Cosmology

The Universe of Raan doesn't end at the edges of the map. No, there are planes of existence whose nature and form are unlike anything seen on Material Plane. And in this simple foreword I -- Manuel Jacinto Celio Pedregon -- will attempt to give a laymen's explanation that should serve as a primer and begin the process of acquainting you with the grand mystery into which we have been born.

The planes have been described and visualized in many different ways: as a web, as a great sphere containing other sub-spheres, as a massively complex game of Eels and Elevators played in the dark for infinite stakes with dice that don't always have the same numbers on the same sides. None of these encompass the complexity or the simplicity of cosmos, but each one gets a few things right.

Instead, we're going to break them into three general groupings: the Transitive Planes, the Inner Planes, and the Outer Planes.

Transitive Planes

The first group are ostensibly the most essential type of plane: those that give the other planes a framework to exist within. We have two planes here: the Astral, and the Ethereal.

If any plane could be described as the backbone of the cosmos, the Astral Plane would definitely be it. It is the "elsewhere" that suffuses into all other planes. The simple fact of the matter is that just about any Teleport you ever do is merely a shunt through this plane. Most beings that are in the Astral Plane aren't denizens (except for those pesky Githzerai I always have to avoid) but are disembodied spirits floating through the medium. The timeless nature and grey-blue starfield are absolutely beautiful, and the color pools that portals to other planes of existence do nothing to diminish this. And though it is extremely dangerous to get close to, the Void twinkles like the rarest of black star sapphires.

The other transitive plane is something of a cocoon for the Material and Inner Planes. The Ethereal Plane is a thick, soupy grey fog whose near edge overlaps with the Material and Inner Planes, allowing you to see into them from the plane. Now, for you voyeurs I will offer a word of warning, unlike the Astral Plane there are natives to the Ethereal Plane, and they can get somewhat bite-y (I'm looking at you, Phase Spider). This, of course, ignores that there are abilities that allow folks on those planes to see into the Ethereal Plane too, such as See Invisibility for example. Like the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane has portals to other planes, but they take the form of curtains of living light instead of pools, and you have to venture into the more dangerous deeper portion of the plane known as the Dreaming.

Inner Planes

From the planes that provide a framework, we move on to the Inner Planes which are the raw source that flows into the Material Plane.

The elemental planes only really resemble anything recognizable at the nearest edges to the Material, and as such are only really visit-able there. Most of the elemental planes are filled with vast swathes of elemental "stuff" that can crush you, incinerate you, shred you into ribbons, or dissolve you. Of all the planes these are the easiest to reach from the Material Plane, as there are vortexes that appear in areas of elemental affinity (easiest being a relative term here, as most vortexes to the plane of fire form in the hearts of active volcanoes, for example).

Then we have the energetic planes of the Feywild and the Shadowfel, through which positive and negative energy flow through and into Material. The opposing forces of growth and decay tinge those planes, which fade into the Gleaming and the Gloaming respectively, which are actively hostile to just about anything that doesn't carry a scythe and drink tea without lips.

Outer Planes

Beyond the reach of the Ethereal Plane we come to the realms where the various Gods and Goddesses hold court. And wow, you have never lived until you've seen a being to whom you're the size of an ant wave their arm and the entire countryside around them reshapes itself to their whims. There is absolutely nothing that I can say that could possibly do that justice; you'll just have to take my word for it.

Of course, it's partly because of being so "divinely morphic" like this that trying to explain the Outer Planes in anything more than the most general sense is an exercise in futility. So instead, I'll break it down into general areas.

Unlike any of the other planes, the Outer Planes seem to have philosophical alignments built into them. Good and Evil and Law and Chaos are physical things here, and there are a group of eight outer planes at the "outer edge" that have strong biases to Good or Evil, and Law or Chaos. From the plane of pure good and the plane of pure evil there are ocean-like rivers that flow forth, providing a decent thoroughfare for interplanar traffic (barring hostile locals, of course).

Closer in from the edge there are four planes that correspond to a single alignment but not nearly so strongly. Dragons make their homes here. And in the center of that there is the plane of Rashnus which serves as a hub of sorts and is where the god Draco makes their home. Draco is a truly majestic creature and his massive size truly has to be seen to be believed. There are a couple of unique planes that are only accessible from Rashnus, including the terrifying Prison Plane, and the well-hidden library plane of Akare. Survival tip, do NOT try to take books, or rip out pages. It never ends well.