The Veil
The Veil is a metaphysical barrier that divides the parallel realities that make up Alvez from one another, and from the cosmic chaos beyond the known realms.
The Tear
Prior to the Tear, each of the worlds that now make up Alvez were separated by the Veil, a nigh-impenetrable metaphysical "barrier" between the worlds. These parallel dimensions could be glimpsed in the shadows out in the corner of the eye, or felt as an intangible presence, but never directly observed or interacted with. The Hud flowed through each, but in little more than trickles, and other worlds were left to children's stories and the rambling theories of academics. Then came the Tear. What triggered the event is a subject of great contention to scientists, storytellers and clerics, but the effect was indisputable. The barely distinguishable trickle of the Hud became a torrent, ripping through the veil like a storm breaching the seawall. Magic flooded the worlds, dragging landscapes, objects and creatures through, forever warping them in the chaos. What little written history survived into the present was of little worth, as Bedouar was swallowed up by the Feth Fiada for untold centuries. Humanity was reduced to living in tight-knit clans, cowering behind palisades as the Fair Folk emerged to lay claim to the new world from the Seas and the world beneath. The Fair Folk, for their part, were driven from their homes by the disaster, cut off from large parts of their world and forced to survive in an inhospitable world so different from their own. And the line between the living and the dead was erased, spirits and corpses returning to the land of the living as others were neglected from Death's rounds. This period of time is known as the Time of Mist.The Veil Today
Like a flood, the Hud's catastrophic, reality-warping burst receded, establishing a more consistent flow through the Veil along the Menieg (Laylines, Paths of Power) into and out of Poull (Locus points of magical power). The Veil, though tattered, is not destroyed, and continues to maintain some division between the Realms of Bedouar, Dindan, Old Elfriche and Magh Mor. Other planes outside of the "core" of Alvez are met with a stronger barrier, though occasional impacts, such as the ones that created Ramaal Mutaharika and The Sea of Wine can still occur.Piercing the Veil
It is possible to pierce the veil, creating an artificial doorway, with a mass working of Huderezh. This can rip a hole in the fabric of reality, creating a region of Bleed around the tear.Manifestation
The Veil is not a physical barrier, but rather is a conceptual divide between realities, invisible and intangible, allowing multiple realities to exist within the same conceptual space. In some instances, specifically pockets of unstable Bleed, it can be observed. This most commonly occurs in the form as a shimmering light or smoky haze, or, in the most extreme cases, a tear in reality through which another world can be viewed directly. These manifestations are extremely rare and almost always accompanied by temporary, highly unstable pockets of warped reality.
More often, the Veil will blend in to its surroundings, appearing as a natural division, such as an old stone wall, a dense hedgerow of trees, or a winding brook, unobtrusive and unremarked on by the casual observer. Passing along or around these barriers will yield no evidence of its nature, revealing more of the same world beyond and behind it. Only by passing through an opening is the truth revealed.
Holes in the Veil often appear as mundane transitional spaces, such as a crumbling hole in a stone wall, a natural path through a dense forest, a ring of mushrooms or an old bridge. These typically blend in with the surrounding manifestation, but in the case of extremely potent magic in the Bleed beyond, these openings can become significantly more uncanny and obvious. As a doorway is inspected, it becomes more ornate and detailed, as if to draw the viewer in. Upon crossing the threshold, the opening may appear as it did in the first world, or completely different. An entryway through an old door in one world may exit between two standing stones in another, or even vanish entirely.
Localization
The Veil is ever present in Alvez, but becomes most apparent in liminal, transitional spaces. Mountains (between land and sky), islands (between land and sea), forest edges (between civilization and wilderness) and caverns (between the surface and the subterranean world), for example, are common places of thinness where both visible barriers and openings commonly appear, but they are not limited to these examples. Even in heavily populated areas, alleyways, side steets, doorways and bridges can and do function as doorways between worlds, tucked into the unassuming familiarity of the urban sprawl. Even cultural constructs, such as necropolises, burial mounds and community borders can manifest these gateways and weak points. Thinness becomes more apparent at certain times of day, such as the dusk and dawn, and certain times of the Year, such as the Four Fire Festivals, when the Veil becomes even weaker for a period of time as the Hud flows more strongly.
Bleed
Beyond these openings is often points of Bleed, magically potent borderlands between the deeper realities. These regions are typically awash in magic, warping aspects of both worlds into each other. For more information of these border regions, see Bleed. Often, far off lands in the realms of Old Elfriche, Dindan and Magh Mor are separated from the Bleed by vast expanses of magical wildnerness, the Faewylde. Most Fair inhabitants of Alvez therefore, live in the Bleed, like the shoreline of a mighty river, drawn from, but difficult to cross. The Sidhe, especially, have found that returning to Old Elfriche's familiar lands is all but impossible.
Type
Metaphysical
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