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Circular Circulations
Throughout the ever unfolding history of Otherworld there has been the constant presence of a mysterious and possibly fictitious organization known as the Circle. This organization concerns itself with the common good of all Otherworld and often works from the shadows manipulating Otherworld through subtle influence. The Circle is famous for the series of proclamations known as the Circulations which represent the most simplified and definitive aspects of Otherworld and its nature.
This organization does not exercise the authority of a state and is not a government; rather the Circle is a band of custodians who maintain Otherworld for the benefit of all who find their way with it’s lands. As such the Circulations are not laws so much as summaries of essential facts pertaining the physical nature of Otherworld as understood by the Circle at the time of their writings. To this day these facts have been proven to be irrefutable however should new discoveries be made new Circulations may be added as new underlying truths come to light.
(O-1) Otherworld is best thought to be an ever-expanding sphere pushing out equally in all directions, and thus its totality is infinite and separate from NSEarth. The space contained by this circumference is material in nature and is subject to certain laws and tendencies: up is up, light travels faster than sound, entropy is present etc. etc.
(O-2) Otherworld is a mirror for the imagination and must, at least in potential, contain all things which are not possible in the nominal reality called NSEarth. This implies that at certain times (O-1) is found to be false: animals may speak, time may be manipulated, and light may be bent by the will etc. etc. This and the preceding entry contain the total scope of Otherworld as the synthesis of Reality and Fantasy.
(O-3) Otherworld is noted for its nonlocality and general quirkiness of time; history is constantly playing out along the present which in turn constantly predicts the future. Roads, paths, trails et al. within Otherworld connect distant locations irrelevant of time; some trips take predictable and cyclic durations, others seem merely arbitrary, and others still are entirely random. Roads, paths, trails, et al. connecting Otherworld to NSEarth ironically are permanently located or appear in highly predictable cycles.
(O-4) Quirky-Time as alluded to in (O-3) means that societal, cultural, and technological progress in Otherworld may vary radically across it’s terrestrial plane. Age is widely meaningless though it remains an interesting qualifier for individuals and groups alike. What takes mere hours of time relative to NSEarth can take months or even years of time relative to Otherworld; however within Otherworld time seems to flow at the speed as on NSEarth though traveling and certain events are often subject to strange effects of time dilation. Generally the closer any two locations are relative to each other the more likely their times flow synchronously.
(O-5) As of the forming of this Circle and the casting of these Circulations there is only one known terrestrial plane within the ever-expanding borders of Otherworld. Some localities do connect to others and one is able to orient oneself and navigate within Otherworld, but as no one has found the edge or definitively proven a curved landscape it is known to be an infinite terrestrial plane.
(O-6) Life in Otherworld generally resembles and imitates lifeforms found on NSEarth, though this is not to be interpreted as a law of biological nature. Some theorize that all mythical creatures of NSEarth are actually creatures from Otherworld including talking animals, faeries, ghouls, unicorns etc. etc. Evolution is not the sole process of life in Otherworld, many lifeforms emanate from higher forms, spring from the ground fully formed, or are created by artifice.
(O-7) Much is made of the magic of Otherworld but this is not to overlook the many technological achievements of Otherworld’s inventors and innovators. Magic, the word itself, is used to encompass the strange blend of willed action, technology, and natural processes that occur in Otherworld which do not, or cannot, occur on NSEarth. As Otherworld is open to interpretation the question of magic versus science is largely irrelevant.
(O-8) To reiterate: Otherworld is a mirror for the world of total realism known as NSEarth that contains within it all things implied as impossible by their absence from NSEarth, called Fantasy. Due to its reflective nature Otherworld is dependent upon its inhabitants and those who relate to it from without for its meaning and existence. Otherworld is thus more subjective than objective in nature and is constantly adapting to accurately reflect the imaginations and passional desires of its creators.
