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This gives me some more questions I hadn’t known to have!
This is meant to answer questions XD. Please tell me what those questions are!
I haven't gone as deeply into your world as I should, so it's likely that some of my questions would be answered by existing material. There is a two-fold question that arises from this article specifically though, and that is: if the aspects of the world within the timeline are being... (for the lack of a better word) eaten by the Abyss, where are those aspects stored? Like, are a person's history and connection associated with their soul, and entering the abyss corrupts and separates it from their physicality? Also, what makes Lo able to see some things, but not others? What is it really that they are seeing—the world as it is, or as it could be/has been before? Lo’s statement of “I am only afforded what the void shows me” makes me think that they see things as they enter the Abyss, but from the other things said, I’m assuming the void and the abyss are different things here. Thinking about those questions gives rise to a couple of theories. One is that the Abyss is a force seeking to bring everything into equilibrium. That idea comes from the statement “...the death… is… pulling everything into a state of either unchanging or pure chaos.” It makes me think that whatever enters the Abyss becomes balanced in reln, whether by stability of by constant fluctuation. Another is that Lo is a sort of manifestation or personification of the world, and its timelines. Which makes me wonder if they were born simultaneously with the world, or if they developed over time. I think the latter is more likely, since they were able to observe shattering of the zuyg. Though it seems both Lo’s existing and their observation of the world take place outside of time, so they wouldn’t necessarily have had to exist before an event in order to witness it. My first inclination is that the people described under “The Ancient Catastrophe” were attempting to make a sort of murn and thereafter imbue it with life. I suppose the result of that attempt was the Muzoval as a sort of Comoo creature. This theory is foiled though, because “Muzoval” says four species collaborated for it, whereas “Catastrophe” only lists three. The information under “Ulinta” further throws a wrench into my understanding, lol. Given the beings in Ovald (I believe that’s what the region beyond the Ulinta is called(isn’t that the Abyss? please tell me if I’m mistaken about this, haha) have managed to survive by a very different design than the ones within Kald, it sounds like when the latter are exposed to the conditions there they experience some of those changes too rapidly for their systems to handle, which overwhelms and corrupts them—causing what seems to be madness. In other words, the rushed and incomplete development of some of those soul organs possessed by the others. Now I wonder if Lo isn’t a creature from beyond the Abyss, having developed additional organs of the soul, but lost a physicality. That would explain their simultaneous knowledge of what life in the Abyss looks like and lack of awareness of their immediate surroundings. Or perhaps Lo’s soul, like Grandmother Wayfarer’s, has grown so large that time has fallen away from them. Does lacking a body render one fundamentally Awezlu, or fundamentally exempt? I’m probably going in all sorts of wrong directions here. XDD
Thanks for the questions, they really had me thinking about things. First, the "abyss" that is Ulinta and the center of the world is not the same as the thing severing worlds. I understand how it's confusing, it's really because the thing severing worlds has so many names and is so strange that it confuses people with other forms of emptiness. Abyss (Ulinta) & The Hatred are two different "things". As far as anyone, including Lo, can tell, they're just gone. I'm not too sure of the details myself, but it's likely that they are just gone, to never come back, a death of deaths. Since it's the severance of soul and body from an entire existence, even if you were to reunite the two, they cannot be the same. Honestly, I haven't uncovered "where" exactly Lo is. They definitely exist outside of the timeline they've been watching, since they view lives achronologically. But they also can't see too far into the future. They also may or may not have a physical form. But where they reside doesn't allow them to know. They've tried manifesting a form, but that is likely not their true selves. From this, I also don't know who exactly Lo is. As I've followed them in my head, they just came to be and slowly gained self-awareness. They can't experience anything in the void, they do experience all =sensations from the people they view. I'm starting to feel that maybe Lo is at the center of the planet, where it's nothing but Bil (darkness) and the closes one can be to Dax without abandoning their soul. So maybe they are a consciousness trapped within the core, the pressure to immense and large and space to vast to escape. They "tunnels" they see are like holes exposing the world outside, but not big enough for them to get through. This would also explain why they don't have a form, since the pressure of the planet would prevent them form making change on a body. I also have a lurking idea that Lo is a Daich'chrain, Chorma to be specific. Their soul was cast to the center of the planet and their body/heart exists above them in Raehyr (major spoilers for Seeking the Unknown story). Being such a vast creature would explain why they can't make it through the tunnels (having a massive soul like you mentioned being akin to Grandmother Wayfarer). As I write this here and now, I think this makes way too much sense and sets up so much. Them being this kind of being would also explain why they can't see into the future as they are still bound by existence affecting the physical. Thank you so much for helping me come to this! As for the Ancient Catastrophe, it is different from the muzoval. The muzoval came way later and started on an island south-central, rather than in the middle of the continent. That summary of how the abyss corrupts people is exactly it! I couldn't put it to words, but htat would be it, where it's a changing that their body/soul just cannot handle. To them, the beings are Awezlu, which is why things are so chaotic and mixed up over there and why corruption would "spread". And yes, it's Ovald which is across Ulinta or the abyss (giant chasm rifting the world. Not caused by the same thing that shattered the moon). It would also give reason for madness of those who stare into the abyss for long enough. It's really not the abyss, but the other side of it that they got too close to. Coming to this now, Lo is kind of like a zombie where the soul is not with the body, but lingers (hence the heart of Keva (their heart) continues to beat and causes physical abnormalities). It's a zombie god! Not exactly a god in the sense of creation of life, but just something immense and powerful. Again, thanks for these questions, they helped me come to such a good conclusion of so many different things!
Thanks for answering my questions! I'll have to reread this later and think about the implications. It sounds like I'm starting to catch on, lol. And I'm happy that my questions were helpful! I love getting to engage with other worldbuilders, and the depth of thought you've put into Kald is why it continues to be one of my favorite worlds on World Anvil.