The story of The Ringleaders takes place within The Multiverse. Each timeline represents a path history might have taken. Following the logic that “everything that can happen, will happen”, the Ringleaders’ multiverse has at least one universe for every possible event.
More literally, The Multiverse is composed of Underspace, Overspace, and The Timelines.
The Timelines
A Timeline (A.K.A. a universe) is a fourth dimensional object within which all forms of comprehendible existence take place. Each is composed of a lower membrane, upper membrane, and one or more interiors.
The interior of a universe is where all physical existence takes place. Three dimensional spacetime, matter, and physical forces all exist within this structure. Notably, a universe is not necessarily limited to a single interior. One of the more frequent examples of this phenomenon is the idea that a second version of the universe exists parallel to the inhabited one which can be used to travel from point to point faster than light. This concept is often referred to as “subspace” in sci-fi terms, but can also be compared to something like The Nether, or even The Quantum Realm.
In the case of many interiors a timeline may be depicted as a set of overlapping planes, such as in The Forgotten Realms. Timelines where this is the case can often be thought of as finite multiverses in their own right. They may have internal pantheons, planar travel, and “in-between” realms. It’s important to note that these timelines are held together as one due to a shared upper and lower membrane.
Universal Membranes
As varied as timelines can be, there are a few constants. Two of these constants are the upper and lower membranes. These conceptual barriers act as the dividing line between what “is” and what “isn’t”.
Upper
The upper membrane can be thought of as the more typical “edge of the universe”. In most cases, it can not be reached in a spatial sense (that is, it isn’t a physical edge) but rather is the representation of the limits of three dimensional existence.
Lower
The lower membrane is what separates a timeline from the infinite energy of Underspace. While Underspace itself is a single point, the lower membrane is spread across a universe in such a way that it allows the energy to flow in from any location (assuming sufficient permeability).
Permeability
How permeable each membrane is determines the behavior of the universe it encompasses. Under classical circumstances, neither membrane is at all permeable. This results in a universe that cannot be escaped from (as the upper membrane disallows egress) and has no magic, entropy reversal, or chaos force (as the lower membrane does not allow for the intake of energy). As they cannot be detected and nothing can pass their threshold, universes with perfect membranes are entirely theoretical, but generally hypothesized to both exist, and actually represent the vast majority of the multiverse.
Without sufficient permeability, a universe will eventually experience heat death.
Physical Laws
Each timeline in the multiverse has a base set of laws that govern their behavior. These laws are the ones we, in real life, are familiar with. They include concepts such as electromagnetism, gravity, and time.
Barring a few exceptions, any properties of a universe that fall outside the realm of proven science can be regarded as alternative physics.
Magic As Alternative Physics
When a character or setting uses a set of rules that is incongruent with typical physics, it is often referred to as magic. The model of “typical” physics is based on what is present in The Primary Timeline, as it has remarkable stability while still being permeable enough to interact with the greater multiverse. This doesn’t necessarily make the physics of other timelines “incorrect”, just different.
Psionics in The Secondary Timeline are an example of this phenomenon. The consciousness field has clear rules and parameters through which it can be interacted. Though these forces are not present in the Primeline, they are still able to be understood and analyzed. Thus, the difference between alternative physics and True Magic can be defined as whether or not internal consistency can be found. Note that any procedures of alternative physics that conflict with the laws of thermodynamics are most likely pulling energy from Underspace, which is a form of True Magic.
True Magic
Also known as Chaos Force, True Magic is the raw power of Underspace, which is defined by its chaotic and unpredictable (but usually convenient) properties. True Magic is sometimes believed to have a mind of its own, creating very specific outcomes that would be extremely unlikely to happen through pure chance, but attempts to find a rhyme or reason to its behaviors are usually met with failure and further confusion.
Despite being referred to as “magic”, True Magic is not entirely limited to timelines with arcane themes or permeable membranes. Despite being bound entirely by the laws of physics, Rustybot is technically a user of Chaos Force due to his development of Underspace Harvester Cores, allowing him to exist on the same level as those from more loosely-bound universes.
As unfiltered True Magic is completely unpredictable to the level of being functionally useless and usually dangerous, most universes that naturally channel large amounts of True Magic have physical laws that facilitate its controlled use.
Imbuement
Imbuement is when repeated Underspace exposure modifies the physical properties of matter. This is mostly observed when matter in universes with naturally thin membranes becomes acclimated to the natural background Underspace energy within those worlds. Levels of Underspace exposure and other material variations can effect how this phenomena expresses itself, and is the basis for differences in how physical laws are expressed between universes while maintaining compatibility under fundamental physical laws. Different universes have notably different wavelengths of Underspace exposure present which in turn effects the way imbuement changes the physical properties of matter. A notable example of the effects of imbuement is the anomalous naturally occurring materials due to The Yuris Anomaly. While The Primary Timeline is normally defined by its stability and consistency, a single solar system’s exposure to Underspace energy from its star was able to create materials that defied its normal laws, and in a way entirely unique to the primary timeline’s faint underspace signature.
Divergence
Divergence is the process by which two timelines emerge from one after an impactful event. When a great new technology is discovered in one but not another, those timelines will drift apart. If a traveler from another universe makes contact, a new split will occur.
In a manner of speaking, timelines can “overlap” in a sort of superposition if they are similar enough, making them functionally one in the same. In a different manner of speaking, timelines can be created when a random event or outside influence causes two outcomes to be equally likely.
Strands
Strands are the forces that pull universes with similar concepts closer together. It allows universes that have vast divergences in probability to be traversed between via the concepts that make them similar. Strands increase the likelihood of discovering things like alternate versions of ones self or very similar events that occurred separately within completely different histories.
The Singularity and The Cycle
The Ringleaders Multiverse runs on the assumption that a 100% entropy system and a 0% entropy system are virtually indistinguishable. This creates a model of a universe where each timeline starts and ends in a singularity point representing a blank, homogenous state of existence. This singularity point is hypothesized to be one in the same with Underspace, essentially acting as a well of potential that all of existence draws upon. In a classical universe it will only retain a fixed amount of energy and will play out its existence from big-bang to heat-death in a closed loop, then return its potential to the singularity, but universes with permeable membranes can draw from Underspace and communicate with other permeable universes, allowing for some universes to exist outside of the standard cycle of the multiverse by gaining (or occasionally losing) more energy than they started out with. This allows universes to have a net gain of usable energy that may see them persisting indefinitely.