The Cosmology of Ea

The Cosmology of the World of Ea, and the Planescape that surrounds it

Survivors from Before

At the very dawn of the cosmos, nothing existed as it does in its current form today - instead, the cosmos was a vast, seemingly infinite expanse of primordial soup that is known today as "The Gloam" or "The Great Beyond"; A vast and endless ocean of roiling primordial energies with no beginning, no purpose, and no end. Accounts of this time are understandably sparse, as are accounts of what exactly happened to the old cosmology from which The Old Gods, the sole survivors in this primordial nothingness, emerged from and were survivors of - whatever the case may be, in the beginning, only The Old Gods stood in a cosmos devoid of all things; survivors who had escaped the apocalypse that had claimed their own Cosmology entirely.
In this new empty nothingness they found themselves in, they were not altogether alone, however - not exactly. There were, in truth, beings who existed here in the formless nothingness - vast and unknowable existances so enormously unfathomable that their mere existance was the enemy of creation itself - the Outer Gods(Such as Shub-Niggurath, Azathoth, and so on) who dwelled in the maddening spaces of The Gloam that, as of then, consumed and encompassed all. However, The Old Gods would not remain idle for long - with their awesome divine power, they forged a pact with The Outer Gods of the realm to form the foundations of what would in time become the Cosmos as it is known today...though how such a pact came to be, may well never be known.
Regardless of the reasoning or machinations that allowed the pact between the Old and Outer Gods to come to pass, once it had been made two beings of unfathomable power were selected as the "Anchors" of this new Cosmos The Old Gods sought to create - smoothing out the unshapable energies of The Gloam that had consumed all things to allow for a new reality to be jumpstarted. The exact anchor chosen by The Outer Gods is not known(Though modern scholars theorize the ever-sleeping Azathoth is likely this "Anchor" chosen by the Outer Gods), though in contrast one of The Old Gods was selected to be the other "Anchor" - the ever-balanced, level-headed Old God known as Rakmou-Dahmu, lord of elements and master of universal harmony.
With these Anchors established, The Old Gods set in motion the next step of their plans - the formation of the Egg from which the new Cosmos would be born.

The Cosmic Hatching

With the two "Anchors" chosen by The Old Gods and the Outer Gods driving off and smoothing out the chaotic, roiling energies of The Gloam, the awesome energies of the Old and Outer gods collided for the second and final time and, over eons of slow compression as the perfectly opposed principles of yin and yang became balanced, formed a golden egg that encompassed such a vast, unfathomable space that even now it defies all mortal and divine thought - the Cosmic Egg born from the featureless, formless primordial state of the infant Cosmos.
This enormous egg, when it hatched at long last, gave birth to a being known only as Atlas - the one and only being who is truly worthy of the title of "Overdeity", for it is from his birth and eventual death that all things sprung forth from. Once hatched, it was Atlas with his infinite, bottomless might who pushed back The Gloam and created the "Shell" in which the entire Cosmos now rests - driving off The Gloam's all encompassing energies of formless destruction little by little over thousands of years, giving form and defining what The Old Gods and The Outer Gods could not.
After untold thousands of years, Atlas had done the impossible and successfully pushed back The Gloam on all sides, holding up the new "bubble" within which a new Cosmos could be formed as he died - or, more accurately, transformed. His task done, the mighty Overdeity's body gave way and his life essence scattered to populate the space he had created - his breath became the wind, mist, and clouds; his voice, thunder; his left eye the Inner Planes; his right eye, the Outer Planes; his head, the Mountains and Extremes of the Cosmos; his blood the Rivers of the Cosmos; his muscles, the fertile land; his facial hair the stars and galaxies; his fur, bushes and forests; his bones, valuable minerals; his bone marrow, precious jewels; his sweat, rain; and the tiny ticks and buds on his flesh carried by the new Cosmic winds became the first animals as the last dregs of his soul would become The Transitive Planes(See below) and Magic itself - becoming the "Mana" that fuels the cosmos as his life energies scattered through the infant Cosmos to become Atlen; The energy of life that would soon form The Lattice alongside what remained of his consciousness.
However, as his ineffable body broke apart and became the foundations for the new Cosmos, a new host of creatures sprung forth directly from his corpse even as the explosive outward wave of his soul and consciousness birthed the first Outsiders - in these first moments of his death, the four Primordial Gods who would become the first of the Major Gods were born:

• Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon: The Primordial God of Sky, from whom the original progenitors of Dragonkind would spring from.


• Moradin, The Allfather: The Primordial God of Land, whose forges created the first souls of the Cosmos and defined what it meant to "live".


• Aquarius, The Allfather: The Primordial God of Water and Creation, who single-handedly shaped reality into the shapes it would have for Eons.


• Vvaal, The Bound Obliterator: The Primordial God of Destruction whose release spells the end of all things.

These would not be the only gods to spring forth from the corpse of the Overdeity - later on, more of the Major Gods would come forth into existance as The Old Gods looked on, pleased at what they had created. Hower, that pleasure and the initial bond of camraderie The Old Gods and the New Gods(Later known as the Major Gods) shared would not last.

The Great Divide

After the death of the Overdeity Atlas, it was a time of great revitalization in the fledgling Cosmos - The Old Gods, the Major Gods(Or New Gods, as they were known then), and even The Outer Gods were active, primordial life was taking its first steps beneath the watchful eyes of all gods who were creating them, and all was fresh and new.
However, for all the efforts of Atlas, though the Cosmos had been given room to grow and expand through his millennia of effort, it was not perfect - the Cosmos itself was still primordial and lacking boundaries and clear definitions of territory, which was leading to more and more friction between The Old Gods, New Gods, and The Outer Gods who were expanding, creating, and working in this new space. This all changed, however, with the birth of the Major Gods God of Death, Molt, The Shadow.
With the Establishment of the Cycle of Souls(For more information on the Cycle of Souls and its shattering, see The Soul's Journey) at Bahamut's hands eons prior, the newly born god Molt set about to fix this growing source of distrust and friction in the infantile cosmos with seven mighty swings of his scythe - the first, dividing Law and Chaos; the second, dividing good and evil; the third, dividing Inner and Outer Planes, the fourth, Dividing Light and Void; the fifth, dividing fire and water, the sixth, dividing air and ground, and the final seventh strike, which used the last remains of the Cosmic Egg from which Atlas had been birthed to create The Atlen Shell around the Cosmos to finally and securely finish the work Atlas had started eons ago to finally seal out The Gloam forever.
With this grand division, the planes of Good and Evil were formed alongside those of Law and Chaos, and the Cosmos finally began to take shape - no longer would the myriad gods and primordial lifeforms bicker about territory and unspecified holdings as the God of Death settled within his tower, The Timeless Boneyard, to which all souls flowed through on their journey to the afterlife.

The Arrival of the Baleful Star

Eons later, as the Cosmos had begun to take shape, it was nonetheless a warring mess of strife and chaos - The Old Gods and the Major Gods had gone to war with each other in a conflict of Cosmological Proportions that nearly tore the Cosmos apart that resulted in the death of all but one of The Old Gods, while The Outer Gods had retreated into the spaces between the stars to hide and wait once more.
During this period, no place felt this chaos more keenly than the plane of evil, whose original name has long since been lost to time - the counterpart of the realm of good Archainus(See Below). This realm had become home to countless groups of fiends that, true to their very natures, could not abide the existances of the other even on a plane as large as their home truly was - wars of such cosmic violence raged so frequently at each of the seemingly infinite layers of the Plane of Evil that its very foundations had become cracked in response to the intense ideological differences of the warring groups, broadly divided into those of "Lawful Evil" and "Chaotic Evil" respectively.
In truth, while these wars raged, countless debates were held in the Celestial Courts of Archainus about what to do in regards to the never-ending conflicts of the Plane of Evil - many argued that, while it is in Evil's nature to war with itself, the fracturing and potential destruction of the Plane of Evil would bring about more Cosmic Devastation than even all the armies of Archainus could handle safely. Unfortunately, the Celestials of Archainus never got to choose.
In truth, the fate of the Plane of Evil had been sealed long before, by ironically none other than the primordial mortal life that was blossoming in the Materia Sphere within the Inner Planes - who had sent a great expedition out into The Gloam as their civilizations expanded to trumpet their own great advancements. This expedition, predictably, was never heard from again - or at least, for the next million years. Known by none who remained sane enough to speak of it, the expedition had in truth found something lurking out in the formless, all-consuming expanse of The Gloam...a titanic planetoid who had claimed the lives of those unfortunate souls of the expedition as its own, arriving like a shooting star as it crashed through The Atlen Shell of the Cosmos like a meteor, causing a Cosmological Apocalypse as The Gloam poured in behind the hole left by the planetoid's arrival.
And as the armies of Archainus and the might of the Major Gods were poured into preventing The Gloam from consuming the Cosmos, the planetoid that had arrived from outside the Cosmos continued on its fateful path and crashed into the already fractured Plane of Evil with such force that it shattered the entire Plane, breaking it apart into three distinct sections(That would later become The Abyssal Wastes, The Gnawing Oblivion, and Malefacta) that slowly began to drift apart in the expanse of the Astral Sea that bound the Cosmos together. This planetoid, cracked asunder from the impact but still mostly whole, would in time become known as Gehenna, The Roaming Star of Destruction - from whose depths the first Horseman of the Apocalypse emerged at the head of the mysterious army of beings that would in time earn the name The Hinnom; aliens from beyond the Cosmos with goals as alien as their origins. Settling into an "orbit" that saw it drift throughout the Astral Sea on a mostly regular path, Gehenna would become a natural part of the Cosmos even as the River Styx poured forth from its shell like an Oil Spill, infecting the planes of the Cosmos and stopping only when the Major God god Molt stopped its creeping advance by anchoring it to the base of his spire, preventing it from infecting the higher realms of Archainus.

Structure of the Cosmos

The Cosmology of Ea is a vast and overwhelmingly complicated beast, even for the greatest minds of any age - hence, below is a short guide to the various facets of the Cosmos and a brief description of what they are like and what they stand for.

The Atlen Shell

First created by the Overdeity Atlas before his death and later perfected by the Major Gods God of Death and Time Molt, the Atlen Shell is the hardened remains of the Cosmic Egg created by The Old Gods and the Outer Gods that gave birth to Atlas at the dawn of reality - forming a hardened shell around the Cosmos, it keeps the Cosmology of Ea safe from The Gloam: the all-consuming, seemingly infinite expanse of nothingness whose arrival heralds a total return to primordial, cosmic nothingness. However, with the arrival of Gehenna, it also now serves a critical role in protecting the Cosmos from whatever alien beings may exist there, in The Gloam...

The Materia Sphere

The Materia Sphere is the common name for the Material World that dwells within The Inner Planes of the cosmos - where mortal life lives on planets spread across galaxies. It is warded by The Divine Gate, a cosmic ward created by the Major Gods which prevents deities from entering it and thus interfering unduly with mortal lives.
Below is a list of planes within the Materia Sphere, and descriptions about them:

• Materia: The birthplace of mortal life, and home to all the galaxies, planets, stars, continents, and cities that house untold numbers of mortal beings - despite how small it is typically portrayed as in maps of the Cosmos, Materia is one of, if not the largest realm in the Cosmos; one that many Mortals believe may be truly infinite or at least ever-expanding. This is where the Planet of Ea is located - where continents such as Zheng-Kitar are located.


• Iabora: The first world, created before Materia by The Old God Ianerin-Dahmu as the bed of all the wild, primordial life in the cosmos that she enjoyed shaping and creating. It is altogether a more unshapen place than Materia - constants such as gravity, space, and even time are all mutable here; even the terrain itself can be shaped by those who possess the strongest wills. A place of total extremes, its residents are foreign and wholly alien to those of the Materia and operate off strange and alien laws - more vibrant(For better or worse) than the more nuanced and balanced lives of the beings of Materia. It is known in many places as "The First World" or "The Fey Wilds", and contains many natural portals linking it to the Materia - though many of Materia believe that since it lies loosely "up" from Materia on a Cosmic scale, if one flies high enough they may just find themselves drifting into its grip...


• Chthonis: A plane supposedly created by mortal hands, the realm of Chthonis is more commonly known by its epithet "The World Below"(As only those who reside there know it by its true name Chthonis) - it is an entire plane of dark tunnels, sprawling underground caverns, and seemingly infinite caves; an entire underground world lurking below the surface of Materia. It is home to countless dark and brooding denizens, from the vast empires of the Dark Elves to the brutal forges of the Pale Dwarves to even the monstrous, alien aberrations that dwell in empires in its deepest reaches...cities of glass floating on pools of luminescent oil and more await those who venture into the depths of Chthonis. Moreso than even the realm of Iabora, there are countless natural portals that connect to the underground tunnels of Chthonis - all one needs to do is go deep enough on Materia and one will supposedly enter its depths eventually.

Transitive Planes

These three planes have one important common characteristic: each is used to get from one place to another. The Astral Plane (although technically an Outer Plane) is a conduit to all other planes, while the Ethereal Plane and the Shadow Plane both serve as means of transportation within the Material Plane, which they’re connected to. These planes have the strongest regular interaction with the Material Plane and can be accessed using various spells, and each possess unique native inhabitants as well.

• The Astral Sea: The Astral Plane is the great silvery ocean that connects all planes to one another, the realm of pure thought and expanded consciousness between the Inner and Outer Planes which lies coterminous with all of the planes of the Cosmos, which was created by the last great remnant of the body of the Overdeity Atlas's great body, formed of his undying thoughts and consciousness given planar form. Occasional islands of solid matter float in astral space, but most of the plane is an enormous, seemingly eternal void of silver radiance in which countless Divine Planar realms drift in the silver seas, pockets of extradimensional stuff where gods like the Major Gods, Minor Gods and divines of all kinds call home.
  As a gateway between the Inner and Outer Planes, the Astral Plane teems with travelers, from entities venturing between planes to explorers searching for one of the numerous demiplanes secreted here or looking for the one of the countless marooned spirits that dwell within the expanse. Its nature as a crossroads makes the Astral Plane very dangerous, although it is possible to visit the plane bodily via plane shift or by using rare magical items such as a Robe of Stars. However, most travelers prefer to play it safe by manifesting their souls in an astral body created by spells such as astral projection.


• Mensis: Also known as "The Ethereal Plane" by pedantic scholars, the realm of Mensis is a ghostly realm that exists as a buffer between Materia and Eventide, overlapping each. Those who travel the ghostly, dreamlike lands of Mensis experience the real world as if the world itself were a ghostly apparition, and can move through solid objects without being seen in the real world. Strange, wholly alien creatures dwell in the lands of Mensis such as long-forgotten ghosts or the dreams of dead gods or powerful mortals, many of which are so potently real that they can sometimes extend their influence into the real world in mysterious and terrifying ways. Powerful mortal spellcasters utilize and sometimes enter Mensis with spells like Ethereal Jaunt. It is believed that all mortals enter Mensis when they sleep and dream, though only the truly powerful realize this fact and can take advantage of it, as some rumors even claim that some have outlived their bodies by shunting their spirits into eternal Dream-worlds in the lands of Mensis...


• Eventide: Better known as "The Shadow Plane" by superstitious mortals, the eerie and deadly land of Eventide is a grim, colorless “duplicate” of Materia locked in perpetual twilight. Altogether little is known about it due to the immense difficulty inherent in accessing it, but from what is known it overlaps with Materia but is somewhat smaller in size - and is, in many ways, a twisted and dusky “reflection” of Materia, one infused with the energies of the Plane of Void and serving as home for strange monsters like undead, shadows, and worse. Powerful mortal spellcasters can rarely utilize Eventide to swiftly travel immense distances on the Material Plane with shadow walk, or draw upon the mutable essence of the Shadow Plane to create quasi-real effects and creatures with spells like shadow evocation or shades. More commonly, however, Eventide waxes and wanes as it expands and contracts in size - sometimes even abducting the residents of Materia as it waxes, allowing its twilight inhabitants to steal away the beings of Materia and then hiding and becoming more distant as the plane wanes and grows smaller. It is, altogether, an aberrant anomaly poorly understand or explored by the inhabitants of Materia.

Inner Planes

The Inner Planes is the broad term for the six elemental planes that surround the Materia Sphere, as well as the Materia Sphere itself. The Inner Planes are separated from the Outer Planes by vast cosmic borders sustained by parts of the Cosmic Egg that birthed the Overdeity Atlas, and are typically the domain of The Spirit Kings and the Elementals that serve them rather than the Major Gods and the Celestials and Fiends that inhabit the Outer Planes.

• Elemental Plane of Fire: A realm that embodies the very nature of flame and all it represents - a land where even the ground is nothing more than great, ever-shifting plates of compressed flame, the Plane of Fire is a perpetual conflagration that is both amazingly gorgeous and decidedly lethal to most all forms of life. Here, life is riotous, passionate, tyrannical, and above all else, ordered and lawful - from the enormous City of Brass that dwells floating in the flaming expanses of the realm's most lethal lands, said to be the most beautiful city in all the Inner Planes in whose covered bazaars nearly anything can be found. Here, the Efreet(Fire Genies) run tyrannical slave empires as countless other beings vie for power and control in the plane's inhospitable reaches. Travelers immune or protected from the plane's natural environment quickly find that the plane's denizens are nearly as dangerous to the unprepared as the plane itself is, enslaving or dominating any too weak of body or mind to stand up for themselves and stave off the machinations of the complicated courts of the realm's denizens. While it has a true name, it is wholly unknowable to any but the realm's natural denizens.
  Deep within the most inhospitable reaches of the plane lies The Godflame Citadel and the Inferno Palace, twin seats of power of the Realm's Elemental Lords Nazzon, The Godflame Duke and Nisrithan, Queen of the Inferno.


• Elemental Plane of Earth: An immeasurable expanse of soil and stone, the Plane of Earth is the realm of the mercantile and stubborn Shaitan(Earth Genies) - an enormous expanse in which many travelers find themselves entombed within and crushed into nothingness before they ever glimpse the beautiful cities of the plane's denizens. Despite its solid, unyielding nature, the Plane of Earth is nonetheless varied in its consistency and makeup, ranging from soft soil to veins of heavier and more valuable stone or metal. In makeup, it is a vast shell of stone and minerals shot through with tunnels and caverns that range from narrow squeezes to vast vaults capable of containing entire worlds within them - deep in the Plane's depths, the great Opaline Vault, capital of the Shaitan and the plane's denizens, sits as a stubborn and immobile bulwark against the forces of the Efreet of the Plane of Fire's City of Brass. Regardless of where one finds themselves though, resplendent cities of diamond and sapphire dot the realm's vaults and caverns, where its denizens are as the earth the plane represents - stubborn, stoic, and unyielding beings who place emphasis on practicality and longevity above all else.
  Nestled within the plane's rocky core dwells The Calcite Throne and The Thornspire Fortress, seats of power of the realm's Elemental Lords Okmog, The Calcareous King and Daknuzun, The Chthonic Queen.


• Elemental Plane of Air: A mostly empty plane consisting of wide-open skies above and below, the Plane of Air is, ironically, the most comfortable and survivable of all the Inner Planes - though it is also home to all manner of airborne creatures, who find themselves right at home and at a great advantage while on this plane. Contrary to what many assume, it is not impossible for those without flight ability to survive on this plane - though they are at an immense and potentially lethal disadvantage. Existing at the edge of the Inner Planes as a "skin" of wind and clouds where down seems to be in every direction at once, the Plane of Air is home to all manner of enormous clouds, floating cities of wondrous architecture and design, drifting chunks of crystal and ice, enormous creations of brass and iron that hover randomly, and countless other wondrous features too numerous to list here, all walled off by large Cloud walls to mark its borders, while large watery bubbles mark its border with the Plane of Water. Here, dozens of Djinni Kingdoms vie for supremacy while mephits and other beings dwell happily among the clouds - though the occasional traveler falling from the sky and being dashed at terminal velocities against the realm's solid structures is a somewhat common occurance in the floating settlements that dot the Endless Skies. Here, the residents are as air itself - wild, chaotic, and free spirits who loathe the intense order of organized societies and relish the winds wipping across their bodies, favoring peace over violence wherever possible in favor of simple, unrestrained childlike glee.
  Floating in ever-changing paths and rotations sits The Azurebolt Palace and the Zephyrstorm Citadel, chaotic home to the Elemental Lords of the plane: Irlaman, The Boltbound Empress and Zaltath, Lord of the Zephyr.


• Elemental Plane of Water: An endless sea without a floor nor a surface, the Plane of Water is an immeasurably vast and infinite ocean whose waters are constantly lit by a beautiful, diffuse glow. One of the other more hospitable Inner Planes, it nonetheless poses a problem to travelers who cannot breathe the local medium of water. Within its infinite depths, the Plane of Water is a breathtaking expanse of salt and freshwater alike where its primeval tides host vast pockets of salt and freshwater(And even air, rarely) - all of which contain their own unique and vibrant ecosystems. Dotted throughout this endless expanse are even more wondrous features such as enchanted springs, pockets of acid and poison that stubbornly refuse to dilute in the surrounding water, massive whirling torrents of blood and chum too thick to be natural, and even large foreign elements that have drifted or fallen into its depths over Eons - vast hunks of rock from the plane of earth, fragments of lost cities and forgotten worlds from Materia, and enormous chunks of Ice fallen from the Plane of Air all can be found within the Plane's depths, whose deepest reaches are even lit by underwater volcanic vents from the Plane of Fire. Here, the Marid(Water Genies) swim freely within its depths alongside elementals, and all life is as water itself - adaptable and adventurous, filled with love for their people and for community whose capacity for change means entire kingdoms change practically overnight.
  Floating peacefully within its luminescent depths lies the Palace of the Everfont Crystal and the Torrential Fortress, twin seats of power of the Plane's Elemental Lords Arlaxod, Emperor of the Torrent and Yrdil, The Rainstorm Duchess.


• Plane of Light: One of the two "Esoteric" Inner Planes, the Plane of Light is an utter and complete mystery to not only the mortals of Materia, but to even the other dwellers of the other Inner Planes - all of whom cannot hope to survive in the blindingly lit expanses of the Plane of Light for more than a minute before the vast wellsprings of life that makeup this Plane fill travelers to the brim and destroy them in riotous explosions of color and vitality. The denizens of this plane are utterly mysterious and reclusive, and even their name - the Lux - is believed to be a name given to them by their elemental kin, as those very beings of pure light who call the Plane home are so utterly foreign and alien that few, if any, beings can understand them. Moving and thinking at the speed of light in luminous cities that shine so bright as to blind all who lay eyes on them, the Plane of Light is the origin point of Life, Magic, Hope, and in many ways civilization itself - a place where all the souls of the Cosmos are grown in fantastical Orchards of raw, unfiltered light and tended to by the Lux and whatever other denizens may exist here. It is, in many ways, an untapped and unexplored frontier of the Cosmos - one which almost none can hope to explore without extensive preperation and protection. On the few, rare instances where the Lux emerge from their home plane, they inhabit bodies of sleek metal and steel that allow the seemingly intangible light-bodied Lux to possess and move about like suits of animated armor. Though unconfirmed by all but the bravest travelers, the new souls that are grown within the orchards of the Lux are released into Materia through the natural planar portals that link the Plane to the Materia - the hearts of stars that burn as hot as suns, whose entrances are guarded by legions of Lux warriors.
  In places where no Outsider nor Mortal has laid eyes upon dwells The Brightfire Fields and The Everlux Skyscraper, domain of the unknowable and ineffable Elemental Lords of the Plane Vidixath, Lady of Luminescence and Amnasol, The Lambent Overlord.


• Plane of Void: The second of the two "Esoteric" planes, the Plane of Void is a realm of utter, all-consuming darkness where gravity is so dense as to crush all who enter it, while the energies of death that permeate the land ensure neither Mortal nor Elemental nor Outsider can survive for long within its infinite expanses of inky blackness. Here, the unnamed inhabitants of the plane(Who are almost never glimpsed by others) dwell hatefully in their cities of twisted voidlight crystal, unable to invent or innovate due to the very nature of their existence which requires them to shamelessly copy the architecture of other civilizations across the Cosmos - hatefully lashing out in selfish fits of destruction, the unnamed inhabitants of this plane are also the source of all undeath in the Cosmos, where void elementals guard entrances to their plane that supposedly lie within the depths of Black Holes on Materia. Even moreso than the Plane of Light, the Plane of Void has seen almost no exploration or research by Mortal or Outsider alike - though countless castles of Liches, Graveknights, and other undead and elemental alike dot the expanse of the Plane as proof of its lethality.
  Sitting in the hearts of crushing deathly voids and all-consuming black holes lies the Silentia Citadel and The Abyssal Tower, unseen homes of the Plane's Elemental Lords Mokmonid, The Everdark Emperor and Hannoxyn, Duchess of the Abyss.

Outer Planes

Beyond the realm of the Materia Sphere and the building blocks of reality lies the Outer Planes - vast beyond comprehension, it is to these realms the souls of the dead travel after death and it is within these realms that the gods themselves hold court. Each Outer Plane typically embodies a virtue of the Cosmos, or some combination thereof(Law, Chaos, Good, Evil), and it is within these realms that all mortal souls find their final resting place(Aside from those Mortal Souls within Zheng-Kitar, who travel The Soul's Journey), whether that place be divine reward or eternal damnation. These incredible denizens of the Outer Planes range from Titans to Celestials to Fiends and even Gods - and the unknowable creatures which swim in the silvery Seas of the Astral Plane that connects and links them all.

• Archainus: The sprawling, monolithic planar realm of good that once stood in opposition to the sprawling corruption of the Plane of Evil, whose name has been lost to the ages - here, the forces of the Angels, Archons, Agathions, and all manner of Celestials hold court in the truly enormous sprawling fields and shining mountains upon which beautiful marble temples are built. Here, all manner of Celestials flutter about for all manner of tasks, and even countless Deities hold realms within Archainus's vast expanse which is, in itself, big enough for easily three other Planes to be contained within it. Here, entire worlds and empires sit and debate the matters of good in the Cosmos both at the behest of the mightiest Deities, and the mightiest Celestials such as the Empyreal Lords who lead the charge against the forces of evil. Mortals have in times long past taken to referring to "Heaven", "Nirvana", and "Elysium" as seperate planes within the Cosmos, but in truth they are contained within the enormity that is Archainus - all names for the same plane, where the Celestial Courts debate and the armies of good rally against the forces of evil.


• The Boneyard: The home of the Major God god Molt, The Shadow - it is here that the River of Souls flows into, carrying all the souls of the deceased of Materia and the Inner Planes to be judged by the God of the Dead and his judges. Once judged, mortal souls are dispersed throughout the Cosmos to the plane that is best judged to suit them according to their deeds in life, their faith, and countless other factors which only the ineffable God of the Dead can truly fathom. Here, the River Styx which originates in Gehenna can be found pooling at the base of the Boneyard's towering spire, where all manner of Psychopomps and Outsiders patrol the River of Souls to ensure it flows as intended. It is in summation a plane of neutrality that none dare to march against - for fear of the God of Death that sits in the center, master of time and the flow of souls.


• Preceptus: The Plane of Absolute Law, known to many Mortals as "Utopia", stands as a bastion of immutable law against the seas of eternal change that make up the Plane of Effluvion. An enormous planar city surrounded by a wall of pure gold that sits amidst a wasteland littered with the corpses of long-dead Titans, Preceptus is in truth millions of seperate cities folded and layered atop, within, and around one another in a perfectly ordered and mathematically flawless mastercraft of city planning and architecture - each of its districts is said to be the domain of a deity, the remains of the domain of a deceased deity, or the realms of the Axiomites or Inevitables, who work tirelessly to ensure the Laws of the Planescape are upheld at any cost, impartial in the carrying out of their duties. Aeons are often found here as well among Preceptus's perfectly lawful and structured inner workings, though their goals are often as mysterious as the Aeons themselves as the Plane's polished metal gears click away constantly, each measuring some unknown part of the Cosmos.


• Effluvion: The ever-morphic Sea of Eternal Change which many mortals know as "Limbo", the plane also known as "The Maelstrom" appears to the planes which border it as a copy of that very plane - it is only when travelers venture further into Effluvion's depths that the differences grow more and more profound as the entire plane falls back into the mutable freedom of perpetual change in a vast sea of churning possibility which constantly defies the efforts of mapmakers across the cosmos, as the very nature and fundamental character of the Plane itself flows like the tide of an unknowable ocean. Here, Crystalline forests melt like wax into shallow seas with jewel-like icebergs, then sublimate into vast parched deserts all within the span of mere days. However, islands of stability do exist within the depths of Effluvion - each crafted and maintained by minor deities, exiled fiends, Githzerai, fallen celestials, or even the rare stronghold of mighty mortal spellcasters can be found here, sustained against the tides of constant change by their power and will alone. All manner of beings are known to populate this plane, from the powerful Proteans to the mysterious Court of Flesh that is said to hold sway over the Plane's deepest reaches.


• Gehenna: Altogether little is known about the plane of Gehenna, as it is in truth not exactly a Plane at all - instead likened to an enormous planetoid that drifts through the Astral Sea, shining baleful light that brings ill-omen onto any planes it passed near. As it is not exactly tied to the River of Souls and thus does not recieve petitioners, Gehenna remains a mystery to many in the Cosmos and is believed to continue to populate its unholy killing fields by stealing the souls of planes it passes near(Believed to be the source of the "Ill Omen" its passing is said to herald) as its mysterious leaders The Horseman venture out to claim the souls of nearby planes as their own to fuel the planetoid's unholy pits in its deepest reaches...and as offering for the god of destruction said to be entombed within the Plane/Planetoid itself. Though the title of three of the four Horseman(Famine, War, and Disease) has passed through multiple hands over the Eons, the Horseman of Death has remained a disturbing constant throughout the Eons - a singular being who claims mastery over the terrible River Styx, who hails from beyond The Atlen Shell within the depths of the Gloam much like Gehenna itself. Only once has Gehenna managed to pass close to the Inner Planes and gain access to Materia - an event whose Cosmological Devastation nearly caused the end of all things and led to the creation of The Divine Gate by the Major Gods.


• Malefacta: Better(And incorrectly) known to Mortals as "The Nine Hells", the realm of Malefacta is better and more correctly known as The Eight Cities of Hell, beneath which lies the legendary and terrible domain of the plane's omnipresent ruler...a realm that makes up the "ninth" layer of Malefacta that is, according to rumor, outside the Atlen Shell and thus within the realm of The Gloam. Whatever the case may be, Malefacta is the realm of ordered evil - a realm of ordered torment and agony whose layers constantly burn with unholy Hellfire(And serve as the source for it across the Cosmos) and whose air is choked with the most lethal and painful of poisons. Here, cities of pain and unfathomable cruelty are led by the Archdevils, constantly bickering and politicking servants of the Plane's legendary ruler who each constantly vie for his favor while each plotting his downfall in the hopes of attaining power of their own, while devils and Infernal Dukes roam the planes, enacting horrendous torments on the souls sent to the plane's upper layers after their Judgement.


• The Abyssal Wastes: A plane of bottomless evil said to be nearly infinite in both its depth and its capacity for malice, the plane better known to mortals as "The Abyss" begins as gargantuan canyons and yawning chasms in the fabric of the Outer Planes, bordered by the foul waters of the River Styx and coterminous with all Outer Planes like some sort of creeping blackened cancer. Within its infinite layers, the Abyssal Wastes connects to its own myriad layers in constantly shifting pathways - in its infinite depths, there are no rules, no order, no laws, and above all - no hope; an utter perversion of freedom and a nightmare realm of unmitigated horror where desire and suffering are given raw, demonic form. It is the spawning ground for the innumerable ranks of the Demons and countless other races which dwell in its depths, said to be among the oldest beings in all the Cosmos. Here, strong beings can shape the evils of the plane to their will, and the deeper one goes the more alive and sentient the plane becomes...as well as more lethal, as the plane itself seems to buckle and roil to swallow and destroy any who walk its surface. Supposedly, at its very bottom layer, the only natural portal in all the Cosmos links to the terrifying realm known only as The Gnawing Oblivion.


• The Gnawing Oblivion: The Gnawing Oblivion sits as what remains of the original "Plane of Evil" before its fracturing with the arrival of Gehenna - a vast and infinite plane of oblivion, it is so utterly inimical to all life in the Cosmos that nothing can thrive here but creatures of pure and unfiltered destruction given form, the likes of which even Demons and Devils avoid and fear. Believed to be a Divine Planar realm by many mortals, this is in truth incorrect - though it is rumored to be the prison of the Primordial God of the End, Vvaal. In truth, The Gnawing Oblivion is a Plane of vast, terrifying, and almost infinite power combined with caustic and unending anger, unfathomably complex and ever-evolving wards and seals, and raw boiling fury all into one gigantic, hollow world almost infinite in size and scale. Utterly devoid of light, it is said to be filled with a rough and cracked ocean of colorless and lifeless souls, primarily the petitioners and followers of the Chained Primordial of the End as well as those unfortunate souls sent to its depths after being judged, who bleakly battle and consume each other endlessly in an unending, all-consuming, lifeless frenzy. No life here possesses color or vibrancy, sound is suppressed and muted, and only hollow, cracked, and lifeless grey pits exist where once were eyes...the ground here is cracked, barren, rocky, and lifeless, an infinite plane of colorless rocky landscape that sprawls on for a maddening eternity, wrapping back onto itself to consume itself endlessly. There is no natural beauty or beauty of any kind to be found here, and what water can be found here is grey and lifeless...there is no grass, no life, and nothing of interest. It has all been drained, consumed, and wiped from reality by the infinite hunger of Vvaal, and its edges constantly but against its bindings, as if the plane itself hungers to consume without end. Supposedly, the maddening sentience of this plane is said to be the source of The Abyssal Wasteland's semi-sentience.

Type

Metaphysical, Astral

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