The Void: Domain of The Outsider

## The Void

The Void is an alternate dimension in the world that 'hungers for a representational, godlike entity', The Outsider being its current divine inhabitant. It consists of a series of floating islands in an organic and chaotic state, which contain uncanny representations of real world locales held in suspended animation.

While the purpose of the Void is not entirely clear, those who have studied it or even claimed to visit it have remarked *'The Void sometimes has a divine entity, and sometimes does not. Some last for thousands of years. Sometimes the gap between them lasts as long. Each takes on the attributes of the time or process that made them.'* However, it is unknown what other divinities have existed in the Void before The Outsider and how they were destroyed. These beings, it is theorised, can be unmade in many ways, including by fading, abdicating, deicide, being accidentally destroyed, and being reclaimed by the Void.

There exist cults of devotees on the fringes of society who worship the Void. Approximately 4,000 years ago, on the edges of the Void, The Outsider was made in a ritual by cultists who saw signs of his representational capacity. When his mortal life was brought to an end, he was "merged in part with the Void" and reborn a god. The site of his transfiguration remains intact and serves as a vault of power, which others are able to harness.

It is suggested that there is an otherworldly connection between the material world and the Void; events that take place within the natural world can appear as still scenes within the Void, such as the death of Jessamine Kaldwin and the abduction of Emily Kaldwin, according to Corvo's reports of having visited the Void several times.

There are various means of reaching the Void. While some are brought into the Void in their dreams, the dimension can be accessed directly from the natural world, as evidenced by individuals such as Daud and Delilah Copperspoon. Outsider shrines also act as momentary conduits between the natural world and the Void, as individuals are brought into the Void when runes are taken from the shrine alters.

## The Outsider

The Outsider is a mysterious, morally ambiguous supernatural being, neither good nor evil. He usually appears to people of interest as a plain-looking young man with short dark hair and black eyes.

Though many people worship him, such is considered heresy by the Abbey of the Everyman and punishable by extreme measures, up to and including death. Created to be the Void's representational figure, he appears to be the source of all magic in the world, and his shrines can be found across the Isles.

The Outsider was born over 4000 years before the events Jessamine's assassination. He lived as a human outcast with no known family in a long forgotten and ruined city. When he was fifteen, he was sought and taken by the Envisionned, a cult who saw in him all signs to become one with the Void, notably his age and obscure shreds of prophecy.

The cultists brought him to the Void through a place where the boundary of the ethereal world is the thinnest. There, they prepared him for a ritual: he was bathed and dressed in painted clothes, his eyes painted over, his hands were adorned with golden rings and he was drugged with potions and smokes that made him forget his memories, including his own name and age.

He was then restrained to a sacred Altar in a deeper layer called the Ritual Hold by the cultists. There, they slit his throat with the Twin-bladed Knife and he 'merged in part with the Void'. A spiritual image of him was turned into the god-like being known as The Outsider, an inhabitant of the Void. His physical body remained in the Ritual Hold, cast in stone as he was screaming in pain, unable to move or even speak, immortal to anything but the Twin-bladed Knife that created him. His name was also eternally lost to him, which was essential to the ritual.

Upon attaining godhood, The Outsider became a being of insatiable curiosity about what people do when given power over others, spurring him to appear to those he finds 'interesting'. The Outsider decides whether to make contact with these individuals through their dreams or during prayers at his shrines. He can brand them with his mark to link them with the Void through him and grant them Supernatural Abilities. He only chooses people in whom he sees a potential to change the world.

## Supernatural Abilities

Supernatural abilities are manifestations of the Void, channeled into the material world. When bestowed by The Outsider, mana is needed to perform abilities, and the amount required varies by the user's stamina and willpower. As such, supernatural abilities must be used with strategy and tact, and overuse of them will result in detrimental effects to the user, such as fatigue, madness, and even death.

### **Abilities**

There have been many wielders of supernatural abilities over the millennia, although The Outsider tends to only share his gifts with a handful of individuals every generation. It is unknown how many different gifts have been bestowed upon his favoured, and there may yet be undiscovered abilities but the below are among the ones documented.

Bend Time - An ability that allows the user to temporarily slow or stop time, during which they may move unhindered. It does not however freeze time, or make the user immune to weapons and other projectiles, even when time is slowed. Running into the path of one will cause the user to take the subsequent damage as usual, disrupting Bend Time before the power resumes.

Blink - An ability that allows the user to rapidly traverse mid-sized distances in an instant. Blink can be cast through glass surfaces, letting the user pass through windows, breaking them in the process.

Blood Briar - An ability that allows the user to summon semi-sentient, tendril-like vines, shaped by Void magic. They ensnare their targets, dragging them in and assailing them with a barrage of attacks, using their thorns to cut and bleed the target.

Dark Vision - An ability that allows the user to see creatures and important objects through walls, while also visually alerting them to the noises they make. While an incredibly useful gift for stealth purposes, it is said to be incredibly draining on the mind and body.

Domino - An ability that allows the user to link several human targets together so they will die or fall unconscious together, depending on how they are taken out. It is said to be another exhausting ability, and when in use, the user is unable to use any other powers.

Doppelgänger - An ability that allows the user to summon a duplicate of themselves which can be used to distract targets. If a target catches the Doppelgänger however, they will often realise it is not the real user, and begin the search for them. Doppelgängers will also not react to sound, meaning this ability should be used cautiously.

Eye Within - An ability that allows a user to see the souls of those around them laid bare, with their fears and their intentions revealed to user.

Fog Caller - An ability that allows a user to cause a thick fog to rise up from the ground around them, baffling their opponents and concealing their actions. When in use, the fog will obscure them from the vision of nearby individuals. The fog remains for a limited time, until strong winds disperse it, or until the user chooses to end it, whichever comes first.

Possession - An ability that allows the user to merge corporeally with creatures and control them, as well as other humans with more concentration. However, if the possessed host dies, the user will also die.

Pull - An ability that allows the user to lift and manipulate objects and bodies from afar. Pull can also be used to lift inanimate objects, particularly those out of reach, such as whale oil tanks, and collect and pilfer items such as coins and keys.

Shadow Kill - An ability, particularly dark in its use, that causes the bodies of murdered targets to turn to ash. Theorised to only be granted to those of a particularly bloodthirsty disposition.

Shadow Walk - An ability that allows a user to turn oneself into a dark, smoke-like state. A superb ability for stealth, although all action and movement is silent, the user is not invisible, and their trail may be picked up on. The user also cannot interact with physical objects during a Shadow Walk.

Thorns - An ability that allows a user to shoot several dark, dart-like projectiles from their hands in quick succession, which makes the ability dangerous in close combat as well as from a distance.

Windblast - An ability that allows the user to create powerful gusts of wind, with the force to slam targets into walls or other surfaces, and break down wooden doors. However, a user must be careful in its use, as not only can it damage nearby targets including innocents, but it can cause explosions in items such as barrels of whale oil, and propel the user back if forceful enough.