The Doorkeepers

Date: 2077-07-22
Entry # 1247
  It appeared in the observation chamber, not through the door, but simply fading into existence, as if the very air had coalesced into its form. It was tall, impossibly thin, its skin the color of polished obsidian, its head a smooth, featureless ovoid that reflected the flickering lights of the lab.
  I froze, my hand hovering over the alarm panel. But it didn't seem hostile. It simply stood there, observing, its featureless face turning slowly as if to take in every detail of the lab. Then, it looked at me. There were no eyes, no mouth, but I felt its gaze, a weight, a pressure, a sense of being assessed.
  I tried to speak, but the words caught in my throat. It raised a long, slender hand, and a strange, cool sensation washed over me.
  “Tampering with forces you cannot comprehend,” my own inner voice whispered to me, “Darkness that will consume this world, hunger that cannot be sated.”
  I stammered, tried to explain, to justify our research, the promise of a better future. But the voice, it cut through me and carried away my strength.
  “Has occurred countless times,” it said, its thoughts a whirlwind of images, swirling nebulae, cities of light, creatures of breathtaking beauty and terrifying strangeness. Every vision faded into darkness as quickly as it came, and with the darkness came an almost unbearable sadness. “Always ended the same. Will always end the same.”
  I asked who it was, what it was.
  “Warning, undeserved. Last chance.”
  Then, as quickly as it had appeared, it faded, a ripple in the air, leaving behind only a faint scent of ozone and a silence that was more deafening than the hum of the lab.
  I didn’t report it. Thorne would dismiss it as a hallucination, a side effect of the A-energy. He’d have me removed from the project, labeled a fool. I have to keep working, to try and understand, to find a way to control this power before before the darkness it warned of comes for us all.
  We have opened a door, and something is listening on the other side.

 
 

History

The Doorkeepers are enigmatic entities who walk the liminal spaces between countless realities, their existence a whispered legend amongst the few who have glimpsed their otherworldly presence. They are a chosen few, individuals plucked from the brink of death and remade, bound by a purpose that transcends comprehension.
  They have wandered from world to world for as long as time, leaving only the scarcest of traces. Their feats have been attributed to gods and innumerable types of supernatural entities.
  There is no discernible pattern to their selection, aside from the fact that all are chosen at the moment of their deaths. Their souls, instead of passing on to their respective afterlives, are drawn into a realm between worlds, a space of swirling energies and the echoes of countless realities.
  Within this liminal space, their souls are encased in remade bodies. These new vessels are shaped from a resilient, semi-organic material that is incredibly durable and capable of adapting to the diverse environments of the realities they will traverse.
  This is not without cost, however. Doorkeepers retain their personalities but lose their memories during the process. Once reborn they are imbued with a new purpose to safeguard the gateways between realities, to prevent unauthorized crossings, and to maintain the delicate balance that prevents a catastrophic bleed between worlds. This purpose is not a command, but an instinct, a part of their very being that they cannot ignore.
  Thoth v.7.3 - File 'Apotheosis - Cycle 0.txt'
 

Duties of a Doorkeeper

The primary function of a Doorkeeper is to monitor and, when necessary, seal the gateways between worlds. They can sense the opening of new portals, the weakening of dimensional barriers, and the presence of entities attempting to cross over. They guide those who have accidentally stumbled through a gateway back to their home realities and prevent malicious entities from invading new worlds.
  When a reality faces an existential threat, a Doorkeeper might choose to intervene, subtly influencing events, whispering warnings to those with the wisdom to listen, or guiding individuals towards a path that might avert catastrophe. This intervention is always a delicate balance, as their direct involvement could have unforeseen and potentially devastating consequences. Direct intervention is very rare, and only undertaken against threats against existence itself.
  Most Doorkeepers were wanderers, scholars, or adventurers in their past lives. When not serving their primary purpose, most engage in similar hobbies to their past lives. Some observe civilizations, record their histories, and witness the rise and fall of empires, their accumulated wisdom a library of cosmic proportions. Some become artists, masters of countless vocations over their unending lives.
  Thoth v.7.3 - File 'Apotheosis - Cycle 3.txt'
 
 

Gear and Equipment

The Veilweave

Woven from the threads of reality itself, this cloak allows a Doorkeeper to blend into their surroundings, to become almost invisible to mortal eyes, and to pass through solid objects as if they were mere shadows, allowing them to witness events without altering their course.
 

The Keystone

Each Doorkeeper carries an amulet, a crystalline shard that resonates with the energy of a specific gateway. This amulet acts as a key, allowing them to open, close, and seal portals, and to sense the flow of energy across dimensional boundaries.
 

The Staff of Echoes

This staff, crafted from the petrified wood of a tree that grew between worlds, can be used to absorb and redirect energy, to create temporary shields, and to project illusions or whispers into the minds of those who threaten the balance. It is a tool of defense, used only when a gateway is threatened or a reality is on the brink of collapse.
 

The Star-Chart Codex

A handheld device of polished obsidian, the Star-Chart Codex is a living map of all existence, its surface displaying a swirling nebula of interconnected realities, each a tiny spark of light in an endless void. It allows a Doorkeeper to navigate the spaces between worlds, to identify gateways, and to track the movements of extra-dimensional threats.