Plane of Mirrors Geographic Location in Urvén | World Anvil
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Plane of Mirrors

Perfect mimicry, endless repetition and infinite loops.


She stood frozen in place, horror gripping her guts as her muscles refused to move. Her reflection had scratched her with the exact same paralytic toxin that clung to her own knife. Thoughts flashed towards the bag of precious gemstones placed as the mirror wager. Her reflection could get up to a lot of "no good" with those funds back on The Material.

The Plane of Mirrors is a twisted dimension made up of countless shards that lurk behind and interconnect through sufficiently reflective surfaces. Initially, it may seem identical to the original plane a visitor has come from but, if they travel deeper, it becomes a place of impossible geometry and abstract scenery. Travellers are often filled with a sense of unease, especially in "surface" shards, due to how the environment doesn't quite perfectly match that which it reflects.


Planar Geometry

Most travel to the Plane of Mirrors is to a single shard from a mirror in The Material. This shard - the first reflection - is an almost perfect copy of where they have arrived from and extends to cover an area that roughly translates to the space visible in the reflection of the surface used as a portal to the plane. Returning through this portal is a safe way to return to The Material; as a result, it is not uncommon for practiced magic-users to use such a reflection as an additional storage space or hidden chamber. Differences between The Material and its reflection, such as roaming creatures or stored objects, may be briefly, faintly visible to outside observers, especially those with knowledge of the plane.

Transitory Shards

If the origin point on The Material has multiple mirrors (or other reflective surfaces) within line of sight of each other, a creature may pass through a further mirror within the first reflection and travel into deeper sections of the Plane of Mirrors. While they still exhibit traits of the original plane, they are known as the transitory shards. Each further reflection is a worse copy of the one before it: the edges blurring and the geometry changing.

Central Shards

Eventually, usually around 12 shards deep, a traveller finds a location of grey, silver and mist with a layout only very vaguely evocative of where they have come from. It is at this point they have reached the central shards - the domain of mirror creatures and reflective elementals. In the central shards, gravity becomes subjective as pathways and chambers curve and twist impossibly.

The Core of Mirrors

Finally, after another dozen shards, a traveller reaches a central demiplane: the core of mirrors. This location is an immense, hollow sphere made entirely of perfectly reflective surfaces of varying sizes. Each of these surfaces is a portal: a tether to the seemingly endless array of shards that link back to other planes. Particularly plucky adventurers - especially those with planar guides - may make the journey towards the core of mirrors and then utilise a different route back towards the surface in order to arrive in an unrelated location, possibly even on another plane of existence.


Inhabitants and Life

There is little natural life that makes its home on the Plane of Mirrors. Echoes of the life from other planes drift and flicker about while pseudo-elementals, Mirror Mephits and other elemental creatures go about their inscrutable business. The lost reflections of adventurers attempt to find their way back to to The Material in an effort to replace their originals. There are also rumours of a secretive race of beings who can travel between mirrors more freely than visitors to the plane and can disguise themselves by appearing as a perfect reflection of another person.

Travellers to the plane are unlikely to find much in the way of unique, local flora. Transitory shards may include the increasingly warped reflections of natural plants - the reflection an apple tree produces edible fruit - but the products taste "off" to visitors. This property extends back to The Material: a living reflection that leaves the Plane of Mirrors will find all food distasteful.


Notable Features and Events

Duality's Gamble

The mythical reason adventurers wish to travel to the Plane of Mirrors is to take part in Duality's Gamble. In certain places, the focal point of sufficient reflections, a locus forms and a swarming of Mirror Pseudo-elementals forms. Here, a traveller may wager a (non-artifact) possession and fight a almost-perfect clone of themselves. If they win, they receive a mirrored copy of what they wagered. If they lose, they are replaced by their reflection: their alignment is reversed and their original form is only retrievable through true resurrection, a wish or similar magic. To an outside observer, the results of this duel are always ambiguous.


Adventuring Hazards

Shifting Mirrors

Moving a mirror or causing a change in a reflective surface immediately reshapes the Plane of Mirrors. The thick, silvery fog that borders shards shifts to reflect the new edges of what is visible in the original mirror. Objects and creatures that find themselves completely swallowed by the fog are ejected into a random shard of similar depth. This also occurs if a mirror is broken or completely covered up.

Roll 1d4 to determine the destination of travel:

Result Outcome
1 Displaced to a shard connected to a random plane.
2 - 3 Displaced to a shard connected to The Material.
4 Returned to the same shard.

All creatures and objects displaced by one incident of shifting mirrors are sent to the same destination.


Plane Type
Minor
Time
Complex
Gravity
Complex
Magic
Complex
Size
Layout
Varying
Borders
Solid
Typical Alignment
n/a
Natural Thresholds
Mirrors, particularly large or old ones. Breaking a magic mirror.
Afterlife
- none, this plane is the aftereffect of certain magics.
Alternative Name(s)
Srorrim fo Enalp
Location under
Inhabiting Species

Conduit of All Souls
This plane does not connect to the Conduit.

Notable Crafting Materials
  • Copies of materials from ajoining planes.
  • Rules on crafting magic items can be found here.

    Planar Effect
    Returning from the Plane of Mirrors is hindered by its reflective nature. Once within the plane, count the total number of mirrors a creature has travelled through. If this number is odd, methods of leaving the plane - such as the gate spell - fail. It is still possible, however, to use wish, or similar magics, to leave.

    Multiverse Portal


    (a work in progress)


    The Cosmos
    The Astral, The Void, The Material (Urvén)
    Elemental Planes
    Air, Creation, Earth, Entropy, Fire, Water
    Major Planes
    Good (Celestial Wilderness, Edict, The Empyreal Mountains)
    Neutral (The Ordered Realm, Havoc and Tumult)
    Evil (The Abyss, The Desolate Grey, The Hells)
    Minor Planes
    Artistry, Innovation, Justice, Knowledge, Maze, Mirrors, Ooze, Wealth
    Other Concepts and Locations
    Conduit of All Souls


    Cover image: by Antonio López from Pixabay

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