The Integrum
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Overview
The Integrum (Commontongue) is the second oldest Origin in the universe, being created by the Founders during the First Age. It comprises all of the natural world. Lore about the Integrum is plentiful and accurate, coming primarily from the Gods and Servitors, as well as through scholarship among its Mortal inhabitants.
History
First Age
The Integrum began in the First Age, during an event known as Integration. During Integration, The Apparatus created the stable, natural world of the Gilded Age using the imprisoned Titans of Fury to power their creation.
Gilded Age
The Gilded Age is regarded as an age of idyllic perfection. Little is known about the Gilded Age, as few survive who experienced it, and those creatures were all terribly damaged by The Shattering. The Gilded Age was the only time in history when The Apparatus and Integrum were functioning precisely as designed by the Founders. At the end of the Gilded Age is when The Integrum suffered its first great cataclysm, The Shattering.
The Shattered Age
The Shattered Age began with the cataclysm which gave it its name: The Shattering. After The Shattering, The Integrum was seriously damaged and no longer functioned as it did in the Gilded Age. Specifically, the Grand Design of Destiny no longer functioned; space and time were thrown into disarray. Most notably:
- The Paragon Realm was shattered into the Shard Realms
- The Abyss was formed in the Barrier Realms
Destiny was never repaired.
The Dark Age
The Dark Age began with the second great cataclysm of The Integrum: The Fall. After the Lords of Necessity vanished, The Integrum was thrown deeper in to disarray. Most notably:
- The Grand Designs of Spring and Autumn broke and creatures could no longer be born
- The Grand Design of Day broke, plunging all of the Shards into darkness, giving the age its name
- Powers of Fury began to break free from their Astral Prisons
Eventually the gods repaired Spring and Autumn by creating a form of reincarnation. The gods also eventually repaired Day, returning light to the suns of the Shards. Most of the powers of Fury were contained.
The Dawn Age
The Dawn Age began when the suns were once again illuminated. Also, The Abyss was sealed in the Barrier Realms. This marked a return to relative normality and some cosmological peace in The Integrum.
Natural Laws
Luminescence
Unlike the real world, where darkness is experienced as the absence of radiated or reflected light, in The Integrum both darkness and light are radiated and reflected. This means that in The Integrum, if there is no source of darkness or light, the natural state of luminescence is experienced as a dim twilight where things appear muted, monochrome, and indistinct, but are still visible. Mostly this is experienced underground or indoors.
Temperature
Unlike the real world, where cold is experienced as the absence of kinetically excited particles (heat), in The Integrum both cold and heat are radiated energies. This means that in The Integrum, if there is no source of cold or heat, the natural state of temperature is experienced as something akin to "room temperature", which is a temperature that is not noticeable to most creatures.
Gravity
Gravity in the real world is the attraction of bodies of mass in an inverse square relationship to distance. However, in The Integrum, bodies of mass are not attracted to other bodies of mass. Instead, gravity is caused by an interaction of life and death energies. Life energies make things lighter, hence plants grow upward, living things float while rocks sink, et cetera. Death energies make things heavier, hence corpses sink, rocks sink, and souls are pulled into the underworld. These are all governed by the same dyanmics.
Life and Death
Integral creatures are born and die in some fashion. Water is the medium of life and death, hence rains bringing growth, et cetera.
Telar
Telar refer to any creature of The Integrum without a soul. This includes plants, animals, and even rocks and the wind. The Integrum is an animistic system, where all of these things are living expressions of The Apparatus. Specifically, they are a kind of Form Servitor called the Telar. They act like a genius loci, mediating the natural laws of The Integrum through the Grand Design of Form. When life and death interact with Telar, animals and plants are born, grown, and die.
Mortals
Mortals refer to any creature of The Integrum with a soul. A soul is a special property of mortals of the Integrum. When a creature with a soul is born, it is a byproduct of the powers of Integral Spring bringing new life into the world, inhabiting a body of the natural world. When a creature with a soul dies, its body returns to the Telar and its soul descends into the Underworld, eventually returning to The Crucible which melts souls down and remixes them for reconstitution and rebirth.
Undeath
Undeath can occur from a number of causes. Integral causes of undeath typically involve souls which do not migrate into the Underworld for some reason. The most common reason is a form of death magic called necromancy, but other causes are possible, such as a creature dying with a strong will to finish unfinished business.
- Telar: Plants and animals of The Integrum