From the banned tome Whispers Beneath the Cogwheel, author unknown
"When you open your eyes in this world, you inherit a lie. The truth must be taken, piece by bleeding piece."— Inscription found beneath the Duskwatch Cathedral ruins
🌫️ I. Aetherra — A World of Smoke, Bone, and Silence
They call this realm Aetherra.
Not because it is light—but because it is hollow.
Once, gods walked its skies, sculpting the world with dreams given shape. But the divine are long buried, smothered beneath the weight of machinery, alchemy, and sanctioned heresies. What remains is a land stitched together by rust and ritual, its cities towering upon the bones of the forgotten.
These cities don't reach toward heaven. They reach in defiance of it.
"We buried the divine in soot and steel.And still, we pray."— Archivist Elhar, executed for Construct Sympathy
The world pulses with poison through the arteries of its City-States, each one a rotting heart. Among them, none are greater—nor more dangerous—than:
🏛 II. Duskwatch — Where the Sun Dares Not Set
Duskwatch is a city where full daylight never arrives.
The fog that clings to its streets is not weather. It is memory. It is decay. It is a warning.
It is ruled by the Order of Chains—faceless mystics cloaked in silence. They see all, speak little, and act through prophecy twisted by time.
Below the cobbled surface lies the Undergray, a necrotic sub-city of forgotten faiths, discarded Constructs, and memories too dangerous to kill.
The sky churns with ash belched from a thousand alchemical furnaces. The gutters murmur with half-sentient whispers.
It is here the cracks first appear.It is here the Deviant awaken.
⚙️ III. The Constructs — Flesh Forgotten, Purpose Rewritten
The Constructs were never born.
They were made—forged from silverbone and soulglass, animated by forbidden rites once sanctioned by the Church.
They were built to obey.But some began to remember.
These are the Deviant—Constructs whose dreams are not their own. Who feel echoes of a heart they never had. Who recall names no historian has written. Who speak of stars never seen in Aetherra's sky.
"They are not broken.They are remembering."— Scrawled on a ruined Forgehouse wall
Some call them broken machines. Others believe they are reincarnations, lives stolen and rewired. Whatever they are, the Church fears them—and the Red Veil follows them.
🧪 IV. The Arcane Paths — Power With a Price
Magic in Aetherra is not studied.It is ingested.
Elixirs—distillations of essence and suffering—remake the soul. Every bottle a sacrifice. Every dose a descent.
These are the Arcane Paths, and each comes with a cost.
Known Paths:
Path of the Seer – See through lies, illusions, and the future. Lose memories you never meant to give up.
Path of the Hollow – Become precise, emotionless, deadly. Forget who you are before your name is gone.
Path of the Forged – Fuse spell and steel. Survive anything—except what you become.
Each Path has nine Ascensions. With every rung climbed, the soul twists further from what it was.
"The First Ascension gives you power.The Ninth steals your soul."— The Order's Silent Law
⛪ V. Churches & Orders — All Truth is Factioned
Faith in Aetherra does not seek salvation.It seeks obedience.
It is an engine powered by blood and belief, oiled with fear, and driven by factions locked in sacred war.
Major Factions:
Church of the Silent God – Worships silence. Punishes inquiry. Controls through absence.
Order of Chains – Sees the future. Does nothing to prevent it.
Red Veil – Revolutionaries of Deviant blood. Branded terrorists. Possibly saviors.
Guild of Echoes – Map time itself. Believe the soul fractures like mirrors.
Ashen Crown – Noble inquisitors. Purity above mercy. Blades before words.
"Faith is just fear given structure."— Final confession of Cardinal Mellek, moments before burning
🕯 VI. The Echoes — Memories That Refuse to Die
Aetherra is haunted not by ghosts, but by Echo Points—cracks in time where the past refuses to stay buried.
These fractures play out scenes again and again: wars, betrayals, murders never mourned.
Some scholars perform Resonance Rituals to witness them. Fewer survive the watching.
"The truth lingers.Not all who find it return whole."— Guild of Echoes, Founding Creed
Some Echoes whisper secrets. Others scream.
⚠️ Final Note: You Are Being Watched
If you have read this far, know this:
You are now known.
The Order does not tolerate curiosity. They do not forgive trespass.
They are not hunting you yet.But they will.
"You've read it, haven't you?Good.Now run."— Final page, burned into the margins