Planes

## Material Plane

The **Prime Material plane** is the plane in which Vari and the surrounding cosmos exists. The phrase "Prime Material plane," or simply the "Prime," is generally used by beings from other planes in the multiverse, or by those studying the cosmos.

The **Prime Material plane** consists of an infinite expanse, within which floats immense crystal spheres, each enclosing an entire system of one or more worlds. Specific conditions vary greatly from one crystal sphere to another, but they are all considered to be part of the same plane. The mostly empty space contained inside the crystal spheres, known as wildspace, as well as all the worlds that exist within each sphere, are connected to the border of the Ethereal plane. The Ethereal plane serves as a conduit between the **Prime** and the **Inner Planes**. It was also connected to the Astral Plane, which served as a conduit to the Outer Planes. There was no known direct way to travel between the Inner and the Outer Planes, or between the Astral and the Ethereal, that did not pass through the Material Plane first. Similarly, the Prime was the only plane in which spells that required a connection to the Ethereal or the Astral both worked. The Crystal Sphere that contains Vari is known as Verdant.

Being the only plane that intersects both the Ethereal and the Astral, the Prime Material plane occupies an important position as a crossroads of the multiverse, and all other planes are defined in relation to the Prime.

### Vari

Vari is the world upon which the Mainland sits. It has seen countless events that have shaped and twisted the landscape throughout the ages, most recently of note, The Severance. Although the world is thought to be much bigger than the Mainland, since the Severance most of known civilisation now resides here. Vari has three moons in orbit, though Cirila is considerably larger than the two smaller moons **Jutrar** and **Kemazar**. During the early moments of creation,

### Emor

Emor is the world from which The Stelthorne family originate. It saw multiple world threatening events in a short space of time, including Acererak's Death Curse, Orcus's invasion attempt and the rebirth an old god. It is unclear what the state of **Emor** is at this time, but it is thought to be a world now filled with war as the puppets of an old god fight against those that wish to defend their freedom.

### Exandria

Exandria exists in a Material Plane, although it features connections to other planes of existence, such as the portals to the elemental planes guarded by the Ashari. This is the world from which Umbra Venatores originated, before finding themselves stranded in Barovia.

### Toril

Toril is the world from which The Valdane family originate. In the world of **Toril** sits the continent of **Faerun**, which houses the famous adventuring locale the **Sword Coast**. The cities of **Waterdeep**, **Baldurs Gate** and **Neverwinter** all exist here. **Toril** is orbited by one moon named **Selûne**, and by a cluster of asteroids, known as the Tears of Selûne.

## Echo Planes

### **Feywild**

It overlaps the Material Plane. So much so that some consider it an "echo" of the Prime Material Plane, suffused with potent magic and unrestrained emotion. It is the place from which fey originated, and from where the first elves were conceived by Vari.

### **The Shadowfell**

It exists as sort of counterpart to the **Feywild,** in the sense that it is a reflection, or "echo", of the Prime Material Plane. Unlike the Feywild, it was a bleak, desolate place full of decay and death.

#### **Domains of Dread**

Sometimes collectively known as the **Demiplane of Dread** or **Ravenloft**, the domains a series of demiplanes located in a remote corner of the **Shadowfell**. Known demiplanes are as follows:

* Barovia - The dread realm of Count Strahd von Zarovich
* **Darkon**, the largest Domain of Dread, ruled over by the lich-king **Azalin.**
* **Forlorn**, the smallest of the Domains of Dread, and **Jander Sunstar's** place of residence after he left Barovia.
* **Sri Raji**, a jungle domain filled with dangerous tigers and ruled over by the rakshasa **Arijani**.

## Inner Planes

The four elemental planes—one each for Air, Fire, Earth, and Water—plus the two energy planes—one for positive energy and one for negative energy—make up the six major Inner planes.

### Elemental Plane of Air

This plane is the most hospitable to beings from the Primes because the substance of the plane was breathable and travel was fairly easy. The whole plane looks like the bluest sky on a summer day with only the occasional cloud or storm indicating the intrusion of some other element into the constant wind that is the Plane of Air.

### Elemental Plane of Fire

The Plane of Elemental Fire is a hellish place, filled with all manner and colour of flame from the candle to the white-hot glow of heated steel, all burning without fuel and radiating light and heat at maximum levels. The evil efreet and their fabled City of Brass resides here.

### Elemental Plane of Earth

More inhospitable than even the Plane of Fire, the Plane of Elemental Earth is so solid that movement is nearly impossible unless a traveler could find a pocket of some less dense element or use magic to force an opening or permit them to walk through solid material.

### Elemental Plane of Water

An ocean without a surface, the Plane of Elemental Water has uniform pressure in all directions and feels like being several feet below the surface of a typical body of water in a Prime Material Plane, and indeed was illuminated with the same soft light of that depth.

### Positive Energy plane

Also known as the **Positive Material plane** and the **Plane of Life**, every atom of this plane vibrates with intense energy and produces light across a wide spectrum. An unprotected traveller, if continuously exposed to the energies of this plane, would at first be healed of any wounds, then the cells of the body would quickly reach their maximum potential and then explode and become part of the plane, all in a matter of minutes.

### Negative Energy plane

Also known as the **Negative Material plane** or the **Plane of Death**, everything in this plane sucks in all matter and energy creating a cold, pitch dark realm with structures made up of physical, solid blackness. Any unprotected visitor would quickly sicken, shrivel up, and die in mere minutes. Magical light sources can barely penetrate the darkness and non-magical material collapses into dust and joins the black. Many undead draw their animating force from the **Negative Energy plane** which allowed them to drain life force from the living. Orcus once made his home here, before he was destroyed.

## Outer Planes

According to The Consortium, many of the Outer Planes that were once thought to exist are not present within the cosmos and may never have been. Or, something changed during The Severance which adjusted the cosmos significantly. Very little is understood about **The Outerplanes**, except that they are beyond the Divine Gate. Instead, they are categorised as Realms of the Afterlife, through which an understanding can be found.

## The Realms of the Afterlife

* **The Halls of Judgement:** In death, a soul first visits the Halls of Judgment, sitting upon the shores of **Oceanus**, *the great river*, to determine where their souls will spend eternity. Through weighing the evil deeds done by an individual against the good that they have done in Vari, The Arbiter makes the ultimate decision between the realms of the Afterlife swiftly, with no room for reconsideration. From here, the souls are shepherded to one of the following realms, by the whim of The Arbiter and his Valkyrie.

* **Celestia:** Lawful Good. Ruled by the lawful good gods, It is a beautiful kingdom of pristine spires, crystalline skies, floating islands, beautifully clear waters. The seven layers of **Celestia**, *(or Mount Celestia)*, are ordered and purposeful, that each scale a beautiful, perfect mountain. Souls naturally drawn to service are sent here by the Arbiter to examine their lives, cleanse themselves of their burdens, and work toward a state of virtue so they might ascend to serve him as Angels. Each layer glows with its own colour of soft light and each is unique in terrain. It is the realm of Good and Law, Ruled by all the gods that oppose evil and chaos.
* **The Seraphic Pinnacle** - The largest mountain in all of Vari sits at the heart of the Mainland, it is so tall that it's leak reaches up into the clouds and beyond. It is considered the physical manifestation of **Celestia** upon Vari. Even on a clear day, it's peak cannot be seen as it transcends the material plane and reaches into the heavens. Scaling the Seraphic Pinnacle is the only known way for a mortal being to reach the heavens of mount celestia while still alive, but the trials of doing so require heroes and adventurers of legendary renown to overcome.
* + **Dochas** - Known as the Silver Heaven, is the first layer travellers encounter. The sky of Dochas is a nighttime sky filled with stars that illuminate the layer with a silver glow, this glow over time becomes Incarnum. Then, from his home in Dochas, He Who Weaves Incarnum gently weaves the pure form of magic as it flows through Vari. It is the realm of ordered magic.
	+ **Sonas** - The second layer, Sonas, is known as the Golden Heaven because a warm golden light suffused everywhere. Gentle hills and lush green valleys comprise this layer, with calm roads and gentle rivers. It is also dotted with small settlements of archons and other good-aligned beings, even those that do not align to the ideals of law and order. It is here that Aurelia, She Who Makes the Path, takes up residence in the **Changebringer's Citadel,** despite being a god of chaotic whim. She was granted this home by the pantheon for defeating The Lord of the Nine and banishing him into the nine hells. As she stands as his direct opposition, The Arbiter has declared she is to be protected. It is the realm of happiness.
	+ **Geal** - The third heaven, also called the Pearly Heaven, or The Heaven Song,, is a lush and verdant land with crops, meadows, moors, hills, and rolling countryside all bathed in the soft glow from a sky reminiscent of the luster of white pearls and It is the realm of song. The Spoken Word makes Gael his home.
	+ **Athenium** - The fourth layer, also called the Athenium of Reminiscence or The Crystal Heaven has a sky that glows like burnished silver. Its valleys are enveloped in mist, fog, and strange scents, with roiling hills of lush verdant life. Trees and plants flower as crystals and gems, which contain thoughts, moments and memories of the people who walk by them. It is the realm of memories. She Who Remembers makes the Athenium of Reminiscence her home.
	+ **Platina** - With a sky not too different from Atheneum's, the fifth layer is known as the Platinum Heaven. Vast plains and savannas serve as the mustering ground for paladins and other lawful good servants. It is the realm of duty.
	+ **Lapides** - The sixth layer was known as the Glittering Heaven or the Heaven of Gems. Its hills were studded with precious gemstones that glittered in the light. This layer was actually a vault lined floor to ceiling with huge rubies and garnets that gave off a glow like a hearth fire. It is the realm of nobility.
	+ **Chronias** - The topmost and final layer of Celestia, Chronias is called the Illuminated Heaven. Chronias's sky glows of its own accord and any who entered are able to see entities they wish to watch over upon all other layers of Celestia, or the mortal realm of Vari. It is thought to be the ultimate goal of the inhabitants of Celestia to ascend the layers one by one in order to reach Chronias, where their souls would join with the essence of the plane itself. He Who Spawned the Furies makes this place his home, but due to his transgressions in the past, he operates under the watchful eye of The Arbiter.
* **Arborea** Chaotic Good and Neutral Good. Also known as The Beastlands or The Great Tree, is the arbiter's hunting grounds. Each of the three layers is vast and densely forested, but included habitats for all manner of natural creatures: mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, invertebrates, and their giant varieties. The main feature was the **Avus Abor**, *(the Grandfather tree)*, who's roots extend beneath Arborea down into the **Nightweald**, and branches reach up into **Dochas**, in **Celestia**. It is Avus Abor that bridges these three realms and holds them together.

* **The Nightweald** - Chaotic Neutral and Neutral Good. The Forest of the Slumbering Fey, sometimes referred to as **Vari's Heart**, is a realm of the afterlife founded by She Who breathes Life and inhabited by the the souls of fey. An enchanted, mystical forest of rest and hibernation, **The Nightweald** is where Wild Gods and other spirits of nature travel upon death, to rest. It is thought that The Rime Song specifically calls Elves to **The Nightweald**. The vast forests of The Nightweald serve the natural aspects of life and death. Its wilds are a sanctuary for the great spirits of nature that seek respite and renewal before awakening to join the cycle anew. The Nightweald and the Feywild are opposite blooms connected to the same tree. If the Feywild is the personification of Life in the waxing stage, then **The Nightweald** is life when it is waning. It serves as an afterlife for mortal souls who shared a close bond with the natural cycle, like druids, barbarians, rangers, elves, goblins, the verdant sphere, worshippers of Vari and so on.
* **Oceanus** - True Neutral The wide, slow-moving, and mostly navigable river Oceanus flows from the **Nightweald** and then on to the **The Black Citadel.** Upon the banks of the river are structures which serve as monasteries for many monks and clerics to neutral gods. The Halls of Judgement sit upon the shores of Oceanus.
* **The Black Citadel** - Lawful Neutral. A realm of looming keeps and gothic villages, at the heart of which lies **A Black Citadel**. Here, the harvesters of sin await the wretched souls who arrive and trust that they may find penance for their misdeeds. It represents the heart of the Afterlife's military might. It is home to wicked beings like vampires, necromancers and abominations, most of which are not entirely evil. Relentless, warlike souls who never yield and are willing to strive against one another for greatness are welcomed here by those who rule it, and the greatest of them are reformed by necromancers into undead soldiers who defend the Citadel and all other realms of **The Afterlife** from external forces and wage war on the enemies of death. As a realm of unending conflict, it is a place of brutality and bravery where its chosen are forged by the fires of war to answer a great calling, whatever that calling may be. The Marked Warrior rules over The Black Citadel and its denizens.
	+ **The Black Citadel** shares borders with The Nine Hells. The River Styx both starts and ends within the Black Citadel, after crashing down the Obsidian Falls, falling from **Superbia.** The waters of the Styx flood the seemingly endless moats around the citadel. The river sprouts from these moats when it overflows and rushes off back into the nine hells through Ira.
* **The Nine Hells** - Lawful Evil. The Realm of Evil Law and Devils, Ruled by Mephistopheles, The Lord of the Nine, Each of the layers of hell is based upon a sin and has its own ruler.
	+ **Ira** - The first, based upon the sin of Wrath. The main battlefield of the Blood War within the **Nine Hells**. Also known to some as **Avernus**. The Riverstix enters Ira from **The Black Citadel** and leaves again to flow through the **Abyss**, before returning back through Ira again and then on to **Acedia**. This layer is Ruled by Zariel
	+ **Acedia** - The second, based upon the sin of Sloth.
	+ **Tristitia** - The third, based upon the sin of Sorrow
	+ **Luxuria**- The fourth, based upon the sin of Lust
	+ **Avaritia** - The fifth, based upon the sin of Greed.
	+ **Gula** - The sixth, based upon the sin of Gluttony.
	+ **Invidia** - The seventh, based upon the sin of Envy
	+ **Vangloria** - The eighth, based upon the sin of Vainglory
	+ **Superbia** - The ninth, based upon the sin of Pride. The Lord of the Nine's personal seat of power.

* **The Abyss** - Chaotic Evil. The Realm of Evil Chaos and Demons. Ruled by Mazrek, The Lord of Destruction. It is estimated the Abyss has 666 layers but it could well be an infinite number. The stronger seek to dominate the weaker and the weaker conspire to overthrow the stronger. All that exists within the Abyss seeks to destroy everything else.

## Anomalous Planes

Though most planes are described by the cosmological model, there are some exceptions that do not have a clear place in any known cosmology. These planes exist in unknown, nigh unreachable places and only a few well-informed scholars even truly know of their existence. These planes might drift distantly in one of the fundamental planes or lie entirely outside of the World Axis or any of the other models. These planes often do not follow the same physical laws as do the other planes and are immensely inhospitable.

* **Mechanus:** It consists of only one layer where everything is in perfect order: equal parts light and dark, heat and cold, and equal measures of the four elements.
* **Arcadia:** The trees of Arcadia grow in neat forests and regimented orchards. The bark is either copper, gold, silver, or iron, and the never-falling leaves range from dark green to fire red. The fruit from these trees has magical properties like potions when consumed.
* **Oblivion** - A transitive plane that exists in the space behind reflective surfaces, just beyond the mirrored veil. The theory that a mirror reflects based upon light striking it is wrong; mirrors hold their own magic and allow creatures to view a reality that exists alongside the one they know. Oblivion is a secretive plane, once unknown to most inhabitants Vari, until its existence was discovered by published by Magistrix Adna Azurevale of the Consortium. Some mad prophets and doomsayer's claim that The Mirrored Oblivion awaits beyond the mirrored veil.
* **Pandemonium** - The entire plane was made of passages and caverns seemingly carved from solid rock by the constant howling wind and wind-driven rivers.
* **Acheron** - The infinite battlefield has four layers, each consisting of huge blocks of hard black iron-like material, the size of nations floating in a sea of air. The blocks would slowly collide and part without causing any upheaval or tremor, allowing beings to move to a new block if desired. The dance of the blocks was carefully orchestrated and creatures of high intelligence could usually discern a pattern for an area by studying the motions. It was said gravity pulled toward the centre of the blocks but in practical terms gravity was normal to each surface.

## Astral Plane

The Astral plane is described as infinite nothingness interrupted only by small islands of material that broke off from their native planes and occasional spinning columns of astral conduits (called *wormholes* or *gates* and resembling water spouts from a storm at sea). The Astral plane connects the various **Prime Material Planes** with each other and to the first layers of all the **Outer planes**.

## Ethereal Plane

Each Prime Material plane has its own Ethereal plane in which nothing is solid, including living creatures, their possessions, weapons, and armor. All metal becomes ethereal metal, flesh becomes ethereal flesh, stone ethereal stone, *etc*. The Ethereal touches its Prime at all points and binds it to the Inner planes, but the connections are not abrupt transitions like to/from the Astral plane but rather a gradual process in what is called the Border Ethereal. If you consider the Ethereal to be an ocean, a person in the Border Ethereal would be standing in the surf near the shore, invisible to those on land but able to see them and their surroundings dimly. One could travel along the shore, staying in the surf, and step back on land at some other point or move away from the shore toward the Deep Ethereal.

## Far Realm

The Far Realm is a distant and terrifying plane that lay "outside" of the rest of creation. This maddening realm is feared for its power to twist unfortunate visitors into gruesome monsters and it is from here that aberrations come.

## The Void

The void is exactly that. A void. Emptiness. A vacuum that seeks to pull all things towards it and consume it. It is ever expanding as it consumes more of the multiverse around it. It is unclear exactly what the void is, some consider it a god, others a collapsed plane of existence, there are even suggestions that the void is a collection of monstrosities from the outer realms. It exists somewhere between all planes of existence, struggling against their presence and causing ruptures between it and them, known as tears. Nobody knows its origin or its true nature, but the void is all consuming and incredibly destructive.