Theories of the Collecti-verse

The stance in the Collective has been, from the beginning, to keep any specific setting off board. By doing this, by using generalities, we can build a world together while maintaining our own individual worlds and stories, some of which we've been writing for years, intact without any sort of sacrifice. Because of this, there are many theories of how the world of the Collective works and how it allows us to weave our stories together.

## Theories on the Multiverse

*For a more in-depth overview of the theories of the multiverse as it relates to the Collective, see the Theories on the Multiverse page.*

### Fixed Points Theory

The Fixed Points theory, developed by the Medium and the Treasure Hunter, states that there are certain points, such as the Collective's Guild Hall or the Circle's Fortress that lies in "Capitol City", that exist in nearly all planes, dimensions, and alternate realities simultaneously. Passing through their borders, one would exist both outside of their own realm while also existing in all realms at once. Because of this, our heroes can enter into these areas and intermingle with one another, usually without ever even realizing they left their own plane or dimension. There are very few exceptions of people aware of the alternate realities and some have been able to jump across into others. However, if enough individuals were to do so simutaneously, their bond with their home realm could cause realities to warp or even collapse.

### The Venomancer's Theory

Indeed, its sort of a inter-planar convergence where many worlds come together in a sort of origami of realities. They fold together and unfold as the tides of planar energy ebbs and flows. this can mean many things for those residing within it. Each individual has its own planar vibration and as such they bring a portion of that plane’s energy with them wherever they go, think of a needle and thread being pulled away from an already woven piece. If enough beings from one plane move to another then there is a chance for convergence and overlay, in other terms too many threads will end up connecting the planes. This is a similar process to how demons corrupt the land they walk upon, for they bring a portion of the Abyss itself with them.

## Timelines of the Collective

*For a more in-depth overview of the timelines, see the Timelines of the Collective page.*

While originally not discussed as much, the future timelines of the Collective have been gaining traction within the shared stories. Currently, there are two major timelines with drastically different settings. One of these timelines involves the Collective and magic remaining an active part of society, called the Heroic Timeline, and the other involves the Collective going into hiding and magic and fantasy races being hidden behind a veil. This second timeline is called the Hidden timeline. The major constant, however, is that the world of the Collective molded itself into our own world, with the Guild Hall likely located somewhere in mid-Europe. How it came to be and how the names of shared places, such as Ascaria, the setting of the final wave of the Collective War, changed to reflect those of Earth is unknown.