Tales from the Earthen Sky

[These writings are attributed to the great historian of Hestelle Cathos, though it is uncertain when she wrote them, nor whether she remains alive today. Only fragments remain, but they shed light into the worlds of our Pillar.]

Entry #31

Having recorded all of my adventures hitherto in the name of study, I, Enta Kuln, at last return to the great expanse beneath the Earth and all her strata, that hollow infinity between worlds. Had I grown up there, perhaps I too would have been deceived by its appearances. The Sun allotted to the denizens of the sky peers in through the sliver of endless horizon, circling the perimeter of the Great Pillar. Four worlds have I visited thus far, each more a lie than the last. I hope to see more in the coming centuries as I continue my quiet crusade for knowledge, but I know well that the more I see, the less I will be able to appreciate the allotment given me, and to each of the souls who dwell in these layered lands—the mortal and the immortal both.

But this is not the time for such observations. My journey I will begin to document in my next entry. Rather, I write because of an epiphany that came to me as I pondered the following things: the Pillar that is our existence, was it made? Or did it form on its own? The question has been posed throughout the ages, and each time, I feel, the wrong answer is arrived at. One has only to perceive the environs of any one layer to see elements of design, and yet . . . one need only travel between two or more of these worlds to observe a chaotic and unnatural shift—as though worlds collided with one another.

Thus we circle back to the topic of the Veil. What is it? What lies beyond? Mothers and fathers of the stranded children that built our pillar, I say. Dimensions are the breeding grounds of worlds, which birth new worlds. Worlds unimaginable in scope. Of course . . . such words are too small for what I speak of.

But the Veil, the great divider, the tapestry of creation that hems us in and contains the Pillar—I ask once more, what is it? Some say it is the bounds past which humanity must never cross, and indeed never can. But what of those outside the Veil? From the vast outer reaches, beyond the Margin, we hear echoes, and I say that these are calls from those worlds—from other dimensions. We cannot know what the Veil is, nor how it is larger than worlds and three-dimensional (some say four), yet of one unbroken surface.

So I believe the greater question remains: Does that Veil keep us in, or others out?