Tales Unending is not a single world, but the totality of existence—a fractured cosmology composed of innumerable Story Realms, all drifting within the Storywake. It is a setting built on the premise that reality is shaped not solely by matter or magic, but by narrative momentum: the ability of a story to move forward, change, and resolve.
In this cosmology, stories are not metaphors. They are structures. They have weight, inertia, and failure states.
The Storywake is the astral medium between all Story Realms. It is not space, nor a void, but a semi-sentient narrative current—a flowing expanse where distance is measured by resonance rather than location. Worlds that share themes, emotions, or unresolved tensions drift closer together. Worlds that contradict or reject one another are carried apart.
Travel through the Storywake is not a matter of engines or speed, but of alignment. Anchors, vessels, and Storyforged Arms move by synchronizing with emotional and thematic currents. The Wake responds to intent. It can carry travelers forward, stall them indefinitely, or tear them off course entirely.
Storms within the Storywake—often called wake-storms—occur when incompatible narratives collide. These events can fracture worlds, erase histories, or give rise to entirely new Story Realms.
Each Story Realm is a self-contained world sustained by a Core Story—the narrative identity that defines its themes, logic, and emotional center. Some realms are hopeful, whimsical, or heroic. Others are tragic, oppressive, or decaying. Realism is secondary to narrative coherence.
Within a Story Realm, causality follows story logic rather than physical law. Archetypes matter. Symbolic actions carry disproportionate weight. Certain roles, places, or events recur not because they are inevitable, but because the story expects them.
At the heart of each realm lies its Realm Core, the metaphysical anchor that allows the world to persist. Damage to the Realm Core destabilizes the world’s narrative, making it vulnerable to collapse or transformation.
All existence within Tales Unending is sustained by continuance—the ability of a story to progress rather than repeat. Growth, resolution, change, and even meaningful failure reinforce continuance.
When continuance falters, the Unwritten begins to form.
The Unwritten is not a force of malice or destruction. It is a state of narrative erosion, where meaning has worn away. It manifests when loss is unresolved, obsession replaces growth, or memory collapses into endless repetition. A realm consumed by the Unwritten does not explode or fall to ruin—it simply loses the ability to move forward.
From the Unwritten arise the Storyless: entities that lack a Core Story of their own. Many were once people, creatures, or even entire concepts, hollowed out by stagnation. Others are born fully Storyless, shaped by the absence left behind.
The Storyless do not conquer worlds. They do not rule or corrupt. They erase what the world has already forgotten. Their presence accelerates narrative collapse, stripping away meaning until nothing remains to anchor existence.
Some Storyless are mindless echoes. Others retain painful awareness of what they once were. Neither state offers mercy.
Anchors are individuals capable of stabilizing, altering, or redirecting stories. They are drawn—consciously or not—to moments of fracture: worlds on the verge of collapse, conflicts locked in repetition, or stories unable to end.
Anchors are not chosen by prophecy, nor bound by alignment. Their defining trait is impact. The Storywake recognizes them as points of leverage—beings whose choices create disproportionate narrative change.
Through their actions, Anchors may heal realms, doom them, or transform them into something entirely new. In doing so, they risk becoming stories themselves—defined, constrained, or consumed by the narratives they carry.
Storyforged Arms are metaphysical constructs formed through resonance between will, memory, and purpose. They are not owned, inherited, or assigned. They answer.
These weapons, tools, or artifacts grow and change alongside their wielder, reflecting identity and conviction rather than raw power. A Storyforged Arm may open paths through the Storywake, seal narrative fractures, or anchor a collapsing realm—but only if its wielder’s intent aligns with its nature.
When that alignment breaks, Storyforged Arms may fracture, transform, or fall silent.
At its core, Tales Unending explores several interwoven themes:
Persistence over triumph: Survival and continuation matter more than victory.
Meaning as structure: Reality holds because people care, remember, and act.
Change as necessity: Stories that refuse to evolve inevitably decay.
Responsibility without destiny: Power exists without prophecy; consequences follow regardless.
Loss without villainy: Not all endings are caused by evil—some simply run out of strength.
The setting embraces high fantasy and mythic scale, but remains deeply personal. Grand cosmological events often hinge on small, human decisions.
Tales Unending is a setting about what remains when certainty fades. Not every world can be saved. Not every story deserves preservation. But as long as someone acts with conviction—so long as meaning is carried forward—existence continues.
No story is eternal.
But some are strong enough to last a little longer.