An Evaluation Of The Rogue Planes

Written By: Eis Vuur Warden, Circa 4E 12
(Historian and Scholar of The Imperial Geographic Society)
==Introduction==
I have written this to be a companion book for my other published work Mortals and Our Special Relationship With The Stars. Ever since I was a hatchling I have always been interested in astronomy, ranging from the constellations to the eight Aedric planets. I have even had the pleasure of visiting both the Orrery in Cyrodiil and its cousin in Hammerfell many times.
During these visits, I once again came across an interesting phenomenon that I have seen only once with my naked eye before – a shooting star. A shooting star is a rare occurrence, and I count myself and any other mortals to have seen one very fortunate indeed. After talking to more experienced cosmologists than myself, I was able to learn much about shooting stars along with what they are truly called: Rogue Planes.
Below I have compiled all information and my own personal theories of the shooting star event for the general public.
==The Rogue Planes==
To give the reader a better perspective on the Rogue Planes, I have written a series of self-answered questions for understanding.
===What exactly are the Rogue Planes?===
The Rogue Planes are independent godly plane(t)s that exist in float freely in the day or night sky. To the more educated citizens, you probably know that the daytime is really the fabric of Aetherius and the night sky is the fabric of Oblivion. The Rogue Planes pass through this space.
===What do you mean the Rogue Planes are ‘independent’?===
The Rogue Planes are independent because they are not connected to the Eight Aedric planets, who represent the Eight Divines and follow a very specific orbit in space. The Rogue Planes themselves are godly, but are not Aedra, and thus do not reside with them.
===Why do we call them ‘shooting stars’ then?===
The Rogue Planes are called shooting stars because of our own silly mortal perceptions. When our eyes gaze upon the infinite spheres of the Rogue Planes moving through Oblivion, our minds translate them as stars traveling through the night sky without care. Because that is what they do.
===How are the Rogue Planes considered godly?===
The Rogue Planes represent and are the gods they are named after, but they are typically neither Aedra or Daedra. Most cosmologists believe that the Rogue Planes come into being whenever a mortal person achieves godhood or becomes the representation for a specific set of ideals. Because their origins are mortal, they float freely as their own plane(t) with its own orbit.
===If Rogue Planes are created by apotheosized mortals, then what about Revenant?===
The Rogue Planes and Revenant have been a subject of hot debate for many years. Not a single cosmologist have heard not the story of the necromancer Mannimarco becoming a god because of the strange ‘Warp in the West’ and his divine form being the moon Revenant, which orbits Arkay. But if we follow the theory on the Rogue Planes, then why isn’t he one? Well, in a way, the King of Worms sacrificed himself in a way similar to the way the Aedra did during the Dawn. He gave vast portions of his own power to aid other necromancers with the Necromancer’s Moon and mocking Arkay, allowing them to practice their art easier during the event. In a shocking and disturbing way, Mannimarco earned his place as an Aedra during the Warp in the West and became one as the God of Worms.
===So if Revenant became an Aedra, what about the Tribunal of Morrowind? Are they Rogue Planes as well?===
The Rogue Planes and the Tribunal is actually easy to explain. For one, they are long since dead. Secondly, Vivec, Sotha Sil, and Almalexia did not become true gods. They stole their divinity from the Heart of Lorkhan, which has since disappeared. Mannimarco, on the other hand, became a deity on his own without using the power of another. Thus, Mannimarco became Revenant and the Tribunal do not have their own cosmic representations.
===Can a Rogue Plane ever hit Nirn? Or one of the other planets?===
The Rogue Planes are infinite planes traveling in an infinite plane, so the chances of one hitting another or any other celestial body is extremely unlikely. However, if something like that would occur, no harm would come of it. Because Mundus is the Mortal Plane, and is thus finite, a Rogue Plane (which is itself an infinite plane) on a trajectory with Nirn would simply phase through our planet without harm because an infinite body can’t exist within a finite body.
===Could I become a Rogue Plane if I gained enough power?===
Once should not think such things. But anything is possible.
==Examples of Rogue Planes==
Some of the most seen or tracked Rogue Planes are also the ones whose mortal lives we know much about, or can speculate about at much.
The first Rogue Plane we shall discuss is Baan Dar, who the Khajiit and the Bosmer know as the Bandit God in Tamriel. He is a very obscure but mysterious deity, but the fact that he has his own plane(t) shows that he was powerful enough as a mortal to become his own god. A very popular theory that cosmologists share with one another is that Baan Dar is the celestial body of the ‘Thief God’ Rajhin, who literally stole his way to heaven. This is supported by the fact that bandits and thieves are similar occupations, and that Rajhin does not have his own individual plane. When his infamous ring rebelled against him, the mortal Khajiit’s body died and his soul rose to take its place amongst the gods. Baan Dar itself is unique as it orbits lazily across the sky, and has been observed to float across the face of a star while one is observing it, ‘stealing’ its spotlight.
The second Rogue Plane is Xarxes, whose state as a Rogue Plane is a very peculiar one. Known as the God of Ancestry and Secret Knowledge, he has ties to both the Aedra and the Daedra. The Mer consider him one of their ancestors, but at the same time he has aided such Daedric Princes like Mehrunes Dagon and Hermaeus Mora. This may be one of the main reasons that he is a Rogue Plane as well as him having once been mortal.
The third and final Rogue Plane we will be discussing in this book was one that we have been stumped on for many years. It wasn’t until a wizened Dunmer mage from Morrowind came to us with his own research notes from ‘a friend’ that we even had a name for it: HRAHNDEYL. I have included this Rogue Plane in this book because it is a good example of a mortal no one has heard of becoming a god without the greater knowledge of the public, which in itself is very interesting.
==In Closing==
I hope that this book was both entertaining and informative to of all those that read it. May you remember these words when you look upwards at the night sky. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll see a shooting star.
Category:Metaphysics
Category:Aurbis
Category:In-Universe
Category:IceFireWarden