Azrovil's Expanse is a vast expansive pocket plane created by several followers of Azrovil during the end of The Shatter. After its formation, a fraction of the Lord of Darkness has been contained within the pocket dimension. Since its formation in 248 SH, the Expanse has become a beacon of darkness reaching out to all creatures who fear anything.
Description
Azrovil's Expanse is magical in its nature, as a result its geography seems to be unlimited by any weather system or continental drift. There are several layers of the Expanse's floating islands, as a creature descends the layers, there seems to be an element of madness that encroaches on the mind of the creature.
Chyvor
Chyvor is the top-most layer of the Expanse. It seems to be made of a cacauphony of mountain ranges that seem to reach above the mist and clouds that top the Expanse. Upon this layer are several places touched by the upper planes with elements of Mount Celestia and Aborea being very prominent. There are a number of corrupted creatures that preside within this layer.
Drandrovir
Drandrovir is one of the central layers of the Expanse and is where the most connections are located. It is the layer where most connections to the Material Plane, Fey Plane, and Shadow Plane preside. It has been theorised that this was the plane upon which the rest of the pocket plane was forged through the twisted arcane methods of the Azrovil's followers. It has also been theorised that elements of this layer contain some of the remaining divine essence of Azrvoil.
Uli'kras
Uli'kras is the bottom-most layer of the Expanse. It is primarily made of a dark ocean of black liquid. Explorers that have made it to that layer and returned have had their mind significantly altered and much of their psyche has been fragmented. One survivor was able to recollect the voices and words spoken by the liquid but it was in an ancient and divine language that no one was able to comprehend it. Those words were all the explorer was able to say until the day they passed.
Connections to the Material Plane
Connections via Dralkovir's Ritual
Several connections to the Expanse have been created by the followers of an ancient mage known as Dralkovir. This mage was known to have formulated a ritual that would allow the casters to travel to the Expanse. The ritual is known to have required at least one sarafice of a follower of
Thoura.
The ritual has left behind several planar scars that lead into the Expanse. Serveral of these scars have been closed by the Weaver's Hand, but many of these scars remain open. Some notable scars are:
- The Spring of Souls - A deep well within the crypt of Empress Lythal in Qil'sora.
- The Ziggourat - The central Ziggourat of Ank'heal has a mirrored Ziggourat underground that contains a scar.
Planar Fragmentation
Azrovil's Expanse is comprised of raw planar energy and was not completely stabilised by the introduction of major divine forces. This has resulted in an element of planar fragmentation that has caused unnatural tears between the Material Plane and the Expanse. There are 3 known locations of this specific type of rift:
- Deep in the Jungles of the Aonian Wilds - A small temple has been erected around the portal over time.
- Under the central castle of the Steelwind Lords - This is held as sacred by the Steelwind Lords and other creatures.
- Central Temple of Azrovil in Darkson - Primary temple of Azrovil and central temple of Darkson.
Other
Unsuprisingly, many followers of Azrovil have decided to create items that would allow for the transportation between the Material Plane and the Expanse. These items would allow for teleportation to a specific point on the Expanse. This has allowed for certain powerful mages to produce magical fortresses within the Expanse and focus their efforts into their creation.
Notable Locations
There are several noted locations within the Expanse that have been explored by several major expeditions that have returned. The main noted locations are from Drandrovir as other locations are harder to define.
Wellspring of Darkness
The Wellspring of Darkness is a large crater that has an inky black liquid that seems to extend on forever in this infinitely deep crater. It is commonly believed that this liquid is pure darkness, however this cannot be proven as it is dangerous.
The black liquid has been given the name Liquid Darkness. Once touched or consumed, a creature becomes blinded and starts to feel the psychic madness that is imprinted further down into the Expanse. No creature has returned to the Material Plane whilst inflicted with the effects of Liquid Darkness as their body seemed to burn up attempting to re-enter the Material Plane.
As a result of its danger, the recommendation of those who have explored this plane before is to avoid the Wellspring of Darkness. This is to avoid its negative effects until they can be further studied through the course of many years by those who can best acertain its effects.
The Crysalis Fields
Due to the unnatural creation of Azrovil's Expanse, its positioning within the wider cosmology of the universe is unique. It has many rifts to many planes, one of these being the Fey plane.
The Crysalis Fields are a unique combination of the Fey plane with the darkness of the Expanse. This results in the strange flowers called Quilavir, a pink blooming flower that stems from dark crystals growing from the ground. The Crysalis Fields happen to be the only place in the grand cosmology where these flowers can be harvested. As this is the case, several powerful magic users and alchemists have explored into the Expanse in search of this flower. It is unclear how many of these expeditions actually returned due to the strange chronology of the Expanse.
The expedition helmed by
Lirval Val'yr was the first expedition to be known to successfully return. The Crysalis Fields were described as a safe haven for the expedition, many of the denizens of the Expanse were unable to travel within the bounds of the Fields as there seemed to be a magical barrier that prevented entry for these creatures of darkness and shadow.
The Ashborn Peaks
On the middle layer of Drandrovir, there are a set of mountains that have become known as the Ashborn Peaks. They retain this name due to the strange gray and black stone that makes up its unique structure, Many of these mountains are porous and contain strange divets that form a unique crust around each of these mountains.
Several of the mountain peaks rise to the bottom caverns of the above layer of the Expanse. Mountainous regions seem to be the most common transportation between the layers of the Expanse. The first exploration into the mountains discovered that there was a cavern system built into the depths of the Ashbord Peaks.
The denezins of these cave systems gave off strange lights from their eyes and were grotesque to look at. Resulting in their name of Night Terrors. Each of these so called Night Terrors were allegedly uniquely disfigured and would vary their attack patterns. This seems to be the only recorded history of these Night Terrors and as a result many scholars believe that these were the hallucinations of explorers who had gone mad delving into the core of these ancient mountains.
The mountains also house a valley, within which is the approximated location of the Fortress of Dralkovir. No one has been formally able to breech the fortress but it has been noted that many constructs and undead creatures seem to patrol the grounds of the fortress, guarding it from any possible intruders. One adventuring team was tasked with entering the fortress of the dead mage. However, none of their names are noted in any books, almost as if their existence itself had been erased by some powerful force.
History
The Formation of the Expanse
in 203 SH, it is written that 12 followers of Azrovil, lead by his champion, performed a ritual that would create a pocket plane, a place where Azrovil could remain powerful without the checks and balances of the other deities. This resulted in the creation of the Expanse, yet only 4 of the 12 followers survived this intial formation.
The initial formation resulted in the creation of Drandrovir and some of its many regions. Yet as the remaining followers explored and delved into the many secrets held by the plane, they discovered that their presence allowed for the divine magic of Azrovil to flow through them causing the creation of life, no matter how dark and twisted.
Only 2 of the remaining followers ever returned to the Material Plane, the fate of the others is unknown, all that is known is that Yilvrik Stormlost and Ulfric Powersbane were captured and killed under the lawless nature of the Shatter. Each of them branded "traitors" remain as a warning for those who wish to enact on their own hubris as they did.
Art Credits
Crysalis Fields, Wellspring of Darkness - Created with MidJourney
Map of Azrovil's Expanse - Created with Inkarnate
Azrovil's Expanse Main Image - Created with Artflow
Azrovil's Expanse is magical in its nature, as a result its geography seems to be unlimited by any weather system or continental drift. There are several layers of the Expanse's floating islands, as a creature descends the layers, there seems to be an element of madness that encroaches on the mind of the creature.
The Wellspring of Darkness is a large crater that has an inky black liquid that seems to extend on forever in this infinitely deep crater. It is commonly believed that this liquid is pure darkness, however this cannot be proven as it is dangerous.
The black liquid has been given the name Liquid Darkness. Once touched or consumed, a creature becomes blinded and starts to feel the psychic madness that is imprinted further down into the Expanse. No creature has returned to the Material Plane whilst inflicted with the effects of Liquid Darkness as their body seemed to burn up attempting to re-enter the Material Plane.
As a result of its danger, the recommendation of those who have explored this plane before is to avoid the Wellspring of Darkness. This is to avoid its negative effects until they can be further studied through the course of many years by those who can best acertain its effects.
Due to the unnatural creation of Azrovil's Expanse, its positioning within the wider cosmology of the universe is unique. It has many rifts to many planes, one of these being the Fey plane.
The Crysalis Fields are a unique combination of the Fey plane with the darkness of the Expanse. This results in the strange flowers called Quilavir, a pink blooming flower that stems from dark crystals growing from the ground. The Crysalis Fields happen to be the only place in the grand cosmology where these flowers can be harvested. As this is the case, several powerful magic users and alchemists have explored into the Expanse in search of this flower. It is unclear how many of these expeditions actually returned due to the strange chronology of the Expanse.
The expedition helmed by Lirval Val'yr was the first expedition to be known to successfully return. The Crysalis Fields were described as a safe haven for the expedition, many of the denizens of the Expanse were unable to travel within the bounds of the Fields as there seemed to be a magical barrier that prevented entry for these creatures of darkness and shadow.
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