No matter what travelers experience, they know the cosmos surrounding the Axis Mundi was formed from three primal forces: the Wyrm, the Weaver, and the Wyld. They’re collectively known as the Triat. Galliards have spent centuries competing to see who can elaborate on the most creative explanations they can fathom, but the simplest explanations are the best.

— The Wyld is a force of endless creation spawning everything that exists. It’s a chaotic force that’s continu­ ally in flux.

— The Weaver is a force of order that reshapes and defines the Wyld’s creations. It transforms them into the matter and energy we know, and also into impossible creations that can only exist in the spirit world.

— The Wyrm is a destructive force that culls the Weaver’s creations. Anything that can survive the pre­ dations of the Wyrm’s minions is refined into enduring entities and objects.

In the time before time, the primal forces of the Triat created the universe, but since then, they’ve been forced out of balance. The exact reason why has been a subject of extensive debate, an explanation so vital that it’s created a great deal of conflict. Regardless, the forces of the Triat

are now slowly ravaging the Tellurian. They’ll continue to do so until some cosmic event corrects them or, more likely, the Apocalypse brings the end of all existence.