This document is a metaphysical hazard briefing for Eidolons and other trans-temporal entities. It concerns the anomalous reality designated Tapestry-000, colloquially known as “The First Weave” or, more commonly, The Grim Tapestry. The information contained herein is compiled from fragmented survivor accounts and deep-Eidic resonance scans. Standard principles of narrative causality and Eidic cycling do not apply within this reality. Proceed with extreme caution.

1. Ontological Properties: The Facts of a Broken System

Tapestry-000 is not a standard creation. It is hypothesized to be the “first draft” of reality, a primordial state whose foundational laws were never properly finalized or decommissioned. It operates on a set of unique and hostile principles.

1.1. The Unraveling Paradox: There Is No Escape Hatch
The single most critical Fact of the First Weave is this: it cannot be unraveled. The meta-process of ending a Tapestry to harvest its Eidos and begin anew is non-functional here. For an Incarnation whose Thread is woven into this reality, death is not a transition; it is a dead end. There is no ascension to the Eidolon state from within its confines. The workshop between lives is inaccessible. You are, for the duration of your existence, trapped.

1.2. Eidic Stagnation: The Pooling of Meaning
A direct consequence of the Unraveling Paradox is the stagnation of Eidos. In a normal Tapestry, the meaning generated by life—every act of love, every discovery, every betrayal—is harvested by the Eidolon upon conclusion. Here, with no one to claim it, the Eidos has nowhere to go.

Over aeons, it has pooled. Imagine psychic peat bogs formed from millennia of unobserved sorrow. Picture vast, silent lakes of pure despair, or crystalline mountains of forgotten scientific breakthroughs. The very environment of the First Weave is saturated with raw, unclaimed, and often toxic Eidos. This is the primary resource of this reality, and its greatest danger.

1.3. Existential Fauna: The Scavengers of Narrative
An ecosystem adapts to its resources. The First Weave is populated by entities that have evolved to feed on stagnant Eidos. These beings, designated “Harvesters,” are not demons or agents of a higher power. They are ontological necrophages. They are the natural fauna of a reality overflowing with psychic decay.

They are drawn to concentrations of meaning. A powerful Faith, a vibrant culture, a heroic Thread—all shine like beacons in the gloom, attracting their attention. Their method of “feeding” is not physical but metaphysical. They consume Eidos, hollowing out their victims, leaving behind not a corpse but a blank slate: an Incarnation with no memories, no personality, no story. They erase you. This is the ultimate threat of the First Weave: not death, but the complete annihilation of your narrative self.

2. Philosophical & Existential Implications: Coping with the Void

The unique Facts of the First Weave give rise to unique and desperate narratives among its inhabitants, who are all, knowingly or not, prisoners.

2.1. The Survivor’s Dilemma: The Curse of a Meaningful Life
The core psychological horror of the First Weave is the inversion of purpose. In any other reality, living a rich, complex, and meaningful life is the goal. Here, it is a liability. To be a hero, to love deeply, to build something magnificent, is to generate a feast for the Harvesters. The more you matter, the more delicious you become.

This creates a terrible paradox: to truly live is to invite erasure. To survive is to strive for meaninglessness.

2.2. Emergent Narratives & Faiths of the Trapped
The long-term inhabitants have developed unique cultural Faiths as coping mechanisms for this reality:

• The Path of Silence: This is the most common ascetic Faith. Its adherents practice a radical form of self-effacement, believing the only safety lies in generating Zero-Eidos. They live in quiet communes, avoiding strong emotions, striving for mediocrity, and telling no stories. Their goal is to become so narratively bland that the Harvesters’ attention simply slides past them.

• The Myth of the Glitch: This is a Faith of desperate hope. Its followers believe that because the First Weave is a flawed “first draft,” it must contain loopholes—backdoors, bugs in the source code. They are explorers and lore-seekers, questing for a “thin spot” between realities, a way to force an exit where none should exist. They risk shining brightly, believing the potential reward of escape is worth the danger.

• The Grand Delusion: This is the most tragic Faith of all. It is the belief that the rules haven’t changed. Adherents are often found in isolated pockets, clinging to stories of heroic ascension and divine reward. They live noble, vibrant lives, striving to become paragons of virtue, completely unaware that their efforts are not building a path to godhood, but are simply ringing a dinner bell in the cosmic dark.

3. Eidolon Directives & Operational Hazards

For any Eidolon encountering the First Weave, the standard operational playbook must be discarded.

• Hazard of Entry: Entry into the First Weave is believed to be an accident, a navigational error on a metaphysical level. Eidolons weaving a new Tapestry might “cross a wire,” so to speak, causing their new Incarnation to be born into the wrong reality. It is not a place one chooses to visit.

• The Illusion of Control: Do not attempt to “fix” or “cleanse” this Tapestry. Your powers as an Eidolon are predicated on the cycle of weaving and unraveling. Here, that cycle is broken. You have no authority.

• The Only Victory Condition: For an Incarnation trapped within the First Weave, the game is no longer a story generator or a philosophical playground. It is a cosmic escape room. The only goal is to find the “glitch” and get out. Success is not measured by the Eidos you generate, but by your ability to leave with your own Thread intact.

Conclusion: The horror of the First Weave is not that it is a malevolent, hellish reality created by a devil. The horror is that it is an impersonal, broken machine. There is no grand antagonist, no cosmic chess master. It is an engine that seized millennia ago, running on a loop of futile struggle and inevitable erasure. The ghosts are the smoke, and the Harvesters are the rust. It is a testament to the most terrifying Fact of all: that a system does not need to be evil to be a prison; it only needs to be broken.

Design Notes

Important to reiterate that only an Eidolon would know these things.

See The Grim Tapestry for more exposition on this.