The Undiscovered Aurbis-The World River, Anu, Padomay, and the Mundus Whirlpool
The Structure of the Universe
If you are moving onto this page, I must assume that you have read my letter to you and have determined to continue your journey. Well done! Perhaps there is hope for the mortal races after all. Continue reading, and maybe you too will join Varasieth on his Golden Voyage. But there is much to learn before then.
Before I can even begin to go into detail about the spirits, I must give you some structure for the universe we live in. Forgive me if I do not explain this topic well. It is difficult to put in terms your kind can understand. How can I explain color to a blind man? Fortunately for you, I have enlisted the aid of one of my allied spirits to better articulate this unique topic. Nagrom Meferan is the Spirit of Exposition, Translation, and Mediation. I am dictating my message to him, as he has agreed to help me explain the universe to you. Now onto business.
Imagine a great River. It has no source or end. It flows forever and ever, moving faster in some places and slower in others. Sometimes the water breaks off and flows into new branches. These branches of the river all differ in thousands of ways-the water is a variety of colors, it twists into corkscrews, it flows down waterfalls, etc.
The River is the True World River. It is the Source of All Things. All of its Branches are lesser echoes of the Original World River’s brilliance. Each River Branch is different in its rhythm and style, but its components are still fundamentally the same. Therefore, one river can cross into another in most cases.
These branches are made of billions of Droplets of water. Like the River Branches, they are different, but usually it is a more subtle change than the creation of a new branch for the river. The Droplets are the very base of the River. They flow every which way, depending on the Current of the River Branch, and sometimes the interactions between droplets can cause a new one to form with its own unique identity. This happens most often when ice and a strong current collide, as the collision melts the ice into something not quite cold but not as hot as the current that hit it.
Most Droplets are unaware they are in a River in the first place. They believe the water is all there is, and are content to remain in it. However, very rarely a strong current will push some of the water out of its own branch and into the air. Some of the droplets evaporate, but other droplets look down and see the River as a whole. Once they see the World River, they are given a special power. Droplets such as these can bud into entire Branches if they can find a way to Dry Ground.
Each River Branch has at least one Current. Some have more than one, and some even have an infinite amount. Currents can be as different or similar to each other as they like, though the rules on how Currents exist seem as arbitrary as the Currents themselves.
The very powerful Droplets pick up sediment from along the bottom of the River Branch, and use this sediment to create their own sanctuary within the Current. It offers them protection from the periods where the Branch rages and grants them power over the other Droplets. Some say they do it to reflect the walls of the River Bed, but others simply do it because they can.
There have been many debates over which direction to explore. Is it better to seek the creation of a new Branch, as Ald-Lorkhan argued, or is it better to explore the Branches already in existence? There is nothing wrong with either of these paths. Each River Branch is amazing and unique in its own way, and full of discoveries to be made. Then again, witnessing the creation of a new Branch is also an interesting adventure. It is the right of every explorer to decide which path he will take. But I digress. There is much more to explain about the World River and its Branches, and even that is not a great metaphor, but it will suffice for the time being.
Now that the foundation is out of the way, I can tell you more about our Branch. It really is quite interesting. Though I have travelled to many Branches, very few are as sophisticated as our own. Even I have not reached its limits yet. I am not as old a Spirit as Ald-Aka and Ald-Lorkhan, as I didn’t come into being until the concepts of Places and Unknowns interacted. In some sense, I suppose Ald-Lorkhan could be considered my grandfather. But enough about me.
Our River Branch was created when a particularly sad Droplet jumped out of his own River Branch and onto the Dry Ground in despair. A group of Droplets from his Branch chose to re-direct his Branch back into the Source, the True World River, thus destroying the nature of their own tributary. The Droplet wished it could have its old Branch back, so it multiplied and created a patch of Ice. The Ice would ensure that the Memory of its love would last forever. However, the Droplet didn’t expect the Sun to beat down on the Ice. The melted water began to flow as a River Branch once more, connecting to the Tributary the Droplet came from.
This was the creation of the Spirits for our Branch. The story is well known among you, if somewhat misconceptualized, so I will not go into the creation of the Mundus too much.
What I wish to tell you about is the structure and significance of the Mundus. Your scholars frequently say that the world is a Wheel- Eight Aedra, Sixteen Voids, and the Mundus in the Center. Like most lies, there is a measure of truth to this, but they keep from you the whole truth.
The Mundus is actually more like a large Whirlpool inside the Infinite Branch of Ald-Anu. Ald-Lorkhan gathered some of his fellow spirits and made waters that were so turbulent and so cyclical that they would create a trap that made the Droplets smaller and smaller. His hope was that the Whirlpool’s Current would grow so fast that eventually Droplets would be thrown out of the water. Eventually, one of these Droplets would recognize the significance of the River, and would fly onto Dry Ground and create a River Branch of their own.
Most Spirits, or Droplets, weren’t very interested in this project. According to some of the older Spirits I’ve spoken with, it was actually quite a surprise when Ald-Aka and some of his friends agreed to help Ald-Lorkhan. I don’t know their reasons, nor do I really care. What matters is that the Mundus Whirlpool was created. Later, sixteen of the Spirits related to Ald-Aka and his allies agreed to create their realms around the Mundus. Whether this was out of fascination, mockery, or the desire to further their spheres and become a bigger Droplet is unknown. Other Droplets can enter and leave the Whirlpool and its surroundings, but they never stay for long because they are afraid of being trapped.
So there you have it. The Mundus Whirlpool isn’t the only thing there is! Sure, if you desire to fling yourself from this River Branch and make a new one, you can. That’s a perfectly valid path of Discovery. Just don’t let that hold you back if you want to explore the rest of the World River!
But perhaps you need more convincing. Maybe the infinite possibilities that wait just beyond the Whirlpool aren’t enough to pique your curiosity. If that is you, my friend, simply turn the page and I will reveal to you the treasures I have seen on my Golden Voyages.