Bubble Theory
Bubble Theory
Bubble Theory is the idea that Duela exists inside one Bubble among many.
A Bubble is a contained reality: a complete world-structure with its own history, beings, and internal laws. Bubble Theory is not speculation within Duela. It is the actual structure of the cosmology.
Basic idea
Bubbles normally cannot influence, observe, or interact with one another. Each is separate from the others under ordinary conditions. A being inside a Bubble has no natural means of perceiving what lies outside it.
The Old God is believed to have come from another Bubble. His entry into Duela's Bubble, and the imprint he left on The Essence, is the only confirmed instance of cross-Bubble contact in the world's history.
The Essence and Bubbles
The Essence exists inside and outside Bubbles. It is not a force internal to Duela. It is part of the deeper structure that allows worlds to exist at all.
New Bubbles may be created through the Essence. The mechanism for this is not understood by anyone currently in Duela.
Transcendent godhood
It may be possible to overcome the separation between Bubbles by attaining a particular form of godhood, distinct from ordinary New God or Ascended God status.
The prevailing theory is that a being must dominate within their Bubble so thoroughly that the Essence itself recognizes them as operating at a scale beyond it. This likely follows from the relationship between perception and authority: the Essence responds to what enough minds recognize as real and powerful, and a being perceived as absolutely dominant within a Bubble may cross a threshold where the Essence perceives them as something larger.
How this has ever been achieved, or whether it has been achieved from inside Duela, is not recorded.
Writing use
Bubble Theory should usually remain in the background.
Most mortals do not know about it. It is useful for cosmic stories, unexplained artifacts, strange outsiders, and questions about what lies beyond Duela's cosmology. It is the load-bearing reason the Old God exists and why his origins remain unknowable from inside the Bubble he entered.
Stories that bring Bubble Theory to the foreground are operating at the largest possible scale of the setting. This is not discouraged, but it is the scale at which the fewest constraints exist and the most can go wrong. Handle with care.
