The Rifters' Realm

### Inhabitants

Infinite (but very sparse) population of experienced "Rifters", plus various stranded individuals and units of the External Hazard.

## Size

### Dimensionality

(≥3)+(≥1)

**The Rifters' Realm** is a planar, interdimensional environment which is effectively just one of many instances of extrauniversal space that can be found throughout the infinite voids and cosmoses of the omniverse and (arguably) Beyond. Its name derives from the people who use it - the "Rifters", as they call themselves, due to the specific propulsion method needed to travel through it.

There are an uncountable infinitude of ways to travel between universes and other -verses; the Rifters' Realm is well known for being one of the more distressing options. Nonetheless, it is still used from time to time by sleeper ships, cosmic entities, and the occasional desperate exploration or passenger vehicle.

## Movement

The process of actually getting to the Realm, or out of it, is rather simple, as long as one knows the correct set of dimensional information corresponding to it. In a sense, a vehicle leaving its universe for the Realm simply blinks outside instantly with a bright flash, and as soon as it is close enough to another universe, it can blink inside. Travel within the Realm, though, is impossible without the use of a special space-tearing device called a rift turbine (or equivalent; cosmic entities are able to generate similar effects), so any vehicle lacking such a device will sit motionless, its only option being to reenter the universe it came from.

With a rift turbine, however, it becomes possible to propel oneself at constant velocity, depending on the singularity induction coefficient ("sico") of the turbine. As a rule of thumb, sico 0 indicates a speed of approximately one parsec per second, and each level up or down corresponds to roughly an order of magnitude. Due to the nature of the Realm, however, speed is rarely if ever useful.

## Cosmography

The Realm is an immeasurable, spatially-distorted expanse of abyss dotted with spheres of universes. From the perspective of those in the Realm, all universes are of finite size - typical ones, which may in reality be much larger, are generally between fifty and five hundred gigaparsecs in diameter. They appear to radiate some slight quantity of light, proportional to the luminosity within them, though the exact color or other properties of this light depends on where in the Realm one is.

Every existing universe within the Omniverse is known to be connected to the Realm. However, given the infinite number of universes in existence, actually *finding* one is difficult, and travelling there at the finite speeds of rift turbines is nightmarish. Time works a bit differently in the Realm due to a slight bend in mathematics - "infinity" is an extent, and "eternity" is a time period that can actually pass. But, effectively, it takes "infinite" time to reach the exact universe one wishes to enter, unless it is close enough spatially so as to avoid that problem. Rifter vessels are usually equipped with advanced psionic mind-rewriting tech so as to harden their passengers against the insanity of infinite voyages.

Since universes change over time, this leads to a disturbing truth about travel through the Realm. Rather than actually find a target universe and then go there, Rifters will simply pick a direction arbitrarily and travel until they reach a universe in the exact state they intend for it to be in. For example, imagine a pair of multiversal explorers A and B. While in universe X1, they make an arrangement to move to universe X2 separately and meet each other shortly after departure. Explorer A takes a portal to get there, but if explorer B uses the Realm instead, there is no guarantee he will arrive. Explorer B *might* end up in the actual X2 if it is very close, but if it isn't, his rift vessel will instead travel until he finds a universe precisely matching X2 where Explorer A (or, at least, an identical quantum-level copy of Explorer A) arrived through a portal.

Different regions of the Realm have different properties, but all have three or more spacial dimensions and one or more temporal dimensions. One could find themselves moving along a three-dimensional segment peacefully when universes start disappearing from their line of sight into higher-dimensional spaces, for instance, and one would have no warning of this.

Several notable types of regions are detailed below. An infinite number of each of these are believed to exist, and they can be of finite or infinite sizes in various numbers of dimensions.

### Bluespace

Bluespace tends - admittedly, with plenty of exceptions - to align with groups of universes that are heavily colonized and part of large civilizations. Universes here glow a dull blue into the Realm, which gets faded out over incredible distances so the "background", actually a distant foam of universes, becomes blue.

### Blackspace

Blackspace regions, far from being outright dangerous as the name might imply, are simply very large and uneventful. However, they will occasionally contain Rifter raiding parties, misplaced warlords or angered cosmic entities who were lost in the Realm at some point, as well as advance scout units and raiding units from the External Hazard.

### Radiant Zone

A Radiant Zone is a chaotic mess of unpredictable color changes, filled with universes which often shred themselves apart due to faulty laws of physics or math. Disorder seems to leak out into the Realm from here; only well-protected vessels can pass through safely.

### Graveyard Zone

Graveyard Zones are believed to connect to groups of universes that possess exceedingly high levels of entropy and are, for lack of a better term, utter dead zones where barely a single particle interaction happens in a centillion years. It is unknown if all of these events are natural or a result of interference or occupation by the External Hazard.

### Redspace

Redspace frequently contains vast swathes of Hazard-infested universes, which shift and bubble unsteadily as if diseased. It is incredibly dangerous to pass through; Hazard patrol units are very common, as it is thought to connect with their primary zone of expansion. However, specific locations in redspace will allow one to fold to a "mirrored" alternate version of the Realm, potentially winding up in a different section of the Omniverse or outside it entirely.