Nihility In Detail

Those Touched By Oblivion

Nihility lurks in the shadow of every living being, gnawing at the spirit of even the most steadfast of souls. The urge to give up, to let the cruelty of the universe tear apart one's spirit, after all, is within everyone.

Therefore, those that are chosen by the Nihility are wrapped in an almost deafening shadow of the current's influence that threatens to drive them to oblivion with every waking moment. This is why it's said that every waterwalker of the current must "stare into nothing", effectively meaning that every waterwalker of the Nihility has something missing from their life that they once had. A thing that, now, serves a fixation for their existence, a reminder of Nihility's hand upon them.

This manifests in a variety of ways among the current's waterwalkers. Many are blind, either willingly or unwillingly. Many have incredibly grave injuries such as the loss of one or several limbs, for example, a number of their waterwalkers have completely synthetic parts from the neck up, not including the brain, of course. Others stare into nothing in a more metaphorical sense, such as by having extreme amnesia or dissociative psychological conditions.

The Horizon

As it is currently understood, the universe, in its essence, is a balance of existence and nonexistence. Of course, the waking world as we know it quantifies all existence, so nonexistence must lie somewhere else, far, far away.

That place is known as the All-Encompassing Horizon. The links between the normal, material world, and the horizon are nigh-indistinguishable from gravitational sinkholes, also known as Black Holes. The only noticeable difference is the effect on those around the entrance/sinkhole, as entrances to the Horizon "drain the spirit" of mortals in their vicinity. People near them will lose their will to continue existing, gradually drawing closer to nothingness. Researchers believe entrances to the Horizion have this psychological and gravitational pull because they, in a sense, are pulling existence, essentially the beginning of the universe, to nonexistence, which lies at the end of the universe. Though, most are still in deliberation.

The Horizon itself is what many pre-Deluge religions would call the afterlife, though nearing much closer to a "hell" rather than "heaven". Described in detail by Immolators, the only beings who can enter the Horizion and survive, the Horizon is an unending, dark sea, drawing closer and closer to a boundless void in the center, surrounded by a blinding light. It bears many similarities to the black holes of the material world, though the psychological effect of staring into the void within the Horizion, as described by Immolators who have emerged from it, is itself indescribable. Those who have been can only describe it in indirect and vague metaphor, with most relating it to the realization of the imminence of death for a wounded person.