Corporeal Rift

Overview
Location	Miskatonic Nebula
General Characteristics
Population	∞^3*11
Key Details	Astrology

---

🕮 Lore

It is said that conducting a survey of The Corporeal Rift is a madman’s errand. I would posit that doing so without embracing the mad is truly the work of the insane.

— Theodore A. Wright in ‘The Metanomicon’.

The Corporeal Rift (also known as the Great Beyond or Metasphere) is a magical singularity 0.08 light years in diameter. The density of magic results in a highly surreal space, creating a multi-sphere system of infinite size within the Rift’s area.

Conventional physics exist in The Corporeal Rift, but they often take a backseat to the metaphysical and abstract. This can manifest in unusual ways:

• Species that breathe atmospheres that are poisonous to each other may find that they have no need to use a breathing apparatus in the Rift.
• Speaking a native’s 'true name' will cause effects to occur that are indicative of that individual’s true nature.
• Drawing or interacting with significant symbols may cause unexpected things to happen. (A map could be used to directly travel to a location, instantaneously.)

This is because in the Corporeal Rift, the concept of something existing is tied strongly to its physical existence. This is due to the Rift’s 'metamagic'.

The 'suits' of Riftian astrology have a wide and subtle influence on many things. One of the most prominent effects of suits are on people who are suited, either from being born in the Rift or their birth being influenced by it in some way. Like a typical zodiac, an individuals suit may foreshadow aspects of their personality.

The Corporeal Rift consists of 11 spheres, each with their own persistent motifs, laws, normals and inhabitants. Each sphere is infinite in size in all directions, and spheres do not have physical locations within the Rift.

In order, they are: The Tumult-, Nowt-, Insipid-, Circum-, Carne-, Chronos-, Kefi-, Mollis-, Morfis-, Erimos- and Liber-.

Those who are suited have the capability to use the metamagic found in the Corporeal Rift. Similar to most forms of magic, doing so takes training. It also relies mostly on your ability to fluidly adopt mindsets and toggle advanced, abstract concepts on the fly (such as mathematics, non-euclidean geometry, and metaphysics).

Incantations are recipes to recall and recite these complex processes, whereas runes and spells are used for their symbolic potency in order to produce desired effects. Often, drawing a rune is not enough, and it is the combination of the spell with a state of mind that produces the effect.

At first pass, travel in the Corporeal Rift would seem to be impossible. Although labyrinthine and full of its own trials, ‘impossible’ is not accurate. Due to the infinite size of each sphere and their often maze-like patterns, travel often utilizes various forms of teleportation.

Many ways to travel efficiently exist, some dependent on the sphere you are in:

• In spheres with non-euclidean geometry, natives often exploit an awareness of folds in space-time to get around quickly.
• Denizens of the correct suit may make permanent homes, in which case knowing their true names would allow instantaneous travel, even between spheres.
• A common spell utilizes photos, drawings or regular maps to teleport to the depicted space. This requires basic metamagic capabilities.
• Highly adept metamagic users may have an almost third sense of their surroundings, which can help them find crossovers and folds with remarkable efficiency.

A common method of traversing between spheres is to draw an astrological map of the Corporeal Rift on a surface that can be stood on, with a 'gateway' circle etched over the sphere the caster wishes to arrive at. Stepping into this circle creates a brief portal that consumes the material used to draw the map, and sucks in the individual, allowing them to 'slip' between spheres.

Creating and using the map requires adept knowledge of the Rift, and for the user to be at least mediocre at metamagic. However, others can easily rune-slip by following in the 2-3 seconds the portal is open. Rune-slipping is highly disorientating to those who have not experienced it many times before.

The spheres may not be sensibly linked, but they do constantly shift in a sort of primordial, abstract soup within the Rift. As a result of this 'movement', occasionally a small portal will be opened up to allow travel between spheres. This occurs the most between spheres that share opposite suits.

Colloquially known as 'crossovers', these portals can remain open for anywhere between a couple of days and months on end. Their locations in their given spheres are consistent, even if their accessibility is not.

Crossovers can be predicted and located by highly adept metamagic users. This is not a common skill, and it is difficult to learn. To an untrained eye, a crossover looks like non-euclidean geometry.

There are some useful archetypes when it comes to running plots in and around the Corporeal Rift:

• Outsiders – This sort of plot revolves around exploration of the Rift by familiar outsiders who are unfamiliar with its happenings and absurdities.
• Insiders – A plot with a focus on insiders has most of the characters be unusual starfish aliens in a land that is familiar to them.
• Political – A political plot focuses on nations and ancient, eldritch abominations competing in convoluted schemes akin to a game of fifth dimensional chess.
• Personal – The plot revolves around the misadventures of individuals just trying to get by in the madness of the Rift.

• Sycophantoms are constantly looking for ways to exercise control and conquest over the infinite expanses of the spheres. They may pursue heretics given reasonable opportunity.
• The aberrations of the Nowtsphere are usually there to indulge eternal hermitage. A few use the vast abyss to skulk in the dark; plotting and scheming until the opportunity comes to strike for gains beyond mortal comprehension.
• Libersphere and chronosphere alike are attractive to those that aren’t privy to the nuances of different kinds of infinity, lured by the promise of infinite knowledge. It is exceedingly rare that these expeditions yield any meaningful result, and far more often that millions are wasted in resources and priceless lives lost to stubbornness.
• Many questions arise on closer inspection of Professor Wright’s Metanomicon. The most infamous of which being the fate of his companion, 'Alice'. Evidence suggests she is an enigmatic metamagic user that would be of invaluable service to anyone who manages to find her.
• Sometimes a suited outsider may discover they are suited before visiting the Rift. Their curiosity may get the best of them, compelling them to go on a pilgrimage to explore their distant, second home.

• Player P0rcelain created this on 2022/03/07 01:03

Here are some setting consistencies that make the Rift what it is:

• Native species of the Corporeal Rift are always starfish aliens.
• Logic is frequently symbolic and abstract. Suspension of disbelief may be more flexible as a result.
• The Corporeal Rift is surreal and perplexing to those not used to its concepts. To natives of it, its happenings make perfect sense, whereas the outside may be difficult to grasp.

A list of people who should own and manage this content is provided, in order. It applies to all parts of the Corporeal Rift unless an article states otherwise. A new owner may add to this list, but they may not override it:

1. p0rcelain
2. Wolf
3. Jack Pine

This content adheres to Project Multiverse's submission and usage rules.