Each of the Upper, Middle and Lower Realms has a full complement of Shadows, and in each of these sets of Shadows, Broken Patterns can be found. There are twelve Broken Patterns (or equivalent Powers) in each realm, of which four are dark, four are “grey” and four are light: for a total of thirty-six Broken Patterns across the threerealms of Shadow. Each particular kind influences the nature of the worlds on which they are located, and the experience its users have when moving in Shadow.

The Middle Realm (ie the game realm)

Of the twelve Broken Patterns in the Middle Realm, four are held by Sable, five are held outright by the Reich and three are unaligned. All of them are located the Seventh Veil out from Magical Superior. For the ones in the Sable System itself (rather than the sea or sky realms) , the security is made interesting by the fact that many of the Outer Reich Shadows are between them and the Commonwealth.

Each individual instance has its own signature, so for someone adept in exploring such things on an arcane level, it is possible to know which version was walked by an individual user. If such people come across a particular trail in Shadow, they will also be aware of which instance the walker was an initiate.

The Light Broken Patterns

These are located on the four Sable external Military Regions: Lothian (BPL1), Uaithen (BPL2), Ceredigion (BPL3), and Eilean (BPL4). For PCs who request to walk a Broken Pattern, the chances are that it will be one of these four that they will be taken to. They are relatively benign, with no known side-effects from walking them, and using any one of them to travel Shadow is quite straightforward as these things go.

The Grey Broken Patterns

These are found on the worlds of Verrien (BPG1, under Reich control), Kazan (BPG2), Columbia (BPG3) and Seleus (BPG4). Grey instances are somewhat harder to walk, and can have draining effects on their users. They can be used to walk Shadow, but the effect can be tiring, and the walker is more likely to encounter less-desirable places and individuals en route.

Verrien has been under Reich control since Spring RY099, and was ground zero of the changes which caused the Lighthouse Timeline. Previously the realm of the vampire Philip le Bel, and Verrien had a somewhat gothic feel to it, but this has changed in the years as an Reichsprotektorate.

Columbia, Kazan and Seleus are independent Shadows. Columbia is ramapantly capitalist and somewhat corrupt; Kazan tends more towards the Bolshevik model; and little is known about Seleus as it hasn’t been widely explored.

The Dark Broken Patterns

All four of the dark iterations – Thuringia (BPD1), Manira (BPD2), Sachsen (BPD3), and Bettenfeld (BPD4) are firmly under Reich control. The first two are long- established Reichsprotektorats, Manira was taken in RY 105 and Betternfeld has been under Reich control since RY 120. The dark iterations, if left to their own devices, have a significant corrupting influence on those who walk them. However, it is believed that in the early days of Sable, Reichsführer Delatz manipulated the nature of the two instances under his control, such that the corrupting influence was specifically focused towards the more fascistic and racist outlook preferred within the Reich.

The third, Manira, was left to its own devices, and for many years was fought over by the Reich and Sable, but demonstrated the corrupting influence the most, with successive leaders of invading forces from both sides eventually turned their loyalty away from their original masters – be they Sable or the Reich – in favour of setting up their own kingdoms on Manira. Following events in April 105(see the Manira timeline), the Reich gained full and final jurisdiction over Manira, when the Broken Pattern, was redrawn by RFSS Delatz aided by HM King Robert.