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Since the dawn of mankind, we've told stories about a realm that exists alongside our own […] A celestial haven beyond the waves, or an ethereal abyss beneath the earth's embrace.
This supernatural otherworld was a realm of everlasting youth, beauty, and health. Where men and women live untouched by sorrow in the islands of the blessed along the shore of the deep-swirling Ocean, happy heroes for whom the grain-giving earth bears honey-sweet fruit flourishing thrice a year, far from the deathless gods.
The idyllic wilderness encapsulates the essence of the otherworld. A ceaseless world that defies its nature and takes the form of a utopian paradise akin to Elysium or the nightmarish hellscape of perpetual suffering that is Styx.
— Dr. Jeremy Graham
Background
The Uraniborg, Tycho Brahe's observatory.
Illustration from the Hypothesis Tychonica, showcasing the celestial model of the Elysian plane.
In 1580, while seated in his observatory on the small island of Ven, Sweden, the Danish Astronomer Tycho Brahe made a curious discovery. He saw that over the course of a month, planets exhibited an unusually static motion; for Venus, Mercury, and the moon weren’t undergoing phases, implying that the planets were revolving around Earth under a Geocentric model.
He found even more anomalies as his studies continued. The gulls that flew to the east, north, and west sides disappeared into the horizon,1 while the gulls that flew south remained visible even after hours of flying. This anomaly prompted him to conduct an experiment with boats. He placed one in the north and another in the south, setting both to sail at the same time. The boat heading north disappeared over the horizon, while the one heading south remained in sight.
Brahe repeated this experiment on the island of Shetland, Scotland, in 1582, placing boats in 4 directions. This experiment yielded an expected result: all the ships he sailed disappeared into the horizon. Contemplating his observations, he speculated that he may have accidentally built his observatory on some sort of portal to a supernatural realm.2 He postulated that this realm is an alternate plane that operates under a geocentric flat Earth model.
Superstitions surrounding the idea of an otherworld were widespread across Europe, with echoes of the concept being especially prevalent by the late 16th century. Brahe’s discovery profoundly altered our understanding of Earth’s topology and the nature of the third dimension.
Beyond the western horizon of Ven, he envisioned a new world, one he would later name the Elysian Plane,3 a layer of reality accessible through active leyline intersections. He believed these lines were residual pathways left by ancient celestial migrations, which acted as a gateway to one of the 9 realms as mentioned in the Poetic Edda.4
Brahe may not be the first man to discover the Elysian plane, but he was the first man to formalize the research of the otherworlds and its corresponding ley lines. For millennia, there have been countless stories of an otherworldly realm inhabited by gods and immortals such as the Irish Tír na nÓg or the Chinese Peach Blossom Spring.
The Elysian Plane
A diagram of the Otherworld (Elysian) Plane.
The Elysian/Otherworld Plane is an alternate dimensional strata that overlays Earth, structured along a four-dimensional grid mapped by ley lines.5 Despite Earth's spherical topology, entities possessing diminished anopticin filters6 physically perceive the observable world as flat and gain the ability to traverse across the Elysian plane.
While Otherworld intersections adhere to Earth's natural laws, venturing beyond a ley node increasingly distorts the fabric of those laws due to the plane’s lower coherency rate.7 The further reaches of the Elysian plane experience time at a significantly slower pace than baseline Earth.
Incidents of accidental access to the Elysian Plane are not uncommon among individuals with heightened sensitivity to leyline resonance. These include children, practitioners of Thaumaturgy, and those teetering on the brink of mental instability. Such instances are typically temporary. Hikers and sailors who have inadvertently entered the Elysian Plane frequently report witnessing hallucinatory images that take on tangible, physical form.
Due to the plane’s incoherent nature, flora and fauna that migrate into the Otherworld adapt to its disjointed environment. Conversely, native Elysians occasionally emerge on Earth, typically near weakened ley points during seasonal or cosmic alignments. Various anomalous species of plants, animals, and fungi are believed to have evolved in or near the Elysian Plane.
Despite its metaphysical nature, the Elysian Plane is an integral part of Earth's topology and ecology, as living organisms, particularly complex life, serve as natural conduits between the two realms. This phenomenon sets Earth apart from other planets. While celestial bodies like the Sun, Moon,8 or Mars9 may have Elysian planes of their own, it is unlikely their strata size is comparable to Earth's.
Otherworld Drift
Entropy is the natural state of the universe.
Earth’s leyline network is not static. During specific seasons, weather phenomena, or celestial alignments, the barrier separating Earth from certain Elysian planes weakens, concurrently displacing another plane. The influence of Earth's climate on the Elysian plane is generally limited to the point of intersection, and vice versa. Unfortunately, this property is susceptible to the entropic process.
In 1952, it was ascertained that the quantity and dimensions of the various intersection points on Earth have been gradually diminishing since their initial documentation in the late 19th century. This phenomenon, known as the "Otherworld Drift," represents the gradual decoupling of leyline anchors between Earth and its neighboring planes. As a result, the convergence of Earth's and otherworldly climates has instigated catastrophic disasters across both baseline Earth and the Elysian plane.
A common misconception is that the Elysian plane is a bunch of cards glued to a globe, but they are more like a long, jumbled-up ribbon wrapped around a ball. The hand that tries to unravel the ribbon from the ball is entropy.
Of course, this isn’t ideal. We humans long to discover uncharted territories untouched by man. Both humans and Elysians love to interact with one another’s world. This interaction is the power behind the ley nodes; they are the friction and normal force that curls the ribbon up to jumble around the ball. But try as the ribbon might, entropy is stronger than any (natural) force that tries to fight against it.
In the ballet of cosmic forces, entropy alone is inevitable. Perhaps there will be a day when the Elysian plane and Earth will fully drift apart, never to be seen again.
Excerpt from “The Otherworld Drift” by Dr. Andrew Manchester, 1954.
Geological and anthropological analysis suggest that the Elysian plane has been rapidly receding from baseline Earth since the late Bronze Age.10 This phenomenon has been associated with adverse ecological repercussions, particularly evident in local ecosystems reliant on the intersection points that have been dying out.
Sea of Chaos
At the farthest edge of the Elysian reach lies the Sea of Chaos, a liminal and metaphorical fog where leyline currents dissolve and reality collapses into informational entropy. This boundary is virtually inaccessible to humans, as their consciousness instinctively realigns with Earth’s coherent leyline framework, triggering their automatic return to baseline Earth. Within the Sea, the local reality signature can degrade to as low as the ACS-1.7 margin, reaching a critical threshold where the fundamental constructs of space, gravity, and time undergo irreversible collapse into disorder.
The nature of the Sea of Chaos remains a topic of contention. The prevailing theory identifies it as a manifestation of the Infoplane, with the fog representing pure, unstructured information. Alternative interpretations suggest the Sea functions as either an allegorical projection of the void or a metaphysical analogue to deep space. No viable method currently exists for acquiring empirical data from within the Sea of Chaos.
The Great Smog of London (1952).
The Sea of Chaos was first hypothesized in 1933 by physicist Pyotor Kantorovich, who identified patterns of leyline collapse across Siberia.11 Initially, his proposition of a distinct boundary was met with skepticism by the Authority, as the predominant theory at the time posits the otherworld as a subspace between two areas, and thus had no definitive edge.
His theory was later rectified in 1952, when the ███████ handling of ███ ███████ ██████ by Monarch Security and the ████████ ████████ led to a small portion of the Sea of Chaos to release into Britain and ██████. The disaster manifested as a pollutant fog that caused widespread deaths and mass hysteria, as well as slowing down time in the surrounding area to ██ hours per ████. It was reported that several London citizens were "████████" by the smog, some metamorphosing into ███████. Around ████ ████████ citizens had to be terminated by █████ █████ ████ forces.
In the wake of the 1952 London smog incident, numerous European agencies allocated substantial resources to investigate the Elysian plane. The primary objective of these research endeavors was to establish a comprehensive understanding of the otherworld to prevent an event like the Great London Smog from ever happening again.
Various research projects were initiated with a specific focus on validating the existence of a distinct boundary as theorized by Kantorovich's theoretical framework. The culmination of these efforts materialized in 1954 through laser-based experimentation in a minor otherworld in Australia.
Utilizing a laser sensor, researchers detected a discernible boundary within the Elysian plane as a perceptible "edge" amid a cloud of "fog." Furthermore, the laser doesn’t illuminate the other side of the intersection, thus disproving the sub-space theory.
Notable Otherworlds
An intersection point to a minor Irish Otherworld.
New Camelot, a self-governing territory of the Caliburn Union.
The Celtic Otherworlds comprise a cluster of realms intersecting with the geographical layout of the United Kingdom and Ireland. With a historical entwining with Britain, the accurate cartography of this land remains elusive despite being within Monarch Security's purview.
The aboriginal natives of the Celtic Otherworlds are known as Faeries (or "Elfish Peoples"), an Indo-European ethnicity that diverged from the Britons and migrated into the Elysian plane. These people used to cooperate with the mainland British people before the intersection point between the realms began to thin by the late antiquity.12
The four main Celtic Otherworlds are known as Avalon, Elfame, Annwn, and Tairngire (Ireland). These kingdoms are said to have collaborated with the kingdoms of baseline Earth since Britain's classical and early medieval age.
Today, the four kingdoms have formed an entity known as the Caliburn Union under the supreme authority of the Lord Protector, a title said to have been passed down since the reign of the legendary King Arthur. The Lord Protector is responsible for fostering harmony among the four kingdoms and slowing down the tide of the Otherworld Drift globally as part of their metaphysical role.
The Caliburn Union maintains a strong collaboration with the Monarch Security. Together, they monitor supernatural occurrences across realms and safeguard the veil of secrecy. While the Caliburn Union retains autonomy, Monarch Security holds authority in enforcing imperial laws when necessary
Al-Alam Al-Ghayb (العالم الغيب)
Iraq, Syria & Turkey
A silk road passageway to al-Ghayb.
Art depicting Ottoman dignitaries in an al-Ghayb port.
Formally known as the “Unseen World” (العالم الغيب “al-‘alam al-ghayb”), Al-Ghayb was an artificial otherworld crafted by Sufi architects, mathematicians, and thaumaturgists during the Abbasid era using astronomical alignment to “carve” nodes into the grid..13 This plane served as a nexus point for nearby artificial otherworlds in the Euphrates. Due to its strategic location along the Silk Road, it became a favored shortcut for numerous merchants and Muslim pilgrims, guided by stargazers who could discern the geocentric shift in the stars.
Since its inception, the art of creating artificial otherworlds has disseminated across Europe, particularly thriving during the 18th and 19th centuries. Architects, mathematicians, and engineers eagerly embraced this concept as a gateway to scientific exploration and the construction of concealed rooms and buildings. Each of these crafted realms has a barrier (barzakh), which all connects to Al-Ghayb. All pathways ultimately converging back to the Unseen World.
The true origin of al-Alam al-Ghayb is a subject of debate, as the concept of an artificial otherworld can be traced back to ancient Babylonian civilization. According to 17th-century Ottoman scholars, the creation of Al-Ghayb is often attributed to the fallen angels Harut and Marut, who are said to have imparted knowledge of sorcery (siḥr) and the World of Imagination (‘alam al-khayal) to the Babylonians. It is believed that the Babylonians' adeptness at harnessing these artificial passageways and utilizing shortcuts contributed to their rise as the dominant empire in the region. However, modern consensus speculates that al-Ghayb may be even older, finding its origins in the ancient Sumerians.
Yoru no Kuni (夜の国)
Japan
Shrine within the Nightland of Saku City.
A Parade of Demons by Kawanabe Kyōsai
The Nightlands is an Elysian Plane unique to Japan. A forest under perpetual night, it is the indigenous homeland of the sapient entities culture group known as the "Yokai" (妖怪).
Entry into the Nightlands is limited to hours of dusk and dawn under visible twilight. Ley lines of the Nightlands manifest by parasitizing the physical environment of its location, creating spatial phenomena known as "Dusk Gates".
Inhabitants of the Nightlands regard it as the opposite of baseline reality (the "Daylands"). This Elysian Plane is currently divided between various prominent Yokai clans into landholdings similar to the Daimyo system observed in feudal Japan. These include the Inari Taisha (稲荷大社) of the Kitsunes and the Stitched Mansion (縫合邸宅) of the Jorogumo.
Following decades of inactivity, many yokai were observed fleeing into the Nightlands after failures of the Hyakki-Yakko to Kyoto. This discovery has prompted the Authority to launch several expeditions into the Nightlands.
As of 20██, the Japanese Branch and the Yokai clans have agreed to the construction of the Embassy of the Setting Sun as a 'legal' entry into the Nightlands.
Xiānshān (仙山)
China & Korea
Only known intersection point to Penglai.
Art of the Eight Immortals who are said to have founded the veiled kingdoms.
The Xiānshān is an umbrella term for the mountainous otherworld clusters around mainland China and the Eastern Yellow Sea. The history of the Xiānshān mountains dates back to the early Tang or Song Dynasty, when legends tell of several islands of veiled kingdoms founded by the Eight Immortals.14
There are 5 mountain-island clusters within the Authority's current knowledge: Penglai (蓬萊), Fanghu (方壺), Yíngzhōu (瀛洲), Dàiyú (岱輿), and Yuánjiāo (員嬌), however, the validity of this claim is questionable as information of these mountain-islands is often met with counterintelligence. Each island is thought to function as an isolated city-state governed and populated by the Xian,15 who are likely the natives of the Xiānshān clusters.
Throughout the course of history, Penglai and its neighboring otherworlds became centers of spirituality, attracting seekers of esoteric knowledge in pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. The Xian denizens were frequently sought out to provide counsel to rulers and to intercede during periods of significant historical tumult. The Xiānshān clusters continued to flourish with minimal contact with baseline Earth, as their veil was under the protection of succeeding dynasties.
In the 1950s, the PCAAO attempted to occupy the Xiānshān clusters and incorporate the veiled kingdoms into the People's Republic of China. This was met with much retaliation by its inhabitants, who sought to protect their sovereignty and cultural identity. Over the decades, the PCAAO restricted all access to the major Chinese otherworlds, souring the relationship between the two realms.