Lucidara: The Physical Universe
Currently working on adding lore to the Lucidara section.
Nature
Lucidara is the material cosmos from which all of Nihluma’s mortal life arises. It is the physical stage on which countless civilizations develop technology, culture, and a shared future.
Comprised of multi-dimensional space, everything within it has form, governed by measurable distances and laws of physics. From Abythos’s perspective, Lucidara appears finite, yet to those who dwell here it can seem boundless, a tapestry of stars and worlds stretching into the unknown.
It exists as the primary reality, operating under predictable physics and conventional technology. For countless millennia, Lucidara has both thrilled and challenged its denizens, who strive to master science, explore distant star systems, and uncover cosmic secrets.
Traveling backwards in time is impossible throughout Nihluma, including Lucidara. However, advanced technologies or Noethic abilities sometimes produce illusions of prescience or recollection, shadows of the past or glimpses of potential futures that tempt mortals to believe time itself can be bent.
Separation From Abythos
An existential barrier divides Lucidara from Abythos. Under normal conditions, these realms remain distinct, allowing mortal life to flourish without the constant, direct influence of Abyssal entities.
Nonetheless, extreme events, whether powerful rituals or galaxy-shaking catastrophes, can tear this boundary enabling Abythic forces to seep into Lucidara. Such breaches often throw entire regions into chaos, as unstoppable energies or mind-shattering aberrations appear where they do not belong.
Noethic Energy
Lucidara is the cradle of noethic energy, an intangible current born of mortal thoughts and emotions. While abythic energy is the raw, cosmic essence of Abythos, noethic energy emerges when living minds unconsciously “pull” on that cosmic force, reshaping it into something personal and conceptually resonant.
Within Nihluma people regard noethic energy, and its decayed counterpart, lucent energy, as a mental or spiritual resource as fundamental as electricity or gravity. Although more scientifically minded societies may try to measure or harness noethic phenomena, it often defies easy explanation.
Mortal Life and Civilizations
Within Lucidara’s physical expanse, myriad species have arisen, some advanced, others still discovering fire. Diverse cultures span the galaxies, engaging in diplomacy, warfare, and exploration. Each civilization carries its own myths and suspicions about what lies beyond the boundary separating them from Abythos.
Mortals shape history through alliances, conquests, and quests for knowledge. A thousand star empires might flourish or fall across the centuries.
Though largely cut off from Abythos, the presence of Abyssal entities still seeps into mortal affairs, often unnoticed except by those who study such horrors.
Breaching the Veil
From Lucidara’s side, cultists, ambitious rulers, or desperate scholars sometimes attempt to open gateways into Abythos. They do so in pursuit of boons, relics, or ultimate power—yet rarely without catastrophic cost.
Such intrusions grant fleeting advantages, advanced weapons, extended lifespans, or unearthly knowledge, but invite corruption, betrayal, and devastation on a cosmic scale. Abyssal influences can ravage entire star systems before anyone grasps how the boundary was breached.
Exploration
Lucidara is as vast as the imagination, governed by physical laws yet teeming with the unknown. Scholars and adventurers alike chart star clusters, unearth ancient relics, or unmask lost civilizations, each discovery spurring new questions about what lurks in the uncharted darkness.
Yet even the boldest navigators have barely explored a fraction of the galaxy’s full breadth. Rogue AI, necrotic plagues, and bizarre cosmic anomalies all pose threats. And always, in the back of mortal minds, there is Abythos, the lurking domain beyond.
Narrative Role
As Nihluma’s civilizations advance and share secrets, Lucidara only grows in importance. Factions vie to control vital resources, shape galactic politics, or unravel the mysteries of noethic and abythic energies. Alliances form and shatter as factions realize that true power may hinge on bridging, or defending, the boundary with Abythos.
however, one constant endures. Every new expedition into uncharted space risks brushing against abythic horrors or stirring abyssal watchers. Whether you view Lucidara as a cradle of life and hope or a fragile shield against cosmic terror, one thing is certain, Lucidara stands as a vital counterpart to Abythos, a testament to mortal determination and ingenuity in the face of untold cosmic forces. As civilizations rise and fall, the material cosmos remains the primary stage upon which heroes, villains, and everything in between shape Nihluma’s ever-evolving story.