Fractal Realms

**Fractal Realms** (also sometimes known as *Divine Realms*) are pockets of condensed arcana floating in The World Stream. They are typically the home of Prime or Ascended deities, and are the outermost planes of existence considered part of Ygdren's unique cosmology.

## List of Fractal Realms

Very few mortals visit the fractal realms and return to tell the tale. Crossing the multitude of planar barriers to the outer planes requires an incredible amount of power, which is rarely achievable by most mortal folk. As a result, descriptions of most Fractal Realms are based on a combination of mythology, visions granted by various deities, and other forms of divination. Some Fractal Realms, normally those associated with death deities, draw the souls of the dead to them under some condition or another, but this is not the case for all the pocket realms.

### The Ardent Citadel

Divine realm of The Allfather. A landscape of rolling hills and open meadows, encased in perpetual sunlight that emanates from a vast, gorgeous tower that rises atop the tallest hill of the domain. The tower forms part of a magnificent royal hall built of resplendent white wood and marble, inside of which sits the deity himself atop a golden throne, served by his legion of Solari, who tend to the hills and fields and guard the realm against hostile entities in The World Stream. Only the most loyal and most faithful of souls are taken to the Ardent Citadel; those who have served The Allfather's tenets and sought justice and truth with every fibre of their being.

### The Ashenfade

Divine realm of The Ashmaiden. A colourless landscape with no sun, moon, or stars; only inky black sky. All things look as though the colour has leeched out of them, and even the brightest of flame seems dull. Perpetual snowfall encases the plains and forests, but what at first seems to be snow is soon revealed to be ash. A winding river of liquid arcana twists through the realm, starting in the vast grasslands of ash, passing through hills, crags, and leafless forests leading toward a cliff over which the river cascades into The World Stream. A fortress rises at the very edge of the cliff, amidst a field of talon-like spires of black crystal. Pale blue liquid tumbles over the granite spires and minarets of the fortress to join the waterfall below, liquid memories of the souls that wander endlessly in the realm. All souls that are not claimed by the other realms are sent to this place.

### The Astral Void

A hole of infinite nothingness within the torrent of The World Stream where no liquid arcana passes and no creatures dwell. Pocket planes, wormholes, and certain forms of teleportation often pass through this space, but if someone is unlucky enough to get stuck within it, it is near impossible to retrieve them or even locate them again within the void.

### Avalon

Divine realm of The Grailknight and The Silversong.

### The Blightwaste

Divine realm of The Sporemother. A landscape of decay and rot, stacked high with hills of fungus and moss. The air hangs heavy with spores that form a perpetual fog which floats throughout the entire domain and converges unnaturally on any mortal prey foolish enough to enter the wastes. At the centre of the plain is a massive palace built out of a multitude of mushrooms, interconnected with countless bridges, tunnels and chambers that form a seemingly endless maze. In the central, largest chamber of the palace sits the Rot Throne, where The Sporemother watches over her domain through the clouds of spores that encase it.

### The Corpse Hall

Divine realm of The Bannerlord. A war-torn landscape bathe in a magnificent aurora, with grassy fields littered with forgotten relics and the ancient bones of great beasts and monstrosities that are let into the domain from The World Stream only to be met in battle by legions of Einherjar, the souls of those who have died in the most glorious and honourable of combat and wish to continue their existence in an endless cycle of war and merriment. Towering statues of the greatest of these heroes are dotted across the battlefield, many crumbling and razed as they are forgotten, while new ones periodically rise to take their place. In the centre of the realm, atop of a heavily fortified hill surrounded by a wall made of these same statues, is a gigantic stone hall where the Einherjar spend hours feasting and drinking before the earth-shattering battles they partake in when called upon.

### Duskmeadow

Divine realm of The Eventide. One of four interconnected divine realms known as *the Fey Realms*, the others being the Glen of Mirrors, the Fellwild, and the Thornwood.

### Elysium

Divine realm of The Earthmaven. A lush landscape of flowering trees and swathes of tulips, vast forests of gigantic towering trees, and fertile fields of wheat and grass, amidst a branching maze of gentle rivers that split and reform countless times. The air is filled with a natural perfume and thriving with birdsong and the rustling of leaves in a soft calming breeze. The weather is that of a perpetual beautiful sunny spring morning, with a few wisps of cloud moving listlessly across the sunless sky. Gentle and loving souls are gathered to this realm to spend their days living in prosperity, tilling the fields and nurturing the life that thrives everywhere in this realm.

### The Fellwild

Divine realm of The Fey Huntress. One of four interconnected divine realms known as *the Fey Realms*, the others being the Glen of Mirrors, Duskmeadow, and the Thornwood.

### The Glen of Mirrors

Divine realm of The Turnfeather. One of four interconnected divine realms known as *the Fey Realms*, the others being the Fellwild, Duskmeadow, and the Thornwood.

### The Jade Sea

Divine realm of The Jade Tyrant. A vast stormy ocean frozen entirely into jade. Towering waves and crumbled remnants still shift and crack with hidden currents, breaking and reforming. Warped jade aberrations, mutated from pure arcana, lurk in the unforgiving landscape, preying on each other and on those who might travel here. At the centre of the barren waste, in a nest made of shattered jade and hoarded treasures, the gigantic dragon god sleeps, a magical slumber induced by The Skyweaver to keep her destructive spawn at bay.

### Laeryndwell

Divine realm of The Emberveil. Known also as the *Dreampools*. A complicated landscape of rocky pools, winding brooks, and twisting mists that reflect arcane light into a splendid perpetual aurora. Where it begins and ends is a mystery, seemingly infinite at times and closing off into dead ends and isolated islands at others. The water of the pools is a strange ethereal mixture of purples, greens, blues, and reds, reflecting stars despite no sky being visible. It is said that looking into the pools can give one glimpses into potential futures and distant pasts, answering questions with tantalising scraps of information that can drive lesser men mad.

### The Mist

Home to the Vashta Mor, microscopic carnivorous beings that live in swarms, millions strong. They feed on arcane energy, tearing apart flesh, bone, and any other material to consume the arcana within. In large enough numbers, they can strip a creature to a husk within milliseconds.

### Oblivion

Divine realm of The Sovereign. Of the realms that border The Slip, this realm is the closest, tethering on the very edge and held afloat solely by the five astral chains that anchor it to The World Stream. The chains are bound to a massive central floating wedge of land, circular in shape, on which rises the great stronghold of devilkind. A spectacular fusion of gothic architecture and granite structures of war, palaces and barracks and foundries, under a roiling black sky punctuated with plumes of arcane flame, split into five sectors. Each sector is governed by one of the five archdevils, who are tasked with the protection and upkeep of the astral chain that is tethered at the centre of that sector. Should any one falter, the entire stronghold may fall into the abyss. At the very centre of the stronghold rises the Sovereign's own citadel, a grand tower of molten gold and basalt that draws all eyes to it, from which he watches his domain and accepts tribute from the grand hierarchy that serves him. Around the entire fortress city rises a massive bulwark of black granite, bearing five great portals that lead directly into The Slip, where legions of devils sally forth each day to cull the hordes of demons that swarm beyond, and recover the demon cores that are vital to the upkeep of the chains and the stronghold's continued existence.

### The Obsidian City

A sprawling metropolis built entirely out of volcanic rock and warped steel. The city is a broken maze of metal ramparts and crude buildings, built into miles of cliffs and steep hillsides. Most of the buildings climb for many storeys in a haphazard jigsaw of ancient and modern. Collapsed towers crumble in the steaming dust only for new buildings to be built amidst their ruins. Multitudes of different styles of architecture and strange otherworldly constructions frame an endless labyrinth of twisting alleyways and ill-kept streets. The air is boiling, distorting with intense heat as steam and smoke rises from the very paving, and a haze of ash and embers drifts through the air. The city is unique as a planar hub with connections to all the other realms, home to creatures and entities of all kinds, from devils and astral aberrations to brave wandering mortal souls. There are no gods or kings here; no laws to govern the chaos, and the city thrives amidst the anarchy and lawlessness of its nature.

### Ranchor

Divine realm of The Cinder King. A blasted, charred landscape of mud and gore. Layer upon layer of shattered ruins, broken weapons and armour, abandoned corpses and bleached bones, and a mire of black rivers made of thick viscous liquid that radiates arcane power. Everywhere is evidence of past and recent carnage, a battlefield unlike any other. It is littered with the souls of those damned in combat, caught in an eternal war against the horrific monstrosities that seep out of the waters, leaking through from The Slip. The waters are said to wind and twist until all hope of direction is lost, and even tasting or touching the "water" is enough to shatter a creature's will. Roaming across the battlefield are massive flying fortresses, tall and slender like jagged nails, built of basalt and lined with blackened metal, with countless thousands of tortured creatures chained to the outside, their screams echoing across the war-ridden realm. Cannons and other engines of war line the balconies and ramparts, and those that serve the king dwell within.

### The Soulforge

Divine realm of The Dawnhammer. A landscape of rocky mountains climbing towards a single central volcano, at the heart of which is the forge of souls which Yohr toils within for eternity. The forge feeds off the bubbling lava that cascades through the entire volcano, tumbling over a myriad of obsidian tunnels and chambers, and culminating at the central hall, where a gigantic anvil ablaze with soulfire stands, and The Dawnhammer forges souls into stars. Dwarves believe that their souls end up in this realm when they die, but only if they are buried in uncut stone near a mountain peak in a special ritual that leaves the stone unblemished.

### The Sunless Dominion

The abyss beyond the edge of all light, home to The Evermoil.

### The Thornwood

Divine realm of The Kindred. One of four interconnected divine realms known as *the Fey Realms*, the others being the Glen of Mirrors, Duskmeadow, and the Fellwild.

### The Vault of Glass

Divine realm of The Skyweaver. A strange and complex landscape made of crystalline minerals and pillars of glass. It resembles a gigantic cathedral, but one shaped to perfection from the mind of a being far older than any other. Beams of light cascade and refract through the crystal, allowing no shadow to linger in the rainbow of spectral colours that infuses the entire domain. Amidst the myriad chambers of the vault, The Skyweaver rests, buried beneath a shifting mound of translucent gems and shattered glass.

### The Wandering Isle

Divine realm of The Wayfarer. A sunny and blissful landscape, with a labyrinth of thick woodland, ancient ruins, nooks and crannies, all atop a giant astral leviathan. Unlike other realms, the island wanders through The World Stream and moves at the whim of The Wayfarer, collecting anything that is lost or trapped within the turbulent currents of the arcane river. The island is littered with hundreds of thousands of trinkets and artefacts, and sometimes even lost souls, dating back to the dawn of the cosmos.