Umbra

This article discusses the Umbra as it pertains to Radio Noir.

Surrounding Earth is the Near Umbra, consisting of the Gauntlet, the Penumbra, the Middle Umbra, and the High Umbra. Collectively, these form a vast expanse of spirit worlds, stretching from the Gauntlet to the Horizon. Beyond lies the Deep Umbra.

Metaphysicists debate whether Earth is truly unique and is the real center of the universe, or if there are other Horizons out there, containing their own complex Umbrae centered on planets inhabited by sentient beings. Regardless of this, though Earth is the center of the Umbra, it is merely a small part of Reality.

The Umbra is unfathomably large and defies linear thought. Several attempts at creating a  One must be able to envision maybe five different dimensions to fully grasp the geography of the Umbra. Luckily, one does not need to know the full extent of the whole to be able to travel through it. Geography is less important than connection and those who seek to explore the spirit worlds often pass through vast areas without realizing it.

The Gauntlet
The Gauntlet, referred to as the Wall in the Middle Kingdom, separates the physical world of life and matter from the spirit world, the Umbra. It can be described as a curtain between the two worlds or as a membrane, keeping one from spilling into the other. Its thickness varies from place to place, as well as from time to time. As a rule, the Gauntlet is much harder in industrial or urban areas and much more malleable in areas of spiritual importance or in the wilderness. Over the course of history, the Gauntlet has grown thicker. This has further increased over the las few centuries, something many contribute to the shift in the global paradigm towards a Technocratic world view.

Today the Gauntlet in a major Western city can be as high as 8, while on a remote island in the Pacific, it can be as low as 4. There are still areas left where the Gauntlet is little more than a half-formed idea, and the physical and umbral worlds bleed into each other. These areas are called Shallows and here anyone can cross over.

Penumbra
Those with the ability to perceive the unseen are always aware of the other side. They may see movement from across the Gauntlet out of the corner of their eyes, or they may simply feel it, like one can feel the mountain above when inside a cave, or hear it, as one hears the neighbors next door in an apartment-building. What these individuals sense is the Penumbra. When crossing the Gauntlet, one enters the Penumbra.

The Penumbra is often described as the Earth’s shadow. Close to Earth, it very closely resembles the part of the world it touches, only more honest. A forest in the Penumbra remembers is unfettered wildness and a mountain its lonely majesty. Cities too remember. Here, a square that used to be a place of executions may have blood-slicked cobblestones, flocks of ravens, and walls echoing with the jeers of bloodthirsty crowds, even if the square no longer exists on Earth. The headquarters of an old bank may appear as a dominating golden palace of ruthless wealth, the house where a desperate husband murdered his whole family may be etched into the tapestry of the Penumbra, years after it was torn down to make room for a strip mall.

Middle Umbra
The Middle Umbra, Spirit Wilds, or the Yang World, is referred to by some Order of Hermes scholars as a meta-plane. This is as accurate a definition as any, as the Middle Umbra contains several distinct realms, or demi-planes according to those same scholars. These realms can have their own very distinct laws, governing travel in and out of them, as well as the metaphysical conditions inside them. An Umbral explorer from the Cult of Ecstasy posed a theory stating that some of these realms are actually no larger than marbles, yet inside they contain a whole world, functionally endless in scope.

The Middle Umbra is closely connected to the Triat, and though the Primordials may not actively control a realm, most realms have been touched by one or more of the them. This is also where most shapeshifters who journey into the Umbra can be found. These can often be quite territorial and any mage wishing to explore these reaches should proceed with caution.

Realms found here include the Abyss, the Aetherial Realm, Battleground, Erebus, Flux, the Goblin Jungle, Hy-Brasil, Mountains of Heaven, Pangaea, Scar, and Wolfhome. Between these realms there are gulfs of relative emptiness and pockets of spirit activity. These realms have their own Gauntlet and travel between them can vary greatly. Among the more common routes being Moon Bridges and trods. It is important to note that these realms exist independently from human consciousness.

Barbosa's Archipelago
Named after its original discoverer, the Italian Void Seeker Marco Barbosa, in 1421 CE. At the time of its discovery, neither Barbosa nor the Void Seekers deemed the location to have much value. Barbosa believed it to simply be the Pacific Ocean’s Penumbra, but later surveys revealed that the archipelago was indeed its own distinct locale. The coordinates were recorded in the Codex Petere Longinquum Aethera Noster Dominus and quickly faded from memory.

Fornost
This realm of forests and mountains is believed to be the Earth's memory of the primordial lands of central Europe. Here the words of Tacitus still rings true, in that is truly is “a land, covered by horrid forests or loathsome bogs.” This where the Order of Hermes chantry of Durenmar is located.

The Great Plains
A seemingly endless prairie realm, home of enormous herds of buffalo. In the distance, a ridge of blue mountains span the horizon. This realm played a vital part in the metaphysical world of the Plains Indians of North America and was frequently visited by them as part of seekings or spirit journeys. After the continent was fully colonized and the Native American cultures all but eradicated, it is much less frequently visited, but one can still find sacred sites or ancient nodes here.

One recent addition to the Great Plains is the Railroad. Its iron tracks cut through the realm on a bed of human and buffalo bones. It makes stops at a small train station in the plains, as well as in the City and in Stygia. It is unclear exactly where this train came from, but some believe that it may in fact be the Midnight Express, although there are some notable differences between the two.

Jouska
Located in both the Middle Umbra and the Dreaming, Jouska follows its own specific set of laws. When arriving here, travelers either come through a portal from another realm, or they follow one of the many Moon Bridges leading here. From the outside, the realm appears as an impossibly complex, multi-story mansion surrounded by absolute nothingness. It has countless towers, crenelations, stairs, balconies, and other architectural follies cluttering its facade. The interior of the realm too resembles an enormous house, although it bears an important difference. No one has actually seen the inside. All travel inside Jouska is strictly hypothetical and only by accepting that fact can a visitor find the door they are looking for and leave.

The main reason to voluntarily visit Jouska is its connection to so many other realms, allowing a traveler to use it as a shortcut or to bypass other, more dangerous realms.

High Umbra
Often referred to as the Astral Reaches, the High Umbra exists “above” the Penumbra. This is the realm of thought, idea, and concept, and can be viewed as the sum and product of the consciousness of the entirety of humanity. This is the Umbra most frequently traveled by mages.

The High Umbra can be split into levels rather than realms. One type of region is the Vulgate. These are microcosmic realms formed from single ideas, be it knitting, fencing, teenage love, or race-cars. The Vulgate will shift, change, and interact with each other based on shifts in human thought and culture. Above the Vulgate, the Spires reach upwards. These are the embodiment of major abstract ideas, such as Love or War. Above these, one can reach the Courts. The courts are the domains of major religions, such as the Hindu Pantheon or Valhalla. Lastly, unreachable by most mortals, high above the Courts, lie the Epiphanies, the realms of ultimate abstraction. Some believe that this is where the idea of the Christian Heaven is found, although all sources point to the Epiphanies not being populated by the souls of the dead but rather by beings who exist solely as fundamental parts of the realm.

The City
Most who enter the High Umbra first arrives in the City. This seemingly endless sprawl is constantly growing from the center. The City contains elements from every single city throughout human history. On the outskirts lie the very first permanents settlements for more than one family group and the closer one gets to the center, the newer the neighborhoods get. Through the City runs the River of Language, where every tongue humanity has ever spoken forms a meandering river.

Dark Umbra
The Dark Umbra, Underworld, the Yang World, or the Afterworlds is home to the Restless Dead. These souls of the deceased cling to the world of the living due to something they feel is left undone. Very few among the living wish to travel here. This is the Umbra of memory, emotion invested in things that no longer exist. Even Wraiths themselves can be described as creatures of memory, constantly trying to stave off Oblivion. Oblivion can be seen as a black hole, slowly drawing everything in the Underworld into itself, the end of all things.

Zones
There are several zones which pass through the Near Umbra, intersecting the one or more of the Umbrae.

The Dreaming
The most well known of these zones is the Dreaming, notable for the fact that mortals visit this zone when they dream. The dreaming is made up of every dream ever dreamed. Some are small, fleeting dreams, visited once by a child in Carthage before the city was razed, others are vast and sprawling dreamscapes composed of common and recurring dreams of a whole culture. The Dreaming exists in the High Umbra, as well as in the Middle and Deep Umbra. The Dreaming is a universe unto its own and somewhere, likely in the Deep Dreaming or even further beyond, lies Arcadia, the realm of the Fae.

Hollow Worlds
Another zone is the Hollow Worlds, unique in that they can be reached by mundane humans through subterranean passages. Some theories hold that the Hollow World is actually an “inner umbra” rather than part of the Near Umbra.

Horizon
Like the Gauntlet the Horizon separates two levels of reality, but whereas the Gauntlet separates Earth from the Near Umbra, the Horizon separates the Near Umbra from what lies beyond. As with many things pertaining to the Umbra, there is no easy answer to exactly what Horizon is. The First Horizon is widely believed to map physically to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. Technomancers operate with the term True Horizon, encompassing what the Void Engineers call Subspace and the Society of Ether Etherspace. Both Subspace and Etherspace end at the Far Horizon, mapping physically to the Asteroid Belt.

Shard Realms
There are two main types of realms in the emptiness of Horizon. First there is the Shard Realm. These are the Umbrae of the celestial bodies in the solar system. These correspond with specific Spheres of Magick. Doissetep, the Domus Magnum of the Order of Hermes, lies in such a Shard Realm, the Vadum of Forces.

Horizon Realms
The second type is the Horizon Realm. These are pocket universes created by Magick. Horizon, the Stronghold of the Council of Nine is one such realm, as is the Society of Ether’s Victoria Station and Iteration X’s MECHA.

Nadar Observatory
Orbital observatory built by the Free State of Ether. Located in the First Horizon, directly above the South Pacific, and connects Barbosa's Archipelago to Etherspace by an elevator.

Thorwald
The ancient Cabal of Pure Thought chantry is draws its power from seven nodes across Prussia. At the heart of the Horizon Realm, an intimidating fortress looms on a jagged cliff above thick coniferous forests. Today enormous red swastika banners hang from the walls and turrets, and an array of tall antennae reach towards the steel grey sky.

Victoria Station
The flagship realm of the Society of Ether, located on a small asteroid orbiting the moon.