Games - Near Umbra

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	Games - Near Umbra

In the original World of Darkness setting produced by White Wolf Game Studio, the Near Umbra is a part of the Umbra, the spirit world, specifically the Umbra that is relatively close to Earth.

Broadly speaking, it can be divided into four subtypes, roughly defined by four videres.

High Umbra

The High Umbra or Astral Umbra is a place that can broadly be considered a reflection of the consciousness of the entirety of humanity. It can be divided into the Vulgate (a region where various common ideas (invention, love, hand-to-hand combat) form small microcosmic realms that interact frequently with one another as human ideas and beliefs change), the Spires (a region where major abstract ideas such as War or Love form sizable realms), the Courts (where major societies such as the Mount Olympus of myth and the Court of the Hindu pantheon, gods included, can be found), and the Epiphanies (a realm of ultimate abstraction, unattainable by most mortals). Interestingly, while certain afterlives (such as realm that are apparently the Christian Heaven and Hell) seem to play themselves out here, evidence suggests that they are not populated by the souls of the dead but instead by beings who exist as a fundamental part of the realm.

Realms

Realms found within the High Umbra include:

The Grand Hall (in the Vulgate)
The Inventium (in the Spires)
The Elemental Courts (in the Courts, nearer the Spires)
The Afterworlds (in the Courts, nearer the Epiphanies)
The Well of Souls (in the Epiphanies)
The River of Language (in the Epiphanies)

Middle Umbra

Unlike the High Umbra, the Middle Umbra is not organized hierarchically. Instead, it is divided into a series of discrete realms of physical reality divided by gulfs of relative emptiness and pockets of spirit activity. Roads between realms vary considerably (moon paths and trods being two examples). Realms in the Middle Umbra usually have their own Gauntlet and many are apparently infinite in their own private scope. While many realms in the Middle Umbra resemble the abstract realms of the High Umbra, the important distinction is that the realms of the Middle Umbra exist independently from the consciousness of humanity, while the High Umbra does not. The Middle Umbra is also notable for the influence of the Triat and the presence of entire hierarchies of spirits associated with them. While many realms are not controlled by one of the Triat, most realms have also been touched by one or more of them.

Realms

Realms found within the Middle Umbra include:

Abyss (also called the Chasm)
Aetherial Realm/Reaches
Atrocity Realm
Battleground (also called the Realm of Fighting Spirits)
CyberRealm (also called Dystopia)
Erebus
Goblin Jungle
Hy-Brasil (also called the Arcadia Gateway)
Legendary Realm
Mountains of Heaven
Pangaea (see Shenti below)
Scar
Summer Country (also called the Gardens of the First Age)
Tiger Lands
Umi (also called the Dragon Kingdom of the Sea)
Wasteland (see Shenti below)
Wolfhome

Low Umbra

Beyond the Shadowlands is a perpetual storm called the Tempest that threatens to overtake anyone in the Low Umbra. Though paths exist into the Tempest, Nihils (small holes in the fabric of the Shadowlands) can also suck the unsuspecting in. Small stable islands called Haunts can be found scattered throughout the Tempest, connected by Byways. Haunts can grow in time to become Necropoli, the largest of which are called Citadels. All such microcosms within the Tempest are built from the shadow or memory of structures that formerly existed in the Skinlands (as wraiths call reality). The Low Umbra can broadly be divided into the Stygian Empire, the Dark Kingdom of Jade, and the Dark Kingdom of Ivory (domains that align roughly with the Europe and the Americas, Asia, and Africa respectively). Beneath the Tempest apparently lies a force of absolute nothingness referred to as Oblivion, and beyond it exist the so-called Far Shores places that claim to be the true afterlives that await wraiths who successfully resolve their fetters. In most cases, the Far Shores are unknown and take no interest in reality, the Necropoli, or the Shadowlands, but a noteworthy exception is the Yomi World, from which the souls of Kuei-jin originate.Currently, the Low Umbra is in the midst of a Maelstrom, a psychic storm of global proportions that occurs semi-regularly, usually at times of great conflict or atrocity. This Maelstrom has essentially wiped the Stygian Empire from the map, and makes the Low Umbra a lethally dangerous place to travel.

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