Fractured Cosmos

The Fractured Cosmos Cosmology is an explanation for the World of Darkness provided by Malcolm Sheppard in Ascension. As the most all-encompassing cosmology, remaining faithful to the themes of each respective game line, we at the Wiki have accepted this as the canon default. The concept is similar to the concept of Grant Morrison's Hypertime found in the DC Comics Universe.

In this cosmology, there are an innumerable number of realities floating around like bubbles in water. Many of them are "linked," where events are nearly identical in each, although the reasons may differ. Mortals may wander from one to another without realizing it, and for the most part, it makes no difference to them. The cluster of realities with which we are most concerned each constitute a slightly different World of Darkness.

The Tellurian inhabited by the mages of Mage: The Ascension, for example, is a consensual reality, while the WOD inhabited by werewolves of Werewolf: The Apocalypse is primarily animistic in nature.

That's not to say that creatures in one don't exist in another, but the details differ. A vampire in the Changeling reality is a true "prodigal," likely having descended from an ancient redcap, while a vampire in the Werewolf reality is truly a servant of the Wyrm, although they may not realize it.

Major events, such as the awakening of Ravnos in 1999, cause large ripples through the linked realities.

Realities further away from the "core" may have increasing differences, such as the alternate settings like the Biscocchian Coprosperity Sphere proposed in the Mage Storytellers Handbook, getting increasingly divorced from "known" reality the further one goes.

It may be possible for a mage or other creature to intentionally travel from one reality to the other. Their counterparts in nearby universes likewise probably did the same thing, thus "displacing" them, although for realities slightly further out it may be possible to co-inhabit a universe with the character's doppelganger.

Universes even further out may be sufficiently different to not have any "doubles."

Perhaps this explains how the Garou of the Savage West managed to discover the Weird West of Deadlands in the Under a Harrowed Moon series.

Background Information

 * Non-canon information written for Ascension, but not ultimately used, includes :
 * Exalted's Creation is linked to the World of Darkness, but is not necessarily its past or its future.
 * "Existence is cyclical," beginning and ending with the Ascension of everything via Telos. It's unknown if this is intended to represent the entire Cosmos, or just the Mage Tellurian.