World of Darkness - The Port - Umbra and Umbral Realms

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Umbra and Umbral Realms

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The Umbral
Realms
The Umbra is the spirit
world, a shadow or
reflection of the real world.
It is inhabited by spirits,
gods, ghosts, and various
other supernatural beings.
The Umbra can broadly be
thought of as all realms
that exist beyond the
mundane terrestrial
existence of Earth. Rather
than existing as a single
universe, the Umbra
embraces many and
versions of reality, forming
a multiverse of realms that
operate by their own laws.
Mages and werewolves
refer to this multiverse as
the Tellurian, and are the two populations most likely to travel to the Umbra. Other beings, such as
wraiths, are permanent inhabitants and have considerable difficulty interacting with the day-to-day
reality of Earth (hereafter simply referred to as 'reality' for brevity's sake).
.
There are three Umbra or Spirit Realms in the World of darkness. The Dark Umbra or land of the
Dead, the Dream Umbra or Dreaming and the Spirit Umbra or true Umbra. When people say Umbra
they usually mean the Spirit Umbra. This Umbra (in fact all three Umbra) is structured according to
nearness or closeness to mundane Earth. However, this is more a matter of resemblance to
Consensus reality than physical distance. The exception is Technological Videre where there is
direct link between changing laws of surrounding conditions and distance from Earth surface.
Videre
Because the Umbra is especially mutable, beings with different outlooks experience radically
different Umbrae. This disjunction was first identified by mages (who have the most diverse
outlooks on the nature of reality), and they termed it videre. Importantly, videre is not simply a
matter of perception. Rather it seems that different worldview and mental states bring people to
different areas of Spirit Lands. Some videres are entirely incompatible with certain realms or regions
of the Umbra. Few beings in the World of Darkness can visit every nook and cranny of the Umbra -
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This is mundane reality as common man perceives it. While it is contrasted with Umbra the Spirit
World, it is not completely devoid of spiritual energies. Rather the advancement of rational paradigm
(groomed by Technocracy) significantly reduced its amount while hardening the Gauntlet at the
same time. However, Mystics fear that further successes of Technocracy will completely separate
Tellurian into mundane Earth and inaccessible Umbra.
The terminology here is similar to that of "the Moon" that denotes the moon of Earth among several
other moons. Similarly, some mystics theorize that the Realm of mundane Earth is just one of many
realms of similar status. The others claim that the Realm is special as it is root of Tellurian from
which all the worlds spring as its emanations.
Periphery
The Periphery is a state in which Umbra seems to seep through the Gauntlet into otherwise
mundane reality. At certain times and places the spirit world intermingles with the mundane one to
form reality as it was at the beginning of time (as some mystics claim). There are clear signs of the
Periphery, observable to even the common man: the world seems more vibrant and alive, and the
spiritual side or (true nature) manifests. Also, where the Gauntlet is weakest, it is much easier to get
from one to the other side of reality.
Peripheries exist primarily in places of great spiritual power: mages' Nodes, werewolves' Caerns,
wraiths' Haunts, changelings' Freeholds, also Kuei-Jin Dragon nests. Invariably there is strong feel
of spiritual power, even though Videre may be different. Other Peripheries are passing phenomena
that occur at places of mediation between mundane and spiritual.
Gauntlet
The barrier preventing the Umbra from interacting on a regular basis with reality is known as the
Gauntlet, though it goes by other names as well (wraiths call it the Shroud, Kuei-jin call it the Wall,
and Technocrats call it the Horizon). It is a sort of mystical barrier of strength depending on spiritual
power of given area. The Gauntlet manifests as a sort of force or plastic wrap causing difficulty for
those passing through.
The permeability of the Gauntlet is directly linked to how technological the area surrounding it is - in
the wilderness it is loosely woven, and easier to traverse, whereas in a city, the weave is much finer,
and it becomes increasingly difficult to cross, becoming almost impossible in areas of high
technology (such as a science lab, or an automated production line).
The exact form and influence of the Gauntlet varies depending on the passing entity. Generally,
spirits face great difficulty reaching physical reality and vice-versa: physical entities have trouble
getting to the spiritual side. The difficulty of the passing of a physical object depends on the strength
of the Gauntlet in that particular area, as well as the object's innate spiritual strength. Garou for
instance can penetrate the Gauntlet at will, though an individual Garou without a high Gnosis rating
will find it a very difficult feat to attempt. Most mundane things are fixed in the physical world for
good, requiring very special circumstances to be carried into the spirit realms.
Penumbra
Immediately across the Gauntlet from reality is a domain that mirrors reality closely, called the
Penumbra. It is possible to "see" physical reality from the Penumbra with some effort—Garou in
particular possess the ability to do so naturally (an ability called "peeking"). Major landmarks such
as large buildings, old trees, or topographic features have visible variants in the Penumbra. Each
videre has its own version of the Penumbra, but these versions have some passing interaction due
to their proximity to one another. Wraiths and Demons call the Penumbra the Shadowlands, while
Kuei-jin call it the Mirror Lands. These Penumbrae are the starting points of the Four Worlds, the
four aspects of the terrestrial Umbra.
Near Umbra And Near Realms
Broadly, the Near Umbra (the Umbra relatively close to Earth) can be divided into four subtypes,
along lines roughly defined by the four videres:
The High Umbra or Astral Umbra corresponds to the astral plane, and is defined by abstract
ideas.
The Middle Umbra is more akin to a shamanistic spirit world, and is dominated by primordial
forces.
The Low Umbra is essentially the underworld and is the realm many (but not all) humans go
to when they die.
The Near Universe is essentially deep space, and is home to various locations seemingly
drawn from science fiction.
The Near Umbra and the Near Realms
The spirit world is wider still than Earth's penumbral reflection. Moon Bridges or other paths can
lead the Garou far from Earth, into the strange haze of the Near Umbra. In the Near Umbra, pure
spirit reigns, with little correspondence to anything material. It is an ever-shifting infinity of
imagination, where strange spirits roam and mighty Totems make their homes. Its logic is at various
times orderly, chaotic, or corrupt, and it takes a wise Garou to navigate the Near Umbra without
losing themselves in all its vast possibility.
But the Near Umbra isn't entirely unpredictable. Fourteen Near Realms (often called the "Umbral
Realms") exist here, pockets of spiritual power that have been more-or-less stable for generations.
Garou have long visited (or at least spoken of) these realms, using these journeys to seek spiritual
insight into the very tangible problems on Earth. Around and between these Realms lie lesser Sub-
Realms like the Tribal Homelands, and distinctive Zones of raw spirit like the Dream Zone. Garou
Cosmologists often picture the Realms like moons orbiting the Penumbra of Earth, Sub-Realms
swinging between them like comets, all interwoven by Zones like nebulae -- but of course the reality
is much stranger than such a metaphor.
The path to each Realm (and sub-realm, and zone) is different: you might walk a Moon Bridge into
the sky, climb into certain holes in the ground, follow a spirit path (called an airt) or perform a ritual -
- but once inside, it usually feels as true and solid as matter. Each Realm has its own physics and
its own
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The Abyss. A chasm of cosmic size, a pit with no known bottom, the Abyss is an ever-
widening rift that threatens to swallow all of Gaia. All acts of extreme destruction fracture the
Umbra, and the Abyss is the largest break. Deranged cults of monsters worship on its brink,
hurling a steady stream of sacrifices into the depths. Brave or foolhardy Garou can find paths
to lead them down the chasm walls, in search of things long-lost and forgotten. But a fall
means oblivion -- nothing escapes the darkness of the deep, for some say the mouth of the
Wyrm itself begins here.
Aetherial Realm: Traveling "up" in the Near Umbra eventually brings one to the spiritual
heavens called the Aetherial Realm. Here, travelers visit other planets and even other stars,
homes to powerful alien spirits called the Planetary Incarnae. Luna, the Celestine of the
moon, shows her face here, and all her Moon Bridges pass through the Realm. Anthelios --
the Red Star -- casts its baleful red glow through the Realm.
Arcadia Gateway: Once upon a time, this Realm was the spiritual home to faerie magic. The
gates to Fae itself could be found here, and a lush magical kingdom flourished, ruled by
Sidhe kings and queens of untold grace. But those gates have long been closed, and now
most of the Realm lays beneath a spell of winter, ruled by a queen of ice. The fae that remain
are dominated by their dark and twisted sides, seeking to lure travelers off into the forests
and bind them into unbreakable pacts.
Atrocity Realm: Atrocity is the Realm of pain. Every act of torment throughout the Tellurian
feeds this Realm. Every war, rape, murder, abuse, slaughter and genocide has its reflection
captured here and set on infinite replay. Banes breed here in needle-lined pits; Scrags
practice their tortures on the hapless victims of prior injustices. Many Garou are quick to point
out how human atrocities tend to dominate this Realm, while overlooking that their own
crimes are preserved here forever.
Battleground: Similar to Atrocity but held in much higher regard by the Garou, the
Battleground is a Realm devoted to warfare. Every armed conflict from prehistory through
modern times is held in echo here, eternally reenacted by spirit warriors. Paths marked by
signposts help visitors navigate the Realm to find the battles they're looking for. Joining these
skirmishes allow Garou visitors to test their own skills, or to see what might have happened if
the tides of historical battles had turned a different way. In the center of this Realm is the vast
empty plain of Vigrithr, where the Get of Fenris believe the final battle of the Apocalypse will
take place.
CyberRealm: The advance of human technology reaches its logical extreme in this
stronghold of the Weaver. Above, visitors discover a sleek futuristic city of steel and glass;
controlled and ordered by malevolent machines, the city is hostile to all who would disturb its
perfect technotopia. Below, subterranean warrens of concrete and infrastructure provide
havens for the free-willed inhabitants of the Realm to fight against their robotic overlords.
Glass Walkers in particular enjoy braving the dangers of this Realm, in search of futuristic
weapons to use against enemies of the Garou.
Erebus: This Realm is a Hell set aside to punish the the Garou for their failures and sins.
Rivers of molten silver flow into a lake at the heart of this subterranean world; its vast caverns
echo with the howls of Garou being purified in those searing "waters." Vicious guardian spirits
prevent the sufferers from escaping. Some, it is rumored, might emerge from the silver lake
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and mutation. It is difficult even to describe, having no
constant laws of physics, let alone paths or landmarks. Visitors should expect the unexpected
here: dreams and reality intertwine, thought and memory and identity take on malleable
substance, time and space distort, collapse and run backward -- nobody emerges from the
Flux unchanged.
Legendary Realm: A Galliard's paradise, the Legendary Realm is where the greatest stories
of the Garou become larger than life. Noble Silver Fang kings lead armies of Garou against
the most villainous of Black Spiral traitors. Heroic Fianna war-packs hunt Fomorian fae; Red
Talon packs protect mythical species from human predation. Sub-realms called Tribal
Homelands are adjunct to this Realm, collecting the wisdom of individual tribes. But perhaps
the greatest wisdom for visitors comes from seeking the lost stories here: tales of tribes like
the Croatan and the Bunyip, and all the Changing Breeds lost in the Wars of Rage.
Malfeas: The heart of the Wyrm's power in the Near Umbra, Malfeas is a wound in Gaia,
seething with spiritual disease. A twisted pit of filth, madness and corruption awaits visitors
here, thick with every kind of Bane. In the deep reaches of Malfeas, vast and powerful Wyrm-
beasts breed, horrors unimagined anywhere else on Earth or in the Umbra -- every one
waiting for the day of the Apocalypse to break free and feast upon the world. The Black Spiral
itself is here -- that path of torture that claimed an entire Tribe of Garou, and which continues
to claim many (if not most) Garou visitors to the Realm.
Pangaea: Before the tribes of the Garou, before the cities of man, before the Wyrm was
ascendant, the world was a pure and primal wilderness. Pangaea remembers, an
amalgamation of every forgotten age. Dinosaurs still roam this land, as well as all species
now extinct. Tribes of early humans eke out a living in the verdant but harsh jungles and
plains. Enormous plants and insects defend their niche in a prehistoric ecosystem. An
Incarna dragon called the Elder Serpent guards this realm, which suffers constant attacks
from Wyrm-forces eager to see all memories of Gaia in balance destroyed.
Scar: Mankind birthed this realm out of all the horrors of the Industrial Revolution. The Scar
is a vast city of factories and slums, belching smoke into the skies and poisons into the water.
Bane foremen here drive slave-laborers to manufacture fetishes and talens for the Wyrm's
agents on Earth. Visitors to the realm are likely to be captured and enslaved themselves.
Summer Country: This Realm appears in lore of the Umbra, but few Theurges can say if it
still exists. It was known as a Gaian paradise: a realm of harmony and peace, a crescent
island of lush fertility rising from an ocean of crystal blue. It was a place where all wounds
were healed, all burdens lifted, all chains broken. No Garou who has gone seeking this place
has even found it, but Umbral explorers live in hope that Gaia may yet choose some Garou to
visit. If the way here were known, the Wyrm would certainly enter as well -- and destroy the
Realm once and for all.
Wolfhome: Wolfhome seems to be an Earthlike realm at first, a world where packs of wolves
still roam the plains, hunting their food, breeding in season -- as Gaia intended. The Realm
forces Garou visitors into their Lupus forms and denies them many their Gifts and Fetishes,
bringing them closer to their wolf nature. But it's not long before the Realm shows its true
face to visitors. The wolves of Wolfhome are under relentless attack: humans encroach on
their territories, drive off their game, set traps for them near their livestock, and hunt them for
sport. Visitors either die as a hunted animal, or escape with a profound understanding of what
wolves on Earth must endure.
Sub-Realms, Zones, and the Membrane
Lesser in scope and power than the Near Realms, sub-realms and zones fulfill purposes that are no
less important or mysterious to the Garou.
Many Tribal Totem Incarnae maintain sub-realms near the Legendary Realm known as their Tribal
Homelands. These worlds typify a tribe's interests and culture, serving as a refuge for spirits of the
Totem's Brood. The spirits of tribal Ancestors live on here, ready to share stories and wisdom if
shown the proper respect.
The line between spirit and dream is not always clear -- and nowhere is that more true than the
swath of the Near Umbra called the Dream Zone. Sleep in the Umbra sometimes brings travelers
here, where manifestations of one's subconscious become real. While human dreamers are most
often responsible for the Chimares of the Penumbra, the Dream Zone of the Penumbra houses the
dreams of all humanity -- not to mention the dreams of vast beings beyond humanity, which make
the realm especially difficult to comprehend. The Dream Zone winds aimlessly throughout the Near
Umbra, appearing and disappearing with no discernible pattern.
As one travels further and approaches the Deep Umbra, Vistas begin to appear. While these places
are presumably sub-realms of their own, one never reaches them, but only observes them from
afar. They offer glimpses of deep wisdom into abstract ideas like peace, nobility, courage and
sacrifice. Many Garou have chased these visions, losing themselves in the Umbra forever.
Once one can travel no further in the Near Umbra, the Membrane appears -- the border between a
spirit world that can be comprehended by mortal minds, and the great beyond. Anchorheads are
sub-realms fused into the border, places where Garou may find passage through. Some Garou
mystics speculate the Gauntlet around Earth and the Membrane around the Near Umbra are similar
constructs of the Weaver's power, the first two of seven layers of reality.
The Deep Umbra
If one travels through the Membrane into the Deep Umbra, existence itself begins to open like a
lotus. Infinities hold infinities here: the Triat expresses itself with indescribable power, shattering
mortal minds. Travel here is dangerous but possible to those Garou who know the correct rites, and
whose sense of self is strong enough to hold themselves together. The only known haven of
constancy in the Deep Umbra is Luna herself: she orbits majestically through the expanse,
sheltering those Garou travelers who can reach her.
Strictly speaking, the Deep Umbra is the in-between that spans the space between planets. Difficult
to survive in and home to beings entirely alien to human conception, this region is largely devoid of
noteworthy locales. A few noteworthy locales are listed below:
Cerberus
Charybdis (see Shenti below)
Copernicus Research Center (also called the Cop)
Paradox Realms
Celestial bodies
Each planet seems tied to a particular aspect of reality, and manifests this association through a
Shard Realm, an incomprehensible realm composed of a single aspect of reality (for example, The
Shard Realm of Time, associated with the planet Saturn, is composed entirely of time). These
create the almost-survivable Shade Realms along the Horizon, which are diluted forms the Shard
Realms that can be survived with considerable skill and luck. Though spacially within the Near
Umbra, the Shard Realms of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars remain beyond the Horizon.
Horizon (Mage Specific)
Not to be confused with the Technocracy's term for the Gauntlet, most beings in the World of
Darkness use the term Horizon to describe a nearly-impermeable barrier that separates the Near
Umbra from the Deep Umbra. It is sort of immune defense the Earth-rooted reality denizens project
to protect it from (depending on videre) alien beings, spirits or memes.
This barrier requires considerable supernatural power and skill to breach and it is the anchorhead
for a wide variety of realms known as Horizon Realms or Horizon Constructs. Recent events,
including the formation of the Avatar Storm, have left many of these realms isolated or in ruins.
The Shenti
The Shenti are regions representative of the three resonances (Dynamism, Stasis, and Entropy)
and are arguably the homes of the Triat (the Wyld, the Weaver, and the Wyrm). The true hearts of
the Shenti appear not to exist in any particular place, instead existing apart from the rest of the
Tellurian and reaching out to touch many places.
Flux
A realm of constant creation and raw power, Flux appears to exist in many places at once. Its
reflection in the
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causing rapid change and general chaos, then move on.
Malfeas
The home (some say prison) of the Wyrm is a realm assembled from the tatters of fallen bits of the
Umbra, woven into a patchwork that defies both attempts to map and to tame it. Home to Nephandi,
servitors of the Wyrm, and other noxious beings, Malfeas is a realm whose constant growth is the
only way to overcome its constant internal disintegration. Malfeas is said to be related closely to the
Labyrinth of the Tempest (some say they are one and the same), and the Wasteland is an extension
of Malfeas that reaches into the Near Umbra. Malfeas also touches innumerable small blights and
cesspools through the Umbra and many of the more unpleasant regions of the Astral Umbra,
spreading discord and decay in its wake.
The Pattern Web and the Great Machine
The ubiquitous sign of the Weaver's influence, the Pattern Web refers to an apparently infinite
network of threads composed of raw spirit-stuff and controlled by the Weaver. According to some,
these webs are the scaffolding of reality, though their absence in some areas of the Umbra
suggests that reality can exist without them. More likely, these webs are the Weaver's presence,
defining and clarifying the Tellurian. Though primarily found in the Middle Umbra, the Pattern web
appears to touch most parts of the Tellurian (including the Digital Web) as well as lead to some
unknown central mass, believed to be the Weaver itself. Many theorize that this logical heart of the
Pattern Web is the Shenti of Stasis, but this has never been proven as no mortal being has
successfully reached the Web's center.
The Shenti of Stasis also manifests a powerful presence in the form of the Great Machine (called
Autocthonia by the Technocracy), a massive technological structure that is in a constant state of
self-improvement. While it seems unlikely that Autocthonia is the Weaver, it may be one of the
Weaver's "Incarna" or avatars. Ironically, one of the Technocracy's most important Constructs may
be inadvertently built into the hide of one of the fastest-growing spiritual beings known to exist.
The Bygone Umbra
Some realms and aspects of the Umbra no longer exist, or are no longer accessible in the same
ways. The Gauntlet has historically grown stronger and thicker as civilization has developed into its
modern form, and this has led to the Umbra being increasingly isolated from Earth. At the same
time, parts of the Umbra have withdrawn into themselves, and can no longer be found. Whether this
process occurs through artificial exclusion or natural withdrawal is unclear. Finally, some aspects of
the Umbra, built artificially in the past, simply have not stood the test of time. Basically while these
realms still exist, it is impossible to get through to. The Mythic Gateway to Arcadia, does not take
you to Arcadia any longer. You can not get to these realms by simple means and will always require
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Changelings say that their home country is a place called Arcadia, a now unreachable place of pure
dream deep within the Dreaming (Dream Umbra). Faeries, they assert, are the dreams of humanity
made manifest, and Arcadia is the heart of those dreams. The facts, however, are difficult to
determine (a) because changelings, by definition, are not 'true' faeries, but a sort of faerie/human
hybrid adapted to dealing with the mortal world and (b) because Arcadia itself has been impossible
to reach or even detect for a very long time (fae scholars mark the Black Plague as the first
moments of the Shattering, the process by which Arcadia broke away from Earth's Dreaming).
Mount Qaf and the Web of Faith (Mage Specific)
Considered by many mages to be the key to winning the Ascension War, Mount Qaf was the so-
called Correspondence Point allowing access to all parts of the Tellurian, the perfect junction point
for the flow of information, travelers, and power. The Ahl-i-batin are credited with discovering it, and
used it as the architectural keystone for the Web of Faith, a network through which information was
transmitted at enormous speed during a period spanning the eighth century to the thirteenth
century. The Web of Faith itself collapsed as a result of infighting, crusades, and the weakening of
magical places of power, but its foundations remained, discovered by the Difference Engineers in
the 1950s, thanks to whom it became the Digital Web. Access to Mount Qaf itself was lost at
roughly the same time, but the Digital Web appears to continue to take advantage of its unique
properties.
The Paths of the Wyck (Changeling Specific)
For thousands of years, spiritual travel wore trails through the Periphery. This so-called Paths of the
Wyck behaved in a manner similar to the trods still found in the Dreaming, but allowed even
mundane humans to "walk" into the Umbra, sometimes by accident. Such paths figure prominently
in mythology (examples including Orpheus' trip into the Underworld and Rip van Winkle's apparent
stroll into a fae celebration). These paths began to fold in on themselves, either due to the
reinforcement of the Gauntlet or the spread of banality, the force of disbelief that also harms
changelings. Today, while a small number of other paths that lead into the Umbra remain open, the
Paths of the Wyck themselves are gone forever.
The Dark Umbra
The dark or Low Umbra is the land of the Dead and is constructed in much the same way as the
Spirit Umbra. It has the Shadowlands (the location closest to our world where things are almost
seen as we see them, except with a veneer of entropy), the Tempest (a sea through which
navigation is dangerous and under which can be found the Labyrinth and the kingdoms of Oblivion)
and the Far dark Umbra where the Dark Kingdoms reside, where the far shores are and where
Wraiths with no fetter or connection to earth are stuck.
Some few Garou know of another spirit world, a place having nothing to do with Gaia's chosen
warriors.
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The Dark Kingdom of Obsidian
In ages past, when mankind as a whole did not journey to other continents, each region of the world
had an associated domain in the Tempest. The Americas, particularly South America, had an
underworld as rich and complex as that of the living. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, this
empire seemed in ascendance as its ranks were flooded with the angry dead, prey to disease and
war brought from Europe. The "Third Maelstrom," which had just come to a close, left the
Shadowlands relatively free from obstruction, and European renegades revolting against Stygia fled
en masse to the Dark Kingdom of Obsidian, only to discover that its afterlife was as enraged as its
living counterpart was decimated. The resulting war saw great atrocities, the most significant of
which involved causing the enemy capital city to be swallowed by a massive Nihil, drawing into the
Labyrinth. Though scattered pockets of the Obsidian Empire remain, the bulk of that wraithly race
was destroyed, leaving the territory vulnerable to invasion by Stygia.
Perspectives
While the Umbra plays a role in nearly every setting within the World of Darkness, most settings
only engage with a very limited slice of it. This colors not only their impressions of the Umbra and its
role, but often defines the extent of the Umbra that they know exists.
Vampire: The Masquerade
Vampires, in general, know little or nothing about the Umbra. Many vampires believe in spirits or the
afterlife, but for most this is a matter of faith and hearsay rather than experience. Two notable
exceptions exist: the Tremere clan and the Giovanni clan. Having their roots among mages, the
Tremere are aware of the spirit world (if only loosely), but still interact with it quite infrequently. The
Giovanni interact exclusively with the Shadowlands, but know a great deal about wraiths and the
Shadowlands, as well as having some inkling of the Tempest as well. These clans experience the
Umbra either through the astral videre or the mortific videre, respectively. Even these informed few
virtually never travel to the Umbra, and are unaware of its apparently endless diversity.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Werewolves and other shapeshifters have had the richest history of interaction with the Umbra of
any terrestrial beings in the World of Darkness (due to their spiritual nature and their alliances with
the forces of the spirit world), but their interactions are almost exclusively limited to the Spiritual
Umbra and the Shenti. While generally only vaguely aware of the Astral Umbra, the Tempest, and
the Deep Umbra (and totally ignorant of the Near Universe), shapeshifters know the Spiritual Umbra
better than anyone else, and many treat it like a second home. A tribe of werewolves called Glass
Walkers are aware of the Digital Web, another tribe called the Fianna are familiar with the
Dreaming,
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Mage: The Ascension
Mages have the most diverse views on the Umbra, due to having all four videres represented
among their ranks. Whether an individual mage associates with the Umbra depends on what
avenues of magic are pursued or (barring that) with whom the mage is aligned. Most mages of
some experience have at least visited the Umbra (possibly with a guide capable of the appropriate
magic). Quite a few mages are born and die in the Umbra, living in or among its realms. Overall,
mages usually experience the Umbra through a mild astral videre. Some with shamanistic
paradigms experience the spiritual videre, while Technocrats and other technomancers often are
restricted to the technological videre. The Euthanatos are the most likely to have a mortific videre,
as are Nephandi. A mage's experience of the Umbra is defined primarily by their videre, as a
mage's ability to shape reality makes videre especially potent.
Wraith: The Oblivion
Wraiths are the masters, citizens, and victims of the Tempest. Their familiarity with its workings
exceeds even the shapeshifter mastery of the spiritual Umbra. Unlike shapeshifters, the mortific
videre of wraiths is so powerful that they are unlikely to even be able to leave the Low Umbra. For
wraiths, everything boils down to a simple dichotomy: alive or dead. The very idea of a limitless
spiritual tapestry is beyond the average wraith's worldview. Only, the Sandmen are able to normally
visit the Dream (middle umbra).
Changeling: The Dreaming
As the name of their game line suggests, Changelings know more about the Dreaming than the rest
of the World of Darkness does. This actually doesn't mean a whole lot, however, as Arcadia is now
long gone. In truth, while the fae have a better handle on the Dreaming than anyone else, they still
only have a passing understanding of the place (unsurprisingly, given the speed at which it
changes). They are entirely unaware of the more traditional Umbra.
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World of Darkness - The Port - Umbra and Umbral Realms

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9/14/2018 World of Darkness: The Port - Umbra and Umbral Realms

Umbra and Umbral Realms

most are locked out of at least part by their own preconceptions.

Near Umbra And Near Realms

The Near Umbra and the Near Realms

The Deep Umbra

Horizon (Mage Specific)

The Pattern Web and the Great Machine

The Bygone Umbra

Mount Qaf and the Web of Faith (Mage Specific)

The Paths of the Wyck (Changeling Specific)

The Dark Umbra

The Dark Kingdom of Obsidian

Vampire: The Masquerade

Werewolf: The Apocalypse

Mage: The Ascension

Wraith: The Oblivion

Changeling: The Dreaming

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