BACKROOMS: A PLANE OF EXISTENCE BELOW THE BRIGHT STAGE, CONSISTING OF A SERIES OF INTERCONNECTED SPACES. IT HAS BEEN OBSERVED FOR THE FIRST TIME RECENTLY. EACH SPACE POSSESSING NOTABLE CHARACTERISTICS THAT DIFFERENTIATE ITSELF FROM OTHER SPACES IS CLASSIFIED AS AN INDIVIDUAL 'LEVEL'.
MANY HAVE OFTEN ENTERED THE BACKROOMS THROUGH A LOCATIONAL EXCHANGE METHOD OFTEN REFERENCED TO AS 'NO-CLIPPING', ACHIEVED WHEN A CERTAIN SECTION ON THE GRAND STAGE, SUCH AS A WALL OR THE AREA OF GROUND, IS UNSTABLE COMPARED TO SURROUNDING TERRAIN. THIS LEADS TO PERMEABILITY, ALLOWING PASSAGE THROUGH SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE SOLID, THEREFORE NO-CLIPPING INTO THE BACKROOMS.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE ALSO MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS OF ENTERING THE BACKROOMS THROUGH OTHER METHODS BESIDES NO-CLIPPING; THEREFORE, FURTHER STUDY IS REQUIRED.
ALL LEVELS ARE DENOTED WITH AN N, AN ALPHABET CHARACTER FROM THE BRIGHT COUSIN'S LANGUAGE. THE ORIGIN OF THIS N IS UNKNOWN, THOUGH THERE ARE NUMEROUS SHARED THEORIES REGARDING ITS ORIGIN. THE SIZE OF EACH LEVEL VARIES, RANGING FROM BEING LIMITED TO A SINGLE WALLED ROOM TO A NON-LINEAR INFINITE SPACE.
LEVELS POSSESS VARYING DEGREE OF INSTABILITY, WITH A HIGHER DEGREE OF SUCH ALLOWING THE NO-CLIP METHOD TO BE VIABLE. HOWEVER, ALL LEVELS ALSO POSSESS ENTRYWAYS INTO OTHERS; ENTRYWAYS ARE OFTEN SPECIFIC TO ONE LEVEL AND FOUND WHEN PERFORMING A CERTAIN ACTION CHARACTERISTIC OF THE ADJOINING LEVEL. ENTRYWAYS ARE USUALLY ONE-WAY, MEANING THERE IS NO WAY TO RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL LEVEL UNLESS ITS ENTRYWAY IS FOUND.
INHABITANTS OF THE BACKROOMS, HEREBY DESIGNATED AS WANDERERS, HAVE VARIABLE OPINIONS ON THE EMOTIONS EACH LEVEL INVOKES. FOR EXAMPLE, ONE WANDERER MAY FIND A LEVEL DESIGNED LIKE A HOSPITAL INTERIOR TO BE EERIE, WHETHER BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN EXPERIENCE WITH HOSPITALS OR SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE DISTURBED BY THE LACK OF LIVING BEINGS OTHER THAN THE WANDERER PRESENT WITHIN A USUALLY BUSY SPACE.
CONVERSELY, ANOTHER WANDERER MAY FIND THIS HOSPITAL LEVEL PEACEFUL AND CALMING, PERHAPS EVEN DUE TO THE LACK OF LIVING ENTITIES PRESENT. HOWEVER, THERE IS OVERALL AGREEMENT A MAJORITY OF LEVELS EXHIBIT FEELINGS OF NOSTALGIA ON WANDERERS, ALONG WITH A SENSE THAT THEY DO NOT BELONG.
THE ORIGIN OF THE BACKROOMS IS OFTEN SPECULATED BY WANDERERS. MANY POSIT THE BACKROOMS HAVING BEEN CREATED BY A HIGHER BEING, OR EVEN A PANTHEON OF DEITIES. OTHERS POSIT THE BACKROOMS FUNCTIONING SIMILAR TO A GRAVEYARD, FOR SPACES FORMERLY PRESENT ON THE GRAND STAGE.
THOUGH THE CURRENT ROTWATCHER PREFERS THE LATTER TO THE FORMER, NEITHER THEORY HAS ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO ALLOW FOR CERTAINTY. FURTHER INVESTIGATION IS PENDING.
THE PRESENT ROTWATCHER HAS RECENTLY FOUND GREAT INTEREST IN THE BACKROOMS, WHERE IT IS CURRENTLY SITUATED WITHIN THROUGH AN AS OF YET UNKNOWN MECHANISM THAT ALLOWS TRANSFERAL FROM THE GRAND STAGE. THE REASON FOR THIS TRANSFER IS UNKNOWN, THOUGH THE ROTWATCHER ASSUMES IT IS CONNECTED WITH ITS PREVIOUS ROLE IN INTERNALLY CATALOGUING DETERIORATION WITHIN ITS GRAND STAGE. THE PRESENT ROTWATCHER IS OBSERVED TO CONTINUE ITS INTERNAL CATALOGUES OF THE SPACES AROUND IT.