Planes

Written by The Mad Professor The definition of a Plane varies according to who you ask. It covers a wide variety of alternate realms of existence and is often used interchangeably with the words realm or dimension. ==The Plane of Existence== The Plane of Existence is considered to be the realm at the centre of the Multiverse. It is the Plane around which all others revolve. This coveted place at the centre of all things does not come without some measure of risk, many beings are eager to invade the Plane of Existence for the ease with which one can move through to other realms from there. ==The Shifting Realms== Closest to the Plane of Existence are the Shifting Realms. There are a series of them, far from all of them known to scholars on the subject. The Shifting Realms are so close to the Plane of Existence that their existence and ours deform each other. Things occurring in the Shifting Realms may be the cause of strange events on the Plane of Existence and vice versa. The Shifting Realms are not a single Plane and may be referred to by various names. One can interact with them without physically leaving the Plane of Existence. One of the more commonly used ones is referred to as the Spirit Realm. ===The Spirit Realm=== Access to the Spirit Realm may be achieved through prolonged meditation, insanity, substance use and other means. The Spirit Realm allows one to see the Spirits which act on that plane, rather than the shadows of themselves that can be seen on the Plane of Existence. It is assumed by some that those who are seen wandering the streets talking to themselves are actually talking to denizens of the Spirit Realm. The Spirit Realm is known as a bleak shadow of our own, trapped in continual twilight. ===The Dreaming=== A Plane close to the Plane of Existence, this plane can be accessed through dreaming and contains the many nightmares and dreams and wishes of everyone with access to it. Some have conjectured that Mefici and Dae'vol have a separate dreaming, as none of them have ever been found to have entered it. Nonetheless, access to the Dreaming can allow one to access the universal unconsciousness and some try to glean secrets from it by making themselves enter trance states wherein their bodies answer questions, while their minds roam the dreaming. While it is possible to use the Dreaming to access the mind of everyone who ever lived, doing so is difficult in the extreme and rarely returns any kind of favourable results. ==The Alternate Realms== These Planes are alternate versions of the Planes of Existence. Movement to and from them is considered to be extremely hazardous, not to mention difficult. There are Planes where the only difference is reversed gender roles, Planes where the Arameian Empire never collapsed, and Planes where the laws of nature are different or where history has taken different turns. Some are so similar that there is no discernible difference; others again are so different that they may as well have spawned from another Plane. These Planes are sometimes also referred to as Alternates. ===The Cosmarchy of the Naga=== Stretching over no less than five alternate realities, this great empire is constantly seeking new worlds to plunder and rule. The Naga have known of this world since the Snake Wars of 3517. ===The Wastelands=== The Wastelands is an alternate reality that is entirely devoid of any manner of life. Nothing lives there, the only sound that can be heard is the whistling of the wind over the scorched landscape. Magi sometimes use it as a place to store things, though plants wilt there, animals quickly grow ill and even humans find any lengthy stay there very unappealing. Apart from this, the landscape is vaguely similar to that of the Mainlands, though some details are often different. ==The Greater Realms== These are some of the more important and larger realms found throughout the Multiverse, they are mainly known through magical exploration and are the major focus of Summoning magic. ===The Infernal Realm=== This Plane is populated by demons, imps and things of a similar ilk who feed on the pain and anguish of others. The Infernal Realm is constantly shifting due to fighting and wars between the inhabitants of this plane. Nevertheless, they are one of the more popular choices for summoners as they are relatively easy to make deals with. The Infernal Realm is a place of darkness, lit only by the odd burst of fire, where the very ground itself is made up of demons constantly fighting each other. A constant shrieking sound fills the air as demons hurt and maim each other in their fight for dominance. It is generally considered ill advised for visitors to bring with them salt, sources of light, or music. ===The Elemental Realms=== These Planes are constantly at war with each other. The four Elemental Realms are Fire, Water, Air and Earth, and each have their own rulers and their own inhabitants; everything from the gnomes of the Earth Plane, the Salamanders of the Fire Plane, up to the mighty Efreeti and Djinni, lords of their respective Realms. These Realms are also often used by summoners who choose to deal with these inhabitants for good or for ill. ===The Angelic Plane=== This Plane is a vast, silver city wherein beings of pure light live. Despite the vastness of the silver city, finding one's way is easy, with an orderly layout to the streets, to the point where it is said that Emperor Dulcimos tried to alter the layout of the streets of Aram based on drawings he saw of the silver city in his dreams. Though they are powerful, and theoretically the opposite of the demons, they are all but impossible to bargain with as magicians rarely have anything that the beings on this Plane desire. ===The Realm of Faerie=== Faerie is a twisted version of the Plane of Existence and is said to overlap with it at many points. Of the Greater Realms it is the easiest to access and can sometimes be the hardest to leave. Its denizens are rarely outright hostile, but rarely have the best interest of its visitors at heart. ==The Lesser Realms== ===The Void=== This Realm is a place of utter darkness. Its denizens spend whatever time they have left falling in total darkness. Whether there is actually anything to fall to or not is not known as no one is ever known to have landed. Being consigned to the Void is one of the harshest penalties known to man and those who live in the Void are usually known to be the worst of criminals. Few summoners dare to bring anything in from the void. ===The Labyrinth=== The Labyrinth is never the same twice; it is an ever twisting series of corridors where people have been known to get lost more than once. It can go from being a hedge maze to an underground labyrinth to a maze of mirrors and everything and anything in between. The Labyrinth stubbornly resists any kind of mapping and those few daring souls who have tried exploring it have done so in vain. It resists markings of any kind and houses nothing but travellers who are trying to find their way to the centre where a fabulous treasure is rumoured to be held. The Labyrinth is dotted with the corpses of those who have tried and failed to find their way out again. Though edible fruit does grow in the Labyrinth, finding it can be tricky and most starve to death when their supply runs out. ===The Inn=== The Inn has many names, some call it the Inn at the End of the World, though it carries no relation to either the end of the world in terms of time or space, it is its own place. Others call it the Inn with Wings. The plane is a giant inn, stretching to accommodate however many visitors is required, yet always appearing no larger than a simple country inn. the Inn always has enough tables, beds, food and drink to serve those who visit, though it may occasionally find itself short of waiters. The Inn is considered a place of refuge, where people may wait out bad storms and harrowing reality cracks while enjoying some good stories and some good food and ale. Those who enter the Inn enter it for all manner of reasons, but cannot use it to flee from their problems. The Inn offers safe refuge and postponement, nothing less; upon leaving the Inn everyone would be returned to the place where they left off. Nonetheless, many have stayed at the Inn for years, earning their keep by waitering before they return to their own reality. It is rumoured that one can live forever in the Inn and never age as long as one does not leave it, though given that time in the Inn is not subject to time on any other Plane, the value of doing it to prolong one's life is limited. ==The Divine Realms== These realms are the homes of the Gods. They are many and different, far from all of them are known to the scholars of the Plane of Existence, some, however, are. ===The Plane of Market=== Elron's home plane is a giant marketplace, the exact size of which is uncertain, some say it stretches out forever. Regardless of how large it is, the Plane of Market is always filled to brimming with interplanar merchants. It has been suggested that the size of the Plane is dependant on how many are actually present in it at any given time. Elron himself is sometimes called upon to settle market disputes and can often be found wandering the marketplace, not actually purchasing anything but offering advice and aid to the merchants there. Some say that secret entrances to the Plane of Market can be found in the most successful of marketplaces and businesses and are a carefully kept secret by those merchants who know of them. ===The Planes of Life and Death=== No one is entirely sure if this is one Plane or two separate planes constantly revolving around each other. One is filled with life and constantly brings new things into existence, whereas the other constantly moves to encroach on this, causing life there to end, but with each moving on each other it is a manichean struggle which neither side wants to or tries to win. All that is created on the Plane of Life is eventually covered by the Plane of Death and the barren straits of the Planes of Death are eventually filled with Life in this eternal dance. ===The Lost Realm=== This twisted plane, filled with ruins, ghosts and other shadows of things passed is believed to be the home plane of a now deceased or lost god. Without its patron the plane is slowly crumbling and disappearing, a process which may take thousands of years to complete. It is a hostile place, where nothing living can stay for any length of time. Plants planted here cease to grow. Those unfortunate enough to chance upon this realm are advised to leave it as soon as they can. ==The Farther Realms== These Planes exist far beyond the Plane of Existence and are rarely seen or interacted with. Much about them remains the stuff of myth and legend. ===The Fiddler's Green=== Described as a pastoral paradise, the Fiddler's Green is one of the Farther Realms. Some suggest that the only place to get to them is to die. There is hard evidence to the contrary, though people thought dead have been found in the Farther Realms. ===The Akashic Library=== According to the legends, this plane was once much easier to access than it is now. It takes the shape of a vast library, which goes on forever. There are many tales of those who have become lost in the library, entire ecosystems based around bookworms. Lacking any form of overseer the life in this library has long since gone wild and dangerous, with the Librarians now nothing more than faint and insubstantial shadows. The Library is said to contain knowledge on everything, which is why many try to access it. However, many who have sought knowledge have become lost among the labyrinthine shelves of the Library and are never seen again. ===The Pillar=== The Pillar is a giant stone (or stone-like) tower of immense proportions which looks out over the Nothingness outside Creation. It is often used by those who wish to inquire into the Nothingness, and other Planar refugees. It is considered one of the safe havens and none may carry arms or hurt anyone else there, or face the harsh punishments set down in the rules by the Wardens. Who set down the rules and who dug the original tunnels through the stone pillar is not known. The Pillar defies explanation, yet it creates food and water for those who live there. The Pillar has several windows looking out at the Nothingness, but no openings out to it. Some believe that the Pillar may be one of the fingers of Primus, certainly it stretches out beyond this Plane, though understanding exactly where the border is is hard for anyone not versed in Planar Mechanics, as it both stretches on forever and at the same time does not. ===The End of All That Is=== This Plane's name is fairly descriptive, and is described as where creation ends. It is the end of the Multiverse, beyond which is merely emptiness. Or rather, this Plane is the emptiness at the end of the Multiverse. Whether or not it actually is the end of the Multiverse or merely a Plane which has never been filled with anything is the subject of some debate among scholars. It is believed that anything put into this Plane will eventually cease to exist, or be transported elsewhere.