The Reflections

The Funhouse exists at the centerpoint of reality, and is possessed of a very fluid set of rules, as a result. It did not begin as a realm or plane in and of itself, but has rather slowly formed as a result of the energy of the boundaries of all of the others blending and swimming together, until eventually this highly mutable place was formed, and managed to give itself some coherence. Because of this, denizens ofevery other realm can travel into it with relative ease, and from it out into any other. To Earth (Mortalis maybe?) it is Narnia or the Nevernever, Fairyland or Asgard. It is that more magical realm always right around the corner, waiting for someone to fall down a rabbit hole or hide in a wardrobe and end up in it. It is also, on the other hand, far more mundane than those other, magical planes are, and so forms the perfect midpoint between them. It is like a realm of fire to those of ice, and like a realm of never-ending snow when compared to a plane of pure flame. If compared to a realm of the dead it is like a font of eternal life, but seems an empty wasteland compared to those planes which are ruled by forces of pure life energy. The interaction of these many realms is twofold: the way in which travel between them is possible, and the way in which the more individual ones eventually co-opt The Funhouse (that name is a work in progress). For geography: imagine that two maps have been placed on top of each other on a table. They are not on tracing paper, so you cannot see through the top one to see what is on the bottom one. However, they are to scale, and so if you line up the corners, picking a spot on the top map and then poking a hole in it allows you to pick out the same spot on the bottom map. If there were two realms that were exactly the same in every way, then opening a portal or door from one to the other would function exactly like poking that hole, and the traveler would end up in the same, corresponding spot they left from. The realms do not rest on each other in this way however. They are more like a crumpled pile of maps, some with holes, some with different scales, some with different orientations, and some with folds or wrinkles. You can still travel from one to the other, but if the scale is different, it may be more efficient to complete your overland journey of a week, and then transfer to the other, finding that you have traveled a thousand miles there. Because of the possible “folds” some places are not always accessible from another plane, but can only be reached from within the actual realm that place exists in. The other way in which the realms relate is through symbolic symbiosis. If a location on The Funhouse becomes closely aligned with another realm, a sort of leakage can occur, not a true portal like a mage might open, but rather a stronger flow of those interplanar energies that created the plane in the first place. For example, a large volcano with repeated eruptions might lead to a link between that mountain and a realm of eternal flame. If the link persists long enough, and enough energy leaks through, several mountains nearby that were not volcanic before might become volcanic, creating an even stronger link than before, leading to a snowball effect. The further away from the original point of contact however, the more power is required to cross over to transform the land. Eventually, the land in the whole region will become a mirror of the realm it is connected to, and travel between the two will become so easy at some points magic is not even required. The above example however is only the most simple and obvious version of this phenomena, and most cases are not so clear cut nor easily recognizable. Because of this relationship however, the laws of physics are not necessarily the same everywhere on the world, and the flora and fauna vary far more widely than would be possible on a traditional planet, as well as the weather and climate. Magic, on the other hand, is the same everywhere. Not every realm that can link with The Funhouse is some elemental hellscape however. The number of dimensions that can create such links is infinite, and many of them are decently similar to your average fantasy world. Places linked to these realms are not too crazy, they might just have different animals, or a weird weather pattern, or something like that. Because of this, this phenomena is neither well known nor fully understood, except by the most advanced magical scholars, most of whom use The Funhouse as a sort of laboratory, and come from one of several realms of knowledge, where physical laws are quite sterile: good for retaining, collecting, and analyzing information, but not great for learning more about the cosmos. Even the most simple and backward peasants, on the other hand, recognize borders. They can be exceedingly dangerous, being places where the power of one invading realm mingles and clashes with another, oftentimes creating a link to one of several realms of chaos. Some of them can be traveled through with care, while others are nigh on impassible, and in either case they often spawn strange effects and stranger creatures. Many of these creatures are not attuned to either realm, and perish quickly in atmospheres they are not accustomed to, but some survive, and even thrive. This can make living near the borders quite risky, especially the more active ones.