Beyond the Deep

This world is pain. This life is suffering. It is to forge you, make you strong and worthy until you can pass beyond the Far Deep and into the next world.

— Excerpt of a sermon from the Qlippotheurgic Order

The Far Deep is a distant land of strange and alien things, of mystery and legend. But what lies beyond the most distant parts of the world? What hides in the darkness of the deepest reaches of the caverns?

A World Within

Many believe that there is a world within this world and the Far Deep is the gateway to this world. This belief is sometimes apocalyptic, centering around the monstrous terrors that must lurk beyond. In other cases, cults have formed around the idea that a paradise awaits the faithful further past the darkness.

Perspectives

Look around you: is this all there should be to life? Endless deprivation, eternal darkness, a world of stone and suffering?
This is not the true world. This is not life. We live in a Hell, condemned here by our sins and inadequacies. For that, we must suffer and we must make amends. Beyond this world lies another, beyond the Far Deep is the true world, the real world. A world of light and song. Take my hand; we will make the journey together.

— The Qlippotheurgic Order Cult

Some make pilgrimage through the Far Deep, believing the world of Araea to be either a Hell to suffer through or a transitory plane of existence. Others believe that the Far Deep exist as a sort of trial, where only the pure of heart can pass through to reach the paradise that lies beyond. So far, purity have proven ineffective at keeping the hungry beasts at bay.

The ancestors watch over us. They guide our path and protect us from evil. But the way you are living your life, you'll never join their ranks. You will pass beyond the Far Deep and be cast down into the darkness, forever away from your descendants. The only company you will ever have are the beasts of the Far Deep.

— Speaker from Kharkorp - City of Ancestors

Other believe that at the end of the Far Deep is a world of monsters, demons and suffering. If such monsters make the region outside it their home, surely what lies beyond must be much worse. In some cultures, this has become a belief that there exists an actual Hell there where all the worlds evils are brewed and unleashed. Stories of heroes descending past the Far Deep to reach the hell beyond for either rescue or revenge are popular fairytales.

by Alyn Spiller

The Origin of All

Others hold that there is neither a heaven nor hell beyond the Far Deep, but the primordial beginnings of the world - if not the universe. As the light of life grows dimmer the further from the Far Deep, to the barren and Blight-tainted Surface, it only stands to reason that the center of it all must be all that more alive.

Perspectives

In those primordial waters is where life began. Before there was anything else, before life came to even the Far Deep, that was where it all began. The first waters spawned the gods and they in turn begun to fill the world with all the things we see before us. Only the Surface was beyond them, too far from the life-giving waters below - which is why we must never venture there. It is said that those who find the waters beyond the Far Deep and drink of it can become gods, themselves.

— Clergy of Dūbavum - the Drowning City

While the exact nature of what is in the center varies between legends, they agree that that was where life all began. Whether it was the World-Mushroom or the primordial waters that first spawned life in Araea, they believe this is where all of existence first crawled from. Many apocalyptic tales revolve around whatever it is there finally withering and the light of life flickering out forever.

It is in the unfathomable darkness where you will find the birthing place of all things. The life you see around you was never meant for this world, but an accident. The womb of worlds spawned the spirits and the spirits spawned the world around us. If͜ y̛o͟u s͘èek̢ the ͏tru̸th͏,̕ ͝l̀oo̴k̨ ̶t͜hȩre͏.

— Excerpt from the Key of the Black Star

Thaumaturgy practitioners hold that the world Spirits spirits are what waits beyond the Far Deep. While exact interpretations vary, with some holding it as a land of infinite darkness and malleable possibility to an actual sort of spawning organ, they generally agree that this is from where all spirits once came.

by François Launet

The Far Deep
Beyond the Inner Shell and human civilization lie the mysterious Far Deep. These caverns are at the furthermost depths ever explored and the landscape here is vast and alien. The caverns are larger than those in the Inner Shell and the life bizarre and dangerous. Every attempt to settle the Far Deep has so far met with destruction and every mystery discovered only leads to others.
Read more about the Far Deep

by James Combridge

Harorao Region

An example of the extremes of the Far Deep, the Harorao is fecund in the extreme, covered in strange fungi and mushroom that grow as tall as a man. Such life always draw those to hope they can make a home or profit despite the dangers, while cults like the Madcap Berserkers see the region as nothing less than a holy land.
Read more about Harorao Region

Spirits

Spirits are ethereal beings beyond reality that lurk unseen and unheard in the world of Araea. They are facets of the true nature of Araea, born into alien shapes and with minds beyond mortal comprehension.
Little is known about these enigmatic creatures and few dare court their attention by learning more. If they spawn in the darkness beyond the Far Deep, it may be best if mankind never tread those parts of the world.
Read more about Spirits