Roiling Creation

Roiling Creation, or the Roiling Story is a term used to describe the natural state of the world of Story. Outside of cities and other areas stabilized by the influence of the Inheritor Gods, the world is naturally in flux and changing, often towards the detriment of mortals. Traveling into the wilds is therefore hazardous and usually only done when absolutely required, such as destroying abberations and other locuses of chaos that cause even more instability.

Variations

A Variation is one particular instance of abnormal change. It can be a change as small as visual mutations in local fauna and flora, up to significant changes such as deadly rain or giant abberations. The more dangerous Variations, particularly abberations, are taken seriously by governments as they can quickly compound and destroy cities and forts, as evidenced by the Inexplicable that destroyed several Confederation of the Free outposts and forced them to cede land to Giraguk.
Variations are usually classified as one of the following sub-types.

Aberrations

Aberrations are when a Variation gives rise to what is most easily described as a monster. Examples of past abberations include giant man-eating worms, five-legged creatures that consume iron, and animated carnivorous plants. Abberations are almost always hunted down as soon as they are discovered, because they are mobile, often hungry, and also seem to increase the chaos in the world around it. Some abberations even gain additional mutations between the time it was reported and pursued, causing more lives to be lost.

Climes

Climes are localized weather changes. The most striking example of a clime is blood rain, but other kinds of rain are often more devastating. Acid rain kills plants and potentially crops, and there has been at least one instance of liquid death falling from the sky. Abrupt cold waves or heat waves are also fairly common, and tornadoes, hail storms and gusts are not infrequent as well.

Corruption

If Abberations are the most dangerous Variation, corruptions are the most feared. Very rare, corruptions directly affect mortals unlucky enough to be caught within them, changing their nature and sometimes effectively killing the victim. Though some people have suffered a corruption and survived, many others are unstable, unable to reintegrate into society, or even hurt or kill their neighbors and fellow town citizens before being put down.

Fae

Fae Variations are similar to abberations in that they form creatures with supernatural abilities ex nihilo. Unlike abberations, fae are able to hold conversations and be convinced, but often not reasoned with. They are usually small creatures, ranging in size from slightly smaller than a halfling to the size of a tall human, and almost always have a penchant for trickery ad capricousness. Theologians believe Fae are the manifestations of the chaos of the Story itself. Much like other Variations, it is rare to walk away from a Fae encounter unharmed.
There are many folk stories about the fae, some passed down through generations, though how many of them are based on true encounters is unknown. According to the established rules of Variations, fae should be very uncommon near major cities, yet many continue superstitions intended to ward off the fae in even the largest of them.

Nature

Nature Variations encompass any change to flora or fauna that is not to the degree that it can be called an aberration. They often foil apprentice rangers or herbalists that mistake a mutated plant for another medicinal herb they were tasked to collect. Some nature Variations are mildly harmful, such as cases of previously benign animals gaining natural poison. Generally, a careful eye can prevent the worst problems.

Shifts

Shifts are changes in the geography of the world, such as hills forming or disappearing, jagged expanses of rocks, or the air inexplicably thinning as if atop Proscenium Mountain. Some shifts are more perceptual, turning a traveler around in a circle despite them walking in a line.

Civilization

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Universe