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Sinduin has a nightmare about meeting an Upa.

1. Dimension – This term is new for Sinduin’s people, and it only came into use when another dimension (our universe, where Earth is) was discovered.  Before that discovery, Sinduin’s people thought there was only one cosmos.  Now they talk of two dimensions: theirs and ours (our dimension is also called the new dimension and the other dimension).  By the way, the discovery happened about 10 years ago…

2. World – Sinduin’s dimension is a multiverse and  this fact is common knowledge and has been for a long time.  Each one of the universes in this multiverse is called a world.  In sci-fi we often use the word “dimension” for this sort of thing, plus we tend to use “world” to refer to planets, so it can get sort of confusing.

Recap: as far as Sinduin and her people know, there are now two dimensions: their multiverse and the newly found universe where we are.  Their multiverse has several worlds (or universes, whereas ours has only one).  All of the worlds in Sinduin’s dimension are physically similar to each other.  For example, in the story Sinduin visits the planet Ildico in the world of Kalderon.  But besides Kalderonian Ildico there’s also a Brigandine Ildico (in Briga), a Chanegrine Ildico (in Chanegra) and so on.

THE 21 WORLDS

Now, how many worlds are there in Sinduin’s dimension?  The official view of the Empire is that there are 21 worlds.  The 22-world theory and the 3-world theory both have lots of supporters,  but the Empire does its best to quash dissidents.  21 worlds is dogma.

Now here’s a picture of how the 21 worlds are believed to work:

The arrows indicate the pathways between worlds.  The letters are the initials for each world’s name.  Thus the first row is Aym, Briga, Chanegra..the second Deleon, Eryam, Floy and so on.  The numbers on the left mark each of the succeeding grades: from the first all the way up to the seventh.  The three worlds in the same grade form a trinity.  [A, B, C] are the first trinity, [D, E, F] are the second trinity, and so on.  There are also names for each of the vertical groups, known as world lines.  The middle column of worlds [B, E, H, K, N, Q, T] is called the stemline.  The other two columns are called sidelines.  The column starting with A is called the left sideline and the one starting with C is called the right sideline.

“Lateral movement” within a trinity, for example between Briga, Aym and Chanegra, is relatively easy.  People in Sinduin’s dimension learn to do it as we learn how to ride a bicycle, a car or a truck.  The process takes a couple of seconds and involves mental concentration on the desired destination along with a physical gesture of some sort.  Different races resort to different gestures and there’s debate on whether anyone can train themselves to use any gesture or whether there are physiological or spiritual constraints on each race.  Blinking and nose-twitching (think Bewitched) are common methods.

“Vertical movement” along the various grades requires wisdom and is much more difficult.  Each species seems to have a cap on the grades they can achieve, with Imperials and very few others being able to reach the seventh grade.  That said, a good number of Sinduin’s people never move up beyond the first grade.

Vertical movement along a line is also involuntary and irreversible.  A young talented woman like Sinduin might one day find herself transported from Briga to Eryam.  Soon enough she’ll be able to travel between her new world and Deleon and Floy (by lateral movement), but she can never go back down to the first trinity.  Later on she might be in Deleon and achieve enough wisdom to move up to Ginas.  As a third grader, she’ll be able to access Halaron and Isis but the six worlds below her will be inaccessible forever.  (Sinduin is currently a fourth grader.)

THE SKILLS

Ascending a grade also grants the individual certain skills (or abilities, or magic).  It’s similar to leveling up in a game.  Verbal commands are required to activate these skills.

THE FLAYERS

THERE IS ONE HUGE EXCEPTION to the cosmology stated above, and it has to do with the so-called Transoptical Flayers.  The flayers are mechanical devices developed by Imperial scientists and what they accomplish is easily explained if we keep an eye on the diagram above: the flayers collapse each of the three world lines.  This means that the seven stemline worlds become one mega-world, and the same thing happens to the two sidelines.

The Silver Planet (purple) and Flayer Field (pink)

The flayers are four, and they generate a pyramid-shaped field that only operates over the Silver Planet and its immediate vicinity, but the consequences there are stupendous.  People from all the seven grades can live together, but they still keep their separate abilities or skills.

Let me just give one quirky example of how the flayers shape Imperial destinies.  The Imperial Armed Forces are divided into two major services: the Home Force and the Space Force.  The Home Force operates within flayer field, the Space Force outside of it.  The composition of the forces is totally different.  The Home Force is massive and it boasts all sorts of people (first graders through seventh graders, excluding the sixth).  The Space Force is split into several units, each based on a different grade.  This is a must!!  Imagine what would happen otherwise.  A spaceship leaves the Silver Planet to do battle elsewhere.  The captain is a fifth grader and most of the crew are second and third graders.  At the beginning everything is fine, but once the ship has cleared flayer field all of a sudden the captain disappears from everyone else’s eyes, and the second graders get split from the third graders.  Everyone suddenly ends up in different worlds (the ship, by the way, would remain in all of those worlds).

IMPERIAL EXPANSION

You’d think it would be pretty tough to be a galactic empire if every time you conquered a new planet you had to take it over 21 times, once per each world!  Well, the Empire is nothing if not practical and its thinkers have developed a strategy called the Fork.  To explain how it works I’ll use the example of Ephocto, which has shown up in the story already and which happens to be in the same solar system as the Silver Planet (it’s the yellow planet on the picture above).

Since this planet is beyond flayer field, it currently exists in all 21 worlds.  However, the Epheboctopi never ascend beyond the second grade (i.e. they’re not the wisest of races).  This effectively reduces their scope of activity to the six worlds of the first two trinities.

The Empire allows the Epheboctopi to live more or less freely in the two stemline worlds available to them [B, E].  Imperial troops will never station themselves in Brigandine Ephocto and Eryamite Ephocto.  Instead, the Imperials set themselves up on the sideline worlds [A, D, C, F] and bar them from the Epheboctopi.  Since the stemline worlds are usually the most attractive and peaceful places to live in Sinduin’s dimension, this is seen as a nice concession to the vanquished people.  At the same time, if there were any troubles or rebellions in the stemline worlds it would be very easy for Imperial troops to laterally move into those worlds and quash them.

In addition, the Imperials will establish themselves in the stemline worlds above those accessible to the locals, but only up to the fifth grade [i.e. worlds H and K in this example].  The reason is not to control the locals (since they can’t ever go there) but to prevent other powers from quietly sneaking into Ephocto.

It looks kind of like a fork, no?  To recap: for every planet that the Empire conquers, they will usually: a) leave the locals to occupy the stemline worlds that their race can access, b) occupy the corresponding sideline worlds, and c) occupy the stemline worlds above those in (a), but only up to the fifth grade.  In this way only seven worlds instead of 21 see the need for Imperial troops (it’d be six if the Epheboctopi weren’t capable of reaching the second grade).  There is a wide consensus that these Imperial Forks provide for an optimal use of resources.

NOTE: You might be wandering why Imperial troops won’t occupy the sixth and seventh stemline worlds.  The reason is simple.  Sixth graders are invariably rebels against the Empire so Imperial troops in the sixth grade simply do not exist.  As for the seventh grade, the number of beings that attain it are very few and practically all of them belong to the Empire so there’s really no need to worry about occupying that any planet in that particular world.

b

c

d

Thus ends the first arc of Sinduin Saga.  For now I’ll stop here, though I will put up a couple of “background posts” explaining the world of Sinduin and how it functions in all its ridiculous complexity.  Cheers and thanks for reading

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IMAGE SOURCES

50a: See here.

50b: See here.

50c: ibid.

50d: ibid.

b

c

d

What will happen on Tuesday??  Find out on Tuesday!!

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IMAGE SOURCES

49d: See here.

b

c

d

Will Sinduin negotiate with the Upas?  Will I realize that since the Papieca and Sinduin stories are alternating each time any predictions I make here are doomed from the start?  Find out on Saturday??

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IMAGE SOURCES

48a: See here for character image; background painting by William Degouve de Nuncques.

48b: ibid.

48c: ibid.

48d: ibid.

b

c

d

Will Papieca take it all in good cheer?  Will he smack these octopi’s heads together?  Find out on Thursday!!

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IMAGE SOURCES

47a: See here.

47b: ibid.

47c: ibid.

47d: ibid.

b

c

d

Will the Upas turn out to be wonderful people and the whole conflict just a great, big misunderstanding?  Will Sinduin have a chance to visit Ildico Disneyland?  Find out on Tuesday!!

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IMAGE SOURCES

46a: See here for character image; background painting by William Degouve de Nuncques.

46b: ibid.

46c: ibid.

46d: ibid.

b

c

d

Will the real Upas please stand up?  Please stand up?  Please stand up?  Find out on Saturday!!

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IMAGE SOURCES

45a: See here.

45b: ibid.

45c: ibid.

45d: ibid.

b

c

d

Will Ildico be as gorgeous yet treacherous?  Or will it be just plain gorgeous?  Find out on Thursday!!

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IMAGE SOURCES

44b: See here.

44c: ibid.

44d: ibid.

b

c

d

Will Sinduin end up in Ephocto as well?  Will the Care Bears show up?  Find out on Tuesday!!

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IMAGE SOURCES

43c: See here.

43d: ibid.