One of the distinguishing features of Aeirn, the world where my story is set, is the Rift. Created by the abuse of magic, in a string of wars a thousand years ago, the Rift is a tear in the fabric of reality giving a physical expression—and access—to naked Paradox, the inexplicable and improbable union of order and chaos responsible for the creation, or destruction, of all realms. It is the chaos of all possible forms of Order; encompassing the order implicit in all forms of Chaos. It is the expression of Perfection that embraces and supports all of the imperfections of Existence—the shadow of the Absolute. The Rift is like a door into the mind of God, where only thought—and the soul behind it—is real and reality is as fluid and elusive as a thought.

In the simplest terms, entering the Rift—or falling into it, as is most often the case—is like stepping into a dream. Things become the ideas they represent, and only the “ideas” with minds of their own (or the things a mind exposed to paradox can hold onto) can survive there. When the Rift was created, some of the people who fell in at ground zero were able to hold onto the idea of the world, and pull most of its shattered reality back together. To save their reality, they made the impossible possible. A thousand years later, when my story begins, people are still trying to figure out how to live with it, a slice of reality where none of the usual rules apply, that can be anywhere—at any time—without warning. Unless you have the psychic aptitude to sense the Rift Tides and warn others of the Rift Storms, or to shelter and guide people through them.

That said, it is only a matter of time before a given person is exposed to—and stripped naked by—the Rift. I always assumed I’d pursue this epic in text, so I didn’t need to concern myself with the handling of scenes with nudity or sex until now. I knew that the nature of the Rift would have the effect of breaking down most nudity taboos on Aeirn as a consequence of being used as a means of transport—among other things. As a matter of course, sexual attitudes and behavior were forced to mature once occasional public nudity became a necessity for real trade and travel. Telling this story in a visual format means I have to design it with a mature audience in mind.