The Mist

"Nothing is certain in the world.
Although, nothing is more uncertain than the mist, where what is real and what is not has no meaning; while our lands have lords and masters, the wild lands of the mist bear no such fealties.

As such, in equal measure can horrors, monstrosities, and wonders coalesce in its wayward grasp. Although just as swiftly can it excise those who bear not its mark of uncertainty.

In truth, the mist is the only certainty in the world, as are those who try... and fail, to decipher it."

Unlike the forces of the Cosmos and the Abyss, the Mist has no objective, it doesn't desire order, nor chaos, the Mist simply fills the space between existence and emptiness, where uncertainty lies.

Mechanics of Mist: The Mist manifests wherever there is no life, meaning that anywhere outside of populated settlements is shrouded in mist, though it is kept at bay by the light of the day.
At night, however, only the presence of life in an area will part the mist, multiplicatively depending on the quantity of living things in the area; while a single person would part just enough mist to vaguely see their own hand in front of them, a well populated city parts enough mist to see well beyond the borders of lived-in space.
Mist can only be parted by beings with a cosmic spark in their minds, granted to them by the moon, Lunis.

Dangers of the Mist: The Mist displays many properties that seemingly defy all reason. Being close to the mist for extended periods of time is known to negatively affect the sanity of those near it, being especially drastic when alone. In addition, people who travel through the mist are normally well aware of the presence of aberrants, creatures and beasts which are known to manifest from within the mist near those who travel through it, or who reside at its boundary. Their behaviour and appearance are entirely anomalous, even when compared to each-other; while one aberrant may appear as a large, aggressive hound-like creature, another could appear as passive, distorted humanoid figure.
Many people have tried to hunt and track aberrants, although they find that the creatures seemingly disappear after a point, with no trace of them whatsoever; many of these hunters fall into the same fate, unwittingly stumbling apart from their groups and becoming stranded, alone in the mist, where they are often never seen again.
This has led many researchers to believe that the aberrants only exist for as long as they are observed, becoming incorporeal if they are no longer witnessed, which would further mean that the initial manifestation of an aberrant may only happen if something is there to observe it.

Methods of traversal through the Mist: Despite the difficulties that the mist imparts on those who would travel through, many people still manage it.
Many caravan-trading companies will raise and breed luxon, giant quadrupedal beasts of burden that, because of their size, part a great amount of mist, as well as thycrids, horse-like crustaceans that are used as mounts for travelling parties.
For those who can't afford to keep or hire luxon, there are services available in most every city to hire groups of people who will travel along with a party, acting as guards, scouts and/or simply additional lives to part more mist. The widely accepted standard is that if you want the best escort, you look for the urkali, who know how to best survive in the mist, and are experts at fighting and scouting out aberrants.
For those who don't even have enough money to hire an escort, it is safest to just stay where they are. Although for those who are very desperate, they may simply gather as many people and animals as possible and hope that they make it out alive. More often than not, they won't.

Life in low-population areas: Small towns and villages are very dangerous places to be in the Mistlands, and for those of a low enough population, survival doesn't come easy. Although, some smaller settlements do manage to settle properly, but they must quickly grow to ensure their further survival. Rangers are a very sought-after role in such places, as their expertise and knowledge are often the dividing line between continued existence and destruction for the people living within.

Type

Natural