The Spiral: The Six Dominions

Time exists on a spiral — and the spiral is composed of inseparable layers. Each layer is a Dominion. Think of the Spiral as a nautilus: the chambers exist simultaneously, each nested within the next, each shaped by the same center. The Darkness is the oldest layer — the center of the nautilus, the birthplace of creation. Everything else radiates outward from it. The Dominions are not alternative universes. They are different frequencies of the same space. | Dominion | The Vibe | Primary Occupants | |---|---|---| | 1. The Waking | Mundane / Gritty | Humans, Heirs, Witches, "Lower" Creatures | | 2. The Dreaming | Fluid / Unstable | Egregores, Manifested Nightmares, Sleeping Souls | | 3. The Spirit World | Echoic / Still | Post-death consciousness, Ancestral Echoes | | 4. The Animate Wilds | Primeval / Hyper-real | Fae, Legendary Monsters, Heroic Mortals | | 5. The Wastelands | Decaying / Tainted | Forgotten Gods, Fragmented Realms, Corrupted Light | | 6. The Darkness | The Void / Finality | Ancient Entities, the Source of Inversion (Witch) energy | The Dominions exist simultaneously — except the Darkness, which is older as the center. They are separated by the Inter Eos, which creates **time dilation**: one hour in the Waking could be a day in the Dreaming, a month in the Spirit World, a year in the Animate Wilds. The deeper into the Spiral you travel, the more pronounced the dilation becomes. The further "down" the spiral you go toward the Darkness, the more reality breaks down. The Waking is the most stable but least potent. The Wastelands are incredibly powerful but physically toxic to those originating from the Waking. The setting of the modern timeline — Federal Way, Seattle, the Puget Sound corridor — sits in the Waking. Everything the Shepherd House Titans navigate bleeds outward from that ground floor.