The Realms

The realms of the universe are divided mainly into the Greater and the Lesser realms, although there exists other, separate distributions of the universe. Travel between realms is facilitated by portals that can be opened via powerful spells in specific locations known as Planesprings.

The Greater Realms

The Greater Realms are where the Gods live in their own created planes. The greater realms are places of great amalgamation of divine energy, and are usually too powerful for regular mortals to inhabit permanently. There exists 7 Greater Realms, specific to the various Gods and Goddesses that inhabit them.

Illuvar

Illuvar is the homeplane of Meneus the Father . Illuvar manifests itself to the wandering mortal as a grand marble hall that extends infinitely in all directions. Between the pillars of this hall are rows of libraries, research desks, sextants, globes, tomes, laboratories, maps, and various other implements. The roof of Illuvar is unreachable, but always appears roughly twenty or so meters above anyone at any given time, and is decorated with paintings of all of history. It is said that lucky historians have broken their necks from craning them, having gotten lost in the halls of Illuvar. Meneus sits upon his throne at the center of Illuvar, where he is almost always writing, reading, or postulating some incomprehensible concept. Roaming the halls of Illuvar are assortments of angels who reorganize or study ancient volumes.

Serez

In opposition to the ordered plane of Illuvar is the plane of Serez, home to the equally as opposite God Entimeneus, the Tempest . Serez is a plane of seas populated densely with jagged rocks, volcanoes, and constant lightning storms. Legend states that ships lost at sea in horrible storms end up in the endless waters of Serez where they meet their doom. Great leviathan beasts dwell deep under the waters of the never ending ocean where they have existed since the beginning of time and slowly absorbed the celestial power and developed into Krakens and myriad other beasts. Entimeneus has no single throne, but chooses to roam the seas on the fierce waves, finding the most suitable rock outcropping and staying there until the powerful tempests destroy it.

Mechanus

Mechanus is a unique plane in that it existed prior to time when it was inhabited by Primus , the embodiment of time itself. Mechanus is a clockwork heaven that is rumoured to have been in construction for whatever was before the beginning of time until the cogs started turning and the universe began. Somewhere on the plane, Primus himself is chained up in his eternal struggle to maintain order in the universe as modrons roam the endless machinery maintaining the flow of time and feeding the unimaginably powerful engine at the heart of it all. In Primus' place whilst he is chained is the demigod Bosh oversees the running of the grand machinery.

The River Arcanus

The eternal guard of Estra is on the River Arcanus, an omnidirectional river of all power that flows with great force through the plane. Whilst this is the metaphysical manifestation of the River Arcanus, a mortal travelling to the plane will see it as a literal river hundreds of miles wide in the center of a barren rocky landscape. The river culminates in a grand waterfall where Estra the Lady of the River is stuck in her struggle against the current, only allowing a trickle of power to fall over the edge into the bottomless pit at the bottom of the waterfall. This small amount of power that is released becomes all of the magic in the realms. Whilst journeying in the lands around the river, some say that they occasionally hear the whispers of lost heroes, powerful kings, and ancient evils. Some even claim to have seen spirits rising out of the river before briefly evaporating into the purple sky.

Ciarra

Ciarra is the home to the [Four Mothers]. Whilst it is one plane, it functions as four separate planes that all meet at a central compound. Often compared to Ciarra is the [Grand Campuses of Allusiltar] or the [Royal Courtyard of Daeghil]. The four sectors each have their own larger structures where the individual mother goddesses conduct their various businesses in infinitely large office like buildings, slowly descending in height as they reach the central gardens of Ciarra where the [Hub of Ciarra] is located. The Hub of Ciarra is best thought of as a train station interchange. It is a grand hall at the center of the gardens where portals exist to just about every other plane, including the Abyss. Because of this, Ciarra often sees the most business and interchange of all of the Greater Realms and has become the divine hub of all affairs, from those legal pertaining to [The Lawmother], to conflicts when [The Warmother] must intervene.

Hell

Hell was once the homeplane of Inegus, before he was accused of giving the mortals the spark. After this the plane became his prison and was stripped of all matter, leaving nothing but Inegus and his cage. However after the Second Apocalypse]devils and their various dominions sprouting all across the endless fiery voids of Hell. The devils are in charge of punishing all of the souls that find themselves there where they appear out of great fonts in the thousands at various points across the plane. If one were to ever make the journey to Hell, it would appear as a series of 20 floating molten islands in every orientation connected by rickety magic bridges. Burning blue spheres ejecting lost spirits would litter the voids in between these islands, where lesser devils fly around collecting the disseminating spirits. If one were to travel to the outer edges of Hell, they may even find lost spirits who were never caught, roaming the plane for all eternity. The devils usually leave these souls as their eternal displacement and confusion is considered punishment enough.

The Grand Illuminous

The Grand Illuminous is another special case. Not only is it the God itself, but it is also the plane. The Grand Illuminous is the origin of light itself, and casts itself onto the lesser realms where its energy is absorbed as magic. Travelling to The Grand Illuminous pretty much guarantees blindness for any creature without the necessary provisions. That is, if they manage to survive the punishing heat and flow of magical energy. Legend tells of powerful liches who sought magic from the very font directly who travelled to The Grand Illuminous only to be immediately destroyed by the overwhelming power it emanates.  

The Lesser Realms

The Lesser realms are the result of various other calamities. This includes the material worlds and the elemental chaos they were spawned from, and many other much smaller planes including demiplanes opened by power hungry mortals.

The Elemental Chaos

The Elemental Chaos was infamously created by Entemeneus at the beginning of time when he brought chaos to universal order. There are four smaller planes that comprise the elemental chaos. That of earth, fire, water, and air. The plane of Earth is a formless crashing of huge rocks of tectonic proportions. The plane of fire surprisingly friendlier, being an endless plane of barren ash where some great fire has since burned up leaving some flames burning amidst the wreckage. The plane of water is an endless ocean that is rumoured to feed into Serez directly, with crazily intense storms and waves of heights towering over the tallest mountains. Finally, the plane of air is an amalgamation of gases, some of which have condensed into semi-stable clouds that rest at seemingly arbitrary densities of air. The Elemental Chaos coalesces in four points, forming the four planets of the star system.

The Feywild

The Feywild is the first of the four planets formed at the center of the elemental chaos. It is closest to The Grand Illuminous and is hence the most magically potent of the four planets. On the Feywild, life thrives and is ever changing amidst the intense magical chaos. The world here is inhabited by beings which thrive on the disorder that the magic of the Fey represents, usually attracting tricksters and fun loving halflings, but also more conniving beings like hags. There are few permanent settlements in the Feywild, although the most notable is the Elven settlement of Elad, where the inhabitants have become a twisted race of elves called Eladrin with a specifically unique harness over the strange warping nature of the Feywild.

The Material

The Material is the second of the four planets, said by scholars to be in the "Goldilocks zone" of the Grand Illuminous where the amount of magic is perfect for the formation of civil society (named after the gnomish scientists Gold and Locks). This plane is often called the Earth, the World, and is the main planet where mortal races such as humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes and whatnot inhabit. This plane is known for spawning its various civilizations and great heroes and villains. Amongst the greater realms it is often called "The great stage" as the events that occur here are akin to grand plays of cosmic proportions, and the tales that brave adventurers write out with their lives can be inspiring as they are warnings to the gods. At the core of The Material resides both the [Abomination of Life] and [The abomination of Death], who provide the planet with its balance of interesting critters.

The Abyss

The Abyss is the third of the planets, where the light of The Grand Illuminous almost doesn't reach. This plane is a desolate layered place where foul demons spawn and consume each other for power. The landscape here ranges from barren icefields, to harsh desert, to ragged stonefields, and even disease infested jungles. The Abyss is the ultimate testing grounds for producing the ultimate challenge to the gods such as the many greater demons who make their living there. Because of this, Gernan the Beastmaster roams The Abyss engaging in fierce contest with these demons to stop them from gaining too much power, although despite his efforts many demons slip through the cracks and find their way into the other realms where they cause havoc.

The Shadowfell

The Shadowfell is the final planet of the system. Absolutely none of the Grand Illuminous reaches here, yet it still exhibits some powerful magical energies. Wizards and scientists who have been to the Shadowfell presume that it gains its power from residual life that has made it there and died, or that there is some other greater eldritch being that extends its influence there. The Shadowfell is a truely dreary place for anyone who finds themselves in it. The plane exudes sorrow and despair, turning away most who find themselves with the option to leave. Yet it still finds itself home to life. The drow are the main inhabitants here where they have formed a few cities and hatch sinister plots to try to reclaim the Material from their Helva ancestors.