Planar Cosmology

The universe of Ælworulde works differently to our own.

The cosmology of Ælworulde is made up primarily of cosmic elemental disks known as planes. These planes float in an endless ocean of aether called the Astral sea. When two or more planes meet they are pulled together by an Allmagic force and they begin to intersect, merging into what is known as a planar system. The combination of elements that results from the merging disks is what creates a material world which can be inhabited by living creatures.

Ælworulde is the planar system on which the game focusses, though there are potential ways to travel to a nearly infinite number of others.

## Elemental planes

The center of the world is much like our own. There is land, water, air, light, everything needed to sustain life as we know it. But this land is only formed by the merging of the elemental planes. Beyond the habitable zones known as the Innerlands and the Outerlands, the elemental planes stretch on as far as the eye can see in every direction. To the north, the plane of air, to the East, the plane of water, to the South, the plane of earth, and to the West, the plane of fire. Between them lie “in-between zones” known as Interplanes. These are ice, ooze, magma and smoke. All of these planes co-exist and are navigable by regular means of latitude and longitude. The further you travel into each elemental plane, the less contained, and more ‘raw’ each of these elements become. This distant ring is known as the elemental chaos.

## Energy realms and the Magisphere

    Every plane in the astral sea is contained within a sphere of energy called the Magisphere. This sphere is made up of two hemispheres known as energy lenses. These lenses are formed from Allmagic that has gathered and taken on a positive or negative nature. In every Magisphere, there is a positive energy lens known as the Posilens and a negative energy lens known as the Antilens. Each of these lenses emits energy, and it is the balance of positive and negative energy that allows a plane to form inside of the sphere.

### Midrealm

At the centre of the Magisphere's vertical axis, where the positive and negative forces are most balanced, is the Midrealm. This is the place where most races live relatively normal lives. With the Allmagic force that holds the world together perfectly balanced, all energy and matter are in a stable state.

### Posirealm

In the upper portion of the Magisphere is the positive energy realm or 'Posirealm'. In this place, the forces of each elemental plane become exponentially stronger the closer you come to the Posilens itself until they are raging torrents of unbearable force. All matter within is torn apart and nothing can hold its form for more than a moment.

Lower down though, the Posirealm is much like the Midrealm. Matter exists, creatures are able to survive, and it is even home to a material level known as the Feywild. The only defining difference is that the positive force of the Posilens is much stronger, so everything is more energetic. Magical reactions, weather, emotions, everything is faster, stronger, and more volatile here.

### Antirealm

In the lower portion of the Magisphere is the negative energy realm or 'Antirealm'. Here all forces and energy become weaker and weaker the closer you get to the Antilens until they reach a state of placid stillness. In these depths, energy is pulled from matter. There is no light, no sound, no movement, and no time. If a traveller were to somehow reach this place, they would feel their very life drain from them. Upon taking a step they would find that the air refuses to move around them as if they were moving through molasses. Their voice would not travel more than a foot, and as they stood unable to move, speak, or even breathe, all energy would be pulled from their body until they simply ceased to exist.

But higher up, much like in the Posirealm, things are not so dire. The Antirealm is home to a material level know as Shadowfell. In this area, there is another whole world bathed in dingy darkness and eerie quiet. Light from magic and torches as strangely dim as energy is pulled from them, there is little to no weather and time moves slowly. All the same, this area is still home to many creatures and sentient races.

## Material Levels

Within the Magisphere there are three primary material levels. These are essentially disks of matter that make up livable worlds. As mentioned above, these disks are formed from the merging of elemental planes, and at their center is a balanced world containing all primary elements.

Each of the disks contains many kinds of varying terrain, and there are earthen bridges, pillars, and mountains and even trees that link the three levels together, though they don't need these for support as gravity is a much more abstract magical force than in our own world.

### Midrealm

This name refers both to the area where energy is balanced and stable, as well as the primary material level that exists there. It is a relatively normal world full of life and magic.

More info: Midrealm

### Feywild

If you were to travel up, higher into the Posirealm you would find the upper material level known as the Feywild. This plane is much like the Midrealm, all of the elements are balanced, but there is more energy in the world. Spirits and fey creatures that thrive on that energy are much more abundant than in the material plane, and forces are more volatile.

More info: Feywild

### Shadowfell

If you were to travel down, beneath the ground of the Midrealm, eventually you would reach Shadowfell. Being deeper into the antirealm, this is a bleak and desolate place full of decay and death. Many darker spirits and dæmons abide in the murky shadows of this plane, making it a hazardous place for adventurers.

More info: Shadowfell

## Para-planes

Para planes are atypical, abnormal, and nonmaterial planes. They act like other planes in some ways, but not in others.

### Ethereal plane

This plane has no space nor time, it is the only plane to have no form of direction and is not navigable by any directional means. At the same time, this plane is connected to and covers every other plane and can be used to travel between them (including planes in other planar systems). This is where spirits travel when they die, as well as where many forgotten gods reside. It is possible to use this plane to travel between other planes in an instant, though because no matter can exist in this place, while someone is in the ethereal plane they become ethereal.

### Shadow plane

Much like the ethereal plane, the shadow plane covers and is connected to all other planes within the planar system, though the shadow plane does contain matter, and is also connected to all points in time. It is a dingy realm that is constantly shifting as it flows between planes and thus no precise map of it exists, but skilled Planar Cartographers can make enough sense of it to guide others through, allowing them to use it to travel from place to place (and time to time) in an instant. The shadow plane can only be accessed by the use of magic, though the natural flow of magical energy between planes does occasionally open gateways from the shadow plane to the elemental planes all over the material world.

### Immaterial plane

The Immaterial plane is the most abstract. It is essentially a plane made entirely of raw magic. Because it has not taken any elemental form, the Immaterial plane cannot interact with the rest of the material world the same way other planes can. Instead, it is linked to the consciousness of every sentient creature within the planar system. Some believe that is is the very reason that sentience exists. But this link can have some strange effects. The magic within this plane responds to the thoughts of sentient creatures and can conjure physical manifestations of their thoughts. On top of this, the Immaterial plane is inherently random, occasionally causing strange events in the physical world for seemingly no reason at all.

While it is not a physical space, this plane is capable of creating and hosting matter, and so it is possible to enter and exit the Immaterial plane, though openings to it usually only exist long enough for something to travel from there to the material world and the space inside is extremely volatile.

More info: Immaterial Plane, Time

## Astral sea

Beyond the ring of elemental chaos, and outside the Magisphere lies the astral sea. An endless sea of æther, the astral sea is the “space between” planes and planar systems. If you were to travel out far enough from your homeworld, beyond the elemental chaos and far through the astral sea, eventually you would reach the Magispheric edge of a new planar system, host to another entire world.