The Confluence

Dear Mom,

Today proved to be a very interesting day. As Grandma used to say, these are the days when one learns how to make stones. I didn't make any stones, but I encountered one of the stone men again. It seems that these stone men exist outside of time and space. They are in some pocket of time-space between here and elsewhere. Though now I think I know where the elsewhere might be. It seems that there is more than one plane of existence, and they are held apart by the Will of Moradin (praise be His Name). I got a chance to see His Will in Action. It was Neat.

After giving the stone man my divine symbol of Moradin -- you know, the one I found in that last cave ... this time I was also in a cave ... I think Moradin has a thing for caves, which either explains why dwarves live there or why dwarves like Moradin ... or maybe these qualities are mutually causative -- he granted my passage. This seems to prove what you always told me: it is better to give than to receive except on one's birthday. It's not my birthday. As you know, it's the wrong time of year for that.

The passage took us to an inbetween place, the term for which I think I now know: confluence. An confluence is where two or more realities (or planes of existence) push up into each other. It's kind of tingly. At least when crossing.

This inbetween place was a holy place of Moradin. A place I think last visited by the Reverend Po Betterum a thousand years ago. It maintains the space between these different realities. But it was full of surprises. I met this nice young woman. She explained that this space was damaged a long time ago by the crossing of the 100. So, it turns out that the 100 are actually illegal aliens -- uninvited to this world. It makes the message clear. The 100 must be eliminated or sent back. They clearly have a reckless disregard for the sanctity of the order of the worlds, and don't belong in this world. Order must be restored. Though I wonder if after so long in this world whether removing their presence would actually disrupt stability even more. I guess I won't know until I try.

It also has become clear that the Mad Mage is a gateway for the Lover of the Raven Queen. This means that while he isn't intrinsically evil, he poses a risk to the stability of this world as well. Plus, I don't think Grandma would approve of people being gateways for other people. It seems a little crass.

All of this makes me wonder a little about the nature of space and time. It's clear that things aren't quite as one might expect. From the perspective of the stone men, it seems likely that the Mad Mage never existed and has always existed. As if existence itself is more of a continuum, rather than a discrete concept. The 100 have a higher value of existence than a regular mortal, but less than a divine creature. This I think also explains the difference between divinity and simple immortality. If existence were expressed as a value between 0 and 1, then divinity is a 1, and immortality is something less than 1. Mortality approaches 0. I wonder if that's what the equations on the walls were derived from?

The group over overgrounders I'm travelling with continue to be kind, if a little odd. But as we both know, I've never really fit in well anywhere. But I've made a new friend too. His name is Loom. He is a warhammer. I hope you are well, and that the spiders aren't giving you too much trouble.

Love,

Ovim

P.S. Please find enclosed a small sum of money to help with the household.