So I've been collecting the various journals and such, and from what I can gather, the Wyrm is kind of like the soul of the Heart of Darkness, right?

As in, just as all living things are part of the heart of the world, their souls are just as much of an illusion as their lives and individual minds are, and rejoin the Wyrm after death just as their flesh does.

And the rift mentioned in the various journals (and what the ectomorphs are leaking out of) is the portal beneath the Manor? Or is it something entirely different?