Greetings folks. This week I’m going to take a deep dive into some of the lore around Fringe Planet. Something many authors of weird fiction (which are huge inspiration for Fringe Planet) did was to create their own  grimoires, used as focal points in the stories and plot devices. So I’ve done the same thing. These books are all collectibles in Fringe Planet – you can find them rarely in mounds and they will unlock codex fragments when found. This blog post will focus on Outside the Spheres, which is the most important book in the game lore wise, similar to the importance of the Necronomicon in Lovecraft’s work.

Outside the Spheres

Originally written by an Egyptian warlock in around 2500BC, this manuscript is a direct reference guide to The Void and the rituals used to interact with the entities that inhabit it. It’s unknown how he obtained the information for the rituals contained within.  The warlock in question went missing (rumoured to be killed, but it’s hard to verify such an ancient legend) after performing certain sacrilegious rituals that offended his Pharaoh and displeased the Egyptian gods.  The original manuscript was discovered stored in clay jars by the Romans during the Battle of the Nile (in 47BC) – in an incredibly preserved state considering the ancient age of the writings. It was taken to Rome, where it was translated into Latin, with the help of an Egyptian scholar. This Latin translation actually came in two versions – a verbatim copy containing all the rituals and magic, and a cut down manuscript which contained much less information but included a comprehensive bestiary of the entities that inhabit The Void. Finding a copy of the full Latin text is incredibly difficult now days – as many governments and religious organisations understood the dangers of the information held within and had them destroyed. Copies of the bestiary weren’t suppressed as much however – due to the fantastic nature of the creatures it was thought mostly to be a work of fiction.

Copies of the Latin bestiary turned up France during the 1600s, where it was rumoured to have inspired a monk to insert certain eldritch creatures and sigils in to a Bible he was illuminating- a blasphemous act that lead to the monk’s execution when a scholar had noticed the unholy creatures next to the Lord’s words. This Bible is still known to exist today and is kept under lock and key in the archives of the Vatican Library.

In the 1880s a medium discovered a full copy of the original Latin translation of Outside the Spheres and translated it into English, renaming the book “The Invisible World”. Some of the more potent rituals were censored in this translation – but it didn’t stop the medium from directly trying to connect with the consciousness of an Aspect. Which was a very public and gory spectacle performed on a music stage in London. Needless to say she didn’t survive.

Though the original manuscript was suppressed by both Church and State (meaning copies were destroyed and it’s owners were arrested) – The Invisible World was not seen as such a danger and therefore some copies of this text still exist in the hands of private collectors around the world. Another book was inspired by The Invisible World was written during the magic craze of the 1960s – “Eldritch magicks and how to find your inner soul”. A cross between an introduction to The Void and a self help book, it’s author, a well known business man called Maximilian Voryes, ended up selling all his companies and assets and starting a commune in the American desert. It is also said the Voryes family (with their vast wealth and content spanning businesses) also had access to the original Latin translation.

In 1980s, well known children’s author Mary Boulie found a previously unknown translation of the original Latin bestiary, and included references to many creatures from The Void in her book “Sleep well and dream of fantastic beasts”. This book sold thousands of copies and no attempt was made to suppress it, though it did become a theme of many inappropriate jokes between occultists who knew the subject matter.

In 2007 scans of the original full Latin translation appeared on a MySpace page. This was quickly suppressed and is thought to be the first instance of cyber suppression of an occult text. It is unknown who created the account.

There is a lot more to read about Fringe Planet… why not try:

• The writings of Elisabeth Crane – Dev Blog 77
• Lore introduction – Dev Blog 34
• More Lore – Dev Blog 35