Azimuthian Cosmology

The study of Azimuthian Cosmology focuses on the various Planes of Existence of the known world. Azimuth's universe is comprised of multiple separate, but interconnected, Planes of Existence.
The scholars of Azimuth have long sought to understand their own place in this vast cosmology and how it relates to their own world: the Material Plane. Scholars studying the vast array of connections in this web categorize their place in the spectrum in relation to the other Planes of Existence.
These Plane of Existence are most commonly separated into the Material Plane and its echoes, the Trasitive Planes, the Inner Planes, and the Outer Planes.

Cosmology of Azimuth's Universe

Material Plane

The Material Plane, or sometimes Prime Material Plane, is the plane of existence in which the world of Azimuth exists.
The Material Plane of Azimuth consists of the seas and skies and continents of the world. It’s a world of cycles, continually dealing with the effects and aftereffects of Esturk, The World's End, and his continued efforts to destroy it. The world has existed across multiple historic ages tied to this cycle of war and the efforts of the forces of good and evil in these conflicts.
The nations of the world across the continents of Gimora, Haradren Gaer Arnad, Aluvotar, Tarteria, Parthenia, and from many smaller lands as well, strive for their own goals between these times of war, creating a web of conflicting and aligning goals that have fueled many stories across the ages.
In some places, the barriers between the Material Plane and other planes become thin or are simply punched through. Some rifts are stable for long periods, and others are only temporary or may fluctuate, only coming into existence for short periods of time. The barriers have been known to become thinner during the annual solstices and equinoxes: Wild Gathering, Sun's Bounty, Harvest Home, Winter's Feast.

Echoes of the Material Plane

In parallel to this material plane are its two echoes, the Feywild and the Shadowfell. Azimuth is a place infused with magic, both arcane and divine, and these echoes reflect that nature in different ways: the Feywild, a place of marvelous and magical energy, and the Shadowfell, a place of distorted and colorless energy.
Both these planes are so close to the material that pieces often bleed between them, and aspects or energies may unintentionally draw the attention or ire of those creatures that call these places home.

The Transitive Planes

The Transitive Planes are mostly featureless realms that serve primarily as ways to travel from one plane to another.
The Ethereal Plane is the realm of ghosts and spirit energy. It is a place of fog and shadow that spans and connects the breadth of the Material Plane and the Inner Planes, but somewhat out of phase. There are several spells, items, and even innate abilities allowing creatures on the Material Plane to interact with the Ethereal Plane.
The Astral Plane is the realm of thoughts and dreams. It is a silvery ocean that spreads endlessly. Here, travelers from the Material Plane may visit the Outer Planes of the divine, if they can avoid the terrible and forgotten threats that roam the vast Astral Sea. Some lost Outer Plane Shards exist in the sea, though little is known about them, as they are very far flung from the Material Plane and are places that are dead or dying.

The Inner Elemental Planes

The Inner Planes surround and enfold the Material Plane and its echoes, providing the raw elemental substance from which the world was made at the start of the Age of Creations. The four Elemental Planes form a ring around the Material Plane, which in turn is suspended within the churning Elemental Chaos. The parts closest to Azimuth are almost similar to it in their makeup, forming land and sea and sky. Farther from it, however, these elements bleed and dissolve into a tumult of unending, clashing energy – the pure Elemental Chaos.

• Plane of Air
• Plane of Earth
• Plane of Fire
• Plane of Water

The Divine Planes

The Outer Divine Planes are the homes of the divine, primarily those realms of the Dragon Gods of Azimuth. They are places of semi-tactile landscapes, which are interpretations of the purity of the realm by mortal observers. These places can be vastly different based on those interacting with it, and they can change still further at the will of the residents of these planes – that of deities and other creatures, both celestial and demonic. Each of the gods have their own divine plane where they interact with and observe the other planes, and it is here where some house the souls of their devoted in the afterlife.

• Zenethia, the Plane of Light
• Nadiria, the Plane of Darkness
• Elysia, the Plane of Life
• Stygia, the Plane of Death
• Ourania, the Plane of Skies
• Thalassia, the Plane of Seas
• Ignosia, the Plane of Knowledge
• Dynamia, the Plane of Strength

Outer Plane Shards

Long, long ago, during the Age of Creations, it’s said there were other outer planes than the ones that exist today, locations where divine and fiendish creatures came from. After the Severance, stories of those places disappear.
As the old gods were shunted from this universe, these planes were dispersed. It is unclear if broken pieces of these planes were cut away, leaving them to become dead and dying demiplanes, devoid of the power they once had. Rare and hidden scripture sometimes refer to these remnants as Outer Plane Shards.
It is unknown how many of these shards survive into the Fifth Age, or where they may be in the Astral Plane. However, two are mentioned in myth and scripture: Esturk, The World's End, is said to have claimed The Hells and The Abyss for his own before Avianor, The Timefather, sent the other shards away.

• The Hells
• The Abyss

The Severance Tear

Beyond the Outer Planes and the endless expanse of the Astral Plane, is the Severance Tear, a great slash in the Universe. This rip was formed when the Universe of Azimuth was cut from the interconnected fabric of the multiverse, severing its connections to other Universes and worlds. It is sometimes described as a shroud that covers the universe, preventing interaction and stopping travel through it. It was by the power of multiple gods in the Age of Creations that Azimuth was forced out in this way, and the process they used to achieve the Severance is unknown.

Type
Universe