There is a place beyond reach, often referred to as The Faded Realm, which is nearly impossible for even the most powerful of planar magic to access. It is a volatile eldritch realm where the magical landscape twists and flows in ways which would be impossible in the physical world. Some scholars speak of the Faded Realm as a maze flooded with arcane energies, often warping the things which are touched by it’s power.
Ancient texts refer to the extra-dimensional labyrinth with an assortment of names. It is known in some references as the Labyrinth Beyond, and it has been frequently named The Faded Realm. Some texts call it The Sunder, while the most disturbing refers to it at The Forsaken Labyrinth. It is believed that this last name refers to the manner in which the Labyrinth seems to have been abandoned by its unknown creator, rather than suggesting that it has any ties to The Others.
It is known to have been considered the territory of a powerful Archmage in the time of the Vallahorienne, who is said to discovered it as a relic of a former age, and claimed it to use as a menagerie, as a sanctum, and as a prison for his enemies (whom he would often transform into terrible creatures before placing them into The Faded Realm).
Later, in the time of Octavia Lucius, The Sunder was accessed by a powerful mage by the name of Theodan Saris. Theodan discovered that The Sunder had begun to slowly collapse, and had believed himself a mighty enough ritual caster to bind the Labyrinth and prevent it from collapsing by using something that has been called a ‘Ward Stone’ ritual. Theodan’s reach, in this instance, far exceeded his grasp. He underestimated the immeasurable forces at work within The Sunder and was nearly destroyed by the ritual- his spirit becoming trapped until it was released nearly many years later by the adventurers of Falconguard in the year 212 PB.
Theodan Saris and his apprentice Valdimarr D’Angelo are the two foremost experts in knowledge of the Faded Realm, but both have openly stated that the mysteries of this twisted place are nearly endless and beyond true comprehension.
