The Veil
Also called: Veil, the Barrier
Definition: The metaphysical barrier between our world and the dimension of the Current. Once whole, it is now torn; the Rupture opened wounds in the Veil that have never closed. Thinnest in the Fen of the Fallen and at Stable Breaches like Ojo del Diablo.
The Veil is the wall that should keep our world separate from the Current: the chaotic dimension beyond. Before the Rupture, the Veil was whole, and the Current only seeped through in trickles that the old shamans called dreams or madness. After the Rupture, the Veil is a rotting fabric that vibrates with every gunshot, burns with every spell, and tears further every time someone Channels.
Visual metaphors used throughout the rulebook:
- “Water pressing against a cracking dam” (the Current behind the Veil)
- “A wound that will not close” (the Rupture)
- “Threads worn to lace” (the Fen, where the boundary is thinnest)
- “Reality is rotting fabric” (general state of the Veil post-Rupture)
Where the Veil is thinnest:
| Location | Severity |
|---|---|
| Ojo del Diablo | Severe (Stable Breach, the First Rupture site) |
| The Fen of the Fallen | Moderate-Severe (dead walk freely) |
| The Uphill River | Moderate (when water flows) |
| Bell-in-the-Black | Moderate (centered on the monolith) |
| Red Mother’s Teeth | Mild (blood-mineral deposits) |
| Red Mother’s Maw | Total tear (the Maw IS a Thin Place given form) |
The Tension Pool is the in-table representation of the Veil’s local stress: every die added is another tug at the threads. A Pool Rupture is the Veil failing in real-time at that location.
Bastion Souls are the discipline dedicated to anchoring and sealing the Veil. Their Rank 5 Miracle, The Seal, permanently closes a Breach at the cost of 1 ECHO and a Memory: the most expensive single act in the game, and the discipline’s reason for existing.