Overview

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## Planes of Existence

Aerus is the name of the world in this setting. It is located in the Prime Material plane and is the main location that games take place in.

The various planes of existence float in the vastness of the void, orbiting a central point. In that central point there is an overlap of several planes. The edges of the 4 elemental planes are sandwiched between the positive and negative energy planes, . This convergence of elements, life, and death is in turn shrouded in the planes of Mechanus and Limbo, which are pure order and pure chaos respectively. Prime Material plane is found in the center, at the place where all these aspects are focused. The Prime Material plane is the home of Aerus, the world in which nearly all of our stories are centered.

Surrounding all existence is the Astral plane, otherwise referred to simply as 'The Void'. This infinite immaterial realm is the space between and around the planes, and the home of the gods. Fluctuations in this immaterial space are thought to be the origin of rifts and planar doorways between the planes.

## Effects of the Planes on Aerus

#### Day/Night Cycle

During the creation of the world and its races, Corellon Larethion and his brother Gruumsh dueled each other to settle the hostility between their creations. Corellon bested Gruumsh and took his eye as a prize, casting it far up into the void and banishing Gruumsh to the Elemental **Plane of Fire**. The fiery orb of the eye wanders for eternity, allowing Gruumsh to watch the world and all the planes from afar, but in particular the Prime Material Plane where his Orcs reside, and the Elemental Plane of Water where his brother Corellon makes his home.

On the world of Aerus, the Eye of Gruumsh is the sun, and it travels from the Elemental Plane of Fire in the far east, into the Prime Material Plane, passing through and carrying on into the Elemental Plane of Water to the far west. The eye continues wandering through the plane of water, eventually returning to the plane of fire and carrying on once more into the prime material plane. This endless wandering loop results in the eastward rising sun and westward setting sun that we are familiar with.

#### Seasons

Gruumsh keeps watch over all the connected planes, and so the direction that his eye travels changes throughout the year. Towards the end of the summer season, he begins to look towards the Elemental Plane of Earth, in the far north, resulting in his eye spending less time overall in the Prime Material Plane due to the shorter distance. This results in autumn as the days get gradually shorter, and spring as the days get gradually longer as he brings his focus back towards the west and his brother Corellon. Gradually he will turn his gaze to the Elemental Plane of Air in the far south, marking another autumn and winter cycle on Aerus.

This shifting of Gruumsh's gaze back and forth gives the world it's seasons that we are familiar with, spring, summer, autumn and winter. One quirk of this pattern is that the path of the sun changes every other year. One year it will set towards the north-west during the winter, and the next year it will set in the south-west during the winter. Many cultures will have various holidays, festivals, or religious beliefs that mark these changes from year to year.

#### Magic, and its Sources

Magic comes in two different flavors, generally speaking, Arcane magic and Divine magic.

Divine magic is granted through worship of a god or patron (such as a cleric, paladin, or warlock might do) or by tapping into the primordial essence of the world itself (such as a druid or ranger might). Divine magic is relatively stable and consistent as long as the wielder maintains a good relationship with their god/patron or a harmonious balance with the primordial.

Arcane magic is gained through rituals and study (as in the case of wizards), or inherent talent and willpower (such as sorcerers and bards). In either case, the source of arcane magic is the essences of the planes of existence themselves. Every arcane spell has its source in one of the planes of existence. For example, fire spells draw power from the Elemental plane of fire, darkness and shadow based spells draw from the Shadow plane, and illusion spells draw from the Ethereal plane, and etc.

More powerful spells require drawing on more of the essence of the related plane, and therefore require a creature to be more experienced in study or focused of mind. As such, aside from the elemental types, very high level spells that require enormous effort to tap into are a relatively uncommon sight. High level divine magic is somewhat more common, as the god or patron grants more powers to followers who serve them loyally. High ranking priests and clerics are more common than high level wizards, for example.

#### Elemental Planes of Power

Due to its proximity to the Elemental Planes, elemental magic is extremely common and can be extremely powerful on Aerus. Many people, even otherwise common and unremarkable folk, find themselves able to tap into one ore more of the Elemental planes in at least a small way. Sometimes this manifests in obvious ways, such as the ability to produce a small flame or summon a light gust of wind. Just as often, these powers manifest in more subtle ways, such as being an excellent swimmer, exceptionally light on their feet, or possessing a particularly hardy constitution.

Once in a while, a person or creature will find that it has a particular affinity to a certain type of element, and find that an elemental companion has become drawn to them. These elemental companions show up for some people while they are very young just due to the affinity within them, and to others later in life as a result of them actively using elemental powers. In any case, small elemental companions, while not common, are not rare enough of a sight to raise eyebrows or cause a stir in the world of Aerus.

#### Planar Rifts

Perhaps because the universe needs balance, or perhaps the planes are fundamentally unstable, there are often mystical connections between planes that open up regardless of distance. These connections are known as rifts.

Rifts last for anywhere from 1 to 50 years, and can appear anywhere on the plane. On the world of Aerus, this often means the connection is deep in the ocean, underground, or in the middle of a mountain. As such, while rifts are relatively common, finding the actual connection point is quite rare.

However, as long as a rift is open between one plane and another, magical spells and effects can be enhanced, empowered, or show otherwise more powerful than normal effects. It is usually known among powerful casters when a rift is open, as they notice the effect on their spells, while to the average person it would not typically affect day to day life.

It is unknown how or why exactly rifts open and close, but their effects on the world are generally well understood among the educated and arcane elite.

At the current point in time on the world of Aerus, it is known by some that there are 2 rifts open, to the plane of Nine Hells and the Beastlands. A rift opened recently, but the exact plane that has been connected to has not yet been made common knowledge. The connection points of any of these rifts is currently either unknown or not common knowledge among those who study these things.

The last rift was to the Plane of Shadow, and closed approximately 1 year ago.

## The Moons, Stars, and the Night Sky

#### Moons

Aerus has two moons, Elishar and Toldothi that can be found in the night sky, though most people are only familiar with the former.

Elishar is the goddess of positive energy, healing, and spirituality. She reigns over the Positive Energy Plane from a silver throne of light. Her sister, Toldothi is the goddess of negative energy, darkness, and decay and rules over the Negative Energy Plane, shrouded in shadow and on a throne of deepest black.

Elishar, known as 'the Three Faced Light' actually only has one radiant face, however she is constantly scanning her realm, ever watchful of her sister encroaching on her domain. In the night sky of Aerus, this results in various levels of visibility depending on whether she is facing more towards or more away from the Prime Material plane. When Elishar faces the world, the creatures of Aerus see a full and splendid silvery white light in the sky. When she is facing away, towards another plane, the creatures of Aerus see only a very faint light or no light at all. This constant scanning by Elishar gives us the various phases of the moon that we are familiar with.

Toldothi, known also as 'the Secret Lady' is not well known among the creatures of Aerus. Sitting on her black throne, shrouded in eternal darkness she emits no light. To those who know where to look, she can only be identified in the night sky by an area of pure absence of light. Toldothi remains on her throne and in shadow, always wary of the gaze of Elishar, always plotting against her. Those who can spot Toldothi in the night sky see it as an always full moon, with no phases or variation in size.

#### Stars

When the Eye of Gruumsh passes into the west and the land goes dark, a creature on Aerus can look to the night sky and see uncountable pinpricks of light. Some of these stars form patterns and likenesses of different mythological beasts or heroes, while the overwhelming majority seem placed purely at random. There are a few popular theories and many individual beliefs as to what these lights might actually be.

One theory states that each light is a lost soul, floating in the eternal void of the Astral plane, unable to escape the ether. Sentient creatures that were not pious, or displeased their god and therefore were not taken to the realm of that god. Lost and unwanted, they float forever, each being one of millions of similar souls, but each utterly alone for all time.

Another line of thinking says the reverse, that each light is in fact the soul of a virtuous being, elevated to live among the gods in the outer realms. This is by far the most popular theory among the mortals of Aerus, and of the religious orders in particular, as it is a useful way to motivate people to do good, and have something to aspire to beyond life.

Both these theories have some evidence to support them. Those individuals capable of casting magic powerful enough to visit the Astral plane often report seeing indistinct luminescent shapes that sometimes resemble familiar creatures. These shapes are always unresponsive and elusive and have not been studied closely due to the limitations of being in the Astral plane.

The final theory, least popular, states that each light is a small tear in the fabric of reality. Leftover remnants of pure chaotic energy from the time of creation when all things were still a primordial storm of power. This theory puts forward that each of these tiny tears in reality are slowly mending over the millennia, and will one day all be extinguished, leaving a pure, unbroken void and thus a completely empty night sky. Those scholars who ascribe to this also theorize that once this happens, the void will be strong enough to once again consume all things, destroying all creation, returning to the primordial state and setting off a new era of creation.

No creature on Aerus can claim to know for sure which theory is true, if any, and its unlikely even the gods themselves could give a proper answer to this age old question.

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