Expanse
The Expanse
The Expanse is the farthest point I have been able to reach with the power of the Primordial guiding me. In this place, the oldest, unnamed forces of our realities are locked in tireless battle. I can sense immensely vast and terrible shapes, but they boil before my vision like smoke just under the surface of a lake at midnight. Opalescent masses rises from the depths; they are without form but not lacking in presence. Their combat feels ancient, unceasing, primal. Thundering majesty locked in a struggle that is cold and fierce.
These masses have intelligence; it is cold and unfeeling. Good and Evil have no meaning. At the dawn of time flecks of consciousness were dashed upon the Expanse. Some of these fragments escaped the hunger of the Expanse. Where they drifted, I do not know. I do know they took an aspect of The Expanse with them, and the Expanse came to know of consciousnesses elsewhere because of the exchange.
I can not linger in this place, for as I bear witness to this eternal struggle, I become known. All manner of strange vision begins to tear at my consciousness. The madness starts its procession.
The Elsewhere, The Expanse, The Old Ones
As I gathered with friends to teach and share time, a terrible site visited us. The silver figure of a lady approached us, hurling vitriol and venom. As quickly as the tempest crashed over us, it receded from our shores. Has madness claimed someone so close to me? Let us hope that this is not the case.
I have done what I can to circulate the Cosmology of the Planes now that it has been printed; with each dream, these teachings may expose new minds to it. I hear tongues attempting to pass on information to each other, and though they are often fumbling and confused, the attempts are noble. Dreamers must come to understand the Elsewhere and the various planes that comprise the universe our dream reality exists in.
Though all dreamers must educate themselves with cosmological knowledge, it should be known I do not control the subject matter. I may intuit the language of various planes; I may cross boundaries most cannot; I may even wield eldritch powers for myself. None of these things should indicate that I am in league with, or friendly towards, any particular entity of The Elsewhere.
We are experiencing conjunction of Madness and Shadow. When Wishbringer was Dreamstruck, in that instant, something swapped places with him. A manifestation of an Old One. An Old One is an entity of The Expanse. The Expanse is the most distant and treacherous plane of our universe. I cannot stress enough how important it is to properly understand the more extraordinary workings of our planar cosmology to more than a rudimentary level before one attempts more advanced expressions of the field. Some are trying to do, or intend to do, cannot and will not be done without significant risk to themselves and those assisting them.
When I speak of risk, I do not do so, having not experienced it myself. During the Festival of Tentacles, the Old One we had previously encountered decided to manifest once more. After a brief communication period and sharing what message we took away with those who had gathered for the festival, we were cast out. Through The Elsewhere, we tumbled, falling through one doorway after another until finally, I found the scattered essences of Wishbringer adrift on a splintered respite crossroad.
I count myself blessed by the opportunities which have been afforded me. Those experiences prepared me for the ejection the Old One visited upon myself and The Scarred One. I genuinely fear for those throwing themselves into the seams of reality on their quest for heroics. I appreciate their enthusiasm and zeal, and yet I know they will lose much if they are careless. We stand between The Elders and Madness, and through these trials we now face, we find the key to our ascension.
The Matron
