The Aether (move)

The move The Aether was introduced on 29 June 2020 and submitted to the Canon on 1 July 2020.

Text

Trafalgar introduced the move with the following text:

The world is part of a multiverse of parallel dimensions or universes. Some are "near," in the sense that they are easier to see or reach, and are also more similar to the dimension you're in - often very similar with just a few critical details different. They appear to "split," some more recently, some longer ago, but the mechanism for this isn't known right now. Nearer dimensions have more similar "rules" than farther ones, which can be very different indeed.

Running between and through them is a mysterious substance or medium that we shall call the "aether." The aether is strange,, with properties reminiscent of both a fluid and a solid - think about the fluid the continents ride on on Earth. Naturally-occurring "cracks" can appear it in, resulting in movement between dimensions. It is also possible for intelligent beings to figure out how to make artificial cracks, or "schists."

These have a property of directionality. The easiest feat is to see into another dimension, which allows those in that dimension who know how to more easily connect to yours. When you look into a different dimension, there's always the risk that someone there is looking back Next hardest is making a one-way portal to allow you to send things into another dimension - finding your way back is actually comparatively hard. The hardest feat is making a stable, two-way gate, and maintaining one can have dangerous side-effects over time on the cohesive reality of the linked dimensions.

Different dimensions can be time-slipped relative to each other, so you can have two very close dimensions historically which connect several hundred years apart on their respective timelines, so that can be a motivation to peer into neighboring realities.

Our primary world is in one of these dimensions, but the Aether gives it a mechanism to connect to other worlds and draw material from them.

How's that, an I ok for "one thing," it do I need to pare it back? 🙂

Dominick recorded the move to the Canon with the following text:

The Aether. The world is part of a multiverse of parallel dimensions or universes. Running between and through them is a mysterious substance or medium called the "aether." The aether is strange, with properties reminiscent of both a fluid and a solid as if they were interdimensional plate tectonics. Naturally-occurring "cracks" can appear it in, resulting in movement between dimensions. It is also possible for intelligent beings to figure out how to make artificial cracks, or "schists." Our primary world is in one of these dimensions, but the Aether gives it a mechanism to connect to other worlds and draw material from them.

Trivia

• The Aether is the first move in the Greater Game. It is not numbered in the Canon.

• Players debated whether the move under the original text was One Thing. Sabiki felt the move violated the One Thing requirement, while RavShimon felt it did not. Eventually, Dominick as game manager for this move decided, "I have come to the conclusion that these are Three Things: 1) a multiverse glued together by an aether, 2) how travel between dimensions works, including the asymmetry in difficulty, and 3) the temporal splits and slips between alternate dimensions." Trafalgar as the author of the move went with "a multiverse glued together by an aether". However, the choice does not rule out the possibility that the second and third things will be introduced in future moves.