“It's...beautiful, isn't it...”
- - The Ravenrii
The Artrus Territories (originally called the Fourth Gigaquadrant, also known as the Great Territories or Artrus, are a distant region of the omniverse, separated from the First Gigaquadrant by the vast Rift. They are a multiverse in its own right, with a collective expanse of tens of billions of light years spread cross 12 universes, hundreds of thousands of galaxies, and a volume more than 15 times that of the First Universal Square. Artrus can also be considered a political entity, with its centre controlled by the Holy Empire of the Core.
The territories were the site chosen by the Obvia'Atra as their new home after their self-imposed exodus from the First Gigaquadrant and their victory of the Xhodocto. Ravenkind sought an unpolluted place to found their new kingdom in relative peace, and seeing in Artrus a chance at a new beginning, set out to reshape its stars and assimilate its native peoples. Its vastness and subsequent isolation both suited the Ravenrii, they also left them far too distant to come to the others' aid during the catastrophic Second Coming.
Divisions[ | ]
The Deeps[ | ]
3-Dimensional map of Artrus, highlighting its three circular divisions and main clusters. Note that superclusters in Artrus can span the length of universes, and the largest may even outsize them.
An unending region of suffocating darkness, The Deeps envelop the outer regions of Artrus, from the rim of the Rift to the outskirts of the Heartlands. It is a quiet region in the multiverse that is devoid of life and, almost entirely, of stars.
The Heartlands[ | ]
The Heartlands constitute the largest region of Artrus. They are, as their name implies, the very heart of the Territories. Around twelve universes in diameter, they are also are the richest, greenest section in their multiverse, with most every world a T3 habitability level or higher. Features unique to the region, like the birthplaces of Artrus's famous star rivers, swirling nebulae and plenty of other universal anomalies dot the Heartlands.
In addition, the outer Provinces of the Empire cross into the Heartlands, where the walls of protection that get thicker as one travels to the central regions of Artrus begin.
White Galaxies[ | ]
The famed White Galaxies are a cluster of galaxies within the single, massive universe that lays at the centre of the Artrus Territories dubbed The Garden. The Galaxies are the crown jewel of Artrus, where the bulk of the Empire of the Core is located and thus the very zenith of civilization in Artrus.
Galamond Cluster[ | ]
The Greater Galamond Cluster is a medium-sized galaxy cluster in Artrus' outer heartlands whose eastern end is controlled by the Valian Empire. Civilization here is concentrated around the Valians' home galaxy, Rohse, known as the Florian Reach.
Aster Galaxies[ | ]
The Aster Galaxies are a cluster of small, bright galactic formations whose dominant inhabitants are the member-states of the Astral Union, located in the Bastion Cluster. Having lived for eons in the Silver Galaxies of the ruined Xanthra Quadrant before the Annihilation, most are cultures who emigrated form the First Square after the catastrophe, joining the Obvia'Atra in their self-imposed exodus. Being given the Aster Galaxies to build their worlds anew, they have transformed the cluster into a busy region teeming with vitality.
Wonders of Artrus[ | ]
Uncharted in its majority as they are, the spatial expanses of Artrus are still streaked with myriads of recorded multiversal phenomenons, with the best known among them famed even amongst inhabitants of the First Square. Some inspire awe in all those lucky (and emotionally-endowed) enough to see them, while still others-darker, more dangerous others-do not. Collectively, these otherworldly wonders make Artrus as deadly as it is divine.
- Star Rivers of the Heartlands- The star rivers of central Artrus are a feature not found anywhere else in the omniverse. They are its largest physical anomaly: ten vast, concentrated currents of gravity that criss-cross the White galaxies and move star systems as a current would water.
- The Gemworlds- the Gemworlds or glitterworlds are one of the most attractive fabled legends of the multiverse, having lured more than one intrepid explorer from the safety of the First Square to the Territories, never be heard from again. They are a somewhat ironic joke on behalf of the Ravenrii, embodying the mortal dream of the quintessential treasure horde: twelve planets made of solid precious stone, worth a larger fortune than could ever be spent.
- White Holes and Unique Singularities- While white holes exist only in theory in other multiverses, they are a proven and dangerous fact in Artrus, because virtually nothing is known about them other than that they spew out new matter where there once was none.
- The Paragon Room- Rumours deep in Artrus abound of the infamous Paragon Room, a sprawling maze of diamond chambers that exists between universes, where a million once-problematic creatures that bothered the Atra are kept, transformed into statues of iridescent crystal.
- The Light- The Light would very well be the Obvia'Atra's most powerful weapon, if it were ever used as such. It is a legendary phenomenon; supposedly, a sliver of sentient light from the high circles of heaven that came into reality with the creation of the Atra. Physically it resembles a devastating white mass of fiery light, so pure within the gray lands that it leaves what it touches singed to lifelesness: in a state of purity that cannot sustain life sullied by mortality. It is said to roam in the deepest and brightest corners of Artrus, but represents enough of a threat to keep outsiders from looking.
- Alternate laws & constants- Some of the more conservative opinions to speak on the nature of Artrus have said it is, in a way, a broken realm. This is because it doesn't follow the same laws and constants of nature that the First Square does- indeed, it follows no known pattern at all. Knowledge about the laws of physics that the mortal races have gathered over the eons have no hold here. To give but a few examples, the Laws of Polarity, Rythm and Vibration are downright obsolete, because sections of Artrus are eternally still, others have no opposite and still others follow non-rythmic scales of time. The Laws of Causality and of Gender are as good as turned on their heads, and (a well-known fact) even scales like volume and gravity are sometimes reversed in this distant multiverse.