The planes are collectively known as the Great Mist, and form a vast, nesting sphere. At the heart of the sphere lie the Material Plane and its twisted reflection, the Shadow Plane, bridged by the mists of the Ethereal Plane. The elemental planes of the Inner Sphere surround this heart.
Farther out, beyond the void of the Astral Plane, sits the unimaginably vast Outer Sphere, which is itself surrounded and contained by the innumerable layers of the Abyss.
What is a Plane?
The planes of existence are different realities with interwoven connections. Except for rare linking points, each plane is effectively its own universe, with its own natural laws. The planes break down into five general types: the Material Plane, the transitive planes, the Inner Planes, the Outer Planes, and the demiplanes.
The Inner Planes
The Inner Planes is the centre of the Great Mist; it is surrounded by the Astral Plane. It is composed of the immensely huge, yet finite layers of the Elemental Planes, which surround the Material and Shadow Planes, which are in turn separated by the Ethereal Plane. At the metaphysical centre of these, sit the dualistic Positive and Negative Energy Planes.
- Material Plane (None) – The Material Plane is the Inner Mist reality in which the planet of Eustris finds itself, along with its sun and its nine sister planets. It is an unending universe occasionally harbouring life on terrestrial planets or other less-stable celestial bodies.
Elemental Planes
The four elemental planes surround the Material and Shadow Planes, and from time to time creatures and events happening in the elemental planes spill over into the Material Plane causing various things to happen.
- Elemental Plane of Air (Neutral) – The Plane of Air, is an elemental plane of the Inner Planes. It is a realm of unending skies, towering clouds and fierce storms.
- Elemental Plane of Earth (Neutral) – The Elemental Plane of Earth, is located within the Inner Planes. It is a realm of seemingly endless rock riddled with caverns, some of them the size of entire planets.
- Elemental Plane of Fire (Neutral) – The Elemental Plane of Fire, part of the Inner Planes, is a realm of vast, liquid oceans of flame, charred cinderlands, and flowing rivers of magma.
- Elemental Plane of Water (Neutral) – The Elemental Plane of Water, is part of the Inner Planes and composed almost entirely of fresh and salt water. Detritus from the planes of air and earth provides pockets of air and solid material.
Transitive planes
- Astral Plane (Neutral) – A silvery-grey void, the Astral Plane is the space between the Inner Planes and the Outer Planes. Through it, pass the souls of all dead mortals on their way to their final judgement before Xactalos.
- Ethereal Plane (Neutral) – The Ethereal Plane is a transitive plane that borders the Material, Shadow, and Elemental planes. It also hosts emotional forces relevant to psychic magic.
- Shadow Plane (None) – The Shadow Plane is coexistent with both the Material Plane and Ethereal Plane, and seems to be a warped reflection of the former. It is a plane where the things born here have their colours, sounds, tastes, and all other forms of perception lessened.
Energy planes
- Positive Energy Plane (Unaligned) – The Positive Energy Plane is located at the conceptual and philosophical centre of the Material Plane and Inner Planes. It is the source of all life and vitality, and is the birthplace of all of the souls in the Great Mist. It is a place of such overwhelming, fecund energy that all non-natives (including some gods), are generally incinerated within seconds of arrival unless appropriate precautions are taken.
- Negative Energy Plane (Unaligned) – The Negative Energy Plane, also known as the Void, sits at the metaphysical centre of the Shadow Plane, in much of the same way as the Positive Energy Plane does for the Material Plane. Considered the polar opposite of the Positive Energy Plane in the arcane tradition and complementary in the esoteric tradition. It is a place of annihilation, destruction and leeching life energy from all who come near it. A barren wasteland of emptiness with few surfaces, the Negative Energy Plane is the home of countless undead creatures, many of them intelligent and extremely powerful. In fact, the plane is the source from which all undead draw their power and un-life.
Outer Planes
While the Inner Planes contains the elemental planes, the Outer Planes contains nine planes, each with a strong link to a particular philosophy and alignment. These are the dwelling places of Eustris’ gods.
- The Catacombs (Neutral) – The Catacombs, sometimes referred to as Purgatory, is a neutral plane where the souls of dead mortals from the Material Plane are judged by the goddess Xactalos. The name of the plane also show how the plane is formed. Souls are brought to the Catacombs by the River Sielu, and after judgement, are sent to the appropriate plane or domain in the Outer Planes. Some arrive at the Catacombs with their choices already made or pacts signed, but others are judged by a series of courts.
- Cynosure (Lawful Neutral) – Cynosure is a plane in the Outer Planes dedicated to universal law unmarred by the struggles between good and evil. It takes the shape of a gigantic city, and exists among the planes of the Outer Planes as a shining example of perfect order and harmony rising out of the churning Maelstrom. Within the plane’s golden barrier walls; the streets are perfectly ordered and clean, the buildings appear as paragons of their respective architectural styles from virtually every culture within the Multiverse, and the natives strive to live in orchestrated harmony.
- The Maelstrom (Chaotic Neutral) – Collectively referred to as the Maelstrom, vast swathes of uncharted, unclaimed terrain metaphysically border and surround each of the planes on the Outer Planes. Mysterious and dangerously chaotic lands untouched by the gods, these regions lack the cohesive stability present in all of the other planes; even the brutal depths of the Abyss possess a structure that the Maelstrom does not. Some scholars believe the Maelstrom to be ancient, pre-dating all other places in the multiverse, with the possible exception of the Abyss.
Lower planes
- Abaddon (Neutral Evil) – Abaddon is a wasteland of infinite and apocalyptic proportions that is home to the daemons. Dominated by the citadels of the Four Horsemen, but includes vast stretches of uninhabited wastelands, and smaller holdings of minor warlords and vassals.
- The Abyss (Chaotic Evil) – The Abyss is a plane in the Outer Planes dedicated to the rule of evil unfettered by law. Also referred to as the Outer Rifts, it is accessible through huge rents in the Maelstrom, opening into fiendish depths, vast beyond imagining. Sporadically, the demonic occupants of the Abyss will pour from these rents to menace one plane or another, and sometimes even tear their way into the Material Plane. The Abyss is composed of many layers, powerful and unique demon lords or gods rule many of these layers.
- Hell (Lawful Evil) – The plane of Hell, sometimes referred to as the Pit, is the ultimate expression of evil order in the Great Mist, of the weak subjugated to serve the strong, of complete obedience, and unquestioning faith. Its tortures are not willful and random like the torments of the Abyss, or purely sadistic and spiteful like that of Abaddon. Evil and obedience here are honed to a razor’s edge in service to a greater purpose: that of bending the will of souls, and the very architecture of creation itself to the greater glory of the lady Restraia and her perfect order. It is the home of myriads of devils and other evil outsiders, and sadly the final destination for countless mortal souls.
Upper planes
- Elysium (Chaotic Good) – Elysium is a plane of the Outer Planes that represents the ultimate expression of wild freedom and compassion. It is a place of uninhibited love, art, and expression.
- Heaven (Lawful Good) – Heaven is a plane in the Outer Planes that represents order tempered with compassion and goodness. Even though it is infinitely large, it appears to visitors as a gigantic single mountain with a flat summit.
- Nirvana (Neutral Good) – Nirvana is a plane of the Outer Planes and home to the souls of good mortals. Nirvana is a neutral middle ground between the chaos of Elysium and authority of Heaven, and its natives intervene in planar matters more frequently than these other goodly realms.
Demiplanes and other dimensions
The multiverse is far from a neatly-organized system, and innumerable planes and demiplanes exist outside the framework that makes up the Inner and Outer Planes. Demiplanes are generally small, finite planes, most of which are connected to either the Astral or Ethereal Planes. Most are created when reality is sufficiently warped that small pieces of its substrate fragment and fuse together, thereby creating a stable dimension.
The Scholars of Eustris know of a few of these, but have no doubt that many more exist.
The Great Inn (Chaotic Good) – The Great Inn is the home of the goddess Dienta. This crystalline inn is located at the heart of the demiplane Guiding Star, which manifests on the Material Plane as the pole star of Eustris, and serves as the navigational north in the demiplane. The inn constantly shifts to match Dienta whims, but visitors always perceive it like a perfect dream. Dienta can also cause it to simultaneously manifest in Elysium, when she visits that plane in her wanderings, where it appears as a small, floating inn or stable, or as the crystalline mountain inn seen in Guiding Star.