THE CITY: audio-to-text transcription
This is the City. Very briefly it is (the accessible portion of) a universe that exists outside of time and space as we know them. If you are visiting you will return to your home shortly.
This universe's spacetime is both wholly severed from that of other universes and connected to them in a way that defies conventional understanding. It is temporally isolated. What time passes here does not pass in our home worlds and so we all return to our native universes at the same moment as we left.
The City is an intersection of multiple places and times.
The nature of this universe is uncertain. It may be artificial. Not all natural laws apply all the time. The stars move in regular patterns and this indicates that we are either orbiting a star or that our captors are sophisticated enough to simulate the effect of a typical (earth-like) planetary orbit. There is a curvature to the horizon and so the City is most likely located on a planet. There are barriers that prevent exploration of this planet more completely.
Creatures sometimes enter the City from outside.
The City was controlled by beings who called themselves the deities and they were able to put curses on the population and give us things in exchange for memories, items, etc. They may have been members of a technologically advanced race - maybe one that is studying humanoids. They were removed from power by anonymous forces very recently.
Little is known of the anonymous forces. UPDATE - I have worked with a member of this group named Tristero. He has indicated that his group knows little more about the workings of the City than us but they appear to be sincere in their desire to help us.
The City is patterned after 21st century Earth.
There is a clock underground that may be important. There are rumors that the City is sentient (unverified). Magic is real. The dead do not stay dead (verified).
Memories about this world do not persist when we return home. If we come back here after leaving we may or may not have the memories from our previous visit. Memory loss is common.
There is no known way to escape.
This universe's spacetime is both wholly severed from that of other universes and connected to them in a way that defies conventional understanding. It is temporally isolated. What time passes here does not pass in our home worlds and so we all return to our native universes at the same moment as we left.
The City is an intersection of multiple places and times.
The nature of this universe is uncertain. It may be artificial. Not all natural laws apply all the time. The stars move in regular patterns and this indicates that we are either orbiting a star or that our captors are sophisticated enough to simulate the effect of a typical (earth-like) planetary orbit. There is a curvature to the horizon and so the City is most likely located on a planet. There are barriers that prevent exploration of this planet more completely.
Creatures sometimes enter the City from outside.
The City was controlled by beings who called themselves the deities and they were able to put curses on the population and give us things in exchange for memories, items, etc. They may have been members of a technologically advanced race - maybe one that is studying humanoids. They were removed from power by anonymous forces very recently.
Little is known of the anonymous forces. UPDATE - I have worked with a member of this group named Tristero. He has indicated that his group knows little more about the workings of the City than us but they appear to be sincere in their desire to help us.
The City is patterned after 21st century Earth.
There is a clock underground that may be important. There are rumors that the City is sentient (unverified). Magic is real. The dead do not stay dead (verified).
Memories about this world do not persist when we return home. If we come back here after leaving we may or may not have the memories from our previous visit. Memory loss is common.
There is no known way to escape.