The Threshold of Return is the first place most Anchors set foot in Homeward.
It is not a gate, terminal, or checkpoint in any conventional sense. There are no guards, no customs, no announcements. Instead, it is a broad, open space—quiet, welcoming, and unmistakably final in the way beginnings often are.
When the Verge reaches its conclusion—whether through release, collapse, or transformation—Anchors do not travel to Homeward.
They arrive here.
The Threshold of Return exists to receive stories that have ended cleanly.
It marks the moment when a story relinquishes uncertainty and is allowed to rest. For players, it serves as the first stable ground after the instability of the Verge, making it the canonical entry point into Homeward and the wider cosmology.
All first arrivals from the Verge manifest here.
No exceptions are known.
The Threshold of Return manifests as a vast circular plaza open to the sky, framed by distant architecture that suggests a city without overwhelming it.
Common features include:
Smooth stone or light-toned ground, worn but unmarred
Gentle ambient light with no visible source
Wide, open space that encourages gathering rather than passage
Multiple paths leading outward into Homeward’s districts
Despite its scale, the Threshold never feels crowded. Sound carries softly. Footsteps echo just enough to be noticed. The air feels lighter here than anywhere else an Anchor has been.
There are no doors.
There does not need to be.
Anchors arriving at the Threshold of Return often experience a shared sensation:
A release of tension they did not realize they were carrying
The sense that something important has concluded
Emotional clarity without triumph
A quiet certainty that they are no longer in danger of forgetting themselves
Memories of the Verge remain intact, but their urgency fades. What mattered still matters—but it no longer presses inward.
This is Light in its most persistent form.
From the Threshold, Homeward unfolds naturally.
Paths do not demand choice. Districts reveal themselves slowly. Anchors are free to linger, explore, or simply remain still for a time. Nothing forces momentum here—but neither does anything trap it.
Many Anchors choose to remain at the Threshold for their first hours or days in Homeward, acclimating to stability after uncertainty. Others pass through quickly, compelled by curiosity or unresolved purpose.
Homeward does not rush them.
The Threshold of Return receives:
Anchors completing the Verge
Stories that have reached clean endings
Fragments of realms that dissolved gently rather than collapsing
Individuals whose deaths carried acceptance rather than denial
It does not receive stories that ended messily. Those do not arrive at all.
The absence is noticeable.
Like all of Homeward, the Threshold evolves.
Landmarks may subtly shift. New paths may form. Older features may fade when no longer needed. However, the space itself endures, retaining its identity as the place where arrival happens.
Some scholars believe the Threshold is partially composed of accumulated Continuance—residual momentum from stories that ended honestly.
If so, it is the quietest concentration of value in all existence.
POI Name: The Threshold of Return
Location: Central Homeward
Function: First arrival point after the Verge
Theme: Rest, acceptance, safe continuation
Player Role: Entry into the wider setting
Every Anchor’s journey through Tales Unending begins in uncertainty.
And for most—
their first true arrival
is here.