Mirror Realm
"I want to confess as best I can, but my heart is void. The void is a mirror. I see my face and feel loathing and horror. My indifference to man has shut me out. I live now in a world of ghosts, a prisoner in my dreams."― Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal There are worlds not written in the Emerald Tablets, places the Sovereigns did not ordain, and pathways uncharted by the wise. There are doors hidden in plain sight, staring back at you, waiting for the opportunity to open. If you gaze into the mirror, the mirror gazes into you. The Mirror Realm is not, as the name might imply, a reversed copy of the world of Anacra. Nor is it even a single realm, the way the Four Kingdoms are understood. Instead, it is a constellation of tiny pocket worlds that exist behind reflective surfaces. Some ancient and curious magic causes a truly reflective surface to connect to other, similar reflective surfaces, and with the proper magic a traveler can turn a mirror into a door and move into the space between the mirrors. Inside, the Mirror Realm is a twisting maze of passages, each leading to a different mirror somewhere in Anacra--or beyond. These passages are apparently indestructible, contain breathable air, and prevent biological aging. Theoretically a mortal could endure within those halls indefinitely--were it not for the terrible peril that waits within. Each mirror connects to a limited, specific group of other mirrors, all linked by some common element--perhaps they were all crafted by the same artisan, or framed with the wood from the same tree, or perhaps each one has reflected a grisly murder. If one discovers the connecting factor in a given constellation of mirrors, it becomes possible to predict where the other mirrors lead. Passage through the realm of mirrors is extremely useful--unbound by the Emerald Tablets, a mirror-walker can completely bypass the normal barriers and rules governing interplanar travel. A mirror could lead anywhere, ignore magic that seals off planar boundaries, and even--if rumors are to be believed--lead somewhere entirely beyond Anacra itself. So why is Mirror Magic not widely practiced throughout Anacra? Upon entering a given constellation of mirrors, a mirror-self of the traveler is created and enters the same constellation from another mirror. This mirror-self is identical in every way to the original--same memories, capabilities, equipment and knowledge--but has the exact opposite alignment, the opposite handedness, and can only leave the constellation by killing the original. As soon as the original exits the constellation, the mirror-self vanishes. The mirror-self immediately seeks out the original and attempts to kill them. If they succeed, they can leave the constellation and, if they desire, take over the original's life with none the wiser. This makes travel via the Mirror Realm unbelievably dangerous. If one manages to slay one's mirror-self, they can safely enter that constellation of mirrors without being duplicated. However, if they enter a different constellation, they will have to content with a duplicate once again. Imago, the Mirror-Keeper, has infested the Mirror Realms of Anacra, and it is whispered by the wise that his domain lies somewhere within the Mirror Realm, but beyond the constellations, in an unseen deep place secret to all but Imago, and the mysterious entities that live within.
Fauna & Flora
It's said among the wise that the constellations of mirrors mortals can access through their magic is only the surface of the Mirror Realm--that somewhere beyond the twisting passageways there are depths unimagined, home to creatures utterly alien.
Such are the Nerra, inscrutable entities capable of traveling from one constellation to another and even leaving the plane of mirrors entirely. Appearing as humanoids with perfectly mirror-like skin, their motives and ecology are entirely unknown. They are intelligent and capable of communicating in mortal languages, and it's know they have some sort of civilization or culture. Nerra wield shards of the mirror plane as weapons, which inflict terrible bleeding wounds, and are natural users of mirror magic, allowing them to disguise themselves, create illusions, reflect spells and more.
The Nerra have been known to cross over into the Mortal World to abduct influential creatures and replace them with their mirror-selves. Because the Nerra are not duplicated upon entering a constellation, they shift the balance in favor of mirror-selves, almost certainly dooming the original to die and be replaced. Why they do this is unknown, but among the wise it's whispered that while Imago did not create the Nerra, many of them serve his will.
Type
Plane of Existence
Additional Rulers/Owners
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