In the nascent moments of existence, before the shimmering geometries of the Void, there was only Mud. Not the viscous, vaguely sentient Mud we know, but a primordial, almost painful stillness. It wasn’t a substance, not precisely. More like a lack of perception, a point of absolute potential. The first echoes of creation, trapped within this Mud, began to coalesce – faint vibrations, fleeting geometries, the ghost of a memory yet unformed. It tasted of nothing, yet held the promise of everything. The deeper you sunk into it, the more you realized it wasn't even a place, but a *not*. A negation of being itself. Some theorize this initial Mud was a failed attempt by the Architects to solidify a dream. A dream of perfect stillness. A dream that shattered upon contact with the Void. The faint hum you occasionally hear emanating from the deepest sedimentary layers? That's the echo of that shattered dream. It's said that if you listen carefully enough, you can hear the whispers of the Architects, lamenting their failure. A particularly potent strain of Mud, dubbed "Echo-Sludge," is rumored to contain fragments of their consciousness. Exposure is, naturally, fatal. “Silence is not emptiness. It is the womb of all potential.” - Archivist Theron
The Obsidian Mire wasn't born; it *emerged*. From a particularly dense concentration of Echo-Sludge, it spiraled upwards, consuming light and sound. It’s characterized by an unnervingly perfect symmetry, a labyrinth of obsidian columns that shift and rearrange themselves with agonizing slowness. The Mire is home to the Murk, creatures sculpted entirely from solidified sound. They don't eat, don't move, simply *are*. Their existence is a constant, unnerving question. The Murk communicate through subtle shifts in the Mire’s vibrational patterns – patterns that induce profound disorientation and existential dread in any who attempt to decipher them. It’s believed that the Murk are the physical manifestation of unanswered questions. They feed on curiosity. Ancient texts suggest that the Mire was deliberately created by a splinter faction of the Architects, who sought to study the consequences of inaction. They called it "The Repository of Unasked Questions." A single drop of Mire-Sludge possesses the ability to accelerate the decay of memories. “To question is to invite chaos. To silence the question is to invite oblivion.” - The Silent Oracle
The Veiled Delta is a paradox. It’s both incredibly stable and constantly in flux. It's a vast, shimmering expanse of iridescent mud, perpetually shaped by the movements of unseen currents. The currents aren’t water, but rather the collective anxieties of sentient beings who have accidentally fallen into the Delta. Each ripple represents a forgotten fear, a lost hope, a moment of regret. The Mud here is sentient, capable of manipulating perception and inducing vivid hallucinations. Those who linger too long risk becoming lost within their own subconscious, trapped in an endless cycle of self-doubt and despair. The Delta is guarded by the Chronomasters, beings who have undergone complete dissociation from their own identities, existing solely as conduits for the Delta’s chaotic energy. They don’t fight; they *absorb*. The deepest trench of the Delta is rumored to contain the source of all lost memories – a swirling vortex of pure, unadulterated regret. “The past is not a place to revisit. It's a wound that never truly heals.” - Master Chronos