Layers of Airth

Airth is divided into six main areas, one for the sky, four for the land, and one for the unexplored ocean.

The Skies of Cirros

Floating high in the skies are the islands that dwell in the air; these and this layer is referred to as Cirros. It is thought that the reason these islands float is that they contain the essence of other planes; thus, the Cirros held away from the land, but not pulled away, by such forces.
These islands are so high in the air that they are actually cold and very much frozen chunks of water and earth. In the summers, they melt, and their mists are dispersed through the lands as one of the many sources of water on the surface below.

Mountain Peak in Emerald Bay Peeks Through Morning Mist by Etienne Desclides

The Eyrie

The surface is known as the Eyrie, a place that sits above all other layers, and where most of the sentient races live. Civilizations bud here with mountains, glaciers, forests, rivers, swamps, and all other sorts of biomes sprouting here, too.
Starting at this layer, the Lichents that connect to all layers below bloom and help give in the transfer of cold air and warm air between the surface and the lower levels, while also supplying a great deal of oxygen to the surface.

The Stratos Cloud Barrier

Blue Clouds under White Sky by CHUTTERSNAP

Just along where the coasts of each island would be is the Stratos, the cloud barrier that surrounds all landmasses. It rises and falls through the seasons, but acts as a barrier both against the effluvial gases from the layers below, and helps to seal in some of the heat from the sun.

The Karst

A series of sunlight caves meander their way below the surface, winding and holding aquifers that civilizations above use to water their crops. The Karst is rich with greenery and abundant subterranean life where the sun reaches. Beyond that, the green caves turn grey and cold as they stretch into that long dark.

The Abyss

The Abyss is the grey caves that stretch long and forever into the earth below, toward the surface and the ocean. It is completely dark here and grows more wet and cold the deeper one goes, eventually turning into slippery and molding caves where even the bacteria there feasts on the walls of the cavern itself.
The surface has many legends of this layer, as it is considered to be a part of the world of the dead; indeed, portions of the Abyss connect to extraplanar locations.

The Rot

Selective Focus Photo of Mushroom by Damir Omerovic

At the very base of the world is the Rotted Grotto, a place where the dead and forgotten eventually fall. Chunks of the Abyss, the Karst, the Eyrie, and even broken pieces of ancient civilizations from this and other planes all end up within the Rot. They are ground down by the giant bioluminescent mushrooms that live here and the anchialine pools that well up and bash against the rubble and fungal growths.

The Ocean

Very few have made it to the Rot, and even fewer have seen the ocean. Those that have seen it have travelled through the anchialine pools to reach a great and churning expanse of nothing, or have jumped from the edge of the Eyrie only to fall long into those black waters.

Author's Notes

This song and the visuals therein really represent the aesthetic of the world. I recommend playing it while reading it to evoke an added sense of ancientness and awe

Type

Megastructure