Cosmology (Orizon Supplement)

A simplified expression of the cosmology of Orizon

Most people don’t consider the world of Orizon beyond the material plane, the home of mortals and the world they inhabit, but Orizon has a broad planar geography. Beyond the eyes of most mortals are a host of locales, all part of the magical framework of Orizon. From the savage elemental planes to the darkness of the shadowfell.

Beyond the planar confines of Orizon and the geography of its cosmos sits a vast multiverse, an infinite number of varied worlds and realities. The breaking was the cause of much calamity, but one of the most lasting effects was the sundering of Orizon’s planar barriers. Portals were opened to distant locales and unsuspecting creatures were dropped into Orizon, trapped there forever. The breaking is considered the origin point of many of Orizon’s now native creatures. The spreading storm bursts of wild magic that travel across Orizon continue to open small gates to other planes, but these are rare and not able to sustain themselves for very long. Typically these portals are open for just an instant, depositing bewildered creatures from outside the plane, or snatching up unsuspecting residents of Orizon and whisking them away.

The various planes of existence are realms of myth and mystery. They’re not simply other worlds, but dimensions formed and governed by spiritual and elemental principles.

The structure of Orizon’s cosmology is an integral part of the world’s magic and the currents of energy known as the flow. There are two major currents, the spiritual and the natural. The spiritual flows between the afterlives of postea and the obscene depths, cycling the energies of the soul between the heavens and the hells. The natural flows between the faerie and the umbral, cycling between growth and decay. At the connections of these currents are the astral and the etherial planes.

In the inner planes, the elemental planes and the gossamer planes of the Ethereal and Astral, the energies shift. The gossamer bridges serve as connective points, spreading beyond their defined borders and reaching out across the world and cosmology. The Astral plane is a bridge of the mind and dreams, the Etherial plane is a bridge of souls. The Elemental planes draw in energy and give it further definition, they reinforce those definitions within the material plane.

At the absolute center of these currents is the material plane. The flow mingles here, spreading out and intermixing its currents, making the life and magic that people have come to know possible.

One effect of the breaking was to weaken the channels of the currents of the flow, interfering with the easy movement of the flow. On the material plane this manifests as wild magic storms, on other planes, this is less obvious, but the effect is energies from outside of the plane being added to the currents, or the flows energies spilling out into the greater multiverse. The former helps to further empower warlocks, the latter has served to prevent a potentially catastrophic overflow of energy, but could also drain Orizon of magic if it became worse.

Traveling the Planes

When adventurers travel to other planes of existence, they undertake a journey that might force them to face supernatural guardians and undergo various ordeals. The nature of that journey and the trials along the way depend in part on the means of travel, and whether the adventurers find a magic portal or use a spell to carry them.

The walls that divide the plane from others are weaker than those of some other planes, making it easier to travel across the multiverse using Orizon as a point of origin. Some “plane striders” make Orizon their adopted home, exploiting this feature and studying the results of the strong magic of Orizon.

Planar Portals

“Portal” is a general term for a stationary interplanar connection that links a specific location on one plane a specific location on another. Some are like doorways, appearing as a clear window or a foggy, clouded passage, and interplanar travel is as simple as stepping through the doorway. Other portals are locations, circles of standing stones, soaring towers, drifting ships, or even whole towns that exist in multiple planes at once or flicker from one to another. Some are vortices, joining an Elemental Plane to a very similar location on the Material Plane.

Spells

A number of spells allow direct or indirect access to other planes of existence. Plane shift and gate can directly transport adventurers to any other plane, with different degrees of precision. Etherealness allows adventurers to enter the Ethereal Plane. And the astral projection spell lets adventurers project themselves into the Astral Plane and from there travel to the Outer Planes.

Strider's Spark

Awakened by severe duress or strain, the spark of a planes strider ignites to allow these individuals to travel between the planes without expending magic or requiring a portal. Not only does a strider’s spark allow these individuals to travel through a single plane’s planar geography, it also enables them to travel between distinct planes.

The spark has its limitations, a strider can only travel alone, bringing with them only that which they can carry. Further, striders cannot travel accurately to specific locations on planes, they can accurately tell the plane they are arriving on and its nature, but specific locations are fuzzy until they actually “land.”

The Material Plane

The Material Plane is the nexus where the philosophical and elemental forces that define the other planes collide in the jumbled existence of mortal life and mundane matter. The material plane is the most habitable for the life of Orizon and few people ever leave it.

The Astral Plane

The astral plane is vast beyond comprehension, it is a realm of thoughts and dreams, where the idle wishes of its residents could become reality. The astral plane permeates the entirety of Orizon’s outer planar geography, connecting the material with the gods and demons.

It is a great silvery sea, the same above and below, with swirling wisps of white and gray streaking among motes of light like distant stars. Most of the Astral Sea is a vast, empty expanse. Visitors occasionally stumble upon the petrified corpse of a dead god or other chunks of rock drifting forever in the silvery void.

Much more commonplace are "color pools", magical pools of colored light that flicker like radiant, spinning coins.

Creatures on the Astral Plane don’t age or suffer from hunger or thirst.

A traveler in the Astral Plane can move by simply thinking about moving, but distance has little meaning. In combat, a creature’s walking speed (in feet) is equal to 3 x its Intelligence score. The smarter a creature is, the easier it can control its movement by act of will.

Astral Projection

Traveling through the Astral Plane by means of the astral projection spell involves projecting one’s consciousness there, usually in search of a gateway to an Outer Plane to visit. Since the Outer Planes are as much spiritual states of being as they are physical places, this allows an individual to manifest in an Outer Plane as if he or she had physically traveled there, but as in a dream. A individual’s death-either in the Astral Plane or on the destination plane-causes no actual harm. Only the severing of a character’s silver cord while on the Astral Plane (or the death of his or her helpless physical body on the Material Plane) can result in the character’s true death. Thus, high-level characters sometimes travel to the Outer Planes by way of astral projection rather than seek out a portal or use a more direct spell.

Only a few things can sever a traveler’s silver cord, the most common being a psychic wind (described below). An individual who travels bodily to the Astral Plane (by means of the plane shift spell or one of the odd portals that leads directly there) has no silver cord.

Dreamers

Some on Orizon are born with a connection to the astral plane. Every night, when they go to sleep, they visit the astral plane. With training or practice they may become able to control themselves while they are there, otherwise they may simple believe that they are dreaming.

Dreamers are valued as seers and oracles for their ability to travel the astral plane and gain those insights. The stronger the dreamer, the clearer they can see within the astral plane, and the clearer the information they can obtain while in there.

Psychic Wind

A psychic wind isn’t a physical wind like that found on the Material Plane, but a storm of thought that batters travelers’ minds rather than their bodies. A psychic wind is made up of lost memories, forgotten ideas, minor musings, and subconscious fears that went astray in the Astral Plane and conglomerated into this powerful force.

A psychic wind is first sensed as a rapid darkening of the silver-gray sky. After a few rounds, the area becomes as dark as a moonless night. As the sky darkens, the traveler feels buffeting and shaking, as if the plane itself was rebelling against the storm. As quickly as it comes, the psychic wind passes, and the sky returns to normal in a few rounds.

The psychic wind has two kinds of effects: a location effect and a mental effect. A group of travelers journeying together suffers the same location effect. Each traveler affected by the wind must also make a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, the traveler suffers the mental effect as well. Roll a d20 twice and consult the Psychic Wind Effects table to determine the location and mental effects.

d20 Psychic Wind Location Effect

1-8 Diverted; add 1d6 hours to travel time

9-12 Blown off course; add 3d10 hours to travel time

13-16 Lost; at the end of the travel time, arrive at a location other than the intended destination

17-20 Sent through color pool to a random plane on Orizon

d20 Psychic Wind Mental Effect

1-8 Stunned for 1 minute; you can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of your turns to end the effect on yourself

9-10 Short-term madness (see chapter 8 in the DMG)

11-12 11 (2d10) psychic damage

13-16 22 (4d10) psychic damage

17-18 Long-term madness (see chapter 8 in the DMG)

19-20 Unconscious for 5 (1d10) minutes; the effect on you ends if you take damage or if another creature uses an action to shake you awake

The Ethereal Plane

The Ethereal Plane is a misty, fog-bound dimension. Its “shores,” called the Border Ethereal, overlap the Material Plane, the elemental planes, and the feywild and shadowfell, so that every location on those planes has a corresponding location on the Ethereal Plane. Visibility in the Border Ethereal is limited to 60 feet The plane’s depths comprise a region of swirling mist and fog called the Deep Ethereal where visibility is limited to 30 feet

Characters can use the etherealness spell to enter the Border Ethereal. The plane shift spell allows transport to the Border Ethereal or the Deep Ethereal, but unless the intended destination is a specific location or a teleportation circle, the point of arrival could be anywhere on the plane.

Border Etherial

From the Border Ethereal, a traveler can see into whatever plane it overlaps, but that plane appears muted and indistinct, its colors blurring into each other and its edges turning fuzzy. Ethereal denizens watch the plane as though peering through distorted and frosted glass, and can’t see anything beyond 30 feet into the other plane. Conversely, the Ethereal Plane is usually invisible to those on the overlapped planes, except with the aid of magic.

Normally, creatures in the Border Ethereal can’t touch creatures on the overlapped plane, and vice versa. A traveler on the Ethereal Plane is invisible and utterly silent to someone on the overlapped plane, and solid objects on the overlapped plane don’t hamper the movement of a creature in the Border Ethereal The exceptions are certain magical effects (including anything made of magical force) and living beings. This makes the Ethereal Plane ideal for reconnaissance, spying on opponents, and moving around without being detected. The Ethereal Plane also disobeys the laws of gravity; a creature there can move up and down as easily as walking.

Deep Etherial

To reach the Deep Ethereal, one needs a plane shift spell or arrive by means of a gate spell or magical portal. Visitors to the Deep Ethereal are engulfed by roiling mist. Scattered throughout the plane are curtains of vaporous color, and passing through a curtain leads a traveler to a region of the Border Ethereal connected to a specific Inner Plane, the Material Plane, the Faerie or the Umbral.

Traveling through the Deep Ethereal to journey from one plane to another is unlike physical travel. Distance is meaningless, so although travelers feel as if they can move by a simple act of will, it’s impossible to measure speed and hard to track the passage of time. A trip between planes through the Deep Ethereal takes 1d10 x 10 hours, regardless of the origin and destination. In combat, however, creatures are considered to move at their normal speeds.

Ether Twisters

A twisted mass of ethereal energy, wild and chaotic, these are the reflections of wild magic storms. The twister appears abruptly, distorting and uprooting ethereal forms in its path and carrying the debris for leagues. Travelers with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 15 or more receive 1d4 rounds of warning: a deep hum in the ethereal matter. Travelers who can’t reach a curtain or portal leading elsewhere suffer the cyclone’s effect.

d20 Ether Twister Effect

1-12 Journey is multiplied by 1d4

13-19 Blown to the Border Ethereal of a random inner plane

20 Hurled into the astral plane

The Elemental Planes

Most consider the elemental planes to be four separate planes, water, earth, fire, and air. However, these planes are, to those with the perspective to see, a single plane with four different “cores.” These cores blow out across the elemental plane and clash at the borders. In the center of the elemental plane is something known as “the maelstrom” or “the elemental chaos,” where all four of the distinct elements collide together in full force.

The elemental planes are the homes of elementals and other creatures whose nature comes from the power of the elements filling as their beating heart. The most powerful of these creatures in the elemental planes are the genies, pure and powerful elemental energy given shape and personality.

The Plane of Air

The plane of air is a maelstrom, a place of movement, inspiration and animation. Air is the breath of life, the winds of change and the breeze that clears the fog and stiffness.

The plane of air is a vast expanse with constant winds. Here and there chunks of earth drift in the expanse, miniature crumbling versions of the skylands of the material plane, eroded by the constant wind. These small chunks of earth serve as the homes of the plane of air’s few residents. Other creatures occupy magical clouds that can support the weight of entire castles.

Drifting clouds float across the plane of air and storms are common, nearly constant. Thunderstorms are frequent, but these storms can grow to tornadoes and hurricane winds. Flowing through the plane of air is a twisted network of air currents that can enable any traveler to navigate the plane of air.

The Plane of Water

The plane of water is the deepest ocean. Water flows, smooth, steady and inexorable. Water is the rhythm of a tide, the drink of life, the bitter tears and the cool balm.

There are frequent rainstorms on the plane of water, feeding into the vastness of the deep ocean. The lost ships of countless civilizations drift across the ocean with little hope of returning home.

Life flourishes in the sunlit top of the ocean, aquatic creatures occupy coral reefs and sea caves that seem endless.

The deep, pitch-black regions of the ocean are murky and dark, horrid creatures that have never seen sunlight live down there, living off the vents of molten heat that pours in from the depths.

Any land that rises above the surface of the sea is hotly contested by the few air-breathers that live on the plane. Fleets of rafts and ships lashed together serve as solid ground where nothing else is available

The Plane of Earth

The plane of earth is a solid mass of stone and soil, a plane of impossibly high mountains and deep extensive networks of caverns. The highest mountains stretch beyond any air and few things live on the surface of the plane of Earth.

Earth is an element of stability, rigidity, stern resolve and long tradition, it is the element of long memories and solid stoicism.

Jewels are abundant here, and larger than any that could be found on the material plane. Minerals and metals are common and they are ever regenerated at the font of creation that sits at the plane’s border. Every so often, some people will concoct a scheme to mine the plane of earth, to harvest the vast mineral wealth.

The Plane of Fire

Fire is an element of vibrancy, passion and change. It can be cruel and destructive, but also nourishing and warming. Without fire, civilization is impossible. Fire is the warmth of compassion, the flame of desire, and the inferno of anger.

The plane of fire is a place of a blazing sun and heat that burns like a furnace. At noon, the light from its powerful sun burns so brightly it blinds anyone who sees it.

There are a few patches of water within the plane of fire, but they do not last long, and gradually become more rare as one passes deeper into the plane of fire.

The Borders

Between the elemental planes are admixtures of the two bordering elements. Strange mergings of the two distinct elements forming something powerful and new.

Sirocco Straights

Air & Fire The sirocco straights are a place of ash and wind. Hot winds blow motes of ash far and wide and fuel the great conflagration.

The Great Conflagration

Admixture plane The great conflagration is a towering inferno of flames constantly stoked by the winds of the plane of air. This is a place that burns without end.

The Sea of Fire

Fire & Air A vast expanse of flame, flickering and burning as it flows from the great conflagration to the core of the plane of fire, where all the fuel has been burned away.

Molten Rivers

Fire & Earth Bubbling flows of molten magma that flow down from the fountains of creation and deliver their core of heat to the plane of fire.

The Fountains of Creation

Admixture plane Places where volcanoes rise from the earth, spewing lava and ash into the sky and causing new earth to rise up out of the powerful eruptions.

The Furnaces

Earth & Fire The furnaces are places of roiling magma, they are cavernous funnels and the seats of great forges. The magma of the furnaces seeps endlessly outwards.

Mud Hills

Earth & Water Hills of mud and muck that drift away from the plane of earth. Constant landslides of mud erode away the mountains and send cascades of dirt and stone.

Swamp of Oblivion

Admixture Plane A swamp of twisted trees and gnarled vines, stagnant lakes and pools. It is believed that anything cast in the swamp cannot be found again for at least 100 years.

Silt Flats

Water & Earth A place of muck and sludge, of odd grasses and sands. The edges of this place are buffered by dunes and sedge grasses.

Sea of Ice

Water & Air A place of icebergs and frigid water, the place is choked by sleet and cold. The drifting icebergs occasionally carry its inhabitants deeper into the oceans.

Frostfell

Admixture Plane The frostfell is a place of solid ice and cold, a vast glacier with raging blizzards and deep caverns of ice. This is a place that demands strength for survival.

Mistral Reach

Air & Water The mistral reach is a place of snow and rain, fueled by the ice of the frostfell and the waters of the plane of water.

The Plane of Faerie

The Plane of Faerie, or the plane of growth, is a land of soft lights and wonder, a place of music and death. Faerie is an supersaturated world, colors are more vibrant, sounds more melodious, the breeze always carries a new scent.

Away from the vibrant cities of the Faerie Plane are thick forests, tangled branches, and foggy swamps. All the plant life of the shimmering plane grows to heights and thicknesses unheard of in the material plane. Many druids travel to the glimmer to seek out a deeper connection to the natural world that the rampant growth affords.

Faerie is a reflection of the material plane, influenced by the constant influx of fresh magical energy that the lusterous plane infuses with the energies of life and growth. The plane of Faerie is smaller than the material plane but matches its landscapes and features. A journey between two locales on the material plane may take weeks, but on Faerie it would take days.

The landscape of the glistening plane mirrors the natural world but turns its features into spectacular forms. Where a volcano stands on the Material Plane, Faerie has a skyscraper of blood-red crystal jutting out of a mountain peak. A wide and muddy river on the Material Plane might be echoed as a clear and winding brook. A marsh could become a vast black and sinister bog. A traveler might cross into Faerie from the ruins of a old castle and walk up to the doorway of an archfey’s castle.

There are no skylands in the air of Faerie, but their positions are matched by shimmering crystals that float suspended at the center of where the skylands float in the material plane. The size of the crystal in the sky corresponds to the size of the skyland on the material plane.

The plane of the Fey is inhabited by sylvan creatures, such as elves, dryads, satyrs, pixies, and sprites, as well as centaurs and magical creatures like blink dogs, faerie dragons, treants, and unicorns. The darker regions of the plane are home to such malevolent creatures as hags, blights, goblins, ogres, and giants. Neither groups are exactly safe for travelers.

Fey Crossings

Fey crossings are places of mystery and beauty on the Material Plane that have a near-perfect mirror in Faerie, creating a portal where the two planes touch. A traveler may pass through a fey crossing by entering a clearing, wading into a pool, stepping into a circle of mushrooms, or crawling under the trunk of a tree. To the traveler, it seems like he or she has simply walked into the Fey plane with a step. To an observer, the traveler is there one moment and gone the next. A fey crossing can be closed permanently if the land on either side is dramatically altered- for example, if a castle is built over the clearing on the Material Plane.

Optional Rules: Fey Magic

Tales speak of children kidnapped by fey creatures and spirited away to Faerie, only to return to their parents years later without having aged a day, and with no memories of their captors or the realm they came from. Likewise, adventurers who return from an excursion to the plane of Faerie are often alarmed to discover upon their return that the magical weight of the plane means time flows differently on the Plane of Faerie, and that the memories of their visit are hazy. You can use these optional rules to reflect the strange magic that suffuses the plane.

Memory Loss

A creature that leaves the plane of Faerie must make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw. any Fey creatures automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do any creatures, like elves or half-elves, that have the Fey Ancestry trait. A creature that fails the saving throw remembers nothing from its time spent in the Feywild. On a successful save, the creature’s memories remain intact but are a little hazy. Any spell that can end a curse can also restore the creature’s lost memories.

Time Warp

While time seems to pass normally in the shimmering plane of Faerie, characters might spend a day there and realize, upon leaving the plane, that less or more time has elapsed everywhere else in the multiverse.

Whenever a creature or group of creatures leaves the plane after spending at least 1 day on that plane, you can choose a time change that works best for your campaign, if any, or roll on the Fey Time Warp table. A wish spell can be used to remove the effect on up to ten creatures. Some powerful fey have the ability to grant such wishes and might do so if the beneficiaries agree to subject themselves to a geas spell and complete a quest after the wish spell is cast.

d20 Time Warp Effect 1-2 Days become minutes 3-6 Days become hours 7-13 No change 14-17 Days become weeks 18-19 Days become months 20 Days become years

The Umbral

The Umbral, also called the Plane of Shadow, or the plane of decay, is a world in shades of gray, most color has been leached from the world, everything is dull and little color remains. The entirety of the senses are dulled and faded while on the Umbral.

Away from the crumbling cities of the Umbral are gray forests and deep fogs, faded stretches of brambles and murky swamps. The Umbral is dark and claustrophobic, oppressive by its very air.

The Umbral overlaps the Material Plane in much the same way as the plane of Faerie. Aside from the drab landscape, it appears similar to the Material Plane. Landmarks from the Material Plane are recognizable on the Umbral, but they are twisted and warped, distorted reflections of what exists on the Material Plane. Where a mountain stands on the Material Plane, the corresponding feature on the Umbral is a jagged rock outcropping that resembles a skull, a heap of rubble, or perhaps the crumbling ruin of a once-great castle. A forest on the Umbral is dark and twisted, its branches reaching out to snare travelers’ cloaks, and its roots coiling and buckling to trip those who pass by.

There are no skylands in the Umbral, instead their positions are matched by hovering mounds of obsidian, that float suspended at the center of where the skylands float in the material plane. The larger the skyland in the material, the larger the chunk of black crystal in the skies of the Umbral.

Shadow dragons and undead creatures haunt this bleak plane, as do other creatures that thrive in the gloom, including cloakers and darkmantles. Few people travel willingly into the Umbral, but there are a few lost secrets hidden in the gloom, keys to ancient power and wisdom and potent magical items.

Shadow Crossings

Similar to fey crossings, shadow crossings are locations where the veil between the Material Plane and the Umbral is so thin that creatures can walk from one plane to the other. A blot of shadow in the corner of a dusty crypt might be a shadow crossing, as might an open grave. Shadow crossings form in gloomy places where spirits or the stench of death lingers, such as battlefields, graveyards, and tombs. They manifest only in darkness, closing as soon as they feel a touch of light.

In remote corners of the Umbral, it is easy to reach horrific demiplanes ruled over by accursed beings of terrible evil. These are creatures that seek the shadowfell to avoid the light, or that were imprisoned there by their rivals and enemies. The shades, lords of the shadowfell use these places as prisons for potential usurpers or powerful entities, such as Nakhotet, the vampire that turned Godwin Flamel and is believed to be the very first vampire.

These are dark places of horror and dread, places that have leeched between the planes through their dire influence and the astral travels of Orizon’s dreamers, spreading to become myths and stories of the dread beings that occupy these places.

Optional Rule: Umbral Despair

A melancholic atmosphere pervades the Shadowfell. Extended forays to this plane can afflict characters with despair, as reflected in this optional rule.

When you deem it appropriate, though usually not more than once per day, you can require a character not native to the Shadowfell to make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the character is affected by despair. Roll a d6 to determine the effects, using the Shadowfell Despair table. You can substitute different despair effects of your own creation

If a character is already suffering a despair effect and fails the saving throw, the new despair effect replaces the old one. After finishing a long rest, a character can attempt to overcome the despair with a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. (The DC is higher because it’s harder to shake off despair once it has taken hold.) On a successful save, the despair effect ends for that character. A calm emotions spell removes despair, as does any spell or other magical effect that removes a curse.

d6 Despair Effect 1-3 Apathy. The character has disadvantage on death saving throws and on Dexterity checks for initiative, and gains the following flaw: “I don’t believe I can make a difference to anyone or anything.” 4-5 Dread. The character has disadvantage on all saving throws and gains the following flaw: “I am convinced that this place is going to kill me.” 6 Madness. The character has disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws that use Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, and gains the following flaw: “I can’t tell what’s real anymore.”

Postea

Postea is the plane of celestials and the dead. This is the afterlife of good and neutral souls, dominated by the vast fields controlled by Bern, the god of the dead. This place is entered by the black shores, Orizon’s dead arrive there and gradually make their way to the fields. Or they are taken further into this afterlife by the agents of the gods to private afterlives.

The Wandering Lands

Past the sands of the shore is a vast terrain of the afterlife, souls that have past abandon the shores and begin to seek out their rest and their reward in the dead fields. THose who entered into the service of gods must too walh though this route. Some travel it with the aid of a guide, some empowered soul sent by the gods to provide them with a path through the afterlife. Demons and devils also creep up into this territory to try again to tempt souls down before the protections of the dead fields block them off.

The exact layout of the wandering lands shifts and changes depending on the soul walking through them, reflecting the conflicts of their life. If two souls meet, the peculiarities of their terrain will mix, forming a new landscape until the two souls on pilgrimage part.

The Dead Fields

Overseen by Bern, the god of the dead and of the afterlife, the dead fields are a massive collection of farmlands. They are the major expanse of Orizon’s afterlife, and the fate that awaits most of the souls of Orizon’s dead. The size of the dead fields are mutable, they are precisely as large as they need to be to accommodate the souls that occupy it and there is always more work that needs to be done.

The souls of the dead can be seen wandering this place, working at their assigned tasks in the fields, harvesting the food of the gods and their servants. The labor is endless, and souls are put to the chores that suit them best, or that they choose. Just as one field is harvested, another becomes overgrown and must be cleared and the work continues.

Souls in the dead fields are compelled to work, this effect is not total and can be resisted, but eventually the spirits will always return to their labor. These endless tasks of agriculture become less and less strenuous as souls forget their muscles and their old lives and eventually become repetitive motions that allow the mind to think freely. This is a system designed to eventually become a sort of meditation, allowing the soul to put themselves at peace and work away their old lives and identities and pass on in peace.

Optional Rule: Forced Labor

While in the dead fields a visitor must succeed a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save they will be compelled to join the souls of the dead in their endless work and will begin tilling the fields or planting crops. If they do not leave the plane within 3 days the compulsion will be permanent.

A calm emotions or remove curse spell will end the compulsion.

The Celestial Garden

At the center of the fields of the dead are grand gates of gold and silver, guarded by powerful angels. Beyond these are the celestial gardens, beautiful places that are home to exquisitely arranged plants from all over the world and attended by the souls of those dead that the gods have honored.

Any within find themselves comforted and with a measure of peace, while at the same time their minds flow more freely, those few who have visited have said that the garden somehow provided them with answers to their deepest questions.

Those seeking information, wisdom and advice from great heroes and learned mystics attempt to travel to this plane and ask those souls directly. Some enter from carefully hidden portals, others may to receive permission from the gods and travel there directly.

Optional Rule: At Peace

While in the gardens a player must succeed a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or the peaceful influence of the gardens will distort their perceptions of time. If all visitors fail this check the DM may have the players exit from the plane be approximately 1D100 years after their entrance. If half or more of the visitors fail the check their return may be one half of 1D100, rounded down.

The Celestial Manor

The home of Orizon’s gods seated inside the center of the gardens. The manor is massive, large enough to house the gods and all of those who serve them.

Each of Orizon’s gods has their own room within the manor, these rooms are powerful demiplanes that reflect the gods who occupy them; Tiad’s room, for example, is a lush underwater palace.

The interior of the manor is palatial, the foyer alone is large enough for giants. The guest rooms are considered to be a literal life-changing experience.

The rear of the manor holds an assortment of apartments, colloquially called the “servant’s quarters.” It is home to those celestial entities and exalted spirits that serve the gods and act as their agents within the world. There are also doors within it that allow these servants to access the god’s rooms discretely.

The Palace’s front doors are powerful portals, opening the doors can create a portal to any location on Orizon’s planar geography, except for the prison of Incancatus.

The Obscene Depths

At the opposite end of Postea are the obscene depths. Located in parallel to the plane of celestials, the depths are the home of devils and demons and the legions of Incancatus.

Its denizens struggle among themselves for power and advancing schemes to seek and steal away power and favor. And advance their own ends, or the ends of the lords they serve.

The Cages

Those souls who have sold themselves to a devil or demon, who engaged in their worship or helped to spread their agendas and schemes find the shores of Postea open up beneath them, the sands shift and form a cage, containing the soul and dragging it down to the pit. They remain trapped in the cage, awaiting their fate.

The Screaming Pits

When their time in the cages are over and they are properly “marinated,” souls are taken to the pits. There they are tormented by imps, their torment a crude, quick way of extracting energy from their soul. Some are tortured until they are totally wiped out, their agony only ending with themselves. Other souls are “rendered,” converted into fiends themselves to join the legions of torturers and enter the service of a greater fiend.

The screaming pits are a place of violence, not just against the souls condemned there, but also between the devils and demons that occupy it. The fights that break out constantly between lesser fiends in service to greater devils and demons are often the only source of respite that tormented souls receive.

The Damned Sextet

At the near bottom of the plane are the individual seats of power of the demons and devils that serve as the foremost commanders of Incancatus’ legions. The three devils and three demons that act as his foremost agents. Each region reflects its master, taking shape around them. Incancatus has schemed that no fiend shall be neighbor to another of its kind. A demon is only bordered by devils, and devils are only bordered by demons.

Swamp of Blood

The realm of Borst, demon of blood. Outside of his fortress the ground is sticky and wet with the spilled blood of thousands and littered with bones and gristle, the grisly remnants of those who died in the wars begun through Borst’s influence. At the center of this realm is the dread keep, home to infernal warriors and powerful demons, and the war room of Borst.

Dread Crypt

Realm of Davurn, the devil of undeath, this realm appears to be a massive graveyard, thousands of bodies lie to decay while shuffling zombies groan as they wander the realm on Davurns errands. Within the few structures the souls of knowledgeable wizards and sly devils concoct new spells and magics. In the center of this realm Davurn occupies his library where he collects magical spells and items.

The Hive

Realm of Aramisk, the demon of swarms, the hive is a massive conglomeration of various insect nests, the whole realm buzzes with their activity and writhes with their movement. In the center of a deep pit, through extensive and twisting tunnels is the “Queen’s chamber” where Aramisk’s massive centipede body twists beneath her as she feasts on the souls her swarms bring her.

The Pleasure Palace

Realm of Sonova, devil of gifts, the pleasure palace is a baroque mansion filled with the tangled bodies of succubi and incubi and other creatures of lust and impulse. The air is filled with the haze of drugs being smoked and the languid bodies of the mindlessly high. Above it all, Sonova lounges, surrounded by thoughtless hedonists and mindless slaves who attend to their whims.

Colosseum Ruins

Realm of Hemirtno, demon of retribution, this realm is a wasteland of ruined edifices occupied by the tormented souls of those who regret the depths their vengeance brought them to. In the center of the realm is a great arena where petitioners and the subjects of their vengeful wrath are brought. In the “emperor’s box” is seated Hemirtno where he presides over the bloody battle and coaxes all involved on into further acts of violence.

The Firm

Realm of Farsk, devil of deals. By all appearances the firm is a massive dull building, filled with filing systems and devils at work in front of desks and filing away fresh deals made in the name of their infernal master. Within these cabinets are every deal that Farsk has made. Beneath and around the firm are the souls Farsk has claimed, chained and starved then put to work.

The Infernal Keep

The realm of Incancatus, the twisted old god of power. The Infernal Keep is their center of power, their castle, their fortress and their prison.

Incancatus was trapped here long ago by the combined efforts of the surviving old gods. The Infernal Keep has become the center of Incancatus’ power and simultaneously binds them to the obscene depths. From here Incancatus sends out their agents to offer power to mortals, manipulates their damned court and plots and schemes for their release.

The Black Shore

The Black shore is one of the two borders between Postea and the obscene depths. This shore is the first place that the people of Orizon arrive upon when they die. It is a vast shoreline of black diamonds and a sky with no stars. Suffusing this beach is a faint glow with numerous different colors making it up. Above, though there are no stars, can be seen the faint glow of the energy of the souls of the dead passing on.

Souls of the dead may remain on the shores for as long as there is someone who knew them that still lives. Upon waking on the sand many souls find themselves with friends and loved ones, or sometimes even their enemies surrounding them on the shore. Planar travelers or astral wanderers sometimes search for the recently departed on these shores.

The sea at the edge of this shore begins as a place of peaceful waves but soon becomes a churning, roiling, terror. Souls that are too weary of existence step into these waters and are soon washed away, their identities destroyed and the energies of their lives and souls returned to the world.

After their time on the shore is concluded, there are many things that await the dead. At any time they may leave the shores and go to the fields of Bern. There is also the danger for the souls of the evil, that the diamond sands might crack, and they will be dragged down in a cage to the obscene depths.

The souls of the honored dead will be approached when their time on the sands is done, or when they begin to leave, by the servants of a god. This servant will take them forwards to the celestial gardens where they can relax or serve the gods.

A final choice for the souls of the dead is to make their way to the battlefield, to join in the endless war.

Optional Rule: Cessation

For every minute spent within the oceans at the edge of Postea all creatures must make a DC 20 Wisdom or Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, that creature is destroyed, disintegrated, wiped out from existence. Any creature destroyed this way cannot be revived by any means.

The Battlefield

The battlefield is the second border between Postea and the Obscene Depths, it is also considered the outskirts of Orizon’s entire planar geography, the final border between the world of Orizon and the blind eternities. The battlefield is both a place of war and a place of celebration.

Upon their arrival to the black shores a soul may volunteer for the battlefield, following their way out to a place of war and fighting. There are many things that seek to invade Orizon, and many that seek to battle the gods, the battlefield is the place where they go to war. Soldiers, souls empowered enough that they still possess the power they did in life, stand up against the aberrations from worlds away, the evils of the pit, and the servants of gods from distant planes that seek to extend their influence.

The primary war of the battlefield takes place between the opposed forces of the celestials and the fiends. The fiends believe that unseating the celestials will allow them to release the locks that bind Incancatus, and then they will be able to free their God, and take the place of the celestials they attacked. The celestials mount their armies in defense, holding it fast.

Sometimes though, the two armies join together, massing against an outside threat, like an approaching Esuriiten or a god from worlds beyond that may attempt to usurp the power and position in the world of the gods and devils. These approaches are the only thing that has ever managed to get these armies to cooperate, though never to coordinate.

The Halls

At the outskirts of the battlefield, bordering the gardens, are tremendous halls where the fighting souls rest from the battles and make merry, trading stories of their victories while alive and feasting on the foods of the gods, the harvested goods of the celestial gardens, enough to the power of the gods that grants these warrior souls the strength they held in life.

These halls are places of sybaritic pleasure, places for them to feast and indulge in whatever whims should take them, a reward for their service to the gods.

Demiplanes

Demiplanes are extradimensional spaces that come into being by a variety of means and boast their own physical laws. Some are created by spells. Others exist naturally, as folds of reality pinched off from the rest of the multiverse. Theoretically, a plane shift spell can carry travelers to a demiplane, but the proper frequency required for the tuning fork would be extremely hard to acquire. The gate spell is more reliable, assuming the caster knows of the demiplane.

A demiplane can be as small as a single chamber or large enough to contain an entire realm. For example, a Mordenkainen’s magnificent mansion spell creates a demiplane consisting of a foyer with multiple adjoining rooms while the rooms of the gods within the celestial manor can be the size of entire cities under the rule of the gods that own them.

When a demiplane is connected to the Material Plane or some other plane, entering it can be as simple as stepping through a portal or passing through a wall of mist.

The Endless Eternities

This is the space between the multiverse. A howling infinity devoid of anything the senses of mortals can comprehend. Very few things can travel through the blind eternities with any degree of safety or sanity.

The Multiverse

There are countless planes within the multiverse, spreading out for endless ages and endless geographies. These worlds are vast, with uncounted different peoples and places, gods and magics. Only a very rare few ever travel beyond the neighborhood of their home plane, Even fewer of those survive the trip through the blind eternities, but those that do discover countless worlds of boundless wonder.

The breaking damaged the planar walls of Orizon and its energies created tunnels, sucking things into the wounded plane. Numerous species and peoples are not originally native to the plane of Orizon but were forcibly relocated there by this event.

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