The Axis and the Dragon Break


The structuring space version inside the Dragon Break in case of its crossing the dream planes.



Axis. Volume One. Origins

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The place we live in appeared recently. We were the first creatures to step into the stream. Not by our own will, but by a twist of fate we were thrown into the stream, where we could only observe and change. The stream brought us wisdom and power, but our purpose remained unknown.

There were only spirits and daedra nearby at first. But the days passed, others appeared. People. Mer. And the images were brought with them. Images, sounds, smells. All intertwined, tying itself in a knot, the Axis was created. There were too many images. The smells, the sounds, the feelings blended and shifted one into another and got tighter in a knot; and pulled everything close to it inside. The resulting space was an incomprehensible mess; many of us are still out there. Lost their minds, they have. Wandering the Axis. Attacking anyone - living or dead. Oh, Sheogorath would have loved this place...

For our species survival, the most gifted of us united and embarked on a search for a quiet place, without any shifts, without all of this mess, and without mad, enraged monsters our brothers have turned into. A place we could call home.

Of course, it was utopian. But, in our search, we’ve realized our purpose. We are here for the sake of knowledge, and knowledge itself will bring us peace and harmony. The long study of the Axis gave results. Having chosen a calm pocket, we localized its raging energy and shifted our tribesmen there through neighbouring planes.

As I write these lines, my kin are opening a portal and shifting the last member of our group into this plane. Here, the Great Ratville will be founded - the refuge of all the rats of the Axis.

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Axis. Volume Two. Habitation

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Many species dwell on the Axis. In this work, the author will try to describe and classify most of the usual and prominent creatures.

A large number of Axis-influenced specimens are found within explicit range of the stream. Usually referred to as the Lunatics, they’ve adopted five-dimensional logics due to a very long time spent within a close range of point zero. Lunacy appears in stages, but the transformation is very fast. At first, the specimens get confused from the ever-changing surroundings. Then, they desperately try to keep their wits intact. But usually they lose contact with reality and live for their own, incomprehensible goal, which drives them through the Axis. Any means to engage them into conversation have been proven to be a failure. However, a tendency to write notes, diaries, or to express their thoughts by other methods has been noted. In certain circumstances, Lunatics' body can rot, turning them into zombies or skeletons. At the same time, new specimens of these Lunatics appear on the plane, immediately being shifted into the stream, due to their plane being dissolved in it. The same thing happens when specimens get wounded or lose a lot of their lifeforce. During their shift into the stream, the aspects of the specimens can split into several, due to the multidimensionality of the stream. This considerably hinders separate specimens' classification.

Specimens who are less influenced by the stream stay on their plane, although a deviation in stability are usually found, expressed by partial property and essence loss of an aspect and its plane. Generally the Lunatics spawn from these entities, as their plane loses balance on its sector and collapses into the lower hypersphere. The specimen themselves identify their plane with the term “dream”, which has something to do with their transliminal travel, as it was found recently. There are reasons to believe that a part of their entity is anchored to Nirn, as this could be the most plausible explanation for aspect points, through which most specimens disappear during the day.

Spirits and specters of the Axis, attracted by the streams magic, hail from Oblivion - a dark void that surroundings of the Axis. Some of them are harmless. The rest is as ruthless and unpredictable as the Lunatics themselves, fallen under the stream influence. They dwell in lower sectors, craving lifeforce, svcking it out from other unfortunate beings; deteriorating their own flesh over time, until acts of absorption do more harm to them, than to their prey. As spirit loses its form, it is cast back into Oblivion. From its remains a piece of ectoplasm can be acquired. Ectoplasm, influenced by the stream magic, has unusual properties, and is currently being studied in our Mages Guild.

The daedra, very much alike spirits, are attracted by the stream magic, but mostly are immune to its effects, which leaves us wondering about their motives. Possibly, spies of more powerful daedric lords, they scout the Axis. Their unyielding interest in Ratville should be noted, as waves of atronachs are constantly appearing in our shifts. It is still widely argued, whether the Axis itself could be a daedric origin. Therefore, the subject remains mostly unknown.

The creatures that also need to be noted are not exactly creatures we are accustomed to. The manifestations of Axis planes, the “dreams” of their masters. This group consists of inanimate objects, that somehow acquired lifeforces, and other golem-like objects that come in all forms and shapes. Sometimes so unrecognizable, they are often mistaken for other creatures and objects, thus proven virtually unclassifiable.

And, as the final paragraph, it is important to note the species your humble author belongs to. One of the proud inhabitants of Ratville - the Rat kin. Our history has been previously described in the first tome of this chronicle, but, as a conclusion for the second, the Rats are a unique, independent tribe, that inhabits our Axis.

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Axis. Volume Three. Metaphysics

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From the standpoint of metaphysics and mysticism - the stream represents a ray of morpholith, cutting its way through Oblivion. Dissolving a part of morpholith, beings and planes are attracted to the stream and form an Axis - a chaotic accumulation of objects. The planes movements, relative one to another and to the flow, cause a shift, taking in some objects from their planes and mixing them. Such shifts may be caused by creatures that have a sufficient amount of morpholith available, to form a connection with the flow. Cases were observed, where spirits, full of stream magic, opened portals and shifted to the neighbouring planes where they felt lifeforce.

A slowdown in movement of the planes was noticed after sunrise and sunset - from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. respectively. At this time, the plane displacement can be approximated by a three-dimensional coordinate system. This is used when opening portals to other planes, especially to sector Ayem - point zero, еру closest to the stream. With one portal directly and constantly opened in the stream to Ayem-Ayem, a second channel of the Hunters Guild is anchored to the shift channel, and an anchor is sent through, held in a five-dimensional space in Ayem sector at some distance from the stream to avoid being drifted. Then, having constant communication with the stream through the main portal, secondary portals are opened around it, leading to planes that are currently studied. Unfortunately, the system is not quite refined and secondary portals in the Hunters Guild exhibit a four-dimensional characteristic when opened. A major achievement was to provide a stable three-dimensional opening at the other end, ensuring safe traffic during abovementioned hours. Overall, the only place near the stream, which could hold a permanent portal, remains at Ayem-Ayem point, even though it is in five-dimensional space.

The main source of magic capable of portal management is still the crystallized morpholith in our plane, where Ratville is. At this point nothing else can be synthesized, but work is being done over samples of saturated ectoplasm, collected in the Hunters Guild from spirits, crawling out of the portals. Crystallized morpholith on other planes has similar properties, but, as in this one, is fixed in one point on the plane, and gives away only a small portion of its substance during the contact.

The basics of portal management with crystallized morpholith are not about harnessing its magic, but rather about directing spells at it, reorienting shifts that exist on given plane.

Unlike the inhabitants of the planes drawn to the stream, there is no Nirn-assosiated point for rats, and rematerialization happens directly in the stream. So the only way to get a stable rematerialization point, is to tie with a powerful enchantment the essence of one to a crystallized morpholith on one of the planes. Enchanting moves the specimen from the stream into the Ratville source hall via morpholith, which is an inverted process, and further crystallizes the morpholith. The direct process - moving a subject from the point of connection into the stream promotes the dissolution of morpholith in the plane. Long-term termination of connection point usage contributes to that as well.

Spontaneous magic emission from a morpholith can be used to generate shifts, but it’s too strong and takes too long to accumulate it, which hinders regular usage. But the recent studies show that a piece of crystallized morpholith is transported with the subject through all offset distance and persists even after that, merging with the subject. It is reasonable to assume that it can be transported with the subject through the Nirn-assosiated point of connection, if the shift will go directly from the morpholith to the point of connection, which is usually the default direction, as the morpholith crystallizes only on planes with a regularly used connection point.

As it was stated above, the portal shift travel is possible due to a stable morpholith connection with the Ayem-Ayem point in the stream. This point is a buffer that prevents further movement along the stream. All associated planes intersect there, as the shifts are made. Disclosure of reasons for Ayem-Ayem point occurrence would be an enormous leap forward for the current cosmology, since its existence does not allow us to triangulate the end point of the stream, if one exists.

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Axis. Volume Four. Cosmology

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The Axis' Cosmology confronts problems in not as to establishing the exact coordinates of the planes, bus also in classifying them by location. For the triangulation of exact coordinates of the plane, it is advised to apply superintendent to the local portal.

As you probably know, the center of Axis is a stream that consists of a beam of morpholith. Recent calculations determine that the base of the beam is somewhere in Nirn. But whether there is a second base and whether it actually is a beam, remains unknown due to Ayem-Ayem point existence in the stream, which obscures further parts of the flow and doesn’t allow having an exact trajectory for observation. Hence, cosmology is focused on a detailed study of this point to determine its properties. Calculations, available at this moment, allow us to situate with high certainty the point Ayem-Ayem as the nearest, however, non-contacting, point of the stream to Quagmire.

In the heart of Axis lies the Ayem sector, which has a five-dimensional space with the usual three coordinates, the fourth showing one of the levels of a multilayer sphere, as well as the fifth coordinate, which shows the changes in time. Ayem sectors’ central point is the aforementioned Ayem-Ayem. Though an observational point of view depicts the stream at Ayem-Ayem as a three-dimensional beam, it is actually an expansion of its four-dimensionality and movement along with the flow in any direction, concludes to repositioning oneself in the Axis without any possibility of escape. This discovery led to the currently utilized angular system.

Planes beyond sector Ayem are randomly arranged, having a structure similar to three-dimensional, though, at times, the space there varies, depending on certain time periods. The planes can be classified by their proximity to the stream, thus dividing Axis into sectors, which represent a rough approximation of spheres, with different radius and center point in Ayem-Ayem. The sectors are identified by their distance from the center. Sector Bedt is the closest, and though no planes were observed there, certain activity still exists throughout it. Sector Yakem is the furthest, it holds pseudostable planes.

As stated above - no planes were registered in Bedt, but some creatures use it as an intermediate point between Ayem and Cess sectors. Several moving objects were observed, that are classified as plane scraps left from Ayem creation.

Sector Cess has the most turbulent of known planes. But it's worth noting that it is possible to control shifts there to some extent. A transition from five-dimensional space to simpler forms takes place. Powerful Axis magic, distorting the Cess sector, gives plane owners some rather unusual properties. Individuals, who did not slip into Lunacy, exert control over their planes to some extent. Is this the consequence or the cause of their immunity currently remains unknown.

The outer limits of Doht sector compose a border; the plane becomes unstable while crossing it and parts of its shift to Ayem. Quite often, along with plane scraps, creatures that live on it are captured as well. Most Lunatics are formed as a result of such biases.

The following sectors up to Meht have lasting effects of the stream, which decrease with distance. Consequently, creature activity reduction is also proportional to the distance. Ongoing Axis creature studies show that the majority of them are accumulated in Ayem, Cess and Doht and decreases outward, up to the fact that no extraneous life-forms were found in Meht, other than natural plane inhabitants. Sector Bedt is an exception due to the reasons stated above.

Sector Yakem is the most remote location from the stream with the presence of morpholith on its planes. Ratville was based in the first plane detected in this sector, registered as Yakem-Ayem. Originally, this sectors activity has been incredibly low. However, our shift manipulations seem to have given rise to some imbalance on several planes. In particular, it concerns the plane Yakem-Bedt, on which there is a stable portal to Ayem sector. Unusually strong morpholith dissolution was detected, as well as a disappearance of the Nirn connection point. Assumptions dictate that it was caused by the multiple shifts, opened during the movement of our people through that plane to Ratville, but this point of view has not subsequently been confirmed.

The most distant area where shifts were indicated is registered as Zyr sector. In fact, this is an Oblivion void, the spirits' abode. Here, they penetrate into the Axis through the shifts, attracted by stream magic.