The Unbeheld

## Description:

The Unbeheld, also referred to as the Space Between Spaces, Land Not to Behold, Abyss, Void, Shadowlands, etc., is a Realm that exists between all the others; it exists outside of conventional categorization, and is a dimension of mystery, shadow, and non-existence. Most famously, The Unbeheld is known as the primary Realm used to imprison and contain K2's worst deities and cosmic entities, including the Queen of Ravens and Shub-Niggurath/Aylith; The Unbeheld is reserved for all beings deemed antithetical to the natural order, or anyone who goes against someone's *interpretation* of the natural order. The Unbeheld's strange, fluid cosmological placement means that some areas of the Realm are stretched while others are vast; The Unbeheld might be a thin corridor where taking a single step moves you a mile, while it can later expand into an infinite void of floating miasma and shadow. This strange formation also lends The Unbeheld to a Nexus Realm, used as a means of transport for only the boldest, bravest, and stupidest; travel between Realms outside of conventional entrances must utilize The Unbeheld.

The Unbeheld was discovered by the JPCU in [REDACTED] CE after Investigators thwarted a large cult operating in [REMOVED]; the cult worshipped a being known as The Stranger and had summoned a number of eldritch aberrations to serve and fight for them, which JPCU Personnel had to put down. Later investigation of the monsters' remains the cultists' writings revealed the existence of this unknown dimension.

### Physical Description & Attributes:

The Unbeheld is known for its overwhelming, impenetrable darkness; the supernatural shadow that fills the Realm prevents all but the most powerful travelers from seeing anything. No mundane lights work in The Unbeheld, and all supernatural lights are dimmed significantly and last a fraction as long as normal; creatures in The Unbeheld are drawn to light that intrudes upon their home Realm, and seek to snuff it out. The only points of light come from portals, areas of matter amidst the blackness, or energies produced by the Realm's inhabitants or divinities.

Should someone enter The Unbeheld and not die instantly from the hostile energies, swirling vortexes of negative energy, absence of matter or atmosphere, horrid creatures beyond imagination, or insanity, that traveler would find themselves either standing atop one (1) of The Unbeheld's innumerable "floating" platforms of land or adrift through its endless void. The platforms are dragged into The Unbeheld from other Realms, and can come from any variety of sources; most, however, are torn from the Material Realm, and originate from places where individuals attempt to cross between Realms and fail to do so. The Unbeheld is naturally a matter-less abyss, and so these platforms are disintegrated and cracked apart by the Realm's natural entropy; parts or entireties of these platforms can also be sucked through other portals and into other Realms, often a result of a botched Spell or Ritual. The void of The Unbeheld has no atmosphere, no light or sound, or energy, no nothing, and will naturally sap away at living beings' life forces very rapidly; this effect is compounded by the Realm's greatly enhanced timescale, so anyone who falls into The Unbeheld will be long dead by the time their allies can reopen the portal to free them.

The Unbeheld's unique "shape" also creates additional challenges for would-be explorers. Where The Unbeheld exists between closely-pressed Realms, it is stretched and compressed, leaving thin lines of spacetime where travelers can cross thousands of "miles" in a few steps; conversely, where The Unbeheld exists in the wider gaps between distant Realms it is bloated and expanded, leaving massive spaces of only a few dozen yards that take days to cross. These regions of strangely shaped reality shift around as the Realms shift in their locations and proximities to one another.

While The Unbeheld is antithetical to outside matter and has no natural weather, the Realm has its own versions of conventional materials. The Unbeheld's Umbrafluid, the black goo-like substance, Gloom, the "gaseous shadow" material, and Duskstone, serve as physical matter and replace normal matter. Travelers touched by the Umbrafluid begin mutating rapidly, becoming consumed by the liquid body, mind, and Soul; similarly, those touched by the Gloom will be eroded and necrotized at an alarming rate; interaction with Duskstone has no immediate effect on foreigners to The Unbeheld unless it is consumed or otherwise taken into the body, at which point it will cause rapid necrosis and death. Duskstone can be refined, through processes known only to the Ravenkind and Fomordrin, that can turn it into Penumbran Steel, a very potent Magical material used in the forging of anti-Fae weaponry by the Fomordrin and Ravenkind; Penumbran Steel will kill a Fae in one (1) hit, no matter how minor the wound. Like all Unbeheld energies, Unbeheld matter is infectious when placed in other Realms; Unbeheld matter and energies will spread out and corrupt, kill, erode, or destroy all conventional matter that it comes across over a long period of time, which can cause problems for cults and ritual sites that wish to conceal their activities.

[STRANGER'S DOMAIN]

#### Nest of Souls:

[REDACTED]

[SUB-NIGGURATH'S DOMAIN]

[AYLITH'S DOMAIN]

#### The Inksea:

A near-infinite expanse of pitch-black slime comprised mostly of Umbrafluid, the Inksea is where the "aquatic" horrors of The Unbeheld bide their time. The Inksea is no normal body of water, however; it is entirely alien to conventional reality, much like the rest of the Realm. It is organized into infinite "fathoms," or layers of different liquids. This fluid is oily, slimy, and viscous; no normal creature can breathe it, and suffocates in the mire or falls into its impossible depths. On the whim of the alien entities that drift through them, the Fathoms continually evaporate, divide, and breathe. Ripples of chaotic change flow horizontally through the Sea like a twisted facsimile of a wave; these ripples induce horrific mutations, shifts in the Fathoms, and weaken the membrane between other Realms and The Unbeheld. These ripples are akin to storms within the Inksea and can be detected at great distances by the Sea's horrific inhabitants. The Inksea is full of bizarre scenes and impossible, mind-bending horrors that drive mortal visitors mad. The Fathoms are penetrated by rivers of milky white fluid that float freely between them; strange blue glowing orbs rain down from unseen heights, bursting when struck and unleashing horse-sized masses of tentacles that immediately scuttle away to hunt for blood; gelatinous worms crawl through the Fathoms, mixing and melding with the Umbrafluid around them; forests of writhing tentacled "kelp" are encrusted with necrotic purple moss and aberrant mockeries of coral, all growing above an amoebic mass. At the very limit of sight drift huge multi-Fathomed shapes, vaguely resembling creatures of the deepest unseen oceans the size of cities. The Inksea is even darker than The Unbeheld, so impenetrable is its darkness that even the Sea's mightiest beasts rely on blinding bioluminescence to attract prey from meager distances. They say the Sea's slimy fluids stick to the skin and erode it away, make it translucent and paper-thin; they say it works its way into your eyes, giving you sight-beyond-sight to penetrate the Sea's indomitable veil of oily shadow.

The Inksea is home to many "aquatic" abominations trapped or birthed within The Unbeheld. Chief among these are the Anatheloths, terribly ancient creatures from a world unknown; they have become one with the undulating tides and use them to slip their greasy tentacles into other Realms.

[ETC.]

#### List of Contained Races:

1. Fomorians
	1. Fomordrin
2. Ravenkind
3. Dark Young
	1. Beastmen
4. Anatheloths
5. [REDACTED]