Sub-Realms

Sub-realms are parallel dimensions, layered atop and within reality, the warp and each other. They are typically highly specific and operate under different laws of physics, or implicit assumptions of what “works” within them, ensuring that no two sub-realms are the same or in fact hold drastic differences.

Furthermore, things that exist within one sub-realm cannot safely leave it, as the different assumptions and laws would mean that it's very make up does not work. Simultaneously entering a sub-realm is extremely difficult. It is suspected doing so may have something to do with mentality, but as most things with sub-realms absolutes are rare.

Sub-realms can be split into two categories, the very common natural and the rarer, but usually more potent artificial.

## “Natural” realms

“Natural” realms can be found anywhere and run the gamut of nature from the primal warp, to a 2D realm and hundreds of varieties of mirror realms. Notably these sub-realms are seemingly infinite in size, although most have little life within them. Perhaps for obvious reasons Avernus seems to prioritise the few sub-realms that have large amounts of natural life. Simultaneously it seems to expand into these sub-realms for additional space to grow and conduct highly specific, if very useful, experiments.

### The Infinite Void

Almost certainly the same realm the Necrons use via their transdimensional beamers, this space is quite literally a giant space of nothingness save for the occasional piece of falling debris. There is almost nothing there and finding it would be nearly impossible if it did not have a strange quirk of almost eagerly dragging entities into itself. Leaving is far harder.

The World discovered the Void through the Traveller and while it uses the realm in a similar manner to the Necrons, for the disposal of things it can no longer reuse, the utility of that dimension surpasses just that.

It is a completely safe space for the World to conduct energetic experiments as well as infinite amounts of empty space for the world to build into. It has seemingly constructed sophisticated facilities here, as well as back up functions, dangerous storage facilities, research labs and sophisticated processing stations.

In addition, it has likely been researching how to replicate the Trans-dimensional beamer, as understanding Necron tech has been a very long term goal of its and the beamer is unique in its capacity as a weapon that utilises a sub-realm in such a manner.

### A Realm of Reverse

Many sub-realms are far more eldritch, this one is significantly more horrific by conventional beings. Essentially it is an existence where what is organic and what is not are reversed. Living things are made entirely of metal and stone, while planets are lumps of flesh, or trees. It is a strange reality to allow these things to exist, but the World seems to have taken it in stride, having created and even transplanted several modified metallic life forms to itself.

### The Primal Warp

The most frequently accessed sub-dimension, that often has a long place in the histories of most species that have even the vaguest inclination towards psychic abilities. It is a place of primordial nature and life, that clusters most strongly around untouched planets but can be found almost everywhere in some form or another. In general, it seems to be the most pervasive sub-realm in the galaxy.

### Data Point-1

Known to humans as the Noospheric realm, this place long predates humanity and the World. It may have always existed as long as the universe has, a place where data and computerised logic represent all things, or maybe it came into being when the first entity conceived of such an existence. Either way it is one of the oldest, most well explored and has one of the highest populations out of any sub-realm. In fact it has been explored by the world and numerous other species, acting almost as a counter to the brutal naturalism of the primal warp. It is known that there are deeper secrets to this place, ones the world does not know.

### Pictures in Motion

Sometimes called the Abstraction world, where it is impossible to perceive things as they are, but only as composites of the what they represent. A hammer in that world is not a hammer, it would be seen as the idea of a tool with connections to things affiliated with that, like construction. Notably this does not change *what* a hammer is. It is still a hammer, not any other kind of tool, nor does it become a better or even different hammer. It is probable this dimension was the baseline and inspiration for one of the Traveller’s more advanced sub-dimension, and in the modern era is used to examine the World’s creations to ensure they are what they appear to be or see what they are missing so they can become what they should be.

### Gas Tanker

One of a group of realms known as the “state plains” this sub-realm where all states of matter save for gas do not exist naturally. Instead it is packed with a strange eco system of gaseous entities, energy beings and *slightly*more traditional creatures that one may see in residence in a gas giant’s upper atmosphere. Some of these beings are utterly massive in scope, but usually are rather docile and placid. Much like the Void the world has expanded into this dimension, experimenting on new substances enabled by the strange laws of this realm and carefully examining, while occasionally transplanting interesting examples of this realm’s fauna and flora.

The World also uses it for harvesting as raw resources when needed, and experimentation with types of material that physically cannot *be*gases or only exist as gases under normally very rare circumstances

### Solid Storage

Another state plain, this realm is that of solids. No gas, liquids or otherwise occur here naturally, which made even opening a portal fraught with trial and error. Eventually a space was cleared into the realm for the first time and excavation of a base began.

Much like its predecessor this realm does have native inhabitants, mostly various lithoids. The world has expanded this diversity considerably with the introduction of plants and fungi adapted to live without light and water, or in some areas the opposite and produce those things themselves as well as an assortment of burrowing animals to gradually expand the tunnels.

Much like its fellows, the area is very useful for experimenting with impossible solids as well as for raw resources, particularly to a being that has long since mastered transmutation and requires raw mass more than anything.

### Glass of Liquid

The third state realm, in a similar mould to the previous two, but perhaps most valuable. As the mid state between solid and gas there are many substances that have extreme, but ultimately conventionally possible states as one or the other, but lack the same for a liquid. Within this realm they exist and have given the world considerable inspiration and deadly new tools.

### Plasma’s Storm

The final state realm of ionized atoms, this dimension was the last discovered by the Traveller, with the world continuing to establish infrastructure and fully experiment with the realm. Due to its nature, the planet has been rushing to both experiment in and exploit the realm for power and to further study its nature, especially visa vi the C’tan and stars. Ironically it has fewer needs to study it for insight into the natural world as it had effectively created a smaller version of the realm in the Cavern’s plasma ocean. However, the World is not one to pass up an opportunity and has moved breeding populations of many of those creatures into the Plasma’s Storm, taking advantage of the larger area to breed and drastically increase its numbers of monsters such as plasma kraken.

### 2D Caffuffle

A sub-realm most minds were not intended for, as we may be able to perceive 2 dimensions from a 3D perspective, we are not supposed to live in it or vice versa. Nevertheless, this dimension exists and though only a few creatures have been made in it, and even fewer moved to the materium, they are apparently remarkably dangerous just to perceive.

### Mirror Mirror

Reflective dimensions were already mentioned and they exist as some of the most common forms of sub-dimension. Sometimes they are extremely simple, such as merely swapping left and right like a mirror does, others take the concept in a more literal direction.

However, far more benign are the “funhouse” dimensions, where proportions are distorted like unto a funhouse mirror. Anything that exists in these realms has to abide by grotesque proportions, which in turn allows the world to create creatures that possess these traits without needing to add additional aids. From there it will experiment until they can retain these traits outside their mirror realm.

### Fear Itself

Amongst the most dangerous Sub-realms, this universe is bleak and is based around terror. There are few naturally occurring creatures within it, but they are universally masters of illusion, shapeshifting and to an extent psychology, acting to break their enemies will power before supping upon them. They are aided by the sub-realm itself, which serves to amplify the fears of those that enter it, while constantly seeking to undermine their confidence and courage in ways both great and small.

According to the Ancient One, this sub-realm has ancient history behind it, as its denizens once attempted to devour the galaxy before they were defeated and sealed off temporarily by the Old Ones, during the so called Plague of Metus. The Old Ones eventually defeated Metus and one of their number volunteered to remain permanently in the sub-dimension and guide its denizens. This was many hundreds of millions of years ago now and of those original inhabitants and the Old One there is no sign.

The World uses this realm as a proving ground for many of its invention’s will power and for the creation of deadly, fear-based monsters.

## Artificial Sub-Realms

“Artificial realms” are elusive and much smaller. It seems that specific types of god can create highly themed realms via the investment of large amounts of power, a trait primarily associated with divine afterlives. Otherwise it is very rare to encounter an artificial sub-realm under most circumstances.

The Webway falls into this categorisation as does the Geomantic web, but Avernus has availed itself of the Traveller to construct numerous ones that allow it to engage in otherwise impossible experiments, and eventually translate those experiments into reality. Furthermore, some have been used to augment the World personally, increasing its capabilities in various ways.

As might be expected, unlike natural subdimensions, artificial ones are far smaller as they need to be actively expanded.

With the Traveller absent it is known that a species of Avernite Guardian maintains these subrealms, likely the Border Lions, but they will not admit to it.

### Stygia

The First of the Artificial Realms made by the World, Stygia appears as an underground cavern shrouded in mystery. It was made with no defined purpose, save to be more easily accessible than is normal for a sub-realm and can be theoretically entered directly from the caverns unlike just about any other realm. As a result, it has had numerous creatures end up living in it, building atop one another over time as they eventually succumb to one doom or another. At the same time, a vast ecosystem of the strange (if not necessarily the malign) has been built up over time.

It is thought that the World might allow those of the People that it is forced to attack, but it does not wish to, respite here, thanks to a loophole in its commands. However, none know the origin of this rumour and most dismiss it.

While entering Stygia is easy, to the point of being something that can be done by accident, leaving it is another matter entirely. It is known it is possible, but extremely difficult and dangerous, with those who have succeeded left muttering about a light.

### The Geomantic Web

Already elaborated on in other areas, the Geomantic web is the power source of the world, an overflowing, invisible yet ever-present wellspring, fueled by the unknown mechanisms of the Lizardmen and the World Serpent. Existing at the 7th of 8 possible levels of scale, the Web has not been exempt from the World’s experiments\*, with numerous creatures existing in that dimension of pure energy, feeding off of it in preparation of when the World calls them.

### Infinities Playground

Likely based upon the abstract realm, this takes that sub-dimension and makes it as literal as possible. All that exists here are concepts made real, honour, justice, hope, despair, anger and more. By combining these ideas together one can create a more complex or specialised concept or change its relative intensity.

As an example a combination of Bravery and Honour will result in the ideal of Chivalry, a subsequent dilution of greed would change it from being the embodiment of knightly virtue incarnate to merely living towards that idea.

Effectively if the World or one of its dedicated designers can conceptualise a creature it will be able to make it here. Similarly, improvements that are impossible outside can also be applied within the realm, making it an excellent location for research and development.

An even more complex task is the weaving together of concepts not quite to the same degree as combining them, but instead aligning them to tell a story. However, the final effect of these stories is unpredictable even for the World.

The Playground’s concepts can also be applied directly to already existing creatures. A simple example would be giving the concept of invulnerability, which for a brief time would make the creature just that.

The issue is that concepts rapidly degrade once removed from the environment of the sub-realm and do so faster the less “literal” they are. Furthermore, a sufficiently powerful entity can overcome a concept that is not sufficiently literal. Within this sub-realm as with most these restrictions do not apply and a being with sufficient knowledge of how to use the realm to their advantage is almost as powerful as it can imagine.

It is suspected this is where the World hides the Wish Maker, as the Great One’s skills are almost tailor-made for this sub-realm, as well as amplifying its abilities massively. It would be a fools errand to attack it within.

### Unfolding Aether’s Gift

Probably the simplest sub-realm by far and certainly the second largest, the Gift is designed to exactly replicate the conditions of the void. This is in of itself a complex process, as perfecting the conditions of outer space and then making them variable while lacking in volume and most celestial bodies is a tricky affair, but the end result seems to have been successful. It seems to be the complexity of space’s make up (from radiation to miniscule matter particles) which accounts for the World not using the Void for the same purpose.

In what is essentially a massive sphere of bent space the World creates void capable entities that cannot be created in normal dimensions due to restrictions on leaving its own atmosphere and lack of space anywhere else. The sub-realm allows it to fill the hole in its arsenal, assembling a combination of armada and ecosystem of assorted bio ships, some miniscule things big enough to be shuttles or even smaller, others reaching sizes associated with normal capital ships and before the tyranids a very small handful of behemoths managing to reach hundreds of kilometres.

The ecosystem within is bizarre and one of the more closely regulated ones, owing to lack of room;the total area within is only a little larger than the Avernus system itself which itself is the result of several travellers adding to the dimension over time, and the careful modulations to the environment that have to be made to create different biomes. The conditions of a nebula and those of a star are drastically different and the fact that they can be in close proximity to one another should be indicative of how unnatural this place is.

Like a majority of creatures invented within a sub-realm they are restricted in ability to leave the realm. While they have not been used in battle yet the matter that forms them would likely begin to deteriorate if they left their home as it is designed for the unique conditions that enable the experiments to make them. As such any completed designs must be essentially reverse engineered to work in the materium for long periods of time.

It is known that the World has completed several designs which can also be deployed without risk of destabilization as the Aether is one of its older sub-realms. However, all completed species are removed entirely from the Aether and it is unclear where they are. It is presumed that restrictions have the World keeping them in storage for now.

Following the acquisition of Hive Fleet Grabaknir’s Norn Queen, the Aether was flooded with new designs and upgrades based on or inspired by Tyranid. As well as a significant increase in general efficiency and especially speed and stealth, it also enabled a generation of extremely powerful if short-lived, close combat ships that benefit from immeasurable agility, stealth *and* a great degree of toughness. If the planet could fix their matter decomposition they would make for an excellent close engagement weapon. The addition of the Titan Tyranids has caused a similar rush, albeit focused in the opposite direction, with it working on growing several ships of even larger size than before.

### The Great Bulwark

Avernus’s ultimate defensive mode, constructed in the aftermath of the Great Incursion thirty million years ago. It is not known exactly what it consists of, save that with the possible exception of a few Eldar Dominion worlds it is the most impressive set of fortifications built since the War in Heaven. Constructed painstakingly with all the World’s incalculable resources, knowledge and the investment of several literally priceless “things” that even it cannot replicate.

Since then the Bulwark has been continually maintained and upgraded further until its defences are the strongest to have been constructed since the Old Ones themselves. Only the absolute best of the Old One’s world’s can be called its superior, mostly due to the benefit of being immeasurably older and having no restrictions on what could be built on it.

HWWO has admitted privately that he was almost tasked to kidnap Rogal Dorn by the World so his expertise could be applied to the Bulwark’s defences as the insight of one with a valid archetype was lacking, but that something came up and he was not able to.

At present the Bulwark is amongst Avernus’s most closely held secrets, it has not been deployed and it is liable that the World will not deploy it until absolutely necessary. Against the Dragon, Chaos and the Silent King that time seems to be approaching, particularly with the Slann’s resurrection on the line.

### Nature’s Horrific Embrace

Although nowhere near the first sub-realm to be created, assumptions of Avernus’s nature would logically suggest it is. The realm is one that is utterly devoted to enhancing life, its development and mutation. The ultimate melting pot of biological and psychological traits to the point it seems like a madcap parody of what Avernus’s usual surface is like.

There is almost constant fighting from an incalculable number of beings, some made specifically for this area, others brought in from the outside to test or enhance their might. Interestingly, this is rarely if ever done to peoples. Those that are brought in are exclusively tied to the primal warp in some fashion, to which this sub-realm seems to have close connections. A further strange facet of its nature is that warp beings are capable of sustaining themselves here as if it were the warp. It is not quite as if there is no difference, merely that it doesn’t matter for some reason.

Beyond its life-enhancing properties, this sub-realm’s effects manifest most notably in its impact upon metamorphosis/evolution, drastically accelerating both of these, while modifying the conditions under which they can occur, permitting the creation of derivative or drastically different creatures in a short period of time just by performing actions, consuming enemies etc.

Eventually, a particular monster will arise from this primordial battle that the World deems fit for something else and will be replicated for outside the realm. Furthermore creations that developed from beasts engineered specifically for here must be adapted to normal dimensions first as normal. Many of the creations that reach this stage will typically remain in the Caverns for a long period of time, being subjected to extensive controlled experimentation and refinement.

The vast majority of the World’s creations are not from this realm, although some of the strongest, such as the primordial version of the Bunyip, do. It seems there are other, unknown criteria for it to deposit an animal species within, potentially linked to whether the World thinks its strength could be markedly improved by exposure. Furthermore, there are some strange creatures that are believed to have originated here (the Frozen Flesh for example), which might imply there is something more dangerous to them that we are missing.

This sub-realm recently underwent a slew of paradigm shifts. First, the introduction of Grabaknir, which caused a sudden wave of original creatures and improvements to old ones to be introduced. Combined with the new developmental pathways *and* more advanced genetic engineering tools extracted from the Norn Queen, turned this sub-realm into an arena of bloodshed that had not been seen since its inception.

Far more recently the same is happening again as the World makes progress in reverse-engineering the Titanic Tyranids, but far more importantly with the Krootoids.

The Kroot’s shaping abilities are legendary for being unique in the wider galaxy, and the World seems to have taken this capacity and decided to test how it would function under *amplified* conditions. We will have to see exactly what is produced, but the World is apparently being deluged in highly viable, utterly terrifying monsters.

### The Forge Unending

Simultaneously the most functional and amongst the most important of the sub-realms the Forge is the domain of Providence, the Great One of Creation. The Forge is not primarily an artificer’s workplace but rather focused on the making and manipulation of matter.

It is designed so that with very little energy expenditure, new matter can be created ex nihilo. On its own, this is not a particularly useful addition as the World has other, less efficient, means of making matter to burn off energy.

What is different about the Forge is that what it creates is actual matter, not pseudo matter, designed to conform exactly to the sub-realm. A block of gold generated within it can be removed and it *is* normal gold. It reacts like gold can be used as gold and could only be distinguished from “normal” gold through a remnant of psychic essence that dissipates with time.

With that in mind, with the Forge one can “shape” the generated matter in any conceivable way, affecting it with the gravetic force of a black hole, before cooling it to absolute zero and applying vast amounts of pressure to it. This process takes more energy but allows the World to produce so many strange materials just based on their physical properties. Technically speaking these can be removed the same as normal materials, but practically speaking almost all require some kind of psycic or advanced material tech to keep them intact.

Psychic effects can also be applied here with a particularly intricate example combining a concept from the Playground with a material of the Forge to generate a more stable potent whole. Indeed some concepts and materials cannot be imbued at all in any other setting circumstances, leading to the Forge having a significant number of conceptual items inhabiting it. Furthermore, it has apparently been building up a stockpile of a substance called Sublime Silver for a very long time.

However, the most energy-intensive function of the Forge is the creation of matter that should be impossible by all known laws of the materium and warp. The World can then combine it with psycic effects to enhance it further and render it materially stable.

Subsequently, the World has to reverse engineer or work around this substance to actually use it, and has a significant backlog of substances millions of years long. Some are not even its own creations, like some Necron materials and the flesh/scales of the World Serpent, which the Planet has spent a very long fraction of its life trying and failing to understand.

A finished example of these designs can be seen in the nigh-indestructible metal that forms The Eternal, which supposedly had access to more potent abilities before it was sealed away.

The compromises for this highly useful capacity are size, energy efficiency and time. This sub-realm is likely the smallest, which limits the amount it can produce at any one time. Furthermore, while making normal matter uses a negligible amount of power, as the effects and creations grow more complex the amount almost exponentially increases. Finally making more advanced materials is a painstaking, complex affair that requires direct supervision from an entity like Providence itself to ensure nothing goes catastrophically wrong.

### The Constant Dream

For the Old Ones a goal that was forever beyond their reach was Faster Than Light travel, or rather FTL that did not rely on the warp. Between the webway, teleportation and primordial warp drives they certainly had created FTL that was faster than their wildest dreams, but it was reliant on the Sea of Souls to function. Yet despite the Old Ones immense knowledge and skill this dream seemed doomed to forever be just that.

Then came the Necrons and the C’tan, the latter of which had their own methods of non-warp based FTL and the Necrons for their own part invented the Inertialess drive. It may have been slower than any equivalent warp based method by a considerable degree, but it was utterly independent of the warp and so utterly complex that the Old Ones could not reverse engineer it even with examples. The Necron’s black boxing certainly played a role as well. Nevertheless, the Old Ones attempted regardless and when they finally vanished for good, passed their notes and observations on to the Planet who resumed their inquiries.

The Constant Dream was amongst the first three sub-realms made by the Traveller exactly for this purpose and it sacrifices almost everything for two traits. Size and the ability to allow FTL.

It is the largest sub-realm by far and within it the laws of reality are tweaked to allow objects to reach FTL speeds while allowing observation of how “conventional” laws react in response. While the World has expanded its definition of FTL to include things like wormholes, its primary goal has remained achieving the acceleration of an object past the speed of light and beyond without it being destroyed, experiencing time dilation or violating the laws of the materium to...mixed success.

It can with almost 100% consistency reach these goals, *just* below lightspeed. In a few cases, it has even managed to reach them at light speed, albeit inconsistently. However, it has never successfully gone over light speed and satisfied all or even two of them. There is something about the nature of FTL that not even its makers understood which is needed first.

However, with recent insights gained into the nature of blanks and the C’tan as well as access to already jailbroken Necron technology through the Necrodermis Tyranids it is beginning to step up investigations again, although it cannot prioritise this due to the coming incursion.

For the incursion, it is likely that this sub-realm will play little role, although the alternative FTL methods it has discovered such as wormhole generation might and there is potential for it to allow one of the objects going at FTL to exit aimed at an enemy.

### The Grand Mind

As long as it is to aid its personal defence or enhance its research efforts then the World can investigate or make it. The specifics are far stranger and opaque to us, but that is the general theme behind many of the World’s restrictions and it has grown quite adept at stretching them to their limit.

The Grand Mind is one such limit, not a direct laboratory but essentially an augmentation to the World’s own mind. The specifics are unknown to us, as it relates to the exact nature of the Planet itself. What we do know is that the sub-realm is large enough to contain a star and is extremely dangerous to enter as existence begins to warp drastically as whatever is within this place thinks.

Since its construction, the World’s capacity to process and experiment has increased dramatically, substantially boosting the speed at which it examines data and allowing it to split equal attention to even more simultaneous projects.

Currently, its priorities have been changed from several longer-term projects to the immediate future, focusing on harvesting several long fruits long left to ripen while cultivating research tasks that will give immediate, significant benefits the first being the Titan Tyranids.

### Numbers Maketh All

The newest Sub-Realm and likely the most complex by far, to the point that it is certainly not an original creation of our World’s but one recreated by a Traveller whose Planet had a breakthrough and traded it to ours.

It is a realm that abides by mathematical axioms applied literally and instantly to reality with all that implies. Its simplest usage is as an additional supercomputer for the world’s other research and to gain a better understanding of mathematical principles which govern the Materium.

However, it is its research into “brute force” applications of the realm that are yielding more terrifying results. The World has created “living equations.” Semi physical representations of mathematics that can be applied to another existence and then actuate their equation. For example, applying \*0 would instantly obliterate that thing from existence absolutely regardless of what it was. A variation of f (x) = a x, would multiply a characteristic such as strength exponentially and so on.

Understandably such a potent resource has hard limits on what it can do. Outside of their sub-realm living equations, decay at a rapid rate which makes them a resource to be carefully managed given that the World can only have so many. Furthermore, they are difficult to apply to beings like the Ancient One or World Serpent. However, specifically, this is for ones that *enhance* their strength. Although they can resist them better than most ones that weaken them or would kill them are far easier to add. Even with these problems, a single application of a well-selected equation can turn even the meekest Nog into a nearly unstoppable force, albeit for only a short time.