The Void

The Void is the space between universes within the Outsider Multiverse. The location itself is described by many as an eldritch hellscape and primordial soup, being both formless absence and the birthplace from which universes arise. The location is filled with eldritch substances/energies, and is completely devoid of any laws of physics or time and space. It is also a strange source of power, and the key to the process of Transcendence.

## Location

The aptly named Void is located outside of any given universe, and exists in regions without physical space to occupy it. There are different regions within the Void, but it is extremely difficult to quantify where or when a given universe is located within the hellscape due to the lack of any space or time to act as a reference point, except in relation to other universes. When an un-region of the Void forms some semblance of order and existence and thus a coherent set of physical laws, a universe is born. By the same token, when a universe dies, the space it once occupied is filled once more with absence, though traces can remain in the form of Protean Traces. Universes within the Void can drift and cluster into reefs and groups, and in turn these universal groups can form superclusters. Conversely, groups of universes and multiverses can be born within individual regions of the Void, often through the Pools of Possibility; regions that have spontaneously become ordered enough to give rise to (often multiple) realities. Travel between different universes is possible without transport through the Void (such as with wormholes), but the universes must in some way be connected or cosmologically touching/extremely close within the Void itself.

## Applications

The Void and the energies and substances contained within are extremely highly valued for their abilities to warp reality. Many forms of godtech utilise the Void, as do the Transcended and the Outer Gods. Raw Void protoplasm, when used without any filters or focuses is highly hostile to reality, warping and destroying space and time while replacing them with nothing. Put through a focus, such as the will of a Transcended or Outer God, and Void protoplasm can be used to override and warp reality. Raw Void by itself is completely indestructible, being undamaged by physical, metaphysical or conceptual effects.

Technologies utilising the Void are known as Voidtech. The production of this type of technology is heavily monopolised by the Transcended, Godminds and Outer Gods, due to the fact they are often the only parties able to mass produce them reliably. Without any of the three types of beings above, creating new Voidtech is a tedious and expensive prospect, requiring objects to be exposed to minute amounts of Void energy over a prolonged period of time, allowing the object to be changed by its presence without destroying it. After an object has reached saturation and has been successfully changed, it can then be reliably duplicated to mass produce it. This process is often one that falls to chance, and attempts at it can vary from as a low as a single one to truly astronomical numbers of tries.

## Patterning

Due to the nature of the Void, there are some semi-consistent ways in which the Void and its base components will interact with most realities. In small enough concentrations, Void protoplasm will change matter and energy. While in larger concentrations, raw Void will completely destroy time, space and the fabric of reality it makes contact with, leaving nothing behind. It is in these small concentrations that the process of patterning can occur. Patterning allows an object or process to be changed by the Void through gradual and prolonged exposure, and once something has reached its limit of saturation, it becomes a 'pattern' in the Void. The pattern is indestructible (inheriting this property from raw Void), even from effects as destructive as those employed by The Silence. These patterns cannot be destroyed nor be made inactive, but can be changed in some ways, as long as the changes do not result in either destruction or inactivity. An object's or process's physical form can be destroyed, though it's pattern will remain intact. This process, when used with a mind and/or soul is the first step in Transcension.