The Upper Plane

Many scholars prefer calling it the Spirit Plane. The abode of the gods, the resting place of souls. Here lies Heaven and Hell. When a person dies, his spirit slowly drifts upwards, and his body decomposes into elements. If the soul is worthy, it may accompany the spirit and begin a new life beside the gods. Then the spirit becomes the new 'body' of the soul. If the soul is not worthy, then it dissipates. In this case the spirit rises to the upper plane. Then it is cleaned of all signs of its former entity, and used again along with the elemental building blocks to house a new soul. The upper plane lies above Middle Earth and is thought to be made up by regions dominated by temperaments. According to sage Ovanli the plane consists of a neutral or mixed zone in the center and a ring of areas surrounding it. He named the areas in the following way: The central area, in which the Court of Hermes and Bifrost, the bridge to Middle Earth, are located, is called the Outlands. The area in the outer ring in which Valhalla lies is called Ysgard or Gladsheim. Then follows in the ring Limbo, Pandemonium, Abyss, Carceri (or Tarterus), The Gray Waste (or Hades) in which the Tower of Fear rises. Then Gehenna and Baator, where Abaddon resides. Then Acheron, Mechanus (or Nirvana), Arcadia, Mount Celestia and Bytopia, the home of the Ivory Tower. The ring is completed by The Beastlands (or Happy Hunting Grounds) and Arborea (or Olympus). Most historians agree that humans visited the upper plane more frequently in earlier ages. It was known that a hero could go there to petition the gods, especially he could try to bring back the soul of a loved one. But today many miracles are not performed directly by the gods, but are administered by priests. See Nergal.