There are thousands upon millions of possible futures for every world which exists. Some possible futures differ from one another only in minutiae, others may have fundamental differences. But only one of those possible futures may become reality, due to the Everlaw of One. The Everlaw of One states that only one possibility from a set of two or more contradictory possibilities can become a reality at one time. In other words, a world in which you are going to die and stay alive at the same time is not allowed. Either you live or you don’t.
The Everlaw of One acts to eliminate contradictions, keeping reality “on the straight and narrow.” The Everlaw of One strips away possibility energy from the cosm, then uses that energy to put things right by changing one or more of the contradictory elements. If by some chance two possible futures begin to coexist, and you one day found yourself simultaneously dead and alive (somewhat difficult to imagine), the Everlaw of One would change one of the conditions; soon you would either be dead or alive. While you might have a definite preference, the Everlaw chooses the outcome which requires the least amount of change, and the least expenditure of energy.
A cosm spawns an amazing variety of animals, living beings, landforms, plants, minerals and astral bodies. But a fundamental relationship exists between the living in a cosm and the unliving elements which constitute that cosm. The Everlaw of Two states that the living and the unliving are linked by the rules of their cosm, and this link causes possibility energy to flow between the living and unliving. The living may use possibility energy to create and change their world. Possibility energy is only generated when the living and unliving interact through the “axioms” of that world.
The Everlaw of Two is weaker than the Everlaw of One, and can be interrupted by the arcane devices of the High Lords. To do this, the invader overlays a new set of rules on top of the proper unliving axioms, so that the invading axioms take precedence. The living being is still connected to his unliving axiom, and sends it possibility energy. But when the unliving seeks to return that energy, the flow is interrupted and the energy stolen by the stelae, eventually draining the entity completely.
The border between conflicting realities can unleash fearsome displays of possibility energy in the form of reality storms. Reality storms have violent physical manifestations; winds ranging in velocity from 40 to hundreds of miles an hour are possible. History records incidents in which lightning from reality storms has sheared mountains and leveled entire cities. But the lightning is often peculiarly selective in its targets. Storms in Indiana during the initial invasion were seen to only strike objects which contained aluminum; in the Ruhr valley, churches were the chosen target; in Leeds, smokestacks and newsprint were struck.
The effects of the storms can be even more confusing. Many realities can come into temporary existence during a storm, gravity can become variable, languages of a region can be changed, vehicles can move about on their own, and the sizes and colors of buildings can alter.
Most of the effects fade within two to 24 hours of the storm’s passage. In a few rare instances the effects last much longer.
Possibility-rated characters may invoke the Everlaw of One against a possibility-rated character from another cosm to create a reality storm.
When a 1 or 1-4 is rolled, the Everlaw of One eliminates the contradiction by breaking the link between the character and the Everlaw of Two. Without this link, a character cannot create a contradiction, for possibility energy is necessary to bend the fabric of reality, and the Everlaw of Two is necessary to link the realities together.
Until the link is repaired the character may not collect any Possibilities due him at the end of an act or an adventure. He may still spend those that he has, and play cards as Possibilities.
Until the link is repaired, the character may not roll for or otherwise use any tool (item or ability) whose axiom level exceeds the axioms of the current location. He may, however, exceed his own axiom levels if they are lowerthan the axioms of the cosm he is in.
As his one rolled action for a round, the disconnected character may generate a reality skill total in order to repair the link. Repairing the link in a foreign cosm requires the presence of the tool that was being used when the link was broken (it contains fragments of the Everlaw of Two). A character in her home cosm may repair the link without the tool that was being used when the link was destroyed.
The link may be broken in one realm and repaired in another; often the link is easier to repair in a realm different from the realm in which the character was disconnected.
A character who attempts to link back up with the Everlaw of Two may recieve a bonus modifier if the tool he was using had a lower axiom level than his own level. The bonus modifier for restablishing the link is: Character Axiom Level minus Tool Axiom Level.
A negative bonus modifier is ignored unless the axiom level of the tool also exceeds the axiom level of the land.
To help remember, if a character fails only on a roll of 1, then he can only have a zero or positive modifier. If a character is a four-case, then he always has a negative modifier.