Angelica called them “delves”—deep excursions into the multitude of worlds that make up what she calls “The Incarnata”. I spent over a decade conducting delves for her, which I soon learned largely meant scouting out places that she could easily exploit in some fashion. It was dangerous and terrifying work, at least at first, but I was almost fully under her spell by that point, and ashamed as I am to admit it, I enjoyed much of the work even from the start.

The Incarnata is a place formed from ideas and beliefs and shaped by will and desire. The thousands or millions of worlds that live within it are all interconnected and constantly changing with the ever-shifting tides of its inhabitants’ individual and collective thoughts and passions. It literally is, in many ways, a dreamland, though it would be a mistake to think that it was overly-chaotic or lacking in substance. To the contrary, what happens there is very real, and much of that power can and does bleed over into our own world as well.

It is also a very dangerous place, particularly for visitors. Angelica is unique in that, for whatever reason, nothing touches her there for good or ill. For all her candidness with me on many matters, she never liked talking about that particular topic, either because she didn’t know herself why nothing could affect her or because she was protective of her greatest strength.

Because Angelica, in her own calculating way, is a great conqueror. Between her immunity to most opposition in Incarnata and her ability to bend others to her will, she has subjugated several worlds there and enslaved entire groups. She sees them all as monsters, you see. As lesser than her and thus only worth whatever use they have for her greater design. For many years, I was a part of that design.

The risk to Angelica in Incarnata is typically minimal, but her time is limited and her reputation precedes her there. It was much easier to send me in her stead. First as an explorer, then as a spy, and eventually, as a monster to frighten other monsters.

For I don’t have any immunity to that place, and there are many places there that can…infect you. Change you. And then there is the fact that you can alter yourself there as well. The more betrayals and atrocities I participated in, the more I hated myself and what I was becoming. But I never stopped, never refused to do my part for my queen, and with each trip I would come back more warped and twisted in mind and body and soul, growing closer to the abomination you see before you now.