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Geography of the Umbra

The Umbra, the spirit lands, is a vast and varied world, where belief and metaphor are more important than form and substance. To describe it completely is an impossible task. This does not stop various mystics from trying. There are regions and layers to the Umbra, areas which share common characteristics and these, at least, may be deliniated. No description of the Umbra is ever complete, though.

Travelers through the Umbra come in many forms. Garou and mages make regular journeys to these lands and spirits and wraiths call it their home. For the sake of simplicity, this text refers to all seekers of the spirit world as mystics.

The Depths of the Umbra

Most descriptions of the Umbra first divide its regions based on the "nearness" of its various parts to the Earth or the physical world. One useful analogy is to picture the structure of the Umbra as that of the Earth with its atmosphere leading deeper into space.

At the closest level, you have the Earth itself, the physical world where all that we are commonly familiar with resides. The Gauntlet, corresponding to the ground, separates the Earth from the spirit world. Next out is the surface of the Earth, the Penumbra, which is like the physical world in many ways. The Penumbra is the immediate spiritual reflection of the Earth and its geography is very similar to the physical world.

Moving further out, you reach the Near Umbra, corresponding to the Earth's atmosphere. Within the Near Umbra are various spiritual Realms with close ties to the Earth. For those who know the way, the paths of the Near Umbra can be traversed in reasonable safety to reach these Realms. At the edge of the Near Umbra lies the Horizon, the boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. This membrane separates the Earth's immediate spiritual world from what lies beyond.

On the other side of the Horizon is the Deep Umbra, an immense and empty space. The Deep Umbra seems limitless and is inhospitable to many spiritual beings from the Earth's Near Umbra. Only the most seasoned Umbral traveler can hope to cross the Deep Umbra and survive. Within the Deep Umbra are a multitude of spiritual Realms of a more alien nature than the Near Realms. Some of these Realms seem to contain entire worlds, with their own Horizon, Near Umbra and separate physical existence.

Allegorical View of the Umbral Depths

Earth	Ground	Surface	Atmosphere	Edge of Space	Deep Space
Earth	Gauntlet	Penumbra	Near Umbra	Horizon	Deep Umbra

The Three Worlds of the Umbra

In addition to the inside-out division of the Umbra, mystics also divide the Umbra into three separate layers or worlds. These layers, called the High, Middle and Low Umbra, stretch from the Near Umbra outward. Each layer of the Umbra has its own character. It is difficult to say if the different layers of the Umbra are distinct regions or they result from different mentals states on the part of the Umbral traveler.

The High Umbra, or the Astral Plane, is a region of abstractions and ideas. Thoughts take on physical form in this portion of the Umbra. The Middle, or Living Umbra, is a more natural region, filled with raw and primal energies. The Low Umbra, or the Underworld, is the land of the dead. Many human ghosts reside in the Near Umbra of this layer and it is believed that further out a mystic can find the afterlives of humankind.

Knowledgeable mystics have compared the three layers of the Umbra to the Triat of the Weaver, Wyld and Wyrm of Garou mythology, or the Trinity of Stasis, Dynamism and Entropy that many mages espouse. There is some truth to this supposition and it is a useful analogy if not carried too far. There are elements of all three types of energy in every layer of the Umbra.

Though the different layers extend from the Gauntlet all the way out to the Deep Umbra, these differences are most pronounced in the Near Umbra. The Penumbra of the Three Worlds are very similar, perhaps identical in the case of the Middle and High Umbras. At the other extreme, the Deep Umbras of the Three Worlds may actually connect. Further confusing the issue are various Zones such as the Dream Lands that wander in and out of all Three Worlds, and through the various depths of the Umbra.

Figure 2 — The Basic Structure of the Three Worlds

       |G|  P
 P     |A|  E                          |H|
 H     |U|  N      NEAR ASTRAL UMBRA   |O|  DEEP ASTRAL UMBRA
 Y     |N|  U                          |R|
 S     |T|  M  - - --------------------|I|------------------- - -  -   -
 I     |L|  B                          |Z|
 C     |E|  R      NEAR LIVING UMBRA   |O|  DEEP LIVING UMBRA
 A     |T|  A                          |N|
 L     |-|--------------------------------------------------- - -  -   -
    W  |S| S
    O  |H| H  L          THE                       THE
    R  |R| A  A                      STYGIA
    L  |O| D  N        TEMPEST                  FAR SHORES
    D  |U| O  D
       |D| W  S