The Cosmos

Credit, Nathan Wood

One of the first things I considered with Egradus was the cosmology of the world and wider universe. I had already decided that I wanted to include a sci-fi/science-fantasy element and Geoffrey McKinney's Carcosa proved to be perfect for use as a base for a wider universe. For those of you who haven't read it, Carcosa features barbaric human tribes (divided into 13 colours) fighting for survival on an distant planet where the Great Old Ones sleep, sorcerers conduct blasphemous rites to control unspeakable horrors, aliens drop by for the occasional laser-filled visit and the remnants of cruel and ancient empires linger in the dark corners of the world.

The remains of an empire of Serpent-Men, who engineered the 13 colours of humanity, dot the planet, as do the remnants of things even older than them. These seemed like a perfect element to incorporate into a wider setting, as did the Great Old Ones (because when are ancient and incomprehensible eldritch entities not a good thing?), and their actions formed the core of the cosmology behind Egradus.

With that said, I should probably start from the beginning. This should hopefully give a brief background to the cosmic underpinnings of the universe that Egradus exists in.

Credit, Tim Barton

The universe started roughly as ours did - nothing, then a a huge explosion and then everything. The Axioms came into existence at roughly the same time as the universe. Whether or not they are 'beings' is up for debate. The Axioms embodied the physical and metaphysical laws of the nascent universe, being intrinsic parts that permeated it in its entirety even as they acted within it to enact whatever Great Plan this universe had come into existence to fulfil. To us they are known as things like strong nuclear force, gravity and potential energy - underpinning forces of the universe that we may never be able to fully comprehend*.

Other universes existed around this one, some with hugely different systems and some very similar, but like good neighbours they respected each others privacy and the universe of Egradus was able to conduct its Great Plan of ever increasing universal perfection for billions of years.

The interruption, when it came, was unexpected -  a comparatively tiny pocket universe nearing absolute entropy breached the walls between universes and latched on like a lamprey. Safeguards were enacted to deal with this threat and the parasite was limited to the occasional morsels of energy that slipped through the aether walls of reality. A further solution was unable to be put in place due to what emerged from the parasite.

Imagine you had built your dream home in a nice neighbourhood. You've painted and decorated and filled it exactly as you want, only making a few additional improvements here and there. Your neighbours might have their own oddities but they keep themselves to themselves and seem nice enough. Then one day a beaten up Winnebago covered in shit and with  a near-empty fuel tank tears up the turf of your front lawn and smashes into your living room. You do your best to tidy up and make the place safe prior to the Winnebago being removed but before the builders arrive a troop of baboons pile out and start trashing your house. Then, when you try and get them to leave, they eat one of your kids. That's essentially a scaled down version of the Great Old Oness arrival.

Credit, Dan Hunt

Alien entities poured through from their near-dead home. The laws of this new universe twisted and changed them, even as they did the same to it. Many Axioms were shattered or destroyed even as they attempted to methodically cleanse and exterminate the intruders. The universal engine broke down, its perfect systems warped and damaged by the conflict. Shards of broken Axioms floated through the void, each an island of weird physics unknown in the wider universe. Cysts spawned by the Great Old Ones likewise hung dreaming in the cold vacuum of space. The war petered out with the surviving Great Old Ones entering hibernation in the hidden places of the universe and the Axioms retreating to try and repair the horrendous damage that had been wrought by the entropic madness of the intruders.

A system of perfect order had been thrown into chaos. The universal engine was broken down in parts, overclocked in others. The Great Plan was unsalvageable and needed to be altered, and while the Axioms were distracted and the Great Old Ones slumbered, something else took root in the universe - life. The chaotic disruption of energy in an ordered system had borne fruit.

Fast forward a few billions years and here we are.

*I'm not a physicist so my understanding of this is likely wrong. I intended this to add an air of bullshit mysticism.