the Empyrean Universe
Like many other fantasy worlds the Empyrean Universe was created by one or more extraordinarily powerful beings long ago in the distant past. However, the Empyrean Universe consists only of the Selestean Star System, named after its sun Seleste. Beyond that is nothing but an empty void out to the edges of the Empyrean Universe. There are no stars or nebulae, no galaxies or black holes, nothing. From within the Selestean System you’d be surprised to learn this as looking out into the night’s sky you can clearly see an infinitude of stars and constellations reaching out in all directions just as you’d expect. However, the truth is, the stars and constellations were put there by Ashtar, the God of Light as a gift to his lover, Ishtar, the Goddess of Darkness, millions of years after the creation of the universe. They are illusory in nature and there is nothing beyond this single star system. This is not widely known, though there are some scholars, and theologians that have surmised this secret truth.
Viewed from beyond this illusory curtain, the Universe seems either unfinished or purpose built, depending on your perspective. The primary habitable planet in the Selestean Star System, a world known as Ora, consists of two large continents of roughly the same size and shape set in opposition to eachother with a large floating landmass called Firmament suspended in the sky between them. Like a box seat for a massive, world-spanning play or sporting event. No one knows why it was built this way. The compactness of the Planes of Existence that interact with the Substantial is highly unusual when compared to the complex outer planes of other universes. The high concentration of magic and the thin Ethereal Veil are unlike other universes as well. It’s theorized by the gods familiar with other realms that perhaps Ora was created as a practice universe by some powerful primordial Demiurge before it went on to create something more complex. Or, because of its layout, with the opposing continents and the floating Firmament between them, perhaps it was built to be a Battle World designed to settle some dispute between two such beings.
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