Observations on the Twenty-Seven Laminae

Front Matter

A Note from the Order

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II.

A Primer on the Ordial Plane

III.

Translator’s Note

Introduction

IV.

Author’s Preface

Cosmography

VI.

Facets

The Laminae

the ProcedureAn incomprehensible realm of deafening harmonics and shimmering geometries that shift and overlap, the Procedure brims with the zeal of the prismatic Looms, who diligently arrange and replay the affairs of mortal worlds in an effort to bring about a formation they call "the Pattern".Turn to chapter

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the ConcordanceThe Concordance most closely resembles mortal hopes for an afterworld: a vast network of metropolises and landscapes in which mortals and petitioners alike seek to prove that suffering is not needed to give context to joy.Turn to chapter

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the LambentDark, star-slicked highlands of altars and shrines, each bearing a single exceptional petitioner who awaits one final and fatal quest worthy of their heroism.Turn to chapter

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the UnfoldingArtists and engineers that have architected all of the most famous constructions in existence, original copies of which fill archipelagos that spread across the Glass Ocean, where the enormous automaton wind shifters interlock and glide across empty waters.Turn to chapter

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the Taxonomy[Unfortunately, for this lamina our only information comes from some hastily jotted notes, which suggest that the Taxonomy concerns itself with the archival and analysis of cardinal objects, a process presided over by inquisitive petitioners known as Skeins.]Turn to chapter

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the InstrumentThe labyrinthine interior of a colossal automaton, the outside of which never been seen. The Instrument is tended to by the Moilers, whose culture has lost its knowledge of the automaton's purpose and operation, and as a result have devolved into industrious paranoia and neurosis.Turn to chapter

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the MaculaThe Macula is a pitch-dark realm where every shred of light and substance has long since been utilized by the alien and fractal Oriels to build curling, spectacular palaces in which they warp their minds and bodies in pursuit of ever more esoteric experiences of beauty.Turn to chapter

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the CrenellationAn endless fortress city divided into two warring factions that never dare come to blows, the Crenellation requires of its citizens absolute self-sacrifice, and with that clarity of purpose executes a vision of martial and material prowess with awesome efficiency.Turn to chapter

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the IncrepationA boundless crevasse bisects the Increpation, atop which all the soldiers of every mortal battlefield fight amidst the fallen bodies of aeons. In the depths of the crevasse loom ornate catacombs that hold the Rues: anxious intellects weaving schemes and curses to unleash upon the rest of the multiverse, none of which have ever been observed to unfold.Turn to chapter

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10.

the BellBeautiful, storm-drenched mountains inhabited by the keepers of the "Universal Story", an indescribably transformative experience which they offer to visitors and continually seek to perfect.Turn to chapter

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11.

the BraidRugged and serene badlands inhabited by the complex, inscrutable Limns, who bring quarreling mortals here in reverie to forge empathy in the light of a natural phenomenon known as the Echo, in which you witness in the actions of others a flash of the entire history of happenstance that leads up to their present.Turn to chapter

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12.

the CicatrixFloating stony crags and tendrils wind through the endless sky and wind of the Cicatrix, in which the Marrows bear the verging currents of catharsis from across the multiverse, celebrating and mourning the passage of things in visceral ritual until the land and their own bodies become more scar than substance. As the airborne land slowly rotates, memorials eventually slip into the sky and are lost.Turn to chapter

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13.

the AsymmetryAn endless cliff face, with no known ground or top or sides, into which the Grains have quarried for aeons as they craft and sculpt and adjust essential creations for introduction into cardinal worlds.Turn to chapter

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14.

the CartographyA lifeless and lethally suffocating expanse that contains every moment of every location in the multiverse, frozen and duplicated here in shades of grey.Turn to chapter

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15.

the PastureUnique among all laminae, no petitioners have been found on the blizzarding tundra of the Pasture, only a small nomadic caravan of mortals pursuing a mental state of "unknowing" that they believe will allow their souls to become petitioners here, thereby restoring the lamina's role in the balance of the multiverse, and in persisting through this arctic wasteland they hope to one day find evidence of their success.Turn to chapter

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16.

the BaubleThe Bauble is the ocean of dreams and nightmares. From vast warm shallows rippling with gardens of fancy and lilting tunes to dark crags and shadows of the quiet deep, the Inks who reside here guard drifting, delicate mortal minds against phantoms and rifts and the swells of storms and waves.Turn to chapter

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17.

the GraspInsisting that they are all merely different endeavors of the single collective intelligence that is the Grasp, the Frames who dwell in this place as petitioners seek to perfect themselves each according to their chosen pursuit, training for athletic, martial, and intellectual prowess in a network of chambers and environments especially suited to their continual improvement.Turn to chapter

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18.

the LucidityA blank, white void graced with marble monasteries in which contemplatives cultivate "lucid body, spacious mind, empty heart". The Precepts of the Lucidity focus their energies on enigmatic rituals of Erasure whereby they cause seemingly arbitrary targets to vanish from cardinal worlds.Turn to chapter

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19.

the KylixOrdinary thought is impossible in the baffling avalanche of the Kylix: sensations strike with such speed and force as to crowd out thoughts of a conscious mind, and upon returning from this manic dream no clear memories remain, only a flood of images and a delirium that can last for hours. As a result it is nearly impossible to describe this lamina, and quite dangerous to venture there, but recurring images provide some insight as to its properties.Turn to chapter

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20.

the BrinkExultant yet mindful hedonists who form a kaleidoscopic community of explorations in creation and destruction, joy and suffering, exertion and renewal. Visitors are welcomed into the fold, and it is impossible not to be overwhelmed.Turn to chapter

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21.

the BoughThe Bough is a hazily luminous land of waterways and forests in which Quells gently watch over the affairs of flesh: comforting the dying, exploring the congress of pain and pleasure, and plucking out the scars and memories of mortals who no longer need them.Turn to chapter

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22.

the PremiseThe Premise roils with the bare phlogiston of Creation ꧠ, upon contact with which all matter erupts into chaos. Enormous trees rooted in nebulae form islands of stability for Rhemes who intend microcosms into existence out of the raw stuff of this place, enacting free will in a world lacking cause and effect, while the nautilus-shelled city of the Mutatorium invites seekers of self-transformation.Turn to chapter

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23.

the ReverieA realm for those who spent their lives saying "no", the Reverie is an endless stone plain in which geometric chasms hold solitary Eremites in rest and contemplation.Turn to chapter

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24.

the InevitabilityAn otherwise-empty wasteland graced by the exuberant and chaotic Procession in which Unravellers joyously manifest the forces of entropy, that universal and implacable slide from order into disorder. Troupes each pursue their own flavors of entropy: rotting food, aging, combustion, romantic miscommunication, broken furniture, political dissolution, and myriad others.Turn to chapter

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25.

the BloomA dazzling and hideous jungle in which everything blossoms and transforms and regenerates unpredictably. To its children, the Florets, it is a paradise garden for endless play within the forgiving embrace of their Mother.Turn to chapter

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26.

the KnotEasily among the most dangerous and unintelligible of all laminae, the Knot is a maelstrom of cloud, mud, ocean, rock, and fire through which towering alien behemoths stumble and squirm, striving to devour themselves.Turn to chapter

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27.

the OvalThe Oval appears to be a complex place, but thanks to the jealous blessings of the Blinking Monarch, it will all seem rather simple once you've left.Turn to chapter

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