Outer Planes

Just when you thought you were getting the hang of thinking in three dimensions, they decide to throw you for a loop with a fourth dimension and a very potent headache.

— Manuel, of the Planes

There is a marked difference between the Inner Planes and the Outer Planes, and the best way I have of explaining it is to show all of you a very interesting gift I was given by a rather patient Coatl: this beautiful work of hard light and magic you see below.

When I asked them where I was from, they pointed at the inner edge of the torus and said "At its furthest edges, the borders of the Ethereal Plane and the Elemental Chaos touch the innermost portions of the great spire of Rashnus, about which the other planes swirl in a dance that began before Time." If you're confused right now, you are not alone. I remember staring that this colorful gift, doing my best not to insult the Coatl with the depths of my ignorance and failing quite miserably. So let me explain two very important facts.

The first fact is that the Outer Planes are unbelievably vast. You can set out in a flying machine to circumnavigate Raan and though the trip will take months, it is indeed possible. But the Outer Planes don't work like that; distance isn't absolute, it's relative. Locations can grow or shrink as needed as if the idea of fixed distance was a quaintly outdated notion. So you try to fly around just a single plane of existence and you might spend the rest of eternity looking for the edge without finding it.

The second fact is that the Outer Planes are subject to the wills of Divine Beings. There is a very good reason that the gods and goddesses make their homes in the Outer Planes: the planes respond to their will. With a thought, the most powerful of the divine can remake an entire countryside. Mountains can be thrust into existence in a moment, or collapse into rolling hills or deep valleys just as quickly.

Of course, at this point, you might be thinking to yourself: how can one make a comprehensible map out of such an impossibly vast, dynamic landscape? Well, if we were talking about a conventional map, you would indeed be correct. However, we can discuss the Outer Planes in relation to each other.

The Planes, Themselves

The Outer Planes by Shado

So when we talk about the planes it is easiest to split them ideologically by their alignments. And yes, you did hear that right: alignments. The very stuff of the outer planes resonates with concepts such as altruism and sadism, conformity and rebellion. The most common way for people to separate the planes is into three logical groupings: the Upper Planes which are suffused by the Syne River, the Lower Planes which are suffused by the Styx River, and the Middle Planes that remain.

The Upper Planes

The upper planes are the planes that are aligned with good, and as such, suffused by the Syne River through which holy water flows. Of these, Arborea is only weakly aligned with Good and ambivalent with respect to Law and Chaos, allowing denizens of the three more severe planes of Good to meet on more even ground. Cryos is strongly aligned with both Law and Good, Heroic strongly aligned with both Chaos and Good, and Saludare strongly aligned with Good and Good alone.

The Lower Planes

The lower planes are the planes that are aligned with evil, and as such, suffused by the Styx River through which unholy water the color of blood flows. Of these, Gehenna is only weakly aligned with Evil and ambivalent with respect to Law and Chaos, allowing denizens of the three move severe planes of Evil to meet on more event terms. Mallorea is strongly aligned with both Law and Evil, Corborus strongly aligned with both Chaos and Evil, and Derephi strongly aligned with Evil, and Evil alone.

The Middle Planes

What remains are the middle group of planes that aren't aligned with Good or Evil. Concordia is strongly aligned with Law, Havernus is strongly aligned with Chaos. Between these are the weakly Lawful Pellucidia, and the weakly Chaotic Pandemonia. And central to that is Rashnus, the plane with all four alignments in a dynamic sort of harmony. Within the demesnes of Rashnus there exists a plane which is contained by a vast and ever-expanding library, though it is reputed to be quite difficult to find. For that matter, there are other planes that are reputed to be accessible from Rashnus, but without proof we can merely speculate.