The Hylocosmic Model
Manifestation
Description of the Hylocosm
A ring, with a base element (earth, fire, air, water) at each cardinal direction, defines the basal sector. There is a smaller ring within this base or zeroth ring, which defines the primal sector; this is the first ring. The four first order amalgams (smoke fire + air, fog air + water, mud water + earth, magma earth + fire) are at the sub-cardinal directions of this ring, between their constituent basal elements.
A line traverses the diameter of both the base and prime sectors vertically. Positive and negative are both on this line, within the larger set of rings. A pair of nested circles surrounds them, with force at the centre of the prime and base rings, independent of the rings around positive and negative. This line is called the basal axis.
The second order amalgams (positive: light fire, plasma air, ooze water, crystal earth; negative: darkness fire, void air, ice water, rot earth) are situated at the cardinal directions of the outer ring of the positive and negative outer polar sectors respectively. Lines running through each element on these outer negative and positive rings attach to the corresponding base element on the base ring at one extremity, and to either positive or negative on the other. Collectively, these rings are called the second or polarity rings. Accordingly, the associated sectors are referred to as the outer polar sectors.
The third order amalgams (positive: heat fire + air, sound air + water, acid water + earth, metal earth + fire; negative: cold fire + air, dust air + water, alkali water + earth, ash earth + fire) are situated in the third, or inner positive and negative rings, lines running between the corresponding sub-cardinal directions on the first ring and the inner polar element on their way to its associated core. These inner polar rings describe the inner polar sectors. A line runs from force (negative + positive + fire + earth + air + water) to each cardinal direction on the base ring – force being the only fourth order amalgam element – completing the primary axis.
While third order amalgam elements do not use first order ones, they use the same combination of base elements, and so they are depicted as stemming from the corresponding first order amalgam elements – the first ring. Force, entropy, and ectropy are collectively referred to as cores; force is excluded in the case of polar cores.
The locations of the elements on the base ring very somewhat from model to model, though the classically excepted version places air on top, earth on the bottom, fire to the left, and water to the right, with negative below and positive above force. Lines connecting elements are almost never physically drawn, only partly because of the inherit complications with depicting elemental associations in two-dimensional space.
Fractal Planescape
Though the traditional hylocosmic model presents a quick and easy reference to the far-flung raw elemental planes, largely believed to be unreachable conceptualisations for the edges of reality, it does not address the spatial situation of Vaapht and Vaapht-like worlds. In a fractal planescape, the hylocosmic model is a single iteration in an infinite number of successively smaller ones, with planes similar to each other depicted closer together than planes more divergent in characteristics. In fact, it is possible that if one were capable of travelling a short enough distances, they would find planes so similar to our own that distinguishing them would be nearly impossible.
There is a corollary principle to the theory of fractal planes – Tashat’s spatiotemporal uncertainty law. He stipulated that, given an infinite number of infinitely closer planes, it is impossible to predict, with exact certainty, a plane’s exact location and distinguishing characteristics, because each relies on the other; determining one would result in a change in the other. The reason this all remains theoretical, however, is due to the shortest distance any form of planar travel is capable of being far greater than the proposed distances between Vaapht and neighbouring worlds.
This number varies negligibly between methods and has seen some minor revision with advances in magic and technology, but the shortest absolute distance in planar travel is officially recognised as Zahede’s step, often abbreviated to step in relevant conversation. The longest distance achievable through planar travel is far less constant, and so there is no real standard for measuring it.
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