Beneath the Ancient Roots

The world beneath our feet grows on a tree.

The roots of the World Tree reach into countless lower worlds, known as Bough Realms. Each Bough Realm is a world blossoming from a single branch: a train on a rainy night, a sea of emerald bamboo, a rusted, lifeless city, a demon market that has seen no night for a thousand years, an ice sea beneath the polar night. When a Bough Realm flourishes, its branch grows thick and the World Tree thrives. When a Bough Realm withers, its branch shrivels, and we begin to "fall like leaves," one small piece at a time, starting with the sky above our heads.

The tree is sick. Root-eaters are gnawing at its roots.