Waiting and Watching (2023) Painting by Troy Wilson-Ripsom

The Traveler came into being with no fanfare or announcement. The First Keeper saw that corporeal beings sometimes needed to have their courses corrected to avoid premature destruction of their universes. The solution seemed obvious. Create a being that would feel the energies of the universe and detect when those energies were too far out of balance and take action to correct them. Sometimes the adjustments needed were small, and sometimes whole galaxies had to be removed from the universe to save the rest from destruction. The First Keeper knew that The Traveler had to be dispassionate about executing its duties while sensitive enough to understand the need for restraint.

The Traveler was made to not be unbalanced in its approach to solutions as so many corporeal beings are by nature. While the emotions of situations are known, they are only one factor considered in choosing courses of action. The whole has to be considered and weighed each time and the appropriate action chosen regardless of any one aspect of its impact. The totality of situations has to outweigh any single consideration. There are times when monsters are allowed to continue because it is in the interests of the universe, but others where they have to be destroyed to restore balance.

The Traveler was created with ultimate perspective. There cannot be a perception of good without a perception of evil. Corporeal beings cannot thrive in an unbalanced paradigm because they are binary in their thoughts at their core. They perceive everything in reference to other things, so for each positive they need a negative to add perspective and understanding in their minds. The job of The Traveler is to observe, understand, and take action to preserve balance as needed.

The interesting thing that The Traveler discovered over time is that there is never an over-abundance of positive energy causing imbalance. Always the imbalances are caused by negative energies exceeding the tolerances of the universe in which they exist. At times a single individual on a single planet can cause so much chaos that their removal becomes mandatory. More often it is a group of like-minded dark energy promoters that obtain too much influence over the course of a planet’s journey that begins the slide into destructive imbalance. The Traveler intervenes when needed to adjust the course if possible and end the destructive force if unavoidable. When the end is required, The Traveler bears witness at the end to ensure that no life leaves the universe without recognition and memorialization.

While observing, The Traveler lives in the space between worlds where the energies of the universe flow and connect all things together. While perceived differently by different beings, the energies that bind the universe connect all things instantaneously with all other things. Some refer to it as quantum entanglement, others refer to it as God, while still others see it as a force that can be accessed and drawn upon to aid in the corporeal journey. All are correct and wrong in different ways. To The Traveler, it is just the energies that are felt as a constant and are measured in balances. Most of the time, The Traveler just waits and watches. It is only when necessary that The Traveler emerges to return balance to a dangerously unbalanced world.