Sodahan
Metaphysics
Sodahan is a Forged Universe, crafted by the Divine Parents Vareth and Alyra, known collectively as the Forgers of Form. Unlike many Universes that were sung, painted, or dreamt into being, Sodahan was hammered into existence within the Transplanar Forge using the molten debris left behind from the First Convergence. It is thus a living construct — a cosmos engineered rather than merely imagined.
The universe’s continuing vitality is due to an open metaphysical conduit called the Forge Gate, through which flows Essence, the foundational energy of creation. Because the Forge Gate was never sealed, Sodahan remains a place where creation is still happening — stars being born through divine heat, species adapting in visible metaphysical time, and the laws of physics and magic evolving in response to mortal discovery.
Divine Origin
The act that brought Sodahan into being is considered a unique form of Divine Fathoming. Where other Divine Parents conceive their universes through inspiration, Vareth and Alyra forged theirs through labor. They gathered the stray filaments of Contradiction left from previous cosmic experiments, heated them in the Transplanar Forge, and shaped them into a coherent, self-stabilizing system.
Their goal was not simply to birth life, but to create a teaching universe — a living crucible in which mortals could experiment with creation itself without immediate annihilation.
This is why Sodahan is often called The Living Forge among the Divines. It is young, volatile, and responsive, like molten metal still being hammered into perfection.
Cosmological Structure
Sodahan consists of six interlocking planes:
- Mortal Plane (Sodahan Prime) — The material cosmos of stars, planets, and mortal life.
- Astral Crucible — The lattice of starlight through which consciousness and psionic energy travel.
- Aetheric Sea — The oceanic reservoir of raw Essence; source of all magical phenomena.
- Deep Forge — The sub-material layer where heat, gravity, and divine pressure create new matter and lifeforms (birthplace of the Dragorian).
- Veiled Expanse — The decaying edge of the universe where Essence loses coherence, bordering the The Black Beyond.
- Transplanar Forge — The divine foundry of Vareth and Alyra, existing beyond causality; the universe’s heart and maintenance engine.
Each plane influences the others through resonance, forming a self-regulating metaphysical mechanism. When one plane falters, Essence redistributes to maintain cosmic balance — though this process can cause magical storms or dimensional breaches.
Essence and Magic
Essence is the transdimensional substrate of Sodahan, generated by the friction of divine creation. It binds matter, thought, and spirit into one continuum. In scientific terms, Essence acts as a fourth-dimensional energy field, folding together quantum and metaphysical properties. In metaphysical terms, it is the Breath of Alyra and the Fire of Vareth — the dual nature of thought and will.
Essence in Sodahan is dynamic and alive, adapting to moral, emotional, and creative stimuli. This makes magic both scientific and ethical: A spell functions only if the caster’s intent aligns with cosmic resonance. Power obtained through cruelty or contradiction eventually destabilizes the self, a phenomenon known as Essence Rot.
Three primary disciplines of Essence manipulation define Sodahan’s civilizations:
| Discipline | Nature | Typical Practitioners |
|---|---|---|
| Resonance | Channeling Essence through physical will and emotion. | Dragorian |
| Aetheric Geometry | Shaping Essence through logic and precision. | Star Elf (Sodahan) |
| Sympathetic Craft | Binding Essence to matter or machinery. | Human (Sodahan) |
These disciplines are distinct yet interdependent; together they form the Triune of Creation — the living counterpart to the Divine Triad of Forge, Weave, and Balance.
The Soul and Rebirth
In Sodahan, souls and spirits are finite yet cyclical. Each soul is a fragment of Essence shaped by will and experience. Upon death, the soul travels through the Astral Crucible, where it is refined in the Aetheric Sea. If a soul achieves Resonant Harmony — perfect balance of emotion, reason, and action — it ascends to the Deep Forge to become part of new creation. If it remains impure, it reincarnates, drawn to a new vessel whose Essence pattern matches its unresolved nature.
Thus, reincarnation is not random but reforging — a second smelting of the same material in the fires of experience. Judgment Day in Sodahan is not a single moment but a process — an ongoing refinement of all souls until the Forge Gate finally closes.
The Role in the Continuum
Because its Forge remains open, Sodahan serves as a stabilizer universe within the Continuum Universes. It absorbs surplus Essence from sealed or corrupted universes, preventing catastrophic pressure buildup across the multiverse. However, this also makes Sodahan a target for entities of Outer Darkness seeking to corrupt its Forge and reverse its polarity, turning Essence into Contradiction.
As such, the Divine Parents and their mortal champions guard Sodahan with vigilance, for its fall could unmake the Continuum itself.
Divine Law
Sodahan operates under the Three Laws of the Forge, inscribed by Vareth and Alyra upon creation:
- Law of Resonant Will – All thought echoes in reality.
- Law of Sympathetic Form – All matter remembers its maker.
- Law of Reciprocal Flame – All creation requires offering; nothing is made without cost.
Breaking these laws creates Contradiction, the antithesis of Essence. Contradiction is not evil in itself, but an inversion — the consequence of creation without alignment, power without empathy, or invention without purpose.
The Age of the Universe
By divine reckoning, Sodahan is young. Its celestial mechanics are still cooling; its metaphysical laws still malleable. New species emerge, old ones ascend, and stars sing with audible resonance in the Astral Crucible. Divine scholars believe that when Sodahan’s Forge Gate finally seals, it will graduate from youth to permanence — becoming a "closed universe" like Galaxa or Midheim.
Until then, Sodahan remains a universe still being made, a forge that shapes its makers as much as they shape it.