What are the Planes, Ichor?!
"Whaddya mean ye don't know wot the Dreamlands are, ye tulk?! Ye're in the nightmare of the Demiplane of Leng now!" —A violent, animate dream
Beyond the Prime Material and the void of space beyond it lie the vast planes of existence referred to as the Great Beyond. Often alien and dangerous, most of these planes embody some foundational aspect of reality—one of the chief elements that make up the rest of the multiverse, a kind of fundamental energy, or an alignment. Each plane is a reality unto itself, with its own laws of existence and its own native inhabitants who might visit, grant benefits to residents of, or cause havoc on the face of the Prime Material.
The various planes are detailed in the Gamemastery Guide, pp. 136-145. However, some details have been modified to better fit the feel and uniqueness of the setting.
Astral Plane, The Silver Sea [N]
"To find Labyrinth, head along the middle astral branches until you find the center of where you are when you aren't anywhere else!"
—Directions to The Maze by Madhevin Chase
The Astral Plane surrounds the Inner Sphere, and fills the space between planes of the Outer Sphere. The Plane of Fire, outermost of the inner planes, is often shown in maps of the multiverse as being a dot or burning sphere floating in the Astral Plane at the center of the Outer Sphere. The only true constants within the Astral Plane are the countless branches of the River of Souls: the never-ending stream of souls making their way from the Material Plane to their final destination in the Outer Sphere; and the city of Labyrinth, the Nexus —the Threshold to All Planes and one of the few pockets where time and gravity function normally in the plane!
Inner Sphere
The Inner Sphere is the center of the Great Beyond, sitting at the hub of creation surrounded by the Astral Plane. It is composed of the immensely huge, yet finite layers of the Elemental Planes, which surround the Material and Shadow Planes, which are in turn separated by the Ethereal. At the metaphysical center of these sit the dualistic Positive and Negative Energy Planes.
The Elemental Planes
Elemental Plane of Air, The Firmament [N]
- It is the most inhabitable and most accessible of the Inner Planes.
- It is is considered a paradise by local and visitor alike.
- It has few natural hazards, abundant extraplanar commerce, and relatively friendly locals.
- Being the center of air, all spells of Elemental Air are empowered and enlarged on this plane, while spells of the other three elements are impeded.
Elemental Plane of Earth, Eternal Delve [N]
- It is the place of hidden riches.
- It is a wall against all foes.
- It is a grave for the greedy.
- Being the center of earth, all spells of Elemental Earth are empowered and enlarged on this plane, while spells of the other three elements are impeded.
Elemental Plane of Fire, The Inferno [N]
- It is a plane continually ablaze.
- It smells of burning flesh and ashen dreams.
- It is flames incarnate.
- Being the center of fire, all spells of Elemental Fire are empowered and enlarged on this plane, while spells of the other three elements are impeded.
Elemental Plane of Water, The Deep [N]
- It is is as livable a plane for those that breathe water, as air is for those that don't.
- Most forms of sea life can be found somewhere within it, fresh- and saltwater both.
- It has few natural hazards, abundant extraplanar commerce, and relatively friendly locals.
- Being the center of water, all spells of Elemental Water are empowered and enlarged on this plane, while spells of the other three elements are impeded.
The Transitive Planes
Ethereal Plane, The Ghost World [N]
- It is the conduit between the Material, Shadow, and Elemental planes, as well as the First World.
- It is a place of ever-shifting mists with little hard matter to obstruct the traveler.
- It is home to phantasmal creatures such as ghosts, as well as things born from the dreams of mortals.
- There is no gravity, and time passes at the same perceived rate as on the Material Plane.
The First World, Realm of the Fey [N]
- It is believed to be the gods' first draft of a subsequent plane that would later split into the Material Plane and the Shadow Plane.
- It is coterminous with the Material Plane and the Shadow Plane, but exists somehow "behind" the other two planes.
- It is a predecessor of the Material Plane, created as a first attempt at a Material Plane and then directly overwritten by the plane as it exists today.
The Shadow Plane, The Netherworld [NE]
- It is coexistent with both the Material Plane and Ethereal Plane, and seems to be a warped reflection of the former.
- It is a plane where the things born here have their colors, sounds, tastes, and all other forms of perception lessened.
- It has very strong ties with undead and for good reason: Negative Energy Plane resides at its core.
The Energy Planes
Positive Energy Plane, Creation’s Forge [NG]
- It is located at the conceptual and philosophical center of the Material Plane and Inner Sphere.
- It is the source of all life and vitality, and is the birthplace of all of the souls in the Great Beyond.
- It is a place of such overwhelming, fecund energy that all non-natives (including some gods) are generally incinerated within seconds of arrival unless appropriate precautions are taken.
Negative Energy Plane, Entropy's Heart [NE]
- The Void, Entropy's Heart, the Nothing, and the Final End— it sits at the metaphysical center of the Shadow Plane.
- It is a place of annihilation and destruction, leaching life energy from all who come near it.
- It is a barren wasteland of emptiness with few surfaces
- It is the source from which all undead draw their power and un-life.
Outer Sphere
While the Inner Sphere contains the elemental planes, the Outer Sphere contains nine planes, each with a strong link to a particular philosophy and alignment. These are the dwelling places of the Powers, along with the transformed souls of mortal beings —Petitioners, natives of the Planes themselves!
Concordance of Rivals
Axis, Eternal City [LN]
- It is the plane of dedicated to universal law, unmarred by the struggles between good and evil.
- It takes the shape of a gigantic city, as a shining example of perfect order and harmony rising out of the churning Maelstrom.
- It coalesced around Pharasma's Spire, from pure lawful quintessence during the primordial days of creation.
The Spirelands, Purgatory [N]
- It is where the souls of dead mortals from the Material Plane are judged by the goddess Pharasma.
- It appears as a vast necropolis with countless courtyards, monuments, graves, and forums teeming with dead souls awaiting judgement.
- It rests atop Pharasma's Spire, jutting out from Axis into the Astral Plane.
The Maelstrom, Limbo [CN]
- Here raw chaos seethes, where everything, and nothing, is possible.
- It lack the cohesive stability present in all of the other planes.
- It is infused with the quintessence of destroyed outsiders, and it grows by eroding and consuming quintessence from planes of the Outer Sphere.
The Upper planes
Heaven, The Holy Mountain [LG]
- It is law and good, understanding and mercy.
- It represents order tempered with compassion and goodness.
- It is broken down into seven regions, or levels, six of which are overseen by a steward of immense power.
Nirvana, Sanctuary of Enlightenment [NG]
- It is a place of ultimate goodness, home to the souls of good mortals.
- It is a land so pleasant you may never want to leave.
- It is where those who guide spirits to enlightenment and unity, with the plane and with themselves, reside.
Elysium, The Promised Land [CG]
- It is a plane of passion and peace.
- It represents the ultimate expression of wild freedom and compassion.
- It is a riot of untouched wilderness, with none of the normal trappings of civilization.
The Lower Planes
Hell, The Pit [LE]
- Here rule of law reveals evil's heart, where sympathy withers and malice blooms.
- It represents evil order: weak subjugated to the strong, complete obedience, and unquestioning faith.
- It is a bending the will of souls, and the very architecture of creation itself to the greater glory of the lord Asmodeus and his perfect order.
Abaddon, The Eternal Eclipse [NE]
- It is where evil springs eternal, of endless apathy and despair.
- It is a wasteland of infinite and apocalyptic proportions that is home to the daemons.
- It holds the headwaters of the river Styx, which flows through the Maelstrom, touching Hell and the Abyss to pool below Pharasma's Spire.
The Abyss, Outer Rifts [CE]
- It is an infinity of clutching horror, where morality crumbles and ethics perish.
- It is dedicated to the rule of evil, unfettered by law.
- The inhabitants of its countless layers are the ancient qlippoth and the prolific demons, which act as metaphysical bookends to all the numerous races of the Outer Planes.
Demiplanes and Dimensions
The multiverse is hardly a neatly-organized system, and innumerable dimensions and demiplanes exist outside the schema of the Inner and Outer spheres. Existing in the metaphorical space between the Transitive Planes and smaller, finite demiplanes, dimensions are a category unto themselves. Demiplanes are much smaller and more limited than planes or dimensions.
Dimensions
The Dimension of Time [N]
- It is virtually impossible to access by conventional methods of planar travel.
- The proper flow and continuity of time seems to self-correct for any attempted meddling, often with violence.
- Like an eye in a storm, at the dimension’s heart is the legendary realm of Stethelos and its terrible occupant Tawil at’Umr.
Dreamlands [N]
- Created and sustained by the collective dreams of sleeping mortals, it overlays the Ethereal Plane.
- Travelers in the deep, permanent Dreamlands face living, animate dreams and the predation of night hags from the Ethereal Plane, as well as stranger beings spawned within the core itself.
- Some scholars postulate a distinct region within the dimension for nightmares.
Demiplanes
These are much smaller and more limited than planes or dimensions, and they come into being more easily. Almost innumerable, each is distinctly finite, with their own nature and rules set at their creation. A few of the more unique or well known Demiplanes are listed below. However, if you can think of a concept, chances are, there's a Demiplane already embodying that concept.
The Akashic Record [N]
- The Akashic Record is the the collection of all psychic experiences in the multiverse, providing a perfect and clear understanding of all knowledge in existence.
- Its existence seems to negate all mysteries of the Great Beyond and conflicts with the 'death of prophecy' in the Age of Lost Omens.
- Occult lore suggests that modifying the Akashic Record can change the past.
Freehold of the Rogue Angel [Unaligned]
The Freehold of the Rogue Angel is a small demiplane littered with the remains of fiends and celestials, ruled by a luminous angelic being known as The Forsaken Martyr who is said to have once been the servitor of a potent Power. The creature refuses to reveal its origin, but seems inordinately interested in the moral compass of anyone traveling in its realm. It has been known to provide The Artful to those who perform seemingly random acts, at its request, that cover the entire moral spectrum.
Jandelay, The Apocalypse Archive [LN]
- Jandelay is the antithesis of the Maelstrom, which inevitably restores reality to homogeneous chaos.
- Fragments of dead worlds are absorbed into Jandelay in rows in chronological order, and it resemble an architectural chimaera.
- 'Tis curated by the watchers, a mysterious race of towering beings who stride its streets and tend to its needs.
- Jandelay's petitioners, called the collected, number one per world and are among the last casualties of the end. They retain memories about their lost homes.
The Mundus Willow [N]
- Huluppu, The Mundus Willow, represents the binary opposition between the Upper Planes and the Lower Planes.
- "All those who drink its sap gain immortality!"
- There is a story that Azhdakha, 'the snake who knows no charm'; Ki-Sikil'Lillake, the very first Lilitu in all Creation; and the legendary Anzû-bird make their residence on the tree. Or they did, until the paladin Gilgamesh, a former Luminary of the Bellicose Seraphim, killed Azhdakha. Ki-Sikil'Lillake and the Anzû-bird fled, causing untold mischief even unto now.
Plateau of Leng, The Nightmare Realm [CE]
- Those who travel too far into the realm of dreams can find themselves caught in a vast sea.
- It is a cold, desolate, inhospitable realm hedged in by two titanic mountain ranges that run from the Dreaming Shore in the south and converge at the Cold Waste in the north.
- It holds the abandoned city of Sarkomand, the original home of the denizens of Leng, where two stairways descend to the cyclopean underworld of Leng.
Pyramid of An-Hepsu XI [NG]
The Pyramid of An-Hepsu XI is the tomb of the Lich Pharaoh An-Hepsu XI, overthrown by his terrified subjects after his transformation into a lich. Since they were unable to truly destroy him, An-Hepsu XI's killers hid his body parts in different parts of his pyramid, then sealed the entire pyramid in a demiplane connected to the Positive Energy Plane to weaken his undead powers. Its guardians are equally devoted to repelling thieves and preventing the Lich Pharaoh's return, including a group of archons and angels led by the solar Mytreael, sealing themselves in the pyramid and driving away all intruders, good or evil, lest they fall under An-Hepsu XI's fell influence. Canny bodies might find some of The Artful, from the Lich Pharaoh himself, before the guardians force escape.
Runeforge [Mostly Evil]
- The Runeforge was created by the seven runelords of ancient Thassilon for the purpose of magical research.
- It takes the form of a sphere of rock two miles in diameter, floating in a spatially infinite void containing nothing except for air. Tunnels extend to each of the Runeforge's seven wings representing the Ancient Thassilonians' sin magic; each wing has its own alignment.
- The Vestiges of the goddess Lissala once rested here, before the influence of Onesiphorus' teachings and The Sihedron spread, and reignited her deityhood.
Xibalba, Land of Dread [NE]
- Dominion of the sahkils, former psychopomps who rebel against their role as soul shepherds for the River of Souls, its essence is maintained by the very essence of terror.
- Here space is twisted, and time is slowed in a way alien to mortals.
- Its center is a creepy, sparsely populated, partially ruined city surrounded by a dense, blighted forest; the Black Pyramid at the heart of the city.
- The Black Pyramid is divided by dark, quivering veils into separate studies in terror, all filled with traps and trials that would test any visitor's sanity.
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