Gauntlet

From Edge of Darkness Wiki

The barrier that separates the physical world from the Shadow Realm (Hisil in First Tongue), the spirit world.

Contents 1 Werewolves 2 Mages 2.1 Gauntlet Strength 3 Verges 4 Loci 5 Stepping Sideways 5.1 Path Finding

Werewolves

Once, it’s said, werewolves could walk freely between the worlds. They had only to concentrate for a moment and bring the spirit part of their natures to the fore, and they were treading the paths of the spirit wilds. It was as if the physical world were just one more aspect of the spirit world, a different level within it that the werewolves could reach easily. Conversely, spirits could slip across the Border Marches and into the physical world, taking their leisure and alien pleasures among the creatures of flesh.

Now, though, the spirit world resists that transition.

The wall that has risen between the worlds is virtually impassible in most places, and it takes considerable effort and energy to move through even in those places where it is weak. This wall is called the Gauntlet, or Zathu. Some Ithaeur talk of the Gauntlet as a scar, a barrier formed as the wound of Father Wolf’s murder healed. Others say it’s a natural defense, formed by the spirit of the world itself.

The spirit world, while still tied to the material world, seems to shun anything that comes from there. Most people cannot travel between the worlds or even perceive that anything apart from the material world exists. The resistance runs both ways. Spirits attempting to pass into the physical world, perhaps to avoid the constant decay that threatens the Shadow, must find a place where the Gauntlet is weak before making the crossing.

These loci, areas where the Gauntlet is shallow, have thus become shadow battlefields. Spirits seek to enter the physical world to carry out their unearthly imperatives, the Azlu and Beshilu strive to either seal off these weak spots or tear them wide open, and the Uratha fight among themselves for control of the most valuable crossings.

Even other supernatural entities — vampires, warlocks or stranger things — have been known to vie for control of a spirit locus in order to tap the power for their own reasons.

Mages

Mages usually begin to explore the mysteries of the Realms Invisible by first interacting with beings in Twilight. Traveling beyond, into the Shadow, is a step only the most courageous or brazen take. A mystical barrier separates the material world from that other realm: a phenomenon known as the Gauntlet. Disciples of Death and Spirit can pass this barrier by creating a “Ghost Gate”(p. 139) or a “Spirit Road”(p. 251). Death and Spirit adepts can step across without need of a gate, and Mind adepts can project their consciousness across, clinging to a silver cord.

The sensation of crossing through this Gauntlet is rarely the same twice. For some, it’s like brushing aside the velvet curtain that conceals a theater’s stage. For others, the sensation depends on the features of the landscape on the other side. It can be like leaping through a waterfall or a gust of wind, or falling for an eternal second before suddenly coming to rest on ground that was never really left. In some places, the barrier between worlds is thick or thin. It might be weak in a graveyard known to be haunted, or on a mountaintop believed by indigenous people to be home to powerful spirits. Some rare places have no Gauntlet at all. These are called Verges, and they rarely last for long. They might appear at a certain time of the year, for only an hour, and then disappear until the day comes around again next year. Adepts of the Spirit Arcanum can create a Verge through magic.

The thickness of the Gauntlet — its Strength — levies dice modifiers on attempts to either peer across it or to part it so that a mage can cross over to the realm on the other side.

Any material thing that crosses the Gauntlet is transformed instantly to ephemera, the spiritual counterpart of matter. Stepping back over the Gauntlet to the physical world restores material things to matter. Of course, if a traveler was never physical to begin with (as in the case of a spirit), it must remain ephemeral in Twilight. The only way to avoid this is by using a supernatural power that allows it to materialize on this side of the Gauntlet.

Gauntlet Strength

The Strength of the Gauntlet varies from place to place. The Gauntlet’s Strength levies dice modifiers on attempts to peer across or part the Gauntlet.

Location	Strength	Dice Modifier
Dense urban areas	5	–3
City suburbs & towns	4	–2
Small towns, villages, built up countryside areas	3	+1
Wilderness	2	0
Loci	1	+1
Verge*	0	n/a

* The Gauntlet is nonexistent; beings can pass in and out of the Shadow Realm freely.

Verges

Sometimes, the strength of the Gauntlet can become so weak, the barrier so thin, that it fades completely, creating a Verge, a place where the material realm and the Shadow connect with no barrier. Material beings can freely enter the Shadow, and spirits can freely enter the material world (although the latter become Twilight, unless they have powers that allow them to materialize into bodies). Verges are almost always temporary phenomena, opening for an evening or even an hour and then sealing again. Those beings that wander across into the neighboring realm can be trapped on the other side.

No one can truly say what causes a Verge to occur, although they seem to be connected to certain times of the year, such as All Hallows Eve or the anniversary of a powerful spiritual event that occurred in the same place years ago.

Loci

Loci (singular: locus) are places of spiritual power, where Essence —the food and fuel of spirits— is generated. They are sort of like watering holes for any spiritual fauna (both Twilight and on the other side of the Gauntlet). The spirits are attracted to the quality of spots’ resonance, so they are dangerous places to those unversed in the lore of the Spirit Arcanum. Worse — werewolves often claim them as territory. Woe to the mage who inadvertently stumbles upon a locus without knowledge of the means for showing proper respect to a lycanthrope. Nonetheless, shamans often seek out loci as prime places for summoning or calling spirits.