This week we continue our introduction to The Mirror Realms of the Tempest Campaign Setting with one of the key symbols and primary elements of our entire world. As the name indicates, the campaign setting is primarily defined by two main symbols: mirrored realms and a powerful, magical storm. Today we look at the awesome and terrible storm called The Tempest.

The Tempest is the edge of the world

Sail in any direction, beyond the continent, past the last of the islands, and there, at the edge of the world, you will find the Tempest. The Tempest is a huge and terrible storm that roils endlessly at the boundary where the world ends. It surrounds the world completely, enclosing a world of relative calm in a circle of violent weather. The storm itself is not a hurricane and it appears to be completely natural—it is just a storm, a huge and great storm. It is perpetual and dangerous, but neither growing nor shrinking. The Tempest is a force that marks the beginning and the end of this world, and of every world.

The Tempest is an astral storm

Even the gods fear the Tempest. The magical storm is supernatural and extends beyond this plane into the adjacent astral plane as well, and while it is just a large and powerful storm in this plane, it wields magical powers in the astral plane that are particularly dangerous to those beings with the spark of divinity in them. The gods fear the damage that these forces can do to them, and only the most powerful of the gods have learned the means to bypass and overcome them. Many lands have stories of the gods that have been burned by the Tempest. It permanently transforms them, shattering their minds, leaving them literally without a face, and irreparably altering their identity. Any wise god would fear such a power.

The Tempest is magic itself

The magical energy that fuels spells and makes most supernatural forces work comes from the Tempest. Crisscrossing the world in a lattice network of magical energy known as leylines, the energy flows in a polar arc from one side of the Tempest storm to another. The various spellcasters and beings of the world that use magical abilities tap into the energy as it flows past them. The leylines are not fixed and shift like the meandering of a river over time, but major crossroads and junctions are well known, and most have been in place for a very long time. Today you may find an ancient stone henge or menhir monument marking such a place, where wondrous things can happen.

The Tempest is a gateway

The great storm of that marks the edge of the world is a boundary, certainly, but it is not a solid wall. The Tempest is also a gateway through which experienced navigators can sail to reach realms beyond their own. It is a difficult journey, as would be sailing through any storm in a rickety wooden ship, but with knowledge and training, a capable crew can get you through the roughness of the storm and take you to exotic and fascinating lands far from home—other realms with their own storm they call the Tempest. For most of history such feats seemed impossible and during that time the Tempest was indeed an impassible barrier, but that changed about two and a half centuries ago. A pathway through the storm, known as the Sunset Swells, was discovered, and since then brave sailors have been able to take ships and even entire fleets through the Tempest to travel from one realm to the next.

It is a brave new world we are living in, and a perfect time for adventure.

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