The Contradiction

The Contradiction is a transdimensional nexus of unstable conduits linking multiple universes and timelines within the Continuum Universes. Once the chaotic residue of failed Divine Fathoming, it was later discovered — and corrupted — by the Deviants, who reshaped it into a labyrinthine network for interdimensional travel.

This network defies the natural barriers erected by the Divine Parents to protect mortals from the unstructured depths of the Yonder Realm. In doing so, it grants passage between universes, but at catastrophic metaphysical cost: the erosion of divine law and the bleed of Outer Darkness into the living cosmos.

Origins

The Contradiction began as a failed act of creation — a universe that collapsed inward during an early Divine experiment. Its remnants coalesced into a self-sustaining pocket of paradoxical space, where Essence inverted into anti-Essence. For eons it drifted beneath the fabric of the Continuum, inert and sealed by divine decree.

It was the Deviants who rediscovered it. Through forbidden experimentation, they punctured the dimensional barriers and learned to harness the Contradiction’s paradox energy. They reshaped it into a **network of conduits**, linking not only worlds but *moments* across history. In doing so, they transformed the Contradiction from a dormant scar into a living system of tunnels and fractures spanning the multiverse.

Structure

The Contradiction now exists as an immense, fluid web of corridors and nodes connecting divergent planes and realities. Each conduit is a stabilized fracture — a place where space, time, and Essence momentarily agree to coexist. However, these channels are inherently unstable. Each traversal further erodes the laws of causality, spreading corruption across connected universes.

Travelers describe it as an ever-shifting architecture of impossible geometries — stairs that ascend into time, doors that open into memory, and horizons that curve back into the traveler’s own thoughts.

The Deviant Network

The Deviants use the Contradiction as both refuge and weapon. Their mastery of hybridized magic — fusing energies from multiple universes — depends on this network. They call it the *"Lattice of Liberation"*, claiming it frees creation from divine censorship. To the Divines, it is the greatest blasphemy ever constructed.

The Deviant conduits are anchored by black monoliths known as Pillars of Paradox, which stabilize breaches and allow deliberate traversal. Each pillar is attuned to a specific frequency of Essence (Sodahan), allowing selective passage between planes. Destroying one can collapse entire timelines.

Interaction with Outer Darkness

By warping the boundaries between universes, the Contradiction inadvertently opened rifts into the Outer Darkness. Through these breaches, entities of uncreation — primordial minds that predate the Continuum — have begun infiltrating the multiverse. Each incursion further destabilizes the network, making travel increasingly hazardous even for the Deviants themselves.

Some scholars suggest that the Outer Darkness now *feeds* on the Contradiction, expanding it like a parasitic infection. Others fear the two realms are merging, forming a new cosmic ecology of entropy.

Energetic Nature

The Contradiction’s energy — called anti-Essence — mirrors the structure of Essence but carries opposite alignment. Where Essence amplifies harmony and will, anti-Essence multiplies conflict and doubt. Exposure warps both mind and body: thoughts fragment, identities split, and memory becomes recursive. In extreme cases, travelers become *Echoes*, living contradictions incapable of dying or existing fully in any timeline.

Divine Law and Prohibition

The Divine Council declared all research and travel through the Contradiction forbidden following the Second Convergence Breach. Only the Celene Concord and the Forgebound Union maintain controlled observation posts near stable rifts, guarded by Dragorian sentinels and psionic seals. Even so, smugglers, heretics, and rogue Immortals continue to exploit the Contradiction for power or prophecy.

Philosophical and Theological Significance

The Contradiction represents the shadow of creation’s freedom. To the Divines, it is a wound; to the Deviants, a frontier. It embodies the eternal paradox that defines the Continuum itself — that creation without limitation births destruction, and restriction without creation breeds stagnation.

“The Contradiction is the scream between two universes — the proof that every truth casts an echo.”

— Scholar-priest Vael Tiron

Modern Status

As of the post-Convergence era, the Contradiction continues to expand, threading through the lower planes of Sodahan and other universes. The Transplanar Forge channels Essence outwards to counteract this growth, but the struggle remains ongoing. Some Divines whisper that one day, the Contradiction may become a universe of its own — a twisted reflection of the Continuum born from its own decay.

References