The Edge – the Anomalous Space from my story “Wormy Roots”

“Nothing should exist here, yet it does. It was meant to be small, yet it is endless. Its primary law states: What is born in the Edge may exist only within the Edge.”

The Edge is ever-shifting, colorless, and bathed in a soft, sourceless light. Time does not obey the rules of the mortal world; instead, it bends to the perception of those who step in from beyond. Its landscape consists of dark waters that allow only native entities to submerge, desolate beaches, and the rare fragments of land and ruins from the Underside.

For most mortals, merely existing in the Edge is a challenge, and crossing it is a feat accomplished by only a select few. Only the vigere, powerful mages, and trained pilgrims can adapt to its environment—yet even they risk losing themselves in its tangled flow of time, unable to find an exit. As for the rest? They seldom survive its corrosive influence.

For centuries, the Edge remained isolated, unreachable. Only during the last war did it draw the focused attention of humankind. Scholars and explorers sought to understand its nature, to chart its entrances, exits, and hidden paths. Eventually, railway tracks were laid across the anomaly. Now, under the control of newly bound vigere, trains traverse the Edge, allowing passengers to cross vast distances in mere hours—linking even distant continents while avoiding the perils of the seas.