Paths and Doors
Mythic logic governs the ways to Terra Incognita, and stories are usually more useful than maps. This isn’t to say every map is inaccurate, but they can only be interpreted through a given mythology. Even though some means of passage suggest relative positions in space, and can be drawn accordingly, any grand map of all Terra Incognita is bound to contain contradictions, and would become a scrawled mess in short order. There are ways to any point in the cosmos, but sometimes you need guides, keys, or permission.
Overworld Gates: Few gates directly connect The World to Godsrealms, and the exceptions either pass through other realms attuned to the same mythology, or were made for the Gods’ convenience, and thus are nearly impossible for anyone else to use. Travelers are usually stuck with an Axis Mundi instead. No known gate connects The World to a Primordial worldbody, save those which, in rare situations, the Primordials themselves create.
Underworld Gates: Anyone can visit an Underworld by devoting themselves to a religion where they exist, and dying. Yet the fact that the gates of Death are always open tempts the living to follow. Certain caves, human-made tunnels, or underground rivers leads to one specific Afterlife or another. (Gates shared by multiple pantheons are unusual, but the Death Gods sometimes permit them.) Their “keys” usually take the forms of various ordeals through a lengthy journey. Fierce Chthonians either keep the living out, or keep them from turning back, should they decide to enter. The Primordials of the Underworld do not have gates to The World, save those they create — and that’s usually to unleash something terrifying for reasons Fate only knows. If required, Death Gods create more convenient gates to attend to business in The World or Overworld, but they guard them well.
Midrealm Gates: Midrealm gates are more common than those to the Otherworlds, and usually cluster around a Midrealm’s Worldly counterpart. Most keys are linked to specific actions performed in these other locations. To get to the Midrealm of Arcadia, find a gate in the Peloponnese. Mag Mell, the Irish land of youth and joy, may be approached by sailing to the west of Ireland, navigating by specific star charts; it may also be approached by dying in a glorious manner. The island of Avalon is another such realm; it can easily be reached by sailing, but only after performing certain mythologically-resonant actions in Glastonbury Tor and then immediately journeying to the coast and setting sail.
Bifrost: Bifrost, the Fleeting Bridge, connects The World to Ásgarð. Bifrost potentially exists within every rainbow. To ascend it, one requires the presence of a natural rainbow, along with one of the following keys: status as an Æsir Scion or Eidolon (an einherjar or valkyrie), or knowledge granted by Odin. Until Ragnarok, Heimdall can bar any being from ascending Bifrost. In the past, he refused to grant passage to Thor or his descendants, and is still occasionally testy with them. Bifrost is the length of a morning’s ride on a swift horse.
Fengdu Ghost City: The Shén closely coordinate their management of the dead with mortal worshippers, opening gates to the Diyu Afterlife where it would be convenient for mortals to pay their respects. Founded during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Fengdu Ghost City has long been designated a special place for mortals to honor the dead, and for souls to undergo the ordeals and administrative processes required to determine their destinies, which, in Shén tradition, may involve different tasks for a soul’s various aspects. The living use these rites as keys to enter Diyu, simulating the actions of a soul bound for the desired region. Fengdu contains a Midrealm where souls perform various actions in duplicates of the mortal city’s landmarks, from the Ming-era bridge that determines a soul’s virtues to the Last Glance Tower, where the dead take one final look at The World.
The Sídhe: Sídhe are earthen mounds leading to the Celtic Otherworlds. Otherworldly beings take their name from sídhe, and are properly called ao sí or daoine sídhe: people of the mounds. True sídhe contain small underground palaces and hedge gardens: palaces for the daoine sídhe that they keep in trust for the Tuatha Dé Danann. These exist within the gate, outside of the physical World, and contain doorways to one or more Otherworlds. These doors remain locked unless the visitor skillfully entertains or deceives the daoine sídhe — that’s the key. Violence and threats do nothing.
Each Axis Mundi possesses a corresponding place, object, or state the visitor must attain. These are less specific than gate keys, and once a Scion meets the requirement, they can start on their way. Axis Mundi connections always work both ways as well, so a voyager can travel from an ancient ash to Yggdrasil, or vice versa, or use Yggdrasil to move from one ash in The World to another. Mortals can travel through Axes Mundi as well, but require special training or an innate gift. Travel time isn’t measured in literal distance, but ordeals. A well-traveled route only requires one ordeal, while traveling to a Primordial or obscure realm requires several. Ordeals often contain clues as to the meaning of the journey, and what is to come, so it is sometimes better to take the long way and learn from the trip than blindly use a gate or Touchstone. Furthermore, Axes Mundi often bypass the guardians and dangers found in other routes, though not without substituting their own trials.
The Aether: Greek, Indian, and modern occult sources have written extensively about the Aether, and have given it other names, such as Indra’s Net and the Astral Plane. The Aether is composed of the fifth, subtle element that creates space and distance. Platonists believe that it transmits the “light” of ideal objects which in turn, create the substance of other realms. Mortals have long used techniques to send their souls into the Aether, where they can rise to contemplate The World and Overworld, and Scions may use the same techniques. Ordeals in the Aether take the form of riddles, enigmas, and acts of deep self-realization, administered by the abstract beings who dwell there. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to physically traverse the Aether except with the use of obscure magical powers, and exceedingly difficult to use it to travel to the Underworld.
The Earthways: They’re called the Erdstalls in much of Europe, but you can find ancient tunnels all over The World. Legends say they were made by goblins, great worms, or mortals fleeing some mythic disaster. Enter one and you can access the Earthways, which extend The Worldly tunnels deep and far, to Midrealms and Underworlds. Chthonians and subterranean creatures stalk the tunnels. Sometimes Earthways open into vast underground cities and strange subway tracks. The Earthways offer a way to enter Afterlives without taking the routes used by the dead, and even without permission from Death Gods, who often send patrols to watch for such trespassers. Earthways don’t reach the Overworld, but Gods and myths might direct a tunnel upward anyway.
Sumeru: According to the Devá, Sumeru is the mountain at the heart of the cosmos. At its roots lie the Naraka: afterlives that purify through punishment. Climb the mountain and you’ll pass through The World and the Midrealms of the Asuras, and up into the Overworld, where Swarga and other heavens serve as homes for the Devá and the most enlightened souls. To enter Meru, go to one of the Asian mountains associated with it, or climb the slopes of any mountain if you’re one of the Devá, or a devout follower who knows the required meditations. Although it’s easiest to reach the realms of the Devá and their mythic cousins, various pathways extend to other realms — and even other Axes Mundi mountains, like Olympus and Qaf. These secondary ways take longer to traverse and are more dangerous, however, and Gods from other pantheons resent their use.
Ocean: Ocean is the sea or river that girds The World and as such, is known to many pantheons, including the Æsir, Theoi, Tuatha Dé Danann, and Devá. Ocean extends into every natural body of water that connects to the sea, and by taking a ship beyond sight of land, a Scion can navigate out of The World to any realm with a legendary body of water. The Tuatha Dé Danann use Ocean to visit the island Godsrealms of their elders. The Gods cast Odysseus here from the Mediterranean (he never thought he left), forcing him to survive on the bounty of strange islands for years. Theoi have also traveled from Ocean to the Styx, to visit Hades. The Æsir acknowledge The World-girding Ocean but avoid it despite their people’s history of sailing, because World Serpent Jormungand dwells in the depths. Some believe Ocean itself is a Primordial (indeed, some mythologies depend on it) and that its storms, monsters, and bizarre islands are its dreams or ominous messages. Other pantheons identify it with legendary floods, the chaos before time, or the formless Abyss, and say it ultimately seethes over the void that existed before the Primordials made the cosmos.
Yggdrasil: Yggdrasil is an immense ash, so great that armies can march on certain branches, though sub-branches and new shoots might be thinner. The profusion of branches, leaves, and a surrounding mist makes the sky impossible to see from the heart of Yggdrasil. Nor is it possible to soundly determine the tree’s true trunk, though it must be as wide as The World, at least. Its branches run through Ásgarð and beyond to the Well of Urd and its Norns, and plunge down through virtually every Norse Otherworld and Midrealm, including Jotunheim. At one of its three immense roots lies the dishonored Afterlife, Hel. Branches extend to other realms as well, though as for Sumeru, paths beyond places known to the Æsir are dangerous and hard to find. Yggdrasil’s inhabitants include the squirrel Ratatosk and its children, who are skilled but duplicitous guides, and the Chthonic dragons spawned by Niddhogg, who gnaws upon the second root when it’s not torturing the damned in Nastrond. Sometimes ice giants climb from the third root, which stands on the Primordial Ymir, who is called Niflheim when described as a realm. To enter Yggdrasil, one must climb a sacred ash dedicated in its name, or old, strong ashes in any forest, if you’re a Scion or devout follower of the Æsir.
By making physical contact and calling upon their divine natures, Scions may travel from one Touchstone to any other that calls upon the same mythic archetype. Any Scion can travel from Stonehenge to another ancient henge site, but can also visit the Georgia Guidestones or a French menhir. All are standing stones. Yet it would be impossible to use a Styrofoam Stonehenge prop at a rock concert for the same purpose, as it lacks the artistry, hallowed nature, or emotional significance required. (If the band sacrificed annoying fans using the prop as an altar, however, that could change.) Touchstones can only be used to travel within The World, and only if the Touchstone stands in a fixed position for a significant (but variable, as it’s myth, not science) period of days or more. You can’t roll a wooden horse into battle as a doorway for reinforcements, but you might ship one over, wait for it to stand for a little while, and thank Poseidon that your warriors can stream forth into enemy territory.
Pantheons often assert ownership over Touchstones bound to their traditions. Netjer take a dim view of outsiders using the Washington Monument, for example, given the sacred architecture used in the American obelisk’s construction. The cross-cultural and archetypal nature of Touchstones often interferes with these claims, however. Many cultures have erected standing stones that act as Touchstones for one another (not all do — you can’t get to a Shaivist lingam from Stonehenge, for example) giving multiple pantheons claim to that network.
GATES
Gates provide passage from the ordinary World to a closed-off mythic place, or transit between mythic places. There’s no such thing as a typical gate. Every pantheon’s myths create their own types, and even within a single pantheon, gates take varied shapes and sizes. One way to Olympus lies between Doric columns; another can only be accessed by climbing into a cave that spews hallucinatory mist. Every gate has a key: an action, item, or circumstance required for passage. These can be mundane objects, poems, or even states of mind. Gates may possess a different key or appearance on each side, and some gates only grant passage in one direction. Many gates contain realms of their own, but these long tunnels, thick woodlands, or chains of grim palaces primarily exist to enable passage, and are rarely dedicated destinations.Overworld Gates: Few gates directly connect The World to Godsrealms, and the exceptions either pass through other realms attuned to the same mythology, or were made for the Gods’ convenience, and thus are nearly impossible for anyone else to use. Travelers are usually stuck with an Axis Mundi instead. No known gate connects The World to a Primordial worldbody, save those which, in rare situations, the Primordials themselves create.
Underworld Gates: Anyone can visit an Underworld by devoting themselves to a religion where they exist, and dying. Yet the fact that the gates of Death are always open tempts the living to follow. Certain caves, human-made tunnels, or underground rivers leads to one specific Afterlife or another. (Gates shared by multiple pantheons are unusual, but the Death Gods sometimes permit them.) Their “keys” usually take the forms of various ordeals through a lengthy journey. Fierce Chthonians either keep the living out, or keep them from turning back, should they decide to enter. The Primordials of the Underworld do not have gates to The World, save those they create — and that’s usually to unleash something terrifying for reasons Fate only knows. If required, Death Gods create more convenient gates to attend to business in The World or Overworld, but they guard them well.
Midrealm Gates: Midrealm gates are more common than those to the Otherworlds, and usually cluster around a Midrealm’s Worldly counterpart. Most keys are linked to specific actions performed in these other locations. To get to the Midrealm of Arcadia, find a gate in the Peloponnese. Mag Mell, the Irish land of youth and joy, may be approached by sailing to the west of Ireland, navigating by specific star charts; it may also be approached by dying in a glorious manner. The island of Avalon is another such realm; it can easily be reached by sailing, but only after performing certain mythologically-resonant actions in Glastonbury Tor and then immediately journeying to the coast and setting sail.
EXAMPLES
The following gates are well-known, but possess complex keys and environments. Simpler gates that require a secret command word and provide a quick route to the desired place exist, but are usually built for Gods, who don’t like to share their shortcuts.Bifrost: Bifrost, the Fleeting Bridge, connects The World to Ásgarð. Bifrost potentially exists within every rainbow. To ascend it, one requires the presence of a natural rainbow, along with one of the following keys: status as an Æsir Scion or Eidolon (an einherjar or valkyrie), or knowledge granted by Odin. Until Ragnarok, Heimdall can bar any being from ascending Bifrost. In the past, he refused to grant passage to Thor or his descendants, and is still occasionally testy with them. Bifrost is the length of a morning’s ride on a swift horse.
Fengdu Ghost City: The Shén closely coordinate their management of the dead with mortal worshippers, opening gates to the Diyu Afterlife where it would be convenient for mortals to pay their respects. Founded during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Fengdu Ghost City has long been designated a special place for mortals to honor the dead, and for souls to undergo the ordeals and administrative processes required to determine their destinies, which, in Shén tradition, may involve different tasks for a soul’s various aspects. The living use these rites as keys to enter Diyu, simulating the actions of a soul bound for the desired region. Fengdu contains a Midrealm where souls perform various actions in duplicates of the mortal city’s landmarks, from the Ming-era bridge that determines a soul’s virtues to the Last Glance Tower, where the dead take one final look at The World.
The Sídhe: Sídhe are earthen mounds leading to the Celtic Otherworlds. Otherworldly beings take their name from sídhe, and are properly called ao sí or daoine sídhe: people of the mounds. True sídhe contain small underground palaces and hedge gardens: palaces for the daoine sídhe that they keep in trust for the Tuatha Dé Danann. These exist within the gate, outside of the physical World, and contain doorways to one or more Otherworlds. These doors remain locked unless the visitor skillfully entertains or deceives the daoine sídhe — that’s the key. Violence and threats do nothing.
AXES MUNDI
Gates take voyagers from one place to another, but Axes Mundi bind many worlds. They connect diverse locales in The World and Otherworlds. Travelers use Axes Mundi when direct gates can’t be found or are too dangerous to use. It’s usually easiest to travel to the Underworld by gate, the Overworld by Axis Mundi, and Midrealms through either. You can’t go anywhere with any given Axis Mundi; its guiding mythology sets limits.Each Axis Mundi possesses a corresponding place, object, or state the visitor must attain. These are less specific than gate keys, and once a Scion meets the requirement, they can start on their way. Axis Mundi connections always work both ways as well, so a voyager can travel from an ancient ash to Yggdrasil, or vice versa, or use Yggdrasil to move from one ash in The World to another. Mortals can travel through Axes Mundi as well, but require special training or an innate gift. Travel time isn’t measured in literal distance, but ordeals. A well-traveled route only requires one ordeal, while traveling to a Primordial or obscure realm requires several. Ordeals often contain clues as to the meaning of the journey, and what is to come, so it is sometimes better to take the long way and learn from the trip than blindly use a gate or Touchstone. Furthermore, Axes Mundi often bypass the guardians and dangers found in other routes, though not without substituting their own trials.
EXAMPLES
The following Axes Mundi are among the best known, but others exist, though in some cases Gods have hidden or protected them from widespread use.The Aether: Greek, Indian, and modern occult sources have written extensively about the Aether, and have given it other names, such as Indra’s Net and the Astral Plane. The Aether is composed of the fifth, subtle element that creates space and distance. Platonists believe that it transmits the “light” of ideal objects which in turn, create the substance of other realms. Mortals have long used techniques to send their souls into the Aether, where they can rise to contemplate The World and Overworld, and Scions may use the same techniques. Ordeals in the Aether take the form of riddles, enigmas, and acts of deep self-realization, administered by the abstract beings who dwell there. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to physically traverse the Aether except with the use of obscure magical powers, and exceedingly difficult to use it to travel to the Underworld.
The Earthways: They’re called the Erdstalls in much of Europe, but you can find ancient tunnels all over The World. Legends say they were made by goblins, great worms, or mortals fleeing some mythic disaster. Enter one and you can access the Earthways, which extend The Worldly tunnels deep and far, to Midrealms and Underworlds. Chthonians and subterranean creatures stalk the tunnels. Sometimes Earthways open into vast underground cities and strange subway tracks. The Earthways offer a way to enter Afterlives without taking the routes used by the dead, and even without permission from Death Gods, who often send patrols to watch for such trespassers. Earthways don’t reach the Overworld, but Gods and myths might direct a tunnel upward anyway.
Sumeru: According to the Devá, Sumeru is the mountain at the heart of the cosmos. At its roots lie the Naraka: afterlives that purify through punishment. Climb the mountain and you’ll pass through The World and the Midrealms of the Asuras, and up into the Overworld, where Swarga and other heavens serve as homes for the Devá and the most enlightened souls. To enter Meru, go to one of the Asian mountains associated with it, or climb the slopes of any mountain if you’re one of the Devá, or a devout follower who knows the required meditations. Although it’s easiest to reach the realms of the Devá and their mythic cousins, various pathways extend to other realms — and even other Axes Mundi mountains, like Olympus and Qaf. These secondary ways take longer to traverse and are more dangerous, however, and Gods from other pantheons resent their use.
Ocean: Ocean is the sea or river that girds The World and as such, is known to many pantheons, including the Æsir, Theoi, Tuatha Dé Danann, and Devá. Ocean extends into every natural body of water that connects to the sea, and by taking a ship beyond sight of land, a Scion can navigate out of The World to any realm with a legendary body of water. The Tuatha Dé Danann use Ocean to visit the island Godsrealms of their elders. The Gods cast Odysseus here from the Mediterranean (he never thought he left), forcing him to survive on the bounty of strange islands for years. Theoi have also traveled from Ocean to the Styx, to visit Hades. The Æsir acknowledge The World-girding Ocean but avoid it despite their people’s history of sailing, because World Serpent Jormungand dwells in the depths. Some believe Ocean itself is a Primordial (indeed, some mythologies depend on it) and that its storms, monsters, and bizarre islands are its dreams or ominous messages. Other pantheons identify it with legendary floods, the chaos before time, or the formless Abyss, and say it ultimately seethes over the void that existed before the Primordials made the cosmos.
Yggdrasil: Yggdrasil is an immense ash, so great that armies can march on certain branches, though sub-branches and new shoots might be thinner. The profusion of branches, leaves, and a surrounding mist makes the sky impossible to see from the heart of Yggdrasil. Nor is it possible to soundly determine the tree’s true trunk, though it must be as wide as The World, at least. Its branches run through Ásgarð and beyond to the Well of Urd and its Norns, and plunge down through virtually every Norse Otherworld and Midrealm, including Jotunheim. At one of its three immense roots lies the dishonored Afterlife, Hel. Branches extend to other realms as well, though as for Sumeru, paths beyond places known to the Æsir are dangerous and hard to find. Yggdrasil’s inhabitants include the squirrel Ratatosk and its children, who are skilled but duplicitous guides, and the Chthonic dragons spawned by Niddhogg, who gnaws upon the second root when it’s not torturing the damned in Nastrond. Sometimes ice giants climb from the third root, which stands on the Primordial Ymir, who is called Niflheim when described as a realm. To enter Yggdrasil, one must climb a sacred ash dedicated in its name, or old, strong ashes in any forest, if you’re a Scion or devout follower of the Æsir.
TOUCHSTONES
Mortals live lives touched by myth, and channel it into everything they do. The results may not be as obvious as a Scion’s thunderbolts or unnaturally charming words, but sometimes they create Touchstones: objects attuned to a mythic ideal. Touchstones attain their status through exceeding skill, exceptional emotional significance, and when people give the object fame or veneration. This can sometimes extend even to copies of certain objects. Just as ancient obelisks gain their power through vanished Egyptian God-kings, some copies of the Statue of Liberty connect to the original at Liberty Island, which was adopted by the state Goddess Columbia as one of her signs.By making physical contact and calling upon their divine natures, Scions may travel from one Touchstone to any other that calls upon the same mythic archetype. Any Scion can travel from Stonehenge to another ancient henge site, but can also visit the Georgia Guidestones or a French menhir. All are standing stones. Yet it would be impossible to use a Styrofoam Stonehenge prop at a rock concert for the same purpose, as it lacks the artistry, hallowed nature, or emotional significance required. (If the band sacrificed annoying fans using the prop as an altar, however, that could change.) Touchstones can only be used to travel within The World, and only if the Touchstone stands in a fixed position for a significant (but variable, as it’s myth, not science) period of days or more. You can’t roll a wooden horse into battle as a doorway for reinforcements, but you might ship one over, wait for it to stand for a little while, and thank Poseidon that your warriors can stream forth into enemy territory.
Pantheons often assert ownership over Touchstones bound to their traditions. Netjer take a dim view of outsiders using the Washington Monument, for example, given the sacred architecture used in the American obelisk’s construction. The cross-cultural and archetypal nature of Touchstones often interferes with these claims, however. Many cultures have erected standing stones that act as Touchstones for one another (not all do — you can’t get to a Shaivist lingam from Stonehenge, for example) giving multiple pantheons claim to that network.
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