Last week we discussed the concept of your fantasy setting being only one part of a greater galaxy and including some of the more traditionally “extraplanar” creatures as being natives of another planet within the same (or different) solar system within the scope of your greater cosmology. This week, I’m going to give you a peek into my thought process within the game world I’ve been creating that prompted this thought and explore the “inner plane” cosmology that came from changing some of those basic preconceptions about the fantasy cosmos.
When the gods created Alesia, they placed it where all of the universal ley lines and streams of magical energies intersected. They did this in order to create a world of near unlimited potential due to the confluence of so many different energies. This energy that permeates and suffuses the planet has attracted the attention of many more advanced species within the universe, and some of them have been dwelling deep within the planet for countless years, having traveled through magical gates, ability to travel through the planar realities, or through advanced technology that allowed them to survive and travel through the void between the stars. Since the Sundering of that confluence, the power that the people of Alesia called the Wellspring, other eyes have turned towards that planet as well as other creatures struggle to rebuild after the cosmological upheaval created by the event.
While Alesia was created by the pantheon of gods that is still worshiped by the faithful of that planet, they were only some of the architects of the universe. Other powerful cosmic beings and forces were involved in creating their own sectors of the physical realm. While space is incredibly vast, competition for resources and space have taken place between them in the past. For example, Alesia was only born due to a victory won against other forces. While these cosmic beings exist and are still worshiped by many of the faithful of Alesia, there are those that fear their power of these beings has been diminished by the Sundering. Those that draw their power from their faith have noted that though they can still hear the voices of their deities, they are muted as if coming from a very long distance away or passing through some kind of barrier.
Most of these cosmic beings were born either in the vastness of the astral sea that exists beyond the universe that they have created or within their own realms, commonly called the “outer sphere” by the people that study the cosmology. This realm that has become the workshop and showroom for the various forces is known as the Material Realm. It itself is enveloped by two “shells” that make up the building blocks of life.
The first shell was originally four separate planes that comprised the elemental building blocks of life – earth, fire, air, and water. However, the energy discharge from the Sundering caused these four realms to smash into each other, creating the single confluence that is now known as the Elemental Turmoil.
Surrounding the Elemental Turmoil and forming the outer edge of the “inner sphere” is the Realm of Vitality. This plane of existence contains the spark of life necessary to create life, but it also carries the power to destroy that life as well. The gods used the power of this realm to give life to their creations, as well as to end their lives when the time came, keeping creation in balance. Not much more is known about this particular realm because despite containing the essence of life, it is anathema to supporting it – those that find their way into it quickly reduced to their constituent elements by the power of the forces that make up this realm.
There are also two other realms that exist as incomplete echoes of the Material Plane. Both of these planes of existence exist coterminous with the Material Realm, interacting with it while remaining separate. Travel into these realms is possible with the proper keys and each of them host their own life and unique properties. The Pale is the Material Realm without color. It is where the shades of the dead go to dwell in eternity when their spirits are not called to serve on one of the Outer Realms. No other creatures can exist here – living creatures that find their way here find the very color is stripped from their being until they join the shades in eternity. Before the Sundering, these shades were prevented from physically interacting with the Material Realm, manifesting instead as echoes of life – noises, lights, and misty encounters meant to try to convey a message to the still living. But the shades were kept from entering the Material Realm by a barrier known as The Veil. Prior to the Sundering, the Witch Queen managed to rend the Veil in order to draw a number of spirits back to the Material Realm. This rent was further exacerbated by the Sundering of the Wellspring, causing more pathways for angry and lost spirits to make their way back to the world of the living.
The Aether Realm is the realm of the arcane. It exists as a version of the Material Realm covered in a deep mist that never lifts. When a spellcaster draws power from the elemental planes (now the Turmoil), that power is filtered through the Aether Realm to become “safe” for the mortal spellcaster to handle. Unlike The Pale, this realm has always been accessible to those with the proper means of access and is nominally safe to travel as long as you are aware of the natural dangers. Arcane energy exists in its purest form here causing phenomena that are not seen on the Material Realm – including arcane storms and other magical disruptions. Native creatures have been birthed by the bizarre and arcane energies that permeate the realm. These creatures sometimes enter into the Material Realm, but mostly exist just on the edge of our peripheries. But while it is the realm of the arcane, such magic does not always behave by the same rules as it does in the Material Realm.
Ben Erickson
