The Plaines

### The Levels of Existence

When examining the cosmology of the universe, it is important to note that though there are many varying 'plaines' of existence, they are not connected physically nor are they located in any discernible 'place'. The Plaines are simply seperate spaces where different life or energy resides, some more conceptual than physical. It is because of this that travelling between The Plaines can be so dangerous and difficult, and is considered by most nearly impossible.

#### The Mortal Plaine

The Mortal Plaine is home to all the beasts and creatures that roam the planet Saxum and hypothetically her surrounding planets. Regarded overall as a rather melodramatic and drab place by many of the gods, our story (like most others) takes place there. Fernside itself is just a continent on the planet Saxum, in the galaxy belt that makes up part of The Mortal Plaine...

Many great tales have their origins in and on The Mortal Plaine, but it is the plight of its residence and its residence alone to constantly and incessantly question why their plaine was created and what their purpose is and what The Almighty Creator has in store for them.

#### The Ethereal Plaine

The Ethereal Plaine seemingly exists parallel to The Mortal Plaine. An eerie copy, it appears to be uninhabited but for strange shadows.

Magic that allows the user to teleport onto other plaines will often result in the user being sent to the Ethereal Plaine, and some, truely unlucky creatures have no way to make it back, left to wander a mere mirror of their true world.

As everything is permeated with ethereality, an air-breathing creature could breathe ethereal air and not drown in an ethereal lake nor be crushed by an ethereal rock. However, not all in the adjacent plane is insubstantial. Living things larger than one-celled animals generated an aura that radiated around them and prevented passage to their interior, so an ethereal traveler could not place a weapon inside a living creature where it would materialise and cause damage.

#### The Eternal Plaine

The Eternal Plaine is home to many of the greater gods of the Upper Pantheons of Man, Dwarf and Elf. A simmering, holy place with grand thrones and pristine dinnerware.

The Eternal Plaine is tangible, with imposing palaces of fabulous marble and gold. White silks adorning each of the gods and celestials who exist there. The Eternal Plaine was created by the will of The Almighty creator, and represents their desire to see the gods passion.

#### The Regal Plaine

The Regal Plaine is home to many powerful gods. It exists as a sprawling city, mixing the ultramodern and the traditional, from neon-lit skyscrapers to historic temples.

> 'The skyline is smog and the wind is cold. Rain falls, heavy against the window of the 99th floor. Peering down from the top of the world he watches as a cab pulls up out front. "Looks like trouble" he growls, extinguishing his cigar on the crystal ashtray and adjusting his neck tie. "Better pour out the good stuff."
>
>

The Regal Plaine was created after the god **Oculus** influenced the flow of time in a significant way, creating two seperate plaines where there was once just the one, The Eternal Plaine. While the celestials believed The Regal Plaine to be sacrilegious, as subservient to The Almighty Creator, they turned their backs to it, refusing to acknowledge it. However many gods were intrigued by the new plaine, and travelled to exist there whether it was out of opposition to the almighty creator or because they believed it might bring them some form of entertainment. Usually one might be able to infer about a gods disposition from which of the two plaines they choose to exist on.

#### The Feywilds

A realm born from deep magic, home to the fey and said to be the birthplace of elves. The Feywilds are a twisting forest of lush planets inhabited by The Fey, magical creatures closely tied to the forces of nature. The Fey are often beautiful as are The Feywild, but both are extremely dangerous. The Feywilds have a dome sky of deep purple and green, often filled with pixies and fairy as they scatter the surroundings laughing. The Trees are lined with Nymphs and the Satyr and Firbolgs gods of nature.

#### The Beginning and The End

In The Beginning... In The End... Well those are stories for another time :))

#### Elysium

Said to be the haven for some resting souls, believed to be a myth by most.

#### The Torment

A ghostly, spectral realm beyond tangible perception. The Torment exists somewhere hidden between space and time, created from memories and dreams.

Wisps of ethereal light and energy dance from the floor to the ceiling, revealing the inhabitants most well kept secrets. It takes great power over ones mind to not quickly become part of The Torment, leaving whatever physical body you might have had in order to float between the very fabrics that make up this mysterious place. There appears to be a secret waiting to be uncovered from within the torment, a mystery as to its greater purpose as a meeting place for memories.

#### Yggdrasil: The World Tree

Yggdrasil (aka the world tree) is a giant tree said to join all the heavens with all the hells, passing straight through The Mortal Plaine and all the other plaines of existence.

Legend tells of the mighty **Krusha** who is said to have climbed The World Tree from hell, back to The Mortal Plaine to see his beloved **Tifa** . However Krusha's efforts were in vain as upon returning home he discovered Tifa had been taken by **The Reaper**. So Krusha went back to the world tree and climbed once again, this time upward to the heavens. When he finally made it, **Amora** (the god of love) was so taken by the act that she sent the two back to their realm, to be immortalised in stone, deep beneath the earth.

### The Realms of Hell

The Realms of hell are home to all the demons known to man and are said to be the birth place of the elements.

> "10,000 spinning pillars of flame and an ocean of despair. The tundra of whipping, curling wind and the deep, dark demon lair."
>
>