Phase

A **Phase** is a layer of reality that, upon application over the world, can act like a filter and change how the world appears to be. Multiple Phases make up the surface of the world.

## Summary

The world, as it is normally perceived, is not pure and untouched. Various layers, or Phases, wrap around the planet's surface and act like filters, affecting how it appears. By applying new Phases over it or manipulating the existing ones, the world can be altered.

Many religions (Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintō, etc.) which have arisen throughout history have had the effect of applying various Phases to the world. An entire pantheon of gods can apply new Phases over the world or manipulate existing ones, and the gods, in accordance to the Ancient Laws, only exert their influence within the layer of reality they had created. It is estimated that the world contains as many Phases as there are divine legends and religions.

### World of Steel

It is believed that a 'pure world' exists beyond all Phases, nicknamed by philosophers and mystics alike as the **World of Steel**. It is a world untouched and unaffected by religion - A world of science where the pure physical laws reign supreme, and magic is nothing but the product of imagination. The mystics believed that the only way to interact with the World of Steel is to destroy all the Phases above it, leaving behind nothing but a magicless reality.

## Characteristics

Many Phases have different forms of energy locked within them which can be brought out through various means. Some of them may also hold lifeforms, often in the form of energy masses that closely resemble beings from legends. When a Phase is cut through, the energy stored within the Phase is released and manifests itself as a figure of calamity from that mythology or religion, representing the evil imprisoned by the gods brought forth once the domain of the gods and their protection is removed.

In addition, the distances between the Phases are not even and the gaps between them change irregularly on a daily basis. As the overlapping Phases contact and collide with one another, sparks of energy contained within the Phases are released into the world. The sparks and spray produced by Phase collisions have a thin, but widespread, influence on the world and its people, affecting fortune and misfortune. With the use of magic, particularly those involving unified theories such as Hermeticism, the Phases are gathered and collide even more, making sparks more frequent and influence probability of certain events.

The effects of an individual Phase on the world and the effects of the Phases being manipulated are not usually perceived by most people, though there are beings who can detect them, including ones capable of influencing them. However, when the world is changed due to the manipulation of the Phase, most of its inhabitants have no idea that the world has been changed, truly believing that the world is the same as always. The only people that have continuous memories of all the worlds as the Phases are manipulated are the divinities and those of ethereal lineages. Beings who are neither living nor dead are believed to not be directly or completely affected by the changing Phases of the world, though they may be indirectly influenced.

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* Phases are closely linked to the use of magic.
* Different planets have different Phases applied onto them.
* Many (if not all) mythological events happened within different Phases, unaffected by the common reality that most people lived in, though enough exposure happened for them to be recorded in religions and mythologies. From wars between the gods that shattered both the skies and earth, to ancient lineages tracing back to the original humans, to great floods that left only a handful of survivors - All of them were possible without the destruction of the world thanks to Phases.
* When the Age of Gods ended, different Phases started to blend together, with a bit more resistance from isolated places, until it collectively formed into today's Phase, known simply as the Human Phase.
* Terrae Incognitae are seen as intermediate points, for they are places where different layers of reality intersected - Located on both worlds but belonging to none. Crossing the borders can easily take one to the world of myths as it is to the world of men.
* It is possible for certain individuals and artifacts of immense power to alter, weave, or remove Phases. There are also 'linchpins' which prevent Phases from peeling away from the planet's surface and fasten the outer layer of the world. Examples for these artifacts include King Arthur's Rhongomyniad and Sun Wukong's Ruyi Jingu Bang.