Riff 032316

Looking out my window, the world looks like a sea of clouds. Not that surprising when one is flying at 30,000 feet, but it does not reduce that sense of wonder at seeing the clear sky above and the clouds below, ignited into brilliant hues as the sun reaches the horizon. Some folks just take it for granted, sit in their seats, reading a book or watching a movie, and ignore the Grand Show just outside their window.

To be sure, the Grand Show is more than just seeing the clouds from the side that had never been seen a hundred some odd years ago. It is seeing the world for what it truly is, for what it is truly meant to be. Most folks cannot, or will not, accept the reality you witness when you catch your first glimpse of the Grand Show. Their unconscious mind takes over, making them turn their heads, to avoid seeing any more of what they cannot accept. Others embrace it too fully, becoming overwhelmed by the truth and spend their days as madmen and lunatics, forever making incomprehensible claims. There are very few who manage to witness the Grand Show without losing a grip on what the majority call the “Real World”. These are the ones who keep the rest of humanity safe.

The Grand Show, after all, can be quite dangerous. It is where all things hidden become revealed, including those things that would prefer to remain hidden. Some call them demons, devils, angels, spirits, what have you. I simply refer to them as Others. Some are decent enough, others not so much, and still others who would simply rip you apart for acknowledging their existence.

Humanity, for its part, has lost much of its ability to see the Grand Show. Perhaps it was an evolutionary advantage to not be able to sense, and as a result remain somewhat hidden yourself, from things that would just as soon devour you as look at you. They are all around us, hidden in plain sight, just as we are all around them similarly hidden. Except when there is a breach. When that happens, chaos is sure to follow, the scale of the chaos is the only variable.

When a human becomes aware, and the denizens of the Grand Show become aware of them, a power struggle among the various factions ensues. Demons, devils, angels, spirits, eldritch things, and more all vie for that human’s energy. All these factions struggle against one another, but all share a common enemy.

Eating away at the edge of the Grand Show, the Void is an ever present threat. The voidbeasts that infiltrate the Grand Show seek to destroy it from within, but more importantly, it is these creatures that pose the largest threat to humanity. An unseen enemy that becomes more aware of humanity’s existence every day, and actively hunts those humans that have become aware of the Grand Show.