Mirrors

Purple Magic Relic

Mirrors are the most well known item in all of Mirror Domain. Their cultural impact is so great that the realm itself was named after them. For clarification, a Mirror is not just any reflective surface. It’s a special pane of glass treated with a metal amalgam and imbued with Magical properties. Other reflective surfaces do exist, but none of them hold the same cultural significance as real Mirrors.

For centuries, Mirrors have been treated as religious symbols. Their Magic is unlike any other in the realm; leading people to believe a higher power of some sort created them. The discovery of Mirrors is directly tied with the beginning of intelligent life. The usage of Mirrors allowed the ancient people of Mirror Domain to trade, travel, and interact with each other when they otherwise wouldn’t be able too. Because of this, knowledge was able to spread far more quickly than it would have otherwise. Some say that life itself would have never left ancient Vertgate if it weren’t for Mirrors.

The “higher power” behind the creation of Mirrors is not known by Mortals, and there’s more than one religion centered around them. People from all across the realm argue over what God created Mirrors and why, but everyone agrees that they were created by a God. In reality, Mirrors were created by the unknown and elusive God Meridian. Almost every religion gives Mirrors some importance, and those that don’t usually fall out of practice.

While Mirrors are heavily renowned, they’re far rarer than people would lead you to believe. The vast majority of Mirror Domain’s citizens have never seen a real Mirror in person. If you ask someone what a Mirror is, chances are they’d be able to describe every detail about them. Yet if you ask where you can find one, most people wouldn’t even know where to begin. Their rarity makes them all the more valuable, and far more expensive.

## The Mirror Plane

Mirrors have one main purpose, and that’s allowing people to travel through them. All Mirrors are interconnected by a realm known as the “Mirror Plane”. The Mirror Plane is a white void, populated with nothing other than two-dimensional portals that lead to other Mirrors across the realm. There’s seemingly no landmarks to help you navigate, other than the portals themselves. Even then, portals will move around; following their corresponding Mirror in the real world. Stepping through one of these portals will place you in another area of Mirror Domain where its corresponding Mirror is located.

There are rumors that the Mirror Plane connects to all realms in the multiverse that house Mirrors, but this has yet to be proven. Theoretically it makes sense. Traveling via Mirror cuts down on travel time immensely. If this is true, it’s highly unlikely anyone would actually be able to make it from one plane to the next without disappearing forever. Still, many people have claimed exiting a Mirror into an unknown plane; but it’s just as likely they just ended up somewhere within Mirror Domain that they just didn’t know about.

Travelers who don’t know what they’re doing have a high risk of getting lost. Seeing as there’s no landmarks, you have to have in depth knowledge of where Mirrors are located and how the Mirror Plane messes with distances in order to properly navigate the place. The bright white landscape is known to be very disorientating, and some people get so overwhelmed by the lack of visual stimulation that they overlook exits. The fact that portals are more or less two-dimensional only complicates the matter further. Over the years, thousands have vanished while wandering the plane.

While it’s unknown how big the plane actually is, people have discovered that it’s a very condensed realm. A trip that would take the average person weeks in Mirror Domain would only take a few hours via Mirror travel. This makes travel extremely easy, but it also makes it easier to get lost. It’s not uncommon for someone to overshoot their distance, ending up in a place they’d never been to or heard of.

Not knowing your location in the real world makes navigating the Mirror Plane that much harder. Many travelers have gone through a portal only to find themselves in enemy territory. Species have entered rival species territory. Mortals have wound up in Demon settlements. The list goes on. If you don’t know where the exit portal is located, it’s a shot in the dark where you’ll end up.

The Mirror Plane is a very odd and very dangerous place. In the past people have tried to colonize it, but none of these settlements lasted. Nothing can exist in the Mirror Plane for a substantial amount of time. Anything left in the plane for too long will seemingly phase out of existence. Some say these items are simply sucked through one of the many portals, but this has yet to be proven. Buildings, roads, paths. Even people who’ve stayed in the plane for too long have vanished; never to be seen again.

It’s not known how long it’s safe to be inside the Mirror Plane. Some have claimed their belongings have begun to disappear in a matter of minutes, while others have claimed to be lost inside for days with no ill effects. There’s no way to prove for sure how long it takes without having someone there to watch, and at that point they’d be risking their own lives. The few researchers and scholars who’ve attempted to document this have, unsurprisingly, gone missing. This has largely dissuaded people from attempting it again.

Given all the risk involved with the Mirror Plane, Mirror travel has been heavily regulated. Most areas have outlawed it entirely, deeming it far too dangerous to be viable. Technology has come a long way since ancient times, and modern day people have safer ways of traveling. Kingdoms outlawing Mirror travel has heavily confused the matter. It makes travel that much more dangerous, seeing as the places that have outlawed Mirror travel haven’t outlawed Mirrors due to their cultural importance.

Given all the risk involved, Mortals have established several laws regarding Mirrors. Almost every kingdom has some sort of Mirror registry that one must be on in order to legally possess a Mirror, and almost all kingdoms have outlawed Mirror travel as a whole. Some places are more lax than others with requirements. In some kingdoms, people simply have to pay a small fee to be added to the registry (on top of the ludicrous cost of the Mirror itself). Other places require background checks and interviews to prove you’re responsible enough. There are a few places that won’t allow individuals to own Mirrors at all. Instead, they can only be owned by an organization.

Because the usage of Mirrors for traveling has been largely abandoned by Mortals, Demons have taken a liking to it. While there is the risk of losing valuables or disappearing entirely, Demons find Mirror travel far safer than anything else. No settlements means they can’t accidentally stumble into a Mortal. If there is anyone else in the Mirror Plane, they can be seen from miles away. Not only does that make it hard to distinguish Demons from Mortals, but it also allows more time to escape.

Demons taking over the Mirror Plane has only given Mortals more of a reason to outlaw the practice. Now they not only have to deal with the pre-existing dangers of the plane, but they also risk getting themselves killed by a Demon. It’s just not worth it anymore. With all that said, the practice of Mirror Travel has largely fallen out of popularity. People appreciate what it’s done for past civilizations, but it’s now viewed as an outdated and primitive way of travel. Any serious mention of Mirror travel will either be met with laughter and mockery, or a quick trip to the local jailhouse.

In modern times, owning a Mirror is a status symbol. Some use it to flaunt their wealth, while others use it to show their devotion to their religion. People that own Mirrors are seen as intelligent and trustworthy individuals, seeing as they’re wise enough not to use them for travel. Some people view Mirror owners as vain, but this belief is usually tied to some other pre-existing notion they have about said individual and not due to the Mirror itself.