Astraverse

With a serious look, the man tapped the head of the wooden doll he had placed in front of him on the table. It was about as big as his forearm was long and showed a jumbled mixture of white, red and blue paint and equally jumbled black lines. With a gentle motion, he twisted the doll apart, revealing a smaller doll inside. This doll now consisted solely of the red paint, which covered the doll's torso in the form of a dress. He put the original doll back together and placed it next to it.

Another movement also opened the second doll and brought out a third, which no longer had the red dress, but instead wore only a blue cap on its head. Another doll emerged from this one, which only had the black lines, which this time formed the outline of a dress, a cap, and a friendly smiling face.
Another doll emerged from inside, but this time equipped only with white paint, which presented the individual features of the face without being surrounded by black lines. Finally, one last doll came out that incorporated every element of the previous ones. The black lines that surrounded everything, the red dress, the blue cap and the white smile on the friendly face.

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The concept of the Astravirium describes a series of planes of reality that lie on top of each other. Each form of energy moves through these different levels, and in doing so is brought from a chaotic state to a regulated and balanced state. Each of these planes can be thought of as a plate, one above the other, connected by tunnels known as either convergences or plane bridges.

Table of contents

1. General
2. Planes and Paths
3. The Void
4. The Veils
5. Convergences and Plane Brigdes
6. The Plane of pure Energy
7. The elemental Plane
8. The astral Plane
9. The spirit Plane
10. The central Plane

Type

Natural

General

Looking at the astraverse from top to bottom, it sorts itself from a chaotic to an ordered state. Thus the highest plane forms the so-called plane of pure energy. All energies exist here wildly mixed and can hardly be differentiated from each other. They drift in eternal vortices through each other, connect seemingly arbitrarily and drift apart again. Pure, unrestrained chaos exists here. The plane of pure energy is followed by the elemental plane, which primarily consists of natural energy, which is ordered into its individual components.

The plane of elements is followed by the astral plane, a layer of the astraverse which is primarily responsible for conceptual orders, as well as the order of astral energy. Finally, the astral plane is followed by the spirit plane, which is responsible for the structure and storage of mind energy before all the chaotic forces converge to form the ordered central plane, where Terria is also found. The original concept of the astraverse was coined as Avam'Hereis by the Elbrin and only adapted and shaped by the humans during the fifth age according to their knowledge of energies.

Planes and Paths

In addition to the planes mentioned above, so-called paths exist in the astraverse. These paths designate certain areas, which embody certain peculiarities in the astraverse or exist for separate purposes. The planes themselves rotate continuously, but the paths wander over the planes themselves, sometimes randomly, sometimes in fixed patterns. Between the paths and the surrounding planes exists a thin veil, which behaves similarly to the veils that separate the individual planes from each other.

The Void

The astraverse itself exists in a vast cosmic void and seems to drift around independently in this void. At the same time, this void also provides a home for other astraverses, but almost nothing is known about their structure. Only the astraverse of Derena became known as a named location after William Diggle moved from it to Terria. This astraverse, however, was subject to distinctly different laws and none of the supernatural energies existed there. However, Derena was haunted by the Dark Prince, a being who supposedly cannot enter Terria itself, due to a force called Eternity.

The Veils

Although the planes move steadily and sometimes clash in these movements, they are always separated by a massive wall of astral energy. This boundaries are referred to as veils, and besides the extreme density of astral energy, it has special properties that grant its impenetrability. Only between the central planes and the spirit plane there is a veil, which is identical in its mode of action, but is made of mind energy. The veils themselves are impenetrable, but they are traversed by two different types of tunnels, plane bridges and convergences.

Convergences and Plane Bridges

The most essential functions of the astraverse are, on the one hand, the ordering of energy from chaos to order and the balancing of extreme accumulations of energy on the more sensitive areas of the astraverse. Especially the central level is very sensitive when it comes to massive accumulations of energies. In such a case, what is known as a convergence occures, a tunnel of astral energy that directs the energy to the outer areas of the astraverse, where its forces can spread without causing tremendous damage. In addition, however, those same convergences also have the property of conducting in both directions. In this way, fairy creatures from the Forest of Fairies, which lies on the astral plane, regularly enter Terria itself.

Convergences, however, arise not only as a defense mechanism of the cosmos, but can also be deliberately created by the star priests, the users of astral energy. Likewise, they arise from the rotation of the planes and the movements of the paths, with certain definite constellations producing convergences. In contrast to these short-lived convergences are the permanent plane bridges, that are constant connections between the planes. The best known of these bridges are the natural springs that extend from the core of Terria to the surface of the planet. These draw natural energy from the elemental plane and carry it to Terria, where it spreads and is responsible for sustaining all of nature. If somewhere this energy gets into excess, it is pulled back to the elemental plane via convergences, in order to create a balance.

Although only plane bridges form permanent connections between the planes of the Astravirium, innumerable convergences have so-called convergence anchors, i.e. fixed points on both sides, so to speak. These anchors can be imagined as points where the veil between the worlds is considerably thinner. Mostly they open for the known reasons, however, they can be opened also under certain conditions willingly. Judging by their structure, these particular convergences were probably not born out of the needs of the astraverse itself, but were deliberately created by creatures that wind their way through the entire construct, like ants creating their tunnel networks.

The Plane of pure Energy

The plane of pure energy is considered the most difficult part of the astraverse to comprehend, and little information about it can be found even in the records of older and more powerful civilizations. Supposedly, the astral dragons managed to partially penetrate to this realm, but no survival was possible in the chaotic currents.

Heaven and Hell

heaven and hell are two paths on the plane of pure energy inhabited respectively by the angels and the daimors left behind in the first age by the god beings. The two paths seem to be interconnected and thus form a common battlefield. At the same time, both are surrounded by a kind of net that keeps the powerful creatures from descending upon the rest of the astraverse. While weak representatives can theoretically slip through, this has almost never been observed and confirmed.

Demon Path

The demon path is not actually a direct path on the plane of pure energy, but instead moves on the veil that separates this plane from the elemental plane. It is also referred to as the otherworld. Whenever a living being dies on Terria, its soul passes to the spirit world and is picked up there by the grim reapers, who transfer it to the afterlife. As the reverse side of the living world, which consists to enormous parts of life energy, demon energy forms the basis for the entire structure and the living beings of the demon path. Among these living beings, a division is made between demons, which are the souls of the deceased, and devils, with devils springing from unknown sources from the demon path itself.

The elemental Plane

The elemental plane is responsible for the order of natural energy and is divided into eight aspects. These aspects are fire, water, earth, air, light, darkness, plant, and a force called odem. Basically, these eight parts each correspond to a piece of cake, which together form the elemental plane. Beyond that, however, they merge in the areas where they touch and create certain mixing elements. In addition to these mixing elements, however, this plane also has special paths and areas that are sealed off from the rest of the plane.

Beliel's Path

A special path hidden in the fire aspect of the plane. According to legends, a being rests here that it is unclear whether it can be assigned to the deitys. However, it is supposedly a god-like being that has all-encompassing power over fire. The entire path consists of a kind of temple complex in a sea of flames, and at its deepest level hides Beliel himself.

Nydia's Path

This path protrudes like a construct of veins into every aspect of the elemental plane. It was artificially created, by the hand of Nydia Luwen, in 911 atnA. In doing so, she used one of the pages of the writings of Letouran, as well as a massive amount of natural energy obtained from the murder of more than 100 members of the intelligent races. The path cannot apparently be entered by beings in the elemental plane at this time, but for this Nydia developed certain machines, connectors, that can make contact with the path. Using these machines, she created access points throughout the continent so that Lortan could access 100 powerful artifacts simultaneously using the arcane equilibrators, which acted as fuel for his transcendence plan. With the downfall of the man and the destruction of the equilibrators, all the connectors were also destroyed in a chain reaction, as were the associated artifacts. In the meantime, however, the arcane brigade has managed to create a new access.

The deep Shadows

One of the paths, which lies on the aspect of darkness. It is ruled by a deitic being known as Umbros. A few mages who use shadow magic have the ability to connect with this path. Along the way, they gain the ability to enter shadows, move through the path, and reappear from another shadow in sight. Supposedly, however, only those with Umbro's blessing receive this ability.

The astral Plane

The astral plane lies between the elemental plane and the spirit plane. On one hand it is responsible for the order of the astral energy, on the other hand a lot of paths of the astral plane are characterized by being assigned to certain concepts. In addition, the astral plane is crisscrossed by astral pathways, fixed routes in the astraverse, which open under certain conditions and allow physical movement through the astraverse.

Astraseia

Astraseia forms what is known as the core of the astral plane. Basically, it is the connection between all paths on the astral plane, appearing as a reflection of the cosmos itself. Surrounded by a seemingly endless night sky, dotted with seemingly unreachable stars, one finds oneself on a wide variety of celestial bodies, most barely wider in diameter than a kilometer and all of them with their own gravity. Each of these celestial bodies takes on a geometric shape, some of them seeming incomprehensible to the human mind as they twist, curve, break and bend into one another.

All of these bodies are made of a variety of materials, but they are all connected by bridges, which are made of the same organic material. This material is reminiscent of stretched and about to tear muscle strands. Now and then, on the bodies or along the paths that connect them, and sometimes in the spaces between them, gates are found, lightning-shaped cracks glowing white, through which further paths of the astral plane can be entered.

Like the physical cosmos of the central plane, the astral plane is theoretically endless and extends in all directions, but one's gaze never reaches further than about 5 kilometers, where the ends of the bridges always seem to open into the night sky. Although humanity has hardly been able to explore this realm, other races have been able to glimpse the remote corners of Astraseia, where the most absurd paths and conceptions of order are hidden in paths shrouded in mystery.

Rarely, when someone explores this realm of the cosmos, he may come across the dead remnant of an astral dragon, which seems to take the form of bridges. Those who walk on the back of the dead creature can move at breakneck speed through the realm of the stars, discovering hidden places that lurk in the farthest corners of the sky.

Astraseia is in no way to be confused with the physical cosmos, even though they are both adorned by the same star-speckled cosmos. Exploration of space around Terria is not capable of taking one to the astral plane, any more than exploration of Astraseia could take a being to the surface of Terria's moon, unless convergences are traversed.

Coisìthitch

This path is undoubtedly among the most famous paths in the entire cosmos. It serves as the home and place of origin for all fairies. How exactly it originated is unclear, but among the first creatures on this path were the eternal tree, and the two rulers of the fairies Oberon and Titania. In the course of time, a vast forest overlaid with mist formed all around the Eternal Tree, with trees rising from its roots. No one knows the exact dimensions of the path, but there are countless convergences that open under certain conditions, and the forest of fairies rotates at high speed across the astral plane, which is why it almost never takes more than an hour between two convergences. It is precisely such convergences that regularly draw fairy beings to the central plane, where the altered energetic conditions send them into a delirious state.

Iduntes

An area on the astral plane which is exempt from death. Those who lose their lives in this place awaken after a short time. At the same time, however, this realm also causes every living being to go into a wild rage, creating a battlefield of eternal torment. This path acts as a seat for the Deitiy Oizys, who embodies suffering and misery. Supposedly, she lives in a colosseum at the center of the path and watches the eternal battles between her gladiators and warped beasts.

The spirit plane

The spirit plane involves the structuring of mind energy, and it serves as the repository for most spirit beings. Similar to astral energy, the central effect of mind energy is also movement through the astraverse. However, mind energy is primarily used to connect the physical bodies of living beings with their souls, which lie dormant in the outer planes. Like threads, the spirit energy of each being winds through tiny tunnels in the astraverse, all of which originate in the spirit plane and end only in the outer planes.

Those who are in the spirit plane are basically looking at the central plane, but they see it through a distorted veil that rips most of the color out of the world, leaving only a mixture of blue, green, and turquoise tones. At the same time, the distances and relation between the two worlds do not match completely. The spirit plane seems to have only about 10% of the size of the central plane.

Since the veil between the central plane and the spirit plane is made of spirit energy and is relatively thin, cracks regularly form between them through which spirits cross over into the earthly world. Even from the spirit plane, however, the central plane can be influenced by manipulating the mind energy that fluctuates between the two planes.

At the death of a living being, a complicated process is set in motion in which the consciousness of a living being completely departs from the central plane and crosses over to the spirit plane. Here, this soul can theoretically walk forever, but it will degenerate and eventually succumb to insanity, which is why the grim reapers act as superior guardians. They appear and offer the deceased passage to the afterlife, but cannot force them.

The path of Dreams

When a living being dies, its soul is pulled into the spirit plane. Something similar happens when a living being falls asleep, but it is not the soul that is pulled into the plane, only the consciousness. Also, the consciousness does not remain on the central plane, but reaches the path of dreams. Here, each consciousness dwells in one of an infinite number of bubbles, the interior of which forms according to its own subconsciousness. Outside of these bubbles exists an almost endless world formed from the burst dream bubbles of souls who have already passed on to the other world. Those who have the ability to consciously leave their bubble are called dreamwalkers and are treated almost like gods in this world. The path of dreams is one of the few areas of the astraverse that is almost completely separated from the rest. So far, there is no known way to transfer objects from this path to other realms.

The Twilight

This path is an area on the spirit plane which is adjacent to the path of dreams and always moves with it. It is an area in which the spirit energy behaves in completely chaotic ways. A number of beings, including Albs, arise in this area and are endowed with the ability to move into the spirit plane or into the central planes.

The central Plane

The central plane is formed by Terria and the visible cosmos. Terria's position in this seemingly endless universe is unclear, however it seems to occupy a central point in this entity and is potentially even its origin. Even in the central plane, where all energies collide in their ordered state and form an equilibrium with matter, however, individual paths exist in which worlds of their own have developed.

The fallen Giants

A world that appears to exist in the same physical location as Terria, at least if you look at the surrounding night sky. In this path, however, the tendency toward humanoid species never seems to have prevailed. Instead, enormous lizard-like creatures have always ruled the planet. These creatures reach massive proportions, but not one of their species seems to have supernatural abilities. Thanks to convergences, some of them reach Terria from time to time and generate a lot of attention.