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Just a few of my own comments:
Stephenls wrote:
> ...
>
> Umbra. For the purpose of this document, "left" means "away from
earth
> and deeper into the spirit worlds."
"But why left, Brain?"^^
>
> Okay, first, you've got Earth.
Or, the material world.
>
> Right to the left of Earth, you've got the Periphery. The Periphery
is
> the bit of the Umbra that bleeds through the Gauntlet -- it leads to
> things like artistic inspiration or spatial disorientation. It's a
neat
> concept but none of the books ever did anything with it, so it's
> probably safe to ignore it.
>
> To the left of the Periphery is the Gauntlet. It's the calcified
wall
> that separates the Umbra from Earth.
>
This will be referred to with different terms by different games: The
Shroud, The Wall, etc. It's the barrier between the Physical and the
Spiritual that came into being after some unspecified event called the
Sundering (most likely Caine's slaying of Abel) separated the two.
> To the left of the Gauntlet is the Penumbra. The Penumbra is divided
> into three sections, which overlay each other in the same way they
all
> overlay earth, but for the sake of this article I will use words like
> "above" and "below" because they're simpler.
>
> At the top, you've got the High (or "Astral") Penumbra. This is the
> beginning of the realm of thought and ideas. In the Astral Penumbra,
> things look like the onlooker expects them to look. Werewolves don't
go
> here very much, instead they go to the...
Different Supernaturals seem "attracted" to different layers of the
Umbra. Magi, for the most part, naturally wind up here when they "cross
over", tho the Stargazer tribe of werewolves are well familiar with
this "place/state"...
>
> Below the High Umbra is the Middle (or "Spirit") Penumbra. This is
the
> place werewolves go when they step sideways. It is the realm of
> emotions and animism -- where the spirits of nature reside, and where
> things generally have a constant form. Spiritual corruption is very
> visible here.
>
Dreamspeakers and Verbena often find themselves here as well,
presumably because of their nature-oriented Paradigm...
> Below the Middle Umbra is the Low (or "Dark") Penumbra, also known as
> the Shadowlands. It's where Wraith is set, mostly. Werewolves have
an
> even harder time going here than they do going to the High Penumbra
--
> this is where human ghosts end up.
>
Euthanatos mages and Silent Strider garou are the rare exceptions to
the rule about living visitors...
> It should be noted that because of the way they overlay each other,
you
> don't need to go through the Middle Penumbra to get from the High to
the
> Low. They're not actually above and below each other, that's just
the
> easiest way to talk about them.
>
One might also consider the different layers of the Umbra as different
"frequencies" of radiation, all occupying the same space, but requiring
the right equipment to "tune into"...but that's Technocrat talk!^^
> Now, to the left of the Penumbra, you've got the Umbra proper, which
is
> divided into three main realms and several unconnected zones. This
is
> gonna take a while.
>
> At the top, "above" (more accurately for the purposes of this, to the
> left) the High Penumbra, is the High (or "Astral") Umbra. It should
be
> noted that werewolves often call this "the Deep Umbra," but mages
don't,
> because mages call some place else the Deep Umbra. If a Werewolf
book
> talks about the Deep Umbra, it's talking about this place. This is
> almost literally above the High Penumbra, in that you get here by
going
> to the High Penumbra and working your way upwards, but actually the
High
> Umbra is also directly "above"...
>
This is where beings like Gods, Demons, and Angels live, btw. As well
as abstract entities and conceptual embodiments, like the Color Blue.
The Endless from Sandman would be found here, for example.
> The Middle Umbra is where werewolves go when they go to the Umbra.
It
> is basically composed of the 13 Realms talked about in the corebook.
> You reach it by going to the Middle Penumbra and moving further away
> from Earth -- this can mean portals, or just finding a place in the
> Penumbra that looks a bit like the Realm you want to travel to and
then
> walking without paying attention to where you're going. Werewolves,
> however, usually travel around this place using Airts, which are like
> spirit paths. The books never really explained what an Airt looks
like,
> which is because, I suspect, each Airt looks different.
>
Now, is this what is meant by "Gaia"? Or is She just the Earth-realm?
> "Below" the Middle Umbra is the Low (or "Dark") Umbra, also known as
the
> Tempest and eventually the Labyrinth (not the same thing as the Black
> Spiral Labyrinth, which is in Malfeas, in the Middle Umbra!). You
reach
> here by going "down" from the Low Penumbra.
>
You can also find gods, angels and devils here also, but these are
almost certainly just very old and powerful Wraiths masquerading as
such...
> And again, just like the Penumbras, they're not actually above and
below
> each other. It's just as easy to get from the High Umbra to the Low
> Umbra as it is to get from the Middle Umbra to the Low Umbra. (Which
is
> to say very difficult -- the Low Umbra is blocked off from the rest
of
> the spirit world.)
>
Let's not even get into the Avatar Storm or the Maelstroms...^^
> Floating amongst those three areas are the various Zones, the most
> notable of which is the Dream Zone. It's not connected to the High,
> Middle, or Low, and may be where human conciousness goes when it's
> asleep. There are other Zones floating around in there, like the
> Digital Web, but they're not important.
>
The Dream Zone, btw, is not to be confused with The Dreaming, which, if
anywhere, is most likely to be found in the High/Astral Umbra...tho it
most likely does link to it in some spots...
>
> All that stuff above? Get in there and walk to the "left." You'll
> eventually reach a barrier called the Horizon. The Horizon is like a
> second Gauntlet, crossed with an area of the Umbra. While it is a
> border, it is also filled with little Realms, most of which are
> artificial and created by mages. The border between the Horizon and
the
> Umbra is called the Near Horizon.
>
>From here on in is pretty much all Mage territory. If any Garou (or
anything else) have made it out this far, I haven't heard about it. Hm,
*could* a werewolf survive in deep Umbral space?
> It is basically equivalent to the orbit of the moon, in terms of real
space.
>
The moon, incidentally, seems to correspond to the Changeling's
homerealm of Arcadia, in at least some ways...
> Travel far enough along the Horizon, and you'll eventually reach the
Far
> Horizon, which is basically equivalent to the asteroid belt. Past
that,
> you will find the Great Deep.
>
> The Great Deep is like the vaccuum of space, and the barrier between
the
> physical vaccuum of space and the spiritual vaccuum of the Great Deep
is
> very, very thin.
>
Which is what magi mean by "Deep Umbra".
> Travel far enough into the Great Deep and you might find the Triat,
or
> individual members of it. Travel even further than that, and you
might
> find other worlds, other Gaias. Maybe.
>
But most likely, you'll run into sanity-shattering, soul-devouring
multi-tentacled abominations called the Nephandic Lords...who may or
may not just be the nightmares of the Malfeans sleeping uneasily in the
Labyrinth in Reality's Basement.
Confused yet?^^
Incidentally, the whole of the above is often referred to as either The
Tapestry or The Tellurian, or both. If there's a difference, I'm
blanking on it right now...
> Did this help, or is it just more confusing?
Ooh, ooh, explain Yomi!^__^
Dex
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