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settings:planes:celestial

Celestial Planes

Part of the massive power that comes with godhood is the ability to manifest a Celestial Plane. Not only are these planes homes for the gods, they also act as afterlives for these gods' devotees and take a wide variety of forms. Some gods share a celestial plane, while others may manifest multiple. Only the fourteen gods of the Jaernian and Cahyalic pantheon are known to hold celestial planes. Travel in and out of celestial planes is incredibly difficult, with express permission usually being required from their master god for each trip. Something entering or encroaching on one of these planes without the god's permission is a noteworthy, usually terrifying affair. Some gods have no planes. These include At'ena, Orus, Almar, and Zepherin - though some circles suspect the Dreaming to in fact be Orus' celestial plane, old beyond belief.

Details on each that are known follow:

The Infero (Anubis)

A massive, gently-sloping mountain with perpetually gray skies and dark rivers, the Infero is Anubis' world. Uniquely among the Celestial Planes, Anubis operates this world as a sort of catch-all pit stop; nearly every mortal soul arrives at the Infero after death, collected and guided by Anubian celestial beings.

The most notable thing about the Infero is the long line of freshly deceased souls leading up the mountain to where Anubis himself sits, his closest servitors at his side. Together, they eternally process and judge the dead, sending each soul to their rightful afterlife. This seat is within a building that resembles a temple of gold and black marble, named the Hall of Finality. Deathly celestials guard the steps and gates to this hall, ensuring no errant souls escape from their judgments and fates.

Eventually, every soul will come before Anubis at the Hall of Finality. The only exception to this is Jaernian nomads, who go to the Kurago after death. From the Infero, souls may be sent to an afterlife on a celestial plane, allowed to visit their loved ones on earth, or travel the planes as a spirit. Some also choose to reincarnate onto the Material Plane. Perhaps out of respect, or perhaps out of fear, we have no records of adventurers visiting this plane.

Meadows of Vitania (Isis)

Created by Isis, this heavenly realm is the home of not only Isisite priests, but any mortal soul judged by Anubis to be pure of heart. Full of vast open fields of wildflowers and dotted with cozy buildings and small towns, Isis has ensured that her home is also a welcoming home for good people and planar travelers. Though express permission from Isis herself is still required to enter and exit Vitania, she is more than likely to grant passage to most. This has caused some problems in the past, allegedly, but Vitania is quick to rebuild after any missteps. The Meadows have a few different areas:

The Marble Plaza

Located in the very center of the Meadows of Vitania, and welcome in newcomers. An open-air building with many seats and airy spaces, the Plaza features an elaborate fountain in the shape of a caduceus in its center. Most souls in the Meadows stay within the Marble Plaza's idyllic area, as it provides everything a devotee could need.

The Verdance

Lies in a ring around the Marble Plaza and its rolling fields. Here, the grass of the meadows grows nearly above the average humanoid's head, with wildflowers choking every inch. The foliage is so thick that it is hard to move through, and there are few reports of what lies beyond this zone. The Verdance is populated by small insectlike sprites, flitting between the flowers.

The Golden Sea

This body of “water” laps gently at the shores of the Verdance. Fittingly named, this sea appears like a mass of melted gold - though it feels just like water to the touch. Rumor has it that a single touch of the Golden Sea will restore all of one's health and youth. Guided by celestials of Isis, some souls have been seen leaping into the Sea, never to return. Some think that the Sea provides a path to reincarnation onto the material plane, while others believe that this act dissolves one's being into the pure life energy that the Golden Sea is composed of.

Great Thalassic Seas (Neptune)

[WIP]

Eternal Wildlands (Osiris)

Osiris has manifested no less than three separate celestial planes, each with a specific purpose. She strictly forbids travel in and out of them, with those who visit staying forever - barring the incredibly rare extenuating circumstance. Each of her planes are lush, natural locales with few to no signs of mortal inhabitance.

Elysium

An Osirisite afterlife, where the spirits of Osiris' priests gather beneath her great tree. This tree stretches tens of stories into the sky, and many dwellings hang from its branches like fruits. As souls grow older, they tend to ascend the tree… no one knows what sights await those who reach the canopy.

The Beastlands

The destination of sentient animals, whether they are naturally sentient or awakened. This plane takes the form of a rolling, natural landscape, including biomes from frozen taiga to craggy mountain to blistering desert. It is rumored that no person has ever entered the Beastlands. This place is watched over by Julius, demigod of the hunt and envoy of Osiris to Cahyali.

Arcadia

Home of the souls of sentient plants and certain plantfolk, and takes the form of a pristine, untouched wilderness. Insects flit between flowers as big as dinner plates, and tangles of vines and leaves form natural bridges across crystal-clear, burbling links. Some visitors to Arcadia exist, most often the souls of Osirisites who have curried their deity's favor and been granted the ability to visit and take in these lovely sights.

The Radiant Citadel (Ra)

Ra's divine realm, while it is referred to collectively as the Radiant Citadel, is in truth 3 fully separate divine realms each with a clear purpose and reason. The commonality with all 3 realms is that they conform to Ra’s true order, a place where all beings fulfill a divinely appointed purpose.

Akhetre, the City of Light

The final destination for all the mortal souls who served Ra dutifully in life. It is considered to be possibly the most ordered plane in all of existence with towers of iridescent metal illuminating every inch of the city. All Ra’ites now take part in Ra’s true order where they continue their devotion to his will on the mortal plane after death. While it may seem overly restrictive to outsiders, Ra’ites see it as the ultimate reward for a lifetime of service.

Nekhenre

The divine plane that houses the many servitors of Ra. It takes the form of a myriad of mighty fortresses revolving around a great light, that is the entry way into the Throne of Ra itself. Each fortress houses a different form of servitor and acts as the headquarters for each. Some examples are the Authority, the avian arbiters of Ra’s judgment, the Voice are his messengers which deliver his word, and the Fury are the agents who deliver his divine wrath.

Setibre

The true and primary divine plane of Ra where the full power of Light-Given-Sentience coalesces into the God-Star, the purest manifestation of Order in existence. The God-Star acts as the eternal sun hanging overhead. Much of the land is a barren waste devoid of all moisture and life. The will of this realm is to annihilate all chaos within it, and all forms of life are sources of chaos. The functions of this are perfectly predictable, with clear purpose in this design. Within this realm, each of the avatars of Ra sit upon their thrones as they continue to orchestrate his true order.

The Pale Lands (Rudri)

The god of chaos has also created three worlds of their own, each serving a specific purpose for the continued existence and power of the Dweller in Darkness. Mortals have only ever visited one, which appears to be a dreary home of pain and chaos, inhabited by the souls of Rudrite devotees who have become things truly monstrous.

Rudeva

A heaven for Hirudo, filled with lush trees growing blood-filled fruits and seas of necrotic energy. Despite this being Rudri's front-facing divine realm, it seems oddly small for a celestial plane. Inhabitants of Rudeva seem to be entirely satisfied with their lot in death. However, the plane's actual purpose is simply to shield outsiders from Rudri's true sources of power. This plane merely holds the energy from their living and deceased followers and with enough time and attention, one can detect one of several lightless hidden portals to descend further and into the Duhebris.

Duhebris

The true and primary divine plane of Rudri, a chaotic roiling mess of black seas, smoke smeared skies, screaming winds, beaches of crushed white bone, and the remnants of yet digested outside places. The Duhebris is a cosmic digestive system; everything that enters is slowly ripped apart by entropic force, tended to by its sole inhabitants, the Gatherers. A Gatherer is simply a true Rudrite, one who has seen past the deception of the Rudeva and for their efforts been granted a slow destruction, delayed only if they can retrieve something more appealing to the Duhebris.

Dusphara

A world beyond mortal comprehension. It takes the form of a planet-sized orb of energy that is buried deep within the Duhebris, dotted with twelve continents of brilliant golden crystal. The golden continents, the Merfakta, are crystallized notions which it has polished to perfect understanding and regurgitated as Rudri's “Golden Rules” or “Golden Chains” - when a new Rudri is made, they know the Dusphara and the Dusphara knows them. It assigns these twelve Merfakta to the new god to keep it restrained and to keep both of them alive. Some speculate that these “Golden Chains” serve to keep Rudri eternally bound within the godpact, passively entropic and mostly humanoid.

Interian Battlefields (Mishra)

This plane is a landscape that resembles a massive city on a pleasant autumn day, with architecture constantly changing as it's rebuilt and destroyed. Oddly enough, Mishra herself is never seen on this plane - barring extraordinary circumstances when an event on the plane warrants her attention.

The souls of Mishrite priests run this plane in harmonious anarchy, rejoicing forever in a constant cycle of rebuilding and destroying the city. Ruins of skyscrapers stretch up into the eternal twilight sky, and the echoes of whoops and explosions can always be heard in the distance.

It's possible to map and categorize the most populated parts of this plane, but this map would only be accurate for a few days before some major part would crop up, and another district would be blown to bits. Due to Mishra's eye falling far from this plane most times, it isn't particularly hard for someone to access the Interian Battlefields - but not much lasts here, no matter how valuable it might be, and one runs the risk of being blown to bits before managing to find anything important.

Library of Babel (Tarus)

Maintained by Tarus, the Library is the archive for every individual’s knowledge, and each location can be put in one of three categories. It is thought that unfortunate creatures hit by the Babel spell are flung through here, their minds overloaded and crushed by the weight of all knowledge in existence.

Due to the ever-changing nature of the library, it’s nearly impossible for anyone to traverse it by walking, instead throughout the library are terminals. One need only stand in front of and think about where they want to go. It is believed that only Tarus and perhaps the shadows know how to navigate the library.

The Branches

Rather than being sorted by topic, the library is separated by the individual, with each person who has lived having their own branch. Each branch contains all the knowledge that a person has learned and continues to expand as they learn more. In order to enter another person’s Branch, permission is required from both them and Tarus himself.

The Body Proper

The main body of the library to which all the branches connect is said to be Tarus’ branch, holding all the knowledge he’s gathered. This place seems nearly infinite on its own. Access to the Body Proper is limited as it’s to each their own responsibility to discover what they want to know. Tarus is not one to just hand it over.

The Outskirts

Far into the infinite expanse lies a place with barren bookshelves and deafening silence. The only “inhabitants” of this area are things that may only be described as shadows that move silently between the shelves. Each person has reported a different appearance of the shadows from loved ones to animals to monsters to fuzzy silhouettes.

Trying to force one’s way into a place they have been denied from or one that is expressly forbidden causes them to end up in The Outskirts. If the person sent there did it with no ill intent the shadows will help them back, but if there was ill intent then it’s suggested that the person get out quickly.

The Thundering City (T'or)

[WIP]

The Academia Divine (Vormaxia)

[WIP]

settings/planes/celestial.txt · Last modified: 2024/04/23 01:58 by quiddlesticks