Cosmology of Teranuz

The cosmology of the world of Teranuz is divided into multiple planes of existence, each serving as its own separate dimension with its own landscape, laws and inhabitants. While each plane is unique, the planes of existence are irreversibly tied to one another, each acting as a reflection of a greater whole like light refracted through a prism; it is for this reason that the planar structure of Teranuz is often referred to as the "Great Prism" cosmology.

Convergence Zones

While each plane of existence is its own separate entity, there are circumstances in which a being may be able to travel from one plane to another. This is most commonly achieved in areas known as "Convergence Zones"; locations in which the barriers separating the planes are thinner and travel between them is achievable, if not necessarily easy.
Convergence Zones can exist temporarily, due to magical events known as Convergences, or may exist permanently within key locations in certain planes. While most Convergence Zones are naturally occurring, it is possible for them to be created artificially as well; though the means of doing so are largely lost to even the most magically advanced civilizations. The last known creators of artificial Convergence Zones were the first elves to arrive on the Prime Material Plane, creating portals for traversal to and from their home plane of the Feywild.

The Planes of Existence

The mirrors of the fey,
The shadow and the mortals
The elements at play
Behind their fiery portals
The fiendish wastes of Dolor,
Where demons bite and claw
Above them sits Tribunal
The labyrinth of law
The tempest plane of Maelstrom
Where thoughts can be a pest
And finally the Border,
A home for all the rest.
-Elven children's song meant to educate on the Great Prism

There are a total of 8 planes of existence which make up the Great Prism:

• The Prime Material Plane: The plane of existence in which the world of Teranuz and its surrounding solar system are located. The exact dimensions of the size and scope of this plane are unknown.
• The Feywild: The home plane of the elves and fey creatures, as well as the plane in which Arcane Magic was first created. The Feywild is a chaotic wilderness of magic and wonder, noteworthy for its abundance in magical energy as well as the strange time dilation experienced by those who reside within it.
• The Shadowfell: A barren, empty world of death and entropy. It is said that all souls of deceased mortals must pass through the Shadowfell before moving on to the unknowable afterlife. Living creatures which enter this plane for prolonged periods of time exhibit strange magical mutations and transformations as a result of the corrupting necrotic energy which permeated the Shadowfell.
• The Elemental Chaos: A plane consisting entirely of raw, roiling elemental energy. The Elemental Chaos is completely uninhabitable by non-native creatures; the only entities that can survive within the plane are the Elementals, which form a single, thoughtless hive-consciousness while within their native plane.
• Tribunal: Also known as the Labyrinth of Law, Tribunal is a plane of positive energy believed to have once served as the home of celestial beings. Now seemingly abandoned, the only remaining inhabitants of the plane are strange celestial fauna along with the constructs built to serve their celestial creators.
• Dolor: Also known as the Fiendish Wastes, Dolor is a hellish plane of negative energy and the home of devils, demons and yugoloths. Dolor and Tribunal are unique among the planes in that the two planes directly eclipse each other, with Dolor existing as the "earth" below Tribunal's "sky".
• Maelstrom: Also known as the Plane of Thought, Maelstrom is a repository of psychic energy fed by the conscious thoughts, dreams and memories of the sentient creatures that make up the Prime Material Plane. Creatures of sufficiently psionic energy are able to more easily access this plane, and it is believed that Beholders and other aberrations may have been spawned by the congealed psychic energy of the Maelstrom.
• The Ethereal Plane: Also known as the Border Ethereal or simply the Border, the Ethereal Plane is a transitional space which serves as the connective tissue between all other planes. It is from the Ethereal Plane that Convergence Zones originate, with planar travellers passing through the Border on their way to the destination plane on the other end of the portal.

Type

Metaphysical, Astral