Realm:Whispergate

Whispergate

Whispergate is a realm of Maleficence created by the Skia Veldrane duo Ezethion and Ezethia. It is an expansive forest without end that wraps back around to itself from all angles, resulting in the ability for someone to walk straight and end up going through the forest in the same place over and over. At the center of the forest sits a massive castle where all residents of Whispergate live, such as the mortals who worshiped the gods in life, the skiaven that serve them in Maleficence, and the gods themselves.

The forest is stuck in a perpetual twilight, illuminated only by a small amount of light. It is unknown where the light originates from, as there are not many light sources in Maleficence to begin with. The forest is full of winding paths that sprawl through it. The paths are well-kept, as if plants don't dare to grow over them, making them easy to traverse at all times. There are many small structures throughout Whispergate that contain recreational activities, such as an observatory, several different art studios, and various libraries that each contain different types of literature. While there is no true sky in Whispergate, the observatory allows individuals to peer into the mortal realm and observe the lives of those that remain there.

Golden, glowing butterflies also fill the mystical forest. Each one is made of a secret that Ezethia has learned, either from being told it directly by a mortal or from her followers learning it from someone else and giving it to her. When one of her or Ezethion's followers pass into Whispergate upon their death, they are encouraged to catch the butterflies and learn the secrets themselves. In fact, unlike every other Skia Veldrane that exists, the followers of Ezethion and Ezethia become the skiaven that serve them upon entering the realm. Similar to the vamvyra of the Kroeven cultures, the mortals' appearances will change and they will be required to subsist entirely on the butterflies. Once a butterfly is consumed it is physically gone from the realm, but the secret that it imparted lives on forever within the mind of the skiaven.

Unfortunately, due to the extinction of the Kroeven, their most populous followers, there began a sharp decrease in the amount of secrets that Ezethia was able to collect. Because of this, her skiaven, having originally been mortals, became starved and transitioned into a state of insanity. There became too many of them for Whispergate to properly support, so many were sent back to the Mortalis to live in the forests that the Kroeven once occupied, specifically Nightwood Forest. This has gained the forest a reputation for being haunted, as the skiaven are attracted to living mortals and will not hesitate to attack them if they linger within the forest. Luckily, they cannot pass out of the forest and into the rest of Halia due to the sunlight being destructive to their forms.