Magic & Casting > Planes & Outsiders
Heibesu is located in the Material Plane. However, there are several other Planes of Existence beyond the Material Plane.
Planes "coexist" together, but they do not overlap or directly connect to each other. They usually have their own set of physic laws, and at such can be extremely hazardous to cross. Chantry theology holds that each Hikai is master of their own Planes; however there seems to be Planes beyond even the Hikai's lordship - usually, they are under the control of other Outsiders. The first are called Inner Planes, because they are held to be closer to ours, and directly attune to one or several Runes. The second constitute the Far Planes, and are only reachable through crossing the Void, a transitive Plane which in fact is said to contain all of existence within itself.
Note : in the Runic Magic system, each Rune that forms a spell becomes a descriptor of it.
Planes "coexist" together, but they do not overlap or directly connect to each other. They usually have their own set of physic laws, and at such can be extremely hazardous to cross. Chantry theology holds that each Hikai is master of their own Planes; however there seems to be Planes beyond even the Hikai's lordship - usually, they are under the control of other Outsiders. The first are called Inner Planes, because they are held to be closer to ours, and directly attune to one or several Runes. The second constitute the Far Planes, and are only reachable through crossing the Void, a transitive Plane which in fact is said to contain all of existence within itself.
Note : in the Runic Magic system, each Rune that forms a spell becomes a descriptor of it.
Inner Planes
There are several Inner Planes. An Inner Plane is determined as a Plane ruled over by a Hikai, and which has an elemental affinity of some kind. Not all Planes have been discovered, but recently wizards determined they could find a way to access some of them. A theory holds that all of the Runes used by the Chantry eventually draw power from one of these Planes, and the Fonts are anchors that link these planes to the Material Plane. It clashes with the current theory that runic magic draws from the Planet itself, and is up for debate - but the fact that runic abilities of a certain element are enhanced or impeded within certain planes seem to point that the new theory is, indeed, the correct one.
- Plane of Air
The Plane of Air is an empty plane, consisting of sky above and sky below. It is the most comfortable and survivable of the Inner Planes and is the home of all manner of airborne creatures. Indeed, flying creatures find themselves at a great advantage on this plane. While travellers without flight can survive easily here, they are at a disadvantage. It is the first of the Planes to have been discovered and in ancient Unseelie times, it served as a home to many of the richer feyfolk. Sholanee, the Hikai of Wind, is the Ruler of this Plane.
The Plane of Air has the following traits:
- Subjective Directional Gravity: Inhabitants of the plane determine their own “down” direction. Objects not under the motive force of others do not move.
- Air-Dominant
- Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the air descriptor or that use, manipulate, or create air are enhanced.
- Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the earth descriptor or that use or create earth are impeded.
- Plane of Earth
The Plane of Earth is a solid place made of soil and stone. An unwary traveler might find himself entombed within this vast solidity of material and crushed into nothingness, with his powdered remains left as a warning to any foolish enough to follow. Despite its solid, unyielding nature, the Plane of Earth is varied in its consistency, ranging from soft soil to veins of heavier and more valuable metal. Mora'ko is the Ruler of the Plane of Earth.
The Plane of Earth has the following traits:
- Earth-Dominant
- Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the earth descriptor or that use, manipulate, or create earth or stone (including those of the Earth domain and the elemental [earth] bloodline) are enhanced.
- Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the air descriptor or that use or create air (including those of the Air domain, spell-like abilities of the elemental [air] bloodline, and spells that summon air elementals or outsiders with the air subtype) are impeded.
- Plane of Fire
Everything is alight on the Plane of Fire. The ground is nothing more than great, ever-shifting plates of compressed flame. The air ripples with the heat of continual firestorms and the most common liquid is magma. The oceans are made of liquid flame, and the mountains ooze with molten lava. Fire survives here without needing fuel or air, but flammables brought onto the plane are consumed readily. Shigeki is the Ruler of the Plane of Fire.
The Plane of Fire has the following traits:
- Fire-Dominant
- Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor or that use, manipulate, or create fire (including those of the Fire domain or the elemental [fire] bloodline) are enhanced.
- Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the water descriptor or that use or create water (including spells of the Water domain, spell-like abilities of the elemental [water] bloodline, and spells that summon water elementals or outsiders with the water subtype) are impeded.
- Plane of Water
The Plane of Water is a sea without a floor or a surface, an entirely fluid environment lit by a diffuse glow. It is one of the more hospitable of the Inner Planes once a traveler gets past the problem of breathing the local medium.
The eternal oceans of this plane vary between ice cold and boiling hot, and between saline and fresh. They are perpetually in motion, wracked by currents and tides. The plane's permanent settlements form around bits of flotsam suspended within this endless liquid, drifting on the tides. Inari is the Ruler of the Plane of Water.
The Plane of Water has the following traits:
- Subjective Directional Gravity: The gravity here works similarly to that of the Plane of Air, but sinking or rising on the Plane of Water is slower (and less dangerous) than on the Plane of Air.
- Water-Dominant
- Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the water descriptor or that use or create water (including those of the Water domain or the elemental [water] bloodline) are enhanced.
- Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor or that use or create fire (including spells of the Fire domain, spell-like abilities of the elemental [fire] bloodline, and spells that summon fire elementals or outsiders with the fire subtype) are impeded.
- Plane of Light
Ginko's native Plane of Light is an unbiased paradise with stunning mountains, rolling hills, and deep forests that all match a visitor's expectations of a pastoral paradise. It also contains mysteries that lead to enlightenment. The native Harbingers, led by the Empyreal Lords have willingly postponed their own transcendence to guard this plane's enigmas, while celestial beings fight the forces of evil across the planes. This is the most welcoming of all known Planes so far; in fact, the Yamabushi have set up a Fortress in its rolling meadows with the blessings of the Harbingers themselves.
Nirvana has the following traits:
- Strongly Good-Aligned
- Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the Light or Life descriptors are enhanced.
- Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the Chaos or Negate descriptors are impeded.
Outer Planes
There are other planes that are considered Outer, for they are beyond the reach of Hikai. The Void is also called an Outer Plane, for it belongs to Yuuriko, the creator of all things.
- The Void
The Void is a strange, transitive plane, home to the Goddess/Hikai Yuuriko. Some say it is present around and within every living being, but it seems to form a space between the Material and Inner Planes, and the Outer Planes. When a character moves through a portal or projects her spirit to a different plane of existence, she travels through the Astral Plane. Even spells that allow instantaneous movement across a plane briefly touch the Void. The Astral Plane is an endless expanse of raw, purple arcane energy and is home to the Reiki when they are not on the Material Plane. There is little there, save for the occasional yet desperately empty Unseelie or Elven building, or the vast, rocky islands floating and eroding away in purple nothingness.
The Void has the following traits:
- Subjective Directional Gravity: Inhabitants of the plane determine their own “down” direction. Objects not under the motive force of others do not move.
- Timeless: Age, hunger, thirst, afflictions (such as diseases, curses, and poisons), and natural healing don't function in the Void, though they resume functioning when the traveler leaves the Astral Plane.
- Mildly Neutral-Aligned
- Enhanced Magic: All spells and spell-like abilities used within the Astral Plane may be employed as if they were improved by the Quicken Spell or Quicken Spell-Like Ability feats. Already quickened spells and spell-like abilities are unaffected, as are spells from magic items. Spells so quickened are still prepared and cast at their unmodified level. As with the Quicken Spell feat, only one quickened spell or spell-like ability can be cast per round.
- Mild Sentient Morphability : The Void responds to the thoughts of some travelers that cross it, though it usually takes an immensely powerful Sorcerer to be able to morph or alter reality. Even then, the Void can only morph to something the Sorcerer would be able to think : a library might be summoned up but the books would only reflect the Sorcerer's own knowledge. The Void can only be influenced by a Sorcerer of at least 19th level.
- The Abyssal Shriek
Little is known of the Abyssal Shriek, other than it being the home of daemons, Onis and other malevolent entities. The Shriek is what was discarded at the creation of life itself. It is a dead world, abandoned by the Heiki, the Reiki any anything with any hint of benevolence in its heart. As the few travelers that reached the Shriek and came back to tell the tale say, it seems to be like a crack in reality : a giant abyss runs endlessly, and the lights of other planes can be faintly seen if one looks down. This rift is, in turn, surrounded by an equally endless cavern, only lit by fiendish pits of lava and fire and the rare glowing materials in the walls of the cavern itself. The Shriek is where downcast Oni take up refuge and Demon Lords rule, free of the control of any other divine entity. While the apparition of a Demon in the Material Plane, or their worship by the fiendish Drow, is enough to cause massive mayhem, panic and destruction, the level of chaos, evil and the threat represented by the Shriek is simply too great and outlandish to be understood. While arcane corruption is caused by a rift between the Material Plane and the Void, some demons find it far easier to enter the Void from the Shriek, and manifest through the rifts in the Material Plane. Leviathans and Aeons from the Void constantly battle to stem the flow of Shriek natives pouring through their realm into the Material Plane. Unseelie summoners used to bring outsiders from the Shriek into the Material Plane, but whether such feats of magic can even be replicated with the current runic system has hopefully still yet to be seen.
The Shriek has the following traits:
- Strongly Chaos-Aligned and Strongly Evil-Aligned
- Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the Fire, Chaos or Negate descriptor are enhanced
- Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities without the Fire, Chaos or Negate descriptor are impeded.
Outsiders
Outsiders are beings that do not belong in the Material Plane or, at the very least, are not native to it. There are several Outsider categories; here are the most noteworthy ones. There are probably far more categories, that are so far unknown to the Material Plane...for better or for worse.
Void-born Outsiders
Aeon (Keepers of balance who originate from the Void. The Unseelie used to be able to summon Aeons in battle.) Astral Leviathan (Said to protect the integrity of the Void, and at such, often at odds with the Shriek outsiders) Eidolons Kami (Reiki belong to this category) Oni (Some Oni choose to remain in the Void to stay close to the Material Plane) Shinigami (subtype of Kami/Reiki) Inner Plane Outsiders
Einherji (Unknown planar origin, though tales say they are Innurko's minions) Elementals Elemental Dragon Elemental, Air Elemental, Earth Elemental, Fire Elemental, Gravity (Unknown planar origin) Elemental, Ice Elemental, Negative Energy (Unknown planar origin) Elemental, Positive Energy (Plane of Light native) Elemental, Water Empyreal Lord (Plane of Light native) Garuda (Plane of Air native) Jyoti (Plane of Air native) Harbingers (Plane of Light native) Memory Child (Described as one of the natives of Shon'ta's realm) Mire Brute (Another of Vaasha's minions) Mother of Oblivion (Plane of Water native) Titan (Plane of Earth native) Tojanida (Plane of Water native) Weird, Blood (Unknown planar origin, but it is probably another of Vaasha's minions) |
Shriek Natives
Abyssal Larva Burleev Daemons Demonic Knight Demons Devils Dimensional Shambler (far scarier than the name implies.) Hell Hound Hellcat (subtype of Oni) Oni (many Onis find refuge in the Shriek) Shikigami (subtype of Oni) Shining Child (subtype of Oni) Time Flayer Umbral Shepherd Vescavor Swarm |