Yophas, the Eternal Design

"Well, Yophas is a complicated beast. What with the Reckoning and all, charting the cosmology of the Eternal Design became... difficult. I'm sure that the great libraries of the Age of Rebirth had it down to a science -- as much of a science as one can ascribe to a multiverse, at least -- but we have lost all but the smallest scraps of that knowledge. Our understanding of Yamma's great creation is, well, limited." - Ilthinaluvar Aramoira, during a lecture on cosmology at the Arcanul Ordinate

The Creation of Yophas

Following the multiversal devastation of the Obsidian War, Yamma, the Silver Dawn, had a titanic task ahead of himself: the Reshaping of the Cosmos and all within them. The importance of this task was three-fold: firstly, to carve out a physical space to place the multiverse. Secondly, to create home planes for both the essences of the Titans and the domains Yamma's soon-to-be-created Children would inhabit. Thirdly, and most importantly, to create a multiverse that would once more be hospitable for mortal life. With these tasks in mind, Yamma set about The Reshaping.
For more information, see the article below.

Yophas, the Eternal Design

Below, you can find in-depth descriptions of the relationships between and contents of the different planes, organized by category. At the foot of the article are all of the realms organized alphabetically.

The Material Universe

Emaxus, the Material Universe and Heart of Yophas. Jewel of the gods, primary battleground of the Reckoning, and the home of the many mortal races of the Eternal Design. If you desire information on Emaxus, look anywhere else in these tomes. Though many mysteries remain, Emaxus is the most well-known and best chronicled of all the planes. Here, heroes and villains, empires and kingdoms, all rise and fall beneath the ceaseless march of history.

The Cosmological Mediums

Like a canvas upon which the planes of Yophas are inscribed, Ipacia and Xeccamund are known as the Cosmological Mediums. It is within these realms that all other realms -- minor and major -- exist. The former is the Realm of Stars in which the other planes hang like great ornaments, and the latter is the Tears Beyond Reality where those things too ancient, too alien, and too fundamental to the universe reside. Little is known of Xeccamund, for reaching it is nearly impossible; no one in their right mind would even attempt to go there, and even those with the power and will to do so never return -- at least, not the same. Both can be found in greater detail below.

Eriothas, the Ethereal Plane

Being less of a true plane and more of an undercurrent that flows through all of Yophas, the Ethereal Plane is known as Eriothas. Nothing truly exists in Eriothas. It is a transitory plane used for travel and even stealth. Certain magics allow one to pass into Eriothas, and Ipacian Navigation uses Eriothas to puncture the metaphysical barriers between planes. Generally, Eriothas exists to travel between spaces planar and extraplanar quickly and unseen, though it can be a grueling undertaking.

The Divine Planes

Numbering twelve (including Yacrena, the Sun and Light of Yophas), the Divine Planes are those realms created to manifest concepts or the domains of gods. They are the furthest planes from Emaxus, arrayed beyond even the Elemental Realms. Some, like Laithna, were created specifically for Children of Yamma to function as their homes and strongholds, while others were created as prisons for the Obsidian Lords, such as Ix'akroth, the Infested Crags. Others still were made simply due to necessity: the devils of the multiverse were granted Iduran, while the demons were consigned to Accorion. And so, the twelve Divine Planes are as seen below.

The Elemental Realms

When Alindr and Yamma brought order to Ipacia and pushed Xeccamund beyond the borders of Yophas, their greatest task was organizing the many elements floating about in the primordial chaos that followed the Obsidian War. To this end, they created the Elemental Realms. First, they created Iannathae and Nathrivox, realms of light and darkness, respectively. Then, they created the four Pure Realms, for earth, air, water, and fire, and created the four border planes between them -- those realms created from the fusion of two elements. Those ten Realms are listed all below.

Travel

As a rule, reaching the Elemental Realms is easier than reaching the Divine Planes. Ipacian navigation works for reaching all of Realms, or at least their border regions, and their rifts form semi-frequently deep in biomes relevant to their element. For example, numerous portals to Tudulion exist within the oceans, seas, and even deep lakes or rivers of Emaxus, and rifts to Gliziarial hidden away in mountains or deep in caves is not unheard of. Due to this commonality, I've decided to simply place this note here as a general rule for travel to the Elemental Realms, rather than repeating the same ideas in each of the ten Realms below, and let you, the reader, connect the dots or fill them in with your own ideas!

Pure Realms

Border Planes

The Border Planes are a confusing topic in the study of cosmology on Emaxus. Some theories state that they are in fact bridges between the two Pure Realms they border, and are thus not their own planes. Others believe that, while they are their own planes, they are smaller and more finite than the other six Elemental Realms and the Divine Planes. Observations show that they seem to have defined borders where their constituent Pure Realms begin, but Ipacian navigational records still hold that Border Planes are separate locations in the Realm of Stars, with their own surrounding regions and all. The true nature of Border Planes continues to baffle the foremost cosmologists and astronomers, so the articles below may seem contradictory or even lacking at times.

What is Yophas?

Yophas is an impossibly-complex Design wrought by divine hands to be permanent and perfect. To make it all make sense, I (Brian Nicholson) will explain it objectively:

Emaxus, the Moons, and Yacrena exist in a solar system on the Material Plane; the space within this solar system is Ipacia. All of the Elemental and Divine Planes exist in the same place as Emaxus physically but are separated by metaphysical barriers. Think of them as being 21 layers stacked on top of Emaxus itself. Yacrena, the Moons, and Ipacia all exist in each of these 21 layers at the same time. This is how Ipacia can be used to puncture the metaphysical barriers in Ipacian Navigation, how Yacrena functions as the sun in all planes, and how the Moons are present in every plane.
Xeccamund is the infinite physical and metaphysical vacuum of space beyond the borders of Ipacia. Xeccamund was never Ordered into the Design, and thus many of its inhabitants seek to destroy said Design. They seek to infiltrate the borders of Ipacia and spread Xeccamund's non-Divine chaos into the Design. Xeccamund pushes and prods on different planes at different times, varying based on the nature of the corruption and which plane resonates closest to it. As Xeccamund gets a better grip on a single plane, its influence grows across all of the planes as they exist in the same physical space.
The Design is the single largest act of Divinity in the history of Emaxus. It was created with the essences of most of the Elemental Titans channeled through the Divinity of Yamma and Alindr. That's why not even the Reckoning undid it, and nothing likely ever will---save the most dangerous of Xeccamund's denizens, who could unravel the Divine laws of the Eternal Design.

If that objective explanation doesn't make sense to you, then count yourself among the denizens of Emaxus who have tried (and failed, to varying degrees) to understand Alindr and Yamma's Design.

Maps

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  The Cosmological Map of the Emaxian Multiverse: Yophas, the Eternal Design

Type

Multiverse

Related Myths

• The Reshaping