Beyond our reality, there exist strange worlds that are manifestations of the will of very powerful beings called the Masques. When the world was young, the barrier between our world and theirs was very thin, and myth and legend were born from interaction with the magics from these other realms that bled over into ours. But with the development of the industrialized world, those barriers have grown thicker and thicker and knowledge and belief in other worlds has waned. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t still there, however, and that their masters aren’t still interested in what our world can provide.

The Masques harness the power of strong emotions, dreams, and nightmares. They use that power to help expand their realms, fuel their creations, and sometimes simply for their own entertainment. But it has become increasingly difficult to reach through to our world since the thickening of the Ashfall which separates us. But that doesn’t mean that it is impossible.

The citizens of Hollygrove do their best to try to keep the cracks between worlds sealed, and, barring that, try to minimize damage to the town from leakage. Sometimes tourists fall in, too — some locals are more concerned about that than others. Sometimes it depends on how rude the tourists were.

Masques are extremely powerful within their own realms, being near omnipotent and omniscient, as the reality itself is a manifestation of their will and imagination.

Their dispositions vary wildly depending on the individual. Some are relatively benign to those who happen to stumble into their realm while others are actively malevolent toward any intrusions.

Their politics amongst one another are complicated and often involve very long and complex games to which no one, perhaps even they themselves, know the rules. They are almost always involved in interfering with one another’s business. It is advised that one be very careful in getting entangled in any of it. Having the attention of a Masque can mean no end of trouble.

A realm is a reality that is created by and is a living manifestation of the will of its ruler which means that it can change and shift at that ruler’s whim and imagination. Some realms are very stable, their Masques tending to hold a very solid belief of what their world is. Others are more mercurial which can make them more dangerous.

There are things that exist in the realms of the Masques that do not exist within our own mortal world and sometimes there are those willing to brave the potential danger of world walking in order to find them and bring them back. Sometimes, creatures or beings spill out of those realms and need to be returned and the concerned citizens of Hollygrove chose to return them to their natural habitat rather than keep them around town for everyone’s sake. There is always an element of danger when entering a realm controlled by a nearly omnipotent and unpredictable being. Travel with extreme caution.

There are rumors of those who have the ability to walk between worlds. There are also other, more direct physical means. But those will have to be discovered in game.