowledge is lost. The Spire is gone. We lack the power.

The Nihilist Position: - No. And we shouldn’t try. The old world led to this. Build something new instead.

The Unanswered Mysteries

1. What Happened at the Peak of the Spire?

In the final moments, the Luminar Council was at the peak of the Nexus Spire with all that power channeled through them. What did they see? What did they experience?

Theories: - They touched the divine and found only horror - They successfully ascended—but to somewhere terrible - They saw the entity beneath and broke the seal in panic - They succeeded but became something inhuman (and still exist somewhere)

2. Where Is the Nexus Spire?

The site of the ritual has never been found. See: The Nexus Spire

Possibilities: - Destroyed utterly in the Shattering - Hidden in The Periphery or The Deeps - Anchored in a place inaccessible to current technology - Exists in a parallel dimension (side effect of the ritual) - Still exists but actively hides itself (magic or intelligence)

3. Why 27 Hours?

The Breath occurs every 27 hours. Pre-Shattering days were 24 hours. What does the extra 3 hours represent?

Theories: - Time is dilated in the Aether (we experience time differently) - The Breath follows a different dimension’s time - Arbitrary—the Breath has no connection to pre-Shattering timekeeping - Significant—3 is a mystical number in Star-Reader mathematics

4. Are We Alone?

Did the Shattering only affect Terrum Solidus, or the entire world? Were there other continents?

Historical Records: Pre-Shattering maps show Terrum Solidus as the only known landmass. Ocean extended to the horizon in all directions.

But: Exploration was limited. No one circumnavigated the globe.

Possibility: Other lands existed, also shattered. Survivors float in distant Aether. We’ll never find them (Aether too vast).

Horror Possibility: We have encountered them. Ghost-Islands are fragments from other shattered continents, briefly intersecting our Aether.

5. What Lies Beyond the Periphery?

The Aether fades to darkness at extreme distances. No one who’s ventured deep into that darkness has returned. See: The Periphery

Possibilities: - True void (instant death) - Other Aethers (parallel broken worlds) - The constellations’ realm - The place where Rot originates - Nothing (the Aether simply ends)

6. Is the Rot Winning?

Corruption accelerates. More islands fall each year. The Hollow expands. Population declines.

Optimists: We’re adapting. Learning to fight it. The curve will level.

Pessimists: Exponential decay. 50 years until collapse. Maybe less.

Data: Inconclusive. Record-keeping is poor. Bias in reporting.

Truth: Unknown. But it feels like losing.

Synthesis: What Do We Actually Know?

Stripping away theory, what are the hard facts?

Confirmed: 1. The Shattering occurred during the Apogee Working ritual 2. The world broke into sky-islands suspended in breathable void 3. The constellations changed after the Shattering 4. The Rot exists and spreads 5. Corrupted individuals report hearing a Voice 6. Miracles still occur but are unpredictable

Uncertain: 1. Why the Shattering happened 2. What the Aether is 3. Whether restoration is possible 4. What the Voice Beneath represents 5. Whether the constellations are still alive/conscious/benevolent

Conclusion: Humanity survives in near-total ignorance of its predicament.

Practical Implications

Theories aren’t just academic—they determine policy, culture, and survival strategies.

If Wound Theory Is True:

If Punishment Theory Is True:

If Dimensionality Theory Is True:

If Horror Theory Is True:

If Accident Theory Is True:

Current Reality: All factions pursue their own strategies simultaneously, often conflicting.

In-World Document

“Letters to a Dead World” by Scholar Caelus Varn (283 S.)

I have read every theory. Studied every text. Interviewed a hundred survivors of the Shattering. Spoken to Star-Readers, Clergy, Alchemists, even Rot-Touched willing to talk before they transformed.

I have no answers.

I know no more today than the first survivor who woke on a floating rock 283 years ago and looked into the void and asked: “What happened?”

But I know this: The question matters less than what we do next.

The Wound theorists build walls and seek divine aid. The Punishment zealots flagellate and pray. The Dimensionalists study and theorize. The Horror believers despair or embrace doom. The Accident rationalists experiment and hope.

They are all doing something.

Perhaps the truth is this: It doesn’t matter what broke the world. It matters that we’re still here.

We are the survivors. The adapters. The stubborn ones who refuse to fall.

Let the scholars debate cosmology.

Let the faithful pray to their wounded gods.

Let the corrupted whisper to their Voice.

I will keep writing. Keep documenting. Keep living.

Because three hundred years ago, reality itself told humanity: “You are finished.”

And we said: “Not yet.”

“Every theory is wrong. But one of them is useful.”
—Archivist saying