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Andy Havens
Dec 17, 2017

Introduction to the Seven Domains

In the world of The Side Ways, there are Seven Domains, each defined by how their Reckoners perceive the world. The Domains are:

  • Earth

  • Blood

  • Chaos

  • Flux

  • Sight

  • Release

  • Increase

You can find out more about each of the Domains in additional "Lore" posts.


In Awake, Kendra learns the Song of the Houses from Vannia:


Earth, the Mother, first and last, Bearing Blood, the eldest sign. Chaos leaves the patterned path, Draws out Sight to spy and find. Flux pulls power from the round. Increase seeks the gain of gain. Release opposes any bounds. Ever balanced, poised Domains. Each and every, all and one. Seven equal, seven done.

This is a mnemonic that young Reckoners use as a reminder of lessons about the history of the Domains in the world. It is also sometimes a trigger for a Way of Remembrance which provides more details about each House.


The terms "Domain" and "House" are often used more-or-less interchangeably. They aren't exactly the same, though.


One's Domain encompasses everything about how one experiences the world. It is one's fellow Reckoners, their Ways, places, creatures, ideas and ideals. The House affiliated with each Domain is, essentially, all the Reckoners who choose to engage in any level of administration or governance of a Domain. So one might be a Reckoner of Chaos, but choose to be alone and disconnected from the various politics and machinations of the House. It's a slight distinction, and mostly important to those who are on both ends of the curve; active leaders and those actively uninvolved.



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  • Andy Havens
    Dec 24, 2017

    The Great Reckoner Wars

    Discussion 
    From around 7,500 BCE to around 5,500 BCE, the First Five (Earth, Blood, Chaos, Sight, Flux) warred with each other, largely due to the influence of Flux. War itself was not the goal of Flux -- of the Five, Blood was the only one who was truly enamored of conflict for its own sake. Instead, Flux reveled and drew power from both the rise and fall of great cities, states, armies and leaders. More than anything else, armed conflict caused great shifts in power, and it was for those moments and movements that Flux truly lusted. Flux drew House against House with its machinations. Queen Ghuraa, first Mistress of Flux, used spies, bribes, Ways of Seeming and even alignments and seduction of Mundanes to keep the other Houses spiraling up and down vortexes of gain and loss. With each turn of the wheel... with each swing of the Great Pendulum, she gained power. Finally, Aasher, first Master of Sight, realized that his role as observer and historian was not enough; for more than any other, he could see what the final swing of power would bring about -- the end of the world, all life, all power, all Domains, all Mundanes, even cracking the Earth itself. And so he, with the help of his son Beniin and his friend Sayem, Aasher spent decades slowly designing a situation in which he could destroy the greatest armies of the Five and reach a balance where there could be peace among them. An uneasy peace, perhaps... but one that would spare the Earth from the final, inevitable destruction that Flux would cause. The Great Flood -- known both to the Domains and across so many myths of Mundanes -- accomplished Aasher's will, killing him in the process. It was left to Beniin and Sayem to pick up the pieces of the Houses and present them, centuries later, with their mentor's grand design -- the creation of two new Domains and the Law that would sustain the "Seven equal, seven done."
  • Andy Havens
    Dec 16, 2017

    Read this first, please

    Discussion 
    Most important: there will be spoilers, meta-spoilers and misdirection in here. That is, stuff that I'm working on but might get changed. So if you want to just enjoy the books as books first, you should do that. Also... Using the forums falls under our license agreement stuff. Check that out before reading or posting, please. And please remember that this is meant to be a YA (young adult) safe zone. Stuff much stronger than PG-13 will be deleted.