The Otherworld

## Collection of Quotes about the Otherworld

### Entering the Otherworld Alkan Style

He was doing more than being friendly, as I saw an apis of curious design form over his palm. I took his hand. Flash!  We were still seated across from each other, but the room had faded away.  It was as if we were hovering in the air several miles over the valley, and all of Boval was spread out before us.  We were in the **Otherworld**, the land of dreams and nightmares where serious magi do their hardest work.  It took me several hours to prepare myself for such a trip, but the Aronin did it as casually as I would have opened a bottle.

Look at the numbers of our cousins. I looked.  In the mountains all around me I could see the tiny sparks that indicated, apparently, knots of gurvani.  They were literally on all sides of us, with denser clusters approaching the Mor Tower, Boval Castle, and the fortress of Brandmount. The scene changed slightly, and I witnessed the number of shaman that accompanied the warrior bands.  In most there was a greenish glow that I concluded was shards of Irionite.

### Series Frist description

The **Otherworld** is largely unknown to mundane folk, though they travel there nightly in their dreams.  It is the realm of imagination, only anchored to our own reality by our thoughts.  Some argue that it is a byproduct of consciousness; some argue that it is independent of our thoughts; and neither side had been able to prove their case – such is the nature of a subjective reality.  It is peopled only by our subconscious minds and a few natural denizens unknown to all but the most learned. The spirits of the Tree Folk and the Sea Folk and even the gurvani travel here, though it is rare to encounter such by chance.  We are not on the same phase, or something, which tends to support the by-product school of thought. It is not the realm of death, nor the realm of life-before-life, but one can become lost and surely die if the utmost caution is not practiced.

The landscape is similar to that of our world, but essentially different.  While natural features can often be seen there are other structures, “towers” erected by magi, palaces of court magicians and long-dead Archmagi, floating castles whose builders have retired to the inner confines of their minds.  (I would erect one myself, eventually, as I settled in a single spot long enough to do so.)  It is a realm not ruled by any god or demon (though they, too, come here upon occasion), a kingless kingdom of shadows, a world turned inside out and upside down.

I mean that last part literally.  When a mage is in the **Otherworld,** there are no stars above him, only an eternal gray.  Instead, the sparks of light that can be seen are the slivers of sleepers’ minds that intrude unknowingly here.  They collect in the spaces that correspond to towns and villages in the mundane world.  Only magi traverse this place of their own will, and few are brave or powerful enough to do so with any regularity.  We had been introduced to this place in the Academy, taught its ways and the methods of survival, and cautioned against ever coming here lightly.  Those who forsook the advice ended up dead or mad.

### Traveling in the Otherworld

I now had access to oceans of power, thanks to the little green marble around my neck.  Flying through the **Otherworld** was liberating, I discovered, when you do not have to struggle with every step. I followed the trail of tiny lights across the outer ring of mountains that bordered the valley, and down across the fertile hills of Alshar.  Cities stood out like swarms of lightning bugs, with the sparks from fellow magi producing brilliant fountains in their midst. I flew across Alshar and then Castal, used the bright lights from the Academies to orient myself, then skimmed along the coast (narrowly missing a pod of Sea People who were collaborating on some errand of their own) and slowed only when I neared the correspondent point of Remere.

I was searching for a particular spark, a soul-light, if you will, and after only a little fooling around I found it. She had, of course, erected her own tower, a theoretical construct that resembled a classical Imperial structure, all graceful arches and dainty points.  She was working, I saw, as the point of the tower was lit with the magnificence of her power.  I took just a moment to firm up my own mental self-image before I intruded. I should have known.  Floating in midair was a small, lithe woman, naked and beautiful in outline, with a wild cascade of hair made of sparks that sputtered and crackled with energy.

### Irionite in the Otherworld

Irionite?  Are you serious?  Sparks shattered off of her hair as she jerked her head up suddenly. Very.  Here’s the proof.  I held up my spectral hand and opened it, displaying the ball of raw magic I was holding within.  Most un-enchanted objects are not reflected in the **Otherworld**, but Irionite has power even here.  The marble glowed brightly, obscuring even the light from her eyes.  In the glow the faint outline of her supine partner disappeared altogether. Trygg’s titanic titties, Min, where in the six hells did you find that? A gurvani shaman gave it to me.

### Reality Shock

I opened my eyes, and saw that I was still on the roof.  I took a few moments to re-orient myself back in mundane space.  Traveling in the **Otherworld** can inspire a type of vertigo that you never get used to, and if you move to quickly you can acquire a malady known as “reality shock.”  I’ve heard of magi who got killed because they lost their bearings and did something stupid.

## References

1. ↑ Book 1, Spellmonger, Chapter 4.
2. ↑ Book 1, Spellmonger, Chapter 5.
3. ↑ Book 1, Spellmonger, Chapter 5.
4. ↑ Book 1, Spellmonger, Chapter 5.
5. ↑ Book 1, Spellmonger, Chapter 5.