Boundary (Sword of Truth)
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The Boundary is a fictional location in the Sword of Truth fantasy series by Terry Goodkind.
There were two boundaries in the Sword of Truth series, one between the nations of Westland and the Midlands and one between the Midlands and D'Hara.
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[edit] Description
The boundaries were an impassable expanse of land created with the help of magic... but they themselves were not magic. The boundaries were a part of the underworld. They were like a curtain drawn across the world. They were a rift in the world of the living. At the boundaries, the living world and the underworld both existed at the same place at the same time. Any life that touched the underworld, or was touched by it, touched death, making the land a wasteland. It was said that to go into the boundary was not only to die but to forfeit your soul. Entering the boundary would be entering the land of the dead. No one can return from the dead. It was commonly believed that no one who went into the boundary could come out alive, although Kahlan Amnell did with the help of magic. Heart hounds were created along with the boundaries and were their watchdogs, so to speak.
The boundaries could not be seen unless very close. Going into the boundary was like "walking into the sheets of cold fire you see at night in the northern sky". As a person approached the boundary, a green glow would form around him, at first hardly perceptible, but growing stronger and deeper the closer he got, making the surrounding land darker, as if night was falling. It was like green glass, wavy and distorted, but still allowing one to see the living world beyond (although nothing there was actually alive). There was a buzzing sound as one got closer, like a thousand bumblebees, which became deeper, but not louder with each step closer to the boundary. As one reached the boundary itself, a sheet of green would appear, materializing out of nothing. As one stepped into the green sheet, the pressure of it could be felt against the body. Just beyond it, everything would black out, as if in a cave at night, and the buzzing would grow more intense. The wall would then become darkly transparent, as if looking into a deep pond in a dark woods. From there, one could see and hear into the underworld, and be filled with longing to be with the spirits there. The buzzing sound was actually the sound of the voices of thousands of shadow people, calling out to join them. To resist them at that point was very difficult, especially since they would often appear in a form meant to re-create a person you wanted to see (such as a loved one). The shadow people within the boundary would often even haunt the memories of those who had seen them and could pull the spirit of the person into the underworld just by their memory. However, it was only after the boundary began to weaken and fail that one could look into it and see the underworld and be enticed by it.
Boundary wardens guarded and patrolled the boundaries, both in Westland and the Midlands, in order to keep the creatures in the boundary weak (particularly the heart hounds), and the people safe.
[edit] History
The boundaries were put up by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander about 40 years before the start of the series to keep the lands separated so there would be peace and to end the war between the Midlands and D'Hara. It was the first time a magic of this kind was used in at least 3,000 years. The first boundary was put up between the D'Hara and the Midlands to keep D'Hara from invading the Midlands. The second boundary was put up between Westland and the Midlands to provide a place for those to go who no longer wished to live with magic. Darken Rahl undid the boundaries from the underworld. As the boundaries weakened, they became more dangerous and even easier to walk through, and gradually lost their hold on the heart hounds.
[edit] Westland Boundary
The Westland boundary was located to the east of Ven Forest and separated Westland from the Midlands. A dangerous place, full of mystery and magic, even Richard would rarely go up into the Ven close to the boundary. Older people wouldn't go within miles of it. Others went closer, if they traveled on Hawker's Trail, or to hunt, but none went too close. There was a pass through the boundary to the Midlands about 4 hours ride from Southaven in Westland called the King's Port, few people knew of it, mostly Boundary Wardens. It is about a two-day walk across the land where the Westland boundary was. The Westland boundary failed shortly after the series began and no longer exists.
[edit] D'Hara Boundary
The D'Hara boundary between D'Hara and the Midlands came down during the spring before the series began.
