The 22nd Shard, "Waystone": A shard whose original form is mostly unknown by the modern day, but is widely believed to have been an Earth-based Shard transformed by Collapse effects, turning it into a beautiful, otherworldly world with graceful foliage, clean stone, and rippling skies, all suffused with Meta - as indeed, the main collapse was an Evo type collapse that began to saturate the world of the Shard with Meta, from lifeforms to stones to the atmosphere itself. Even to this day, it is the most meta-suffused Shard, surpassing Synsai Prime. The humans of the Shard however did not have a meeting from the nameless witch, and instead, started studying the path of the Meta via the ruins of Synsai in both Synsai prime and other Shards prior, and quickly became fascinated by the ancient ascended humans, and sought ot live in their footsteps. They continued their research of the Meta, and soon managed to create a respectable empire, which, while not as massive or prosperous as the Synsai empire, was probably the closest a civilization has ever been to the Synsai's level in ages. It managed to somehow do this without making any major enemies with other Shards, and using the power of the Meta to otherwise defend their Shard from any forces that did consider attacking. However, this paradise would not last, as the 7 schisms that consumed the Synsai eventually came to rise again, regarding the usage of the Meta's power and the philosophy one should have towards it. While it did not result in the seeming erasure of the Synsai from the Shards in general, it did start a civil war between the 7 schisms that continues to this day, and they often drag other Shards into their bickering and struggling, all in a war to prove their ideology above the others. They continue researching the Synsai in order to improve their abilities and knowledge of the Meta, and are extremely active in other Shards, Synsai ruins or not.

The terrain of Waystone is extremely unique due to prominent Meta infusion over time, with environments and biomes that would be impossible in a world that follows conventional physics - including floating islands, mountains that stretch far above the atmosphere, deserts of endless, shifting colors, pits that seem to have no bottom, and verdant valleys spatially compressed into the caldera of volcanic mountains. The sky is constantly filled with a beautiful pattern reminiscent of endless nebulae in the form of clouds, with streaks of light akin to an aurora, and gleaming points like stars or suns dotting the sky. The structures of the various factions within the Shard are all often designed with aesthetics in mind, even more harsh ones like the Inheritors or more function-based ones like the Gobasai, and often, due to advances with the meta, are truly massive and intricate in comparison to the structures of other Shards, even advanced ones like the Santore Empire or Salith. This combined with the planet's many colorful moons, and strange weather like glowing rain, sparkling mists, mores of light blowing with high winds, and crackling, golden lightning that illuminates the sky when it strikes, it leads Waystone to have the well-earned reputation of being possibly the single most beautiful Shard in the entire network, and indeed, the inevitable first visit to the Shard that all intense 108 explorers will eventually have is often seen as one of the most unforgettable experiences a traveler can have, no matter how long or brief it ends up being. The Shard's ancient history and knowledge of the meta leads it to be valued by basically all factions in the 108, and thus it is very rare that outright invasions are called, and instead it is more commonly found that diplomatic meetings and agreements with the local (actually warring) civilizations to have chances to research or trade, both out of respect and fear of these mighty civilizations' great power over the meta. The space beyond the central planet of the Shard is nothing but an endless abyss of shimmering, sparkling clouds of meta power, hence the planet's complete lack of a sun, instead being illuminated across the entire globe by its strange weather and cloudscape. These clouds are a pure source of meta power and contribute heavily to the Shard's aptitude with all forms of interaction with the Meta.

The Shard, by the modern day, is inhabited by 7 distinct factions, each in war with the others and competing over ideologies. Four of these tribes embody one of the Four Methods, while three make use of each method equally, but have distinct and competing ways of handling them. The first and oldest are the Synsati, the Waystone civilization that seeks to completely emulate the Synsai of old, down to rampant use of trigold and beautiful marbled structures. They are traditionalists, and mostly want the civil war to end peacefully, but are skilled in usage of all four methods and cannot be underestimated - as well as having the most positive diplomacy with other factions across the 108, being the only one of the 7 tribes to have an embassy in Salith. The next are the Inheritors, a group which see themselves not only as the Synsai's successors, but also their superiors, having surpassed them. They have abandoned conventional human forms ot become beings of pure Meta piloting black, almost carbon-like humanoid shells with visor-like faces that glow with their personal color, and feed on Meta rather than any conventional source of sustenance, being able to drain it from their environment. They see themselves as superior to all other beings and are able to induct other sapients, regardless of race (assuming they are of a traditional race) into their kind by converting them into meta beings like themselves. Their architecture and technology is harsh, angular, and all shades of black or grey, with the exception of various lights and seams channeling colorful Meta power. Next are the Abasum, the most traditionally human-like culture, down to forsaking the idea of wearing masks, seeing the Synsai and their mask-based culture as old and foolish. They are similar to the Inheritors in that they see themselves as superior to the Synsai, but don't see themselves as successors to the Synsai, instead just improving on an old civilizations skills and knowledge, and have a very cultured society with a preference for the arts. Their architecture is beautiful and akin to the architecture of Florence on Earth, but massively larger in scale, and always living in single large buildings, even for communities of millions.

Then there are the four who represent the Four Methods of survival. We'll start with the Harlequins, who represent Meta Manipulation, and are some of the most skilled with Sacred Geometry in not only the 108, but the Meta in general. They wear masks akin to the masks worn during the Carnival of Venice, and have similarly colorful and stylish clothes, through often with added practical elements like armor, pouches, weapon holsters, etc. They are free spirits and dislike being rooted in place, instead living a nomadic lifestyle in massive, beautiful airships with many colors, and use Transposing exclusively to get around, though some are at least willing to lodge in a Meta-Ship. Next are the Gobasai, who represent Meta Technology, who rely almost entirely on Meta Technology to succeed, disliking modifying their near-human bodies in ways that are unnecessary, or using skills that can give an excessive god complex. They move around in Meta-Tech mechs with an aesthetic reminiscent of Jomon Pottery, with carved unique faces and markings on the front for every mech, representing the Masks Synsai-derived cultures wear, and their structures are often massive and fortress like, as well as very rounded, and the same goes for their technology. They have some of the most advanced Meta-Ships in the 108, and the only ones which require no fuel when not Transposing. Next are the Marked Men, who represent Meta Empowerment. They are a somewhat deranged, barbarian-like culture in comparison to the others, and have completely abandoned wearing masks in favor of painting not only their faces, but their whole bodies in unique ways, giving them a distinct look for almost every single one of them. They favor the process of gaining power from Meta sources, and as such pledge themselves to various beings, causes, and the like in order to gain power from devotion, as well as pursuing great exploits to gain Tiering power, and absorbing Meta energies into themselves. Their cities are sparse, but usually beautifully designed and crafted mainly from otherworldly materials such as the crystallized Meta clouds above, and their Meta ships are similar. Finally, there are the Splicers, who represent Meta Enhancement, who wear covering clothing that hides their direct physical appearance most of the time, and wear simple white masks differentiated only by the symbol written on the front. They are unconvinced of the power of Meta itself (though they will use Meta ships as necessary) and instead seek to gather power from other Shards, assimilating and integrating foreign technology, genetic abilities, magic, and similar such techniques into one blend, hence their name, and using these fusions to create new paths only they know. While lacking in conceptual abilities, Splicers often are much stronger on a baseline than any of their contemporaries.