Continuation of the briefing for the benefit of those agents of the Sable Intelligence Service  (and others) who were on the Outside on 11th April SY 159.

Please be patient while I get it all in order, as there’s a lot to cover.

Robert de Lacy, King of Sable

Changes Resulting from the Events of 11th April SY159/11th April SY099

The Inside

Probably the first significant change, was that what you know of as the “Inside” came into being earlier this time around than it did originally. I doubt this will make much difference to you in the great scheme of things – aside from the fact that you were “Outside” when all this happened – but I’m including it for completeness.

Prior to August SY069, there was free and open communication between the worlds of the Sable universe, and the wider multiverse comprising Amber, Rebma, Thelbane, Parys and the rest. As time passed, however, I felt more and more frustrated with what was going on out there, and certain events in August SY069 prompted me to decide to say hang it all to the lot of them. I closed the “doors” between Sable and the rest, and they stayed that way until April SY099 when, prompted by the events discussed in the Background section of this briefing, I realised that I needed to poke my head above the parapet.

I made contact with an old friend of mine, Roland Helgram, who by then was the Pater Deorum of Aurellis, and we discussed matters in detail. During our conversation, I learned that he was about as fond of our extended kin as I was. I shared the informationI had received on 11th April (hereafter called the “Lighthouse Data”) with him; he, in return, helped me regain the knowledge of what had happened in the old timeline. To cut a long story short, we decided to advance the Creation of the Inside. As a result, instead of the Sable-Aurellis system being built in June SY118, that particular deed was done in February SY100.

Elementis

This time, we were aware that on the first go through, bringing Aurellis and Sable together ended up with an area of instability in the centre of our little continuum: one that was only fixed with the Creation of the Technocracy (and, as a by-product, the Machine). We took this into account in our calculations when we built the Inside this time, to try to avoid the need for a Centre Power arising again, because the whole issue of just how bad an idea the Machine would ultimately be was obvious in both the Lighthouse Data and the memories that Rallissa recovered for us.

Initially, it seemed to have worked, but by SY115-116, it became clear that the instability was recurring. Perhaps it was time’s way of trying to fight back: a theory I’ve heard a lot about over the last sixty years, and have come to believe has some merit. Whether or not that was the reason, it became obvious to Roland, Rupert and I that something would need to be built in the Centre, but we were unanimous that it couldn’t be the Technocracy, as that would bring forth the Machine, and it couldn’t be built by my son Andrew, as that would bring forth Andreas Delatz.

Back when Sable first came into being, the generally-accepted wisdom was that there were three methods of dealing with the Alternates that come into being with the building of a Power: internalising them (and go insane), ; manifesting them accidentally (ending up with an implacable enemy, like Andreas Delatz  and Randol Yorke in the original timeline); or consciously manifesting them as another side of the Creator (Rupert and myself, for example). Years after I built Sable, however, a fourth alternative was posited: joint Creators. The theory ran that if multiple individuals were involved in the building of a Power, then the aspects of an Alternate would be divided between them, as long as there was some kind of deep link between them, such as spouses or siblings.

This seemed like a possible solution if we could identify suitable candidates. In the end,  it was Gaia, one of the Aurellian Goddesses, who did that for us. At the time, she was living inside the Logrus, and had a vested interest in the health of “The Land” as her Aspect. Roland knew she was there and suggested that she may have some insight into possible options. She agreed to a brief physical manifestation, during which we outlined the problem, and she revealed that she had four daughters who would be the perfect candidates for a joint Creation based on the four Elements. We agreed to her proposal. The Four Sisters built the Power on the Spring Equinox in SY118. Roland, Rupert and I, along with brothers Michael and Nicholas, and Gaia, their proud mother, were around to help make sure it all went to plan, which it did for the most part.

The Expansion of Shadow

There was one unexpected side-effect of the building of Elementis, though. Perhaps because there were four joint Creators, rather than two, the arrival of Elementis resulted in a massive increase in the size of the Inside. Previously, there had been 100 Shadow Veils between Sable and the Centre, and the same between the Centre and Aurellis, for a total of roughly 250k individual worlds on the Inside. Now there are 200 Veils at either end of the universe, and over 1.2 million worlds. The arrangement of the segments of Shadow has changed, too, so rather than go up in multiples of three, across nine segments, they now go up in multiples of four across eight segments, and somewhere along the line, three new Broken Patterns came into being in Veil Seven. Sable and the Reich have both taken control of one of these, and the third remains to be claimed.

Moreover, in each of Veil 100 North, and Veil 100 South there are four “Rocks of Creation”, at roughly 90 degrees to each other, which house a selection of Lesser Powers. Of these, the Rocks at 90° and 270° have native supplies of Godstone: a rather useful substance that had previously only been found on one world, in the original timeline – Denmark, towards the Aurellis end of the Inside. On the theory of a picture tells a thousand words, see the image to the right.

A topographical depiction of the “Earth” Realms of the Inside

We haven’t confirmed what all the Lesser Powers are, as many of them are very well protected, even from the likes of Roland and myself. The list is as follows:

  • 100 North, 0°: Unconfirmed
  • 100 North, 90°: The Technocracy
  • 100 North, 180°: Unconfirmed
  • 100 North, 270°: New Oceania/The Machine
  • 100 South, 0°: The Vault (home of the Aurellian Keepers of Secrets)
  • 100 South, 90°: Denmark (Eilean Shonan)
  • 100 South, 180°: The Logrus of Larceny
  • 100 South, 270°: Unknown

Murray and Sanguine

Next on my mental list is the construction of Murray and Sanguine (okay, technically they’re on the Outside, but forgive me my train of thought). According to the Lighthouse Data, I originally brought Murray into being shortly after reopening the doors in SY113, while Sanguine didn’t come into existence until something like SY153. This time around, with the changes to the timing of building the Inside, Murray and Sanguine were constructed together, rather than years apart, and much earlier: about five years after the Inside, in December SY105. By then, Rupert and I were talking again, so we co-ordinated the building of Murray and Sanguine.

As a matter of idle speculation, one of the unexpected consequences of building the Inside is that when Murray and Sanguine were built,  the multiverse we reconnected to doesn’t seem to have been the one we left. I’m still trying to figure that one out, but I think different continua might be involved.

It’s possible that this might also explain the major difference that those of you who were Outside on 11th April SY159 have mentioned when you woke up the following morning: the change of rulership of Murray from King Dominic to Regent Emily. I’ll get to that in a moment.

The Aurellis Transport System and ID Bracelets

As a result of the combination of the early Creation of the Inside, and that of Murray, Sanguine and the other gateway worlds, the Aurellis Transport System was made available to Sable and the Reich much earlier. Sable was connected to the ATS within days of the building of Murray. For the Reich it was something over a year later, and only after Roland received certain guarantees from the Kaiser and the RFSS with respect to the Reich’s  treatment of shapeshifters.

Along with the earlier adoption of the ATS system, there was also earlier adoption of the Aurellis ID System, and the ID Systems of Aurellis, Sable and the Reich are all compatible (no more having three bracelets if you frequent all three locations, which suits me fine as my arm felt weighed down at times!). ID bracelets are obligatory for Reich residents at all times (and cannot be taken off) and visitors when out and about (which can be given back when they leave Reich territory). Sable is rather more flexible, with only serving members of the Armed Forces or Government employees mandated to have them, and only obliged to wear them when on duty, in the office or on government business.

External Metaphysics

On the subject of the Outside, given that you’re now more familiar with it, it’s probably worth adding a brief note here as to where Murray, Sanguine and Seconde (the External Technocracy) are. We believe that New Oceania and the Machine have an external base as well.As far as I’m aware, Elementis does not have an Outside Iteration, possibly because it was a joint Creation, although I suppose it may be there somewhere.

The three we know about for certain are located on the “equator” of the Outside: the same latitude as the world known as “St James”, where my grandson Richard Lacey is based. The region of Shadow which depends on these external worlds comprises roughly c.somewhere around 2,000 worlds on the equatorial plane plus some in the latitudes above and below that plane. In the great scheme of the Outside, however, these account for a mere fraction of all the available “infinite” worlds.

To be continued in Aurellian Gods, Allies, Adversaries and the Royal Family.