Background: Veil

Source

The world is divided into two spheres, the mortal and immortal. They rest atop one another as a mask
rests upon an actor’s face. You and all you have ever known resides in the physical world, with its
trees and slopes, which we can see and touch.
But there is another world, totally unknowable, as invisible to our eyes as that mask is to those of the
actor, but just as close – the world of magic. Here gods and demons dwell, here lie wonders unseen by
any mortal eye. Here flows the wellspring of the flux: pouring from beneath Sunna’s very throne. The Veil
is all that separates the immortal and mortal realms.
The flux, the essence of magic, seeps from the invisible sphere to the visible as through cracks in a glass.
At most times the flow is imperceptible and steady. But at times of great cataclysm – just twice in history
that we know of – the Veil has been shattered for a moment, and the true devastation of raw magic has
poured through the gap, killing many and leaving daemons to feast on the remains. Magicians use the
flux of the immortal realm to create their magics or to quell the attempts of others. It can turn base metals
to gold and base men to dust. Like water it can be stored, though not in cups, and like fuel it can be
quickly exhausted. Magicians then, are artisans of this flux, bending the outpouring of the Unseen Land
to their will, we hope, for Sonnstahl and the glory of Sunna.
— From the “educational” speeches of itinerant wizard Marco Iandoli, at the village of Börnichen

Jana,
You are so strong, stronger by far than I have ever been, but please keep yourself safe. If I have anyadvice for you it would be this: First, be vigilant. You know the signs. If the Veil is thin beware thefollowers of the dark gods, particularly on the battlefield. If it is thick beware of blades, bows andtreachery. You are stronger than any wizard I’ve ever known, but do not become blind to the Veil, itdivides and chronicles the history of this world and the next. Remember how scarred it is from spell-casting at the Academy, and how it hums with the prayers of the faithful.
Guard yourself. You are more valuable to those soldiers than armour or artillery. Without you theyare like children playing in a storm. Rest, eat, take care of your body. Please don’t take it upon your-self to train the commoners again. They are rarely promising students and I think it does your causelittle good to leave half-trained halberdiers around the place setting things alight. It isn’t worth thethe respect of your superiors, and those you train would be safer much if you focused on your dutiesinstead.
Finally I adjure you, that beyond your magics, leave the Immortal Realm alone. I know you think mea fearful herdswoman but there are things out there that even you cannot understand. The immortalrealm is the land of the gods and with good reason. Could any man bear the true judgement of Sunna?Could you live a day in that place? Stop your searching for the shouts of the orcs or the augury of theogres - our ways are enough for your purposes and you have no need of darker rituals.
— Part of letter from Wz. Ada Müller, to her daugher, 899 A.S.

Every faith is different, and every believerspeaks of the unique qualities of their deities.To my mind, there is but one certainty where the
gods are concerned. They exist.

Those beings who rule the Immortal Realm areneither figments, nor figureheads. Their strengthis real, and those few who are blessed by themwield true power. Yet the gods cannot reside here;the Mortal Plane lacks even a fraction of the magi-cal energy they would need to manifest. Why thenshould they care for this mundane place and itsinhabitants?

The answer lies in the strength of Mortals, theinteraction with us, fleeting beings, draws divineattention. First, the power of our belief, whichstrengthens and can even shape the form of Im-mortal beings. Secondly, the souls which animateus all, and linger after our death. Coveted by theDark Gods, they must be jealously guarded; themand the power of potential they hold.

So it is that our souls on death cross the Veil, to beclaimed by our gods and find an eternal home inthe strongholds of the human deities, or the feyrealms of elven gods. There we rest, and lend ourstrength to the Immortal beings we served in life.A chosen few, some say, greatest of soul and spir-it, may be chosen to be born again into this MortalRealm, to champion their god once more.

For ordinary mortals, the most we can hopeis to serve well and earn the protection of thegods. The manner of such worship varies widely:dwarves with their stern rituals, ogres and theirgrand feasts, greenhides and their gifts of bloodand battle.

I wander the world in search of a god to inspirethis passion in me and to devote myself to, in thehope of earning a place in eternity.

Emerentius — Prologue to A Study of the GodsNarrenwald Press, 907 A.S.

Daemons. Hellish creatures in a multitude ofshapes and quantities have been called from be-yond the veil by sorcerers of many races and na-tions. The church would have us believe that thesespawn are sent by Sunna as punishment for sup-posed crimes, but a cursory look at history demon-strates that daemonkin are a naturally occurringphenomenon, independent of the whim of the gods.They have appeared in vast hordes, without beingcalled forth, at times of great earthly upheaval,when volcanoes and earthquakes have been simi-larly disturbed, and have added considerably to thedistress and misery of those who lived before Sun-na had even appeared to man

— From Dictionnaire Magique, by François L'Arouet

Look around you. Everything you see, touch and taste, this is the Mortal Realm, the land of matter and certainty.
Yet behind this mundane facade, a hair's breadth from our fingers, lies the Immortal Realm. Home of
the Gods, and sphere of magic and its infinite possibilities.
Between this world and that stands the Veil, keeping us from the full power of the Immortal. Sometimes
allowing a trickle of magic, occasionally a flood, yet even the smallest of rifts could kill thousands. You see,
magic in high quantities is inimical to mortal life – your history lessons concerning the Inferno disaster
have taught you that.
Yet magic in smaller quantities permeates most of our world. To those who have learned to shape it, that's
where the adventure truly begins. I can teach the slowest dolt to sense the power, but for those of real talent,
the possibilities are endless.
Magicians take all manner of forms. We all use the same force, yet the traditions of teaching and the cultures
of each magician result in very different effects. My own talents focus on the field of Alchemy, yet I
have also witnessed the wondrous variety of the other arcane arts. In this tome I have gathered records
from across the world, and present my thoughts upon their nature.
Souls and Spirits — The paths of Evocation, Witchcraft and Shamanism encompass the ability to influence
the souls of Mortal beings, both embodied and discarnate.
Matter and Energy — Alchemy, Pyromancy and Druidism represent the ability to shape, harness and draw
upon the substances and energies of our Mortal Realm.
Power and Knowledge — The traditions of Divination, Thaumaturgy and Occultism seek their strength
beyond the confines of this world.
Universal Truth — A pretentious claim of the practitioners of the path of Cosmology, who claim to understand
the principles of magic, the Veil and the Realms, and the precarious state of balance in which they stand.
— Collected teachings of Simoni Kasradze, Tutor to Princess Josefa