Planes of Existence

The Material Plane
This is home. The Material Plane is the name given to the default Plane of existence, the one on which everything in Natheria lives as the people know it. The players will, more often than not, be adventuring solely on the Material Plane. Natheria’s mountains, seas, monsters, clouds, stars, wildlife and cultures all compose the Material Plane.

Since this is the base of knowledge and experience for anyone looking to study the other Planes, the Material Plane is considered the standard by which all other Planes are judged and measured.

The Shadow Plane
Discovered by the Seral Sorcerer, Irkaxal Dakass, the Shadow Plane is often times considered the antithesis of the Material Plane. It is a source of another form of raw magical energy, or Mana, that flows differently than Mana on the Material Plane. Dubbed “Dark Mana,” this magical energy actually has power over the ebb and flow of life force in living things, and is capable of restoring life to once lifeless corpses without the intervention of a deity.

The Shadow Plane is a place of unrelenting void. Life is a dream, and death and decay are the waking life. Mana is drawn not from the earth and it’s life, like the Material Plane, but it is absorbed through the death of organisms. When the soul leaves a body on the Shadow Plane, it’s Mana is expelled like a burst of invisible gas, and the Shadow Plane’s inhabitants are quick to absorb and consume the vacant, free Mana.

Ice, cold, and dark winds are the conditions of the Shadow Plane, and as such it is often believed that Sorcerers have tapped into remote pockets of Dark Mana on the Material Plane to get their power. However, to find a true master of this twisted form of magical energy, one must find a Necromancer. The Necromancers of Natheria, extremely rare but incredibly powerful, have taken what they’ve learned from the Shadow Plane and brought it onto the Material Plane, finding power in death, and seeing life as a mockery of the true strength of immortality.

The Shadow Plane is bound to the Material Plane through various shrines. Where these shrines came from is unknown. Some say that Irkaxal Dakass discovered areas of the Material Plane that were heavy with Dark Mana, and built these shrines in an attempt to access that energy. Others believe that the shrines already existed long before Dakass’s pilgrimage, and that he came across them in their remote locations. Some say that there was a Titan who betrayed his brethren and sought to bring about the essence of Dark Mana onto the Material Plane. Some say that the Black Dragonline, in an effort to grow more powerful than the other Dragonlines, built these shrines and commune with the denizens of the Shadow Plane. Whatever the actual reasoning, the shrines exist, now dubbed the Seven Shrines of Shadow, and it is said that to find them is near impossible, and that visiting them will give the pilgrim horribly morbid visions of the Material Plane’s darker side, at once opening his mind and eyes to the malicious and consuming nature of Dark Mana.

Death is abundant in the Shadow Plane, for the very fabric of this existence hinges on the fact that all life must end. Unlike the Material Plane, the Shadow Plane sees life as a trial and death as a doorway. All life seeks out preservation, and this is true with the inhabitants of the Shadow Plane. They claw and scratch their lives out of lifeless rock and ancient glaciers. They compete for food and shelter, with no sense of community or society, only the acknowledgement of self.

Death always comes quickly in the Shadow Plane. The dying beast may linger for days or weeks in a state of pitiable frailty. If it finds a place of true solitude it may hold out hope to die in peace. Yet such cases are extremely rare.

Those creatures who cannot use their Mana, whether from lack of mental capacity of whatever reason, are often seen as the resources of the inhabitants who can and do utilize Mana. Creatures are slaughtered, their Mana is drained, and it is used in displays of power and might. When the drainer dies, the cycle begins anew, with another creature using what remains.

The Lower Plane
“Beneath” Natheria and the Material Plane exists a world of fire, heat, molten rock and pure, uncontrollable power. The Lower Plane, named since the only entrances to it ever found have been deep in Natheria’s core, is considered by some to simply be a part of the Material Plane, simply an enormous cavern in the bones of the world. Of the few who have ventured to the Lower Plane and returned, they described size and scope beyond what most would believe could be housed beneath Natheria’s crust.

With a strong emphasis on fire and earth, The Lower Plane is a place of grave physical danger, and home to many elementals, and even to what some have come to call “demons.” One of these demons, an elemental lord, is named Volcanis, and is the only one who has been faced by adventurers who have lived to talk about it later. Volcanis, the Flamelord, is a malevolent ruler of part of the Lower Plane, a great being with command over heat and fire, who’s very stare is said to freeze even those of resilient will.

While the mighty Delethnoine of ages long past are rumored to have emerged from the depths of Natheria, few believe that these “Demon Lords” are not the same as those found in the Lower Plane. While the Delethnoine show themselves to be power-hungry and mystical entities, they are much more methodical and pensive about their attacks than the wild and reckless Lower Demons, or Flame Demons. Volcanis is a force of destruction, much like Acrenomir of old. However, Volcanis finds joy in burning his victims alive, whereas Acrenomir would rather pit his enemies against each other while he watches from the shadowy corner.

The Lower Plane is a place as close to the traditional Hell as one can get. The elemental beasts and humanoids that roam its fiery corridors are all servants to the greater will, bound to the mind of whichever Flame Demon holds them currently. There is no telling how many Flame Demons actually exist, or if Volcanis is truly the Lord of the Lower Plane. Nobody has ever ventured further into the Lower Plane than where Volcanis resides, and as of yet there has been no reason to explore this molten world other than for an example of bravery or foolishness.

The Astral Plane
“Above” Natheria lies the Astral Plane. There are unsubstantiated rumors that extremely powerful beings can transcend the barriers between the Material Plane and the Astral Plane at will. There are stories of Pelinarias, and other Dragon Exemplars, hiding away on the Astral Plane. However, to break through the boundaries of the Planes themselves is considered to be an exertion to the most extreme sense of the word, and as such it is believed that the Exemplars only transcend to the Astral Plane under the most dire circumstances.

Yet travel to the Astral Plane is not impossible for the mortal races, as there is one known crossover between the Material Plane and the Astral Plane. An enormous stone archway, constructed before the counting of years, rumored to have been forged by the hands of the Titans themselves, the Astral Gate is a portal from it’s location far above the surface of Natheria to the Astral haven of Valaness, a serene and beautiful floating island amidst the starry void that composes the majority of the Astral Plane. Resembling outer space in the vaguest sense, the Astral Plane is often thought of as a place of tranquility and peace to those who are less knowledgeable of its nature. True, Valaness is considered a place of rest and peace, yet venture just a bit off its grassy edges and the hardiest of adventurer in Natheria would be wishing he’d stayed on the ground.

The Astral Plane is a wild and unpredictable spatial Plane. It’s lesser inhabitants have grown to live among its floating islands, some big enough to rival the size of entire realms on the Material Plane. The greater denizens of the Astral Plane, however, have adapted to living in the void of space, the starry sea between the islands. Whether floating like great jellyfish or flying around like aerial sharks, these immense creatures dwarf even the largest of monsters on Natheria, though of the very few people who have ventured into the Astral Plane, fewer still are those who have left the safety of Valaness.

Unlike the hostility found towards adventurers in the Lower Plane and the Shadow Plane, the Astral Plane has some of the most advanced people to be found. Not the mindless elemental pawns of demon overlords, nor the scavenging survivalists of a Plane of death, the people of the Astral Plane are voyagers and explorers, beings who brave the harsh unknown every day by “sailing” the starry seas. Though no person of Natheria has ever come close to even glimpsing these people. Their great ships, vessels of immense size and bulk, can be seen floating through the air as if it were the tides. It is believed that the mysterious Astral people are cautious of people from the Material Plane, not trusting the people with their culture and secrets, and so the people of the Material Plane are forced to gaze in wonder and awe as ships occasionally float by, while they are still rooted to Valaness.