Void, The (4e Environment)
General[edit]
The Void is a far and distant plane from most other known Planes. It's existence is not common knowledge, but it is spoken of among most races and cultures. Few people have ever been to The Void, and even fewer have returned. When you enter The Void, you have to go through a ritual that sends you off. While in The Void, your soulless body remains in an immovable, unthinkable state. The remaining body of yours can't drink or eat by itself, only breathe. If you die in The Void, your body remains in that state until it dies of natural causes. If your body dies, then you remain in The Void, until someone eventually summons you. See Voidspawn.
Some prophets claim that The Void is the Realm of Souls, Plane of Nonexistence. If that's true is not known for sure by anyone, except the natives who have always lived there. But what is known, is that The Void is a plane of magic beyond common wizard's or prophet's minds. The Void does not have any clear ends, it is just infinite, at the same time it isn't. It is more like a dream world, where anything can happen. No living person except the natives of The Void will ever be able to fully understand it.If you survive a Void trip, you will almost certainly have acquired a greater understanding of the whole Universe, and the essence of existence itself. You may also have acquired a great deal of magical or martial knowledge and power. But one thing is known for certain. You're never going to be the same.
One of the ways to get to The Void is to sacrifice the life, be it on accident or on purpose, of the closest person to you on a day with a purple new moon. Magical power is not required. Another way is to be pulled, or summoned, to the realm when the two align on the planar spectrum. The final way, other than being killed, is to be forced into The Void by a higher power. Be it a god or a devil.
Creatures of The Void[edit]
There are many creatures in The Void, but some common creatures there might be Soul eaters, Void Fey or souls of people trapped there.
Soul-Eaters are grand beasts of The Void, that eats the souls entering their domains. They have the ability to alter the forms of a soul they have devoured, giving them the ability to lure their prey into traps or other hidden places where they peacefully can kill and feast on it. Soul-Eaters have certain domains in The Void, but there are no clear borders. How the Soul- Eaters know where the borders go, are for everyone except themselves, unknown. They all have different altered forms after whom they have devoured, but their unaltered form is pretty alike for all of them. Their eyes glow orange, blue, purple or green. They just have glowing balls as eyes. The body is smooth, but it's always surrounded by some kind of fog, so it makes the body shape and size unclear. They aren't so powerful, but their magical powers are far beyond most other magicians. Soul-Eaters also have the ability to possess traveling souls( souls with a living body in another plane). When they have possessed it, they can return to the plane, and take over the body. Can only be conjured through the power of the Void Lords, or their 'children'.
Void Fey may be the most mysterious of all creatures in The Void. The Void Fey often live amongst Void Crystals, or other riches and magical things on the plane. They're usually not longer than your elbow to your wrist, but sizes may vary. Unlike the Soul-Eaters, these Fey have very clear body shape and size, and they may look like some shrunken eladrin. On their back, they have small bat-like wings, and the colors might vary. The Void Fey might be sly little demons, trying to lure the lost souls into the hands of a Soul-eater or a Void Lord, or a helping hand that tries to rescue you from eternal damnation or death. Can only be conjured through the power of the Void Lords, or their 'children'.
Void Lords are the rulers of The Void, above all other creatures. A Void Lord can be compared to a demigod, they can alter reality to their favor, turn life to death, healing to damage and vice verse. There are no common traits among the Void Lords, except the Void eyes, eyeballs who i always glowing in some sort of color. This is a trait all creatures of The Void has, even traveling or damned souls. No one knows what the different eye colors mean, or if it's random. Void Lords often grant Soul-Eaters or other Void creatures land on their Realms. Each Void Lords has their own Realm, with every varied terrain and inhabitants. Some Void Lords might be good, helpful and forgiving, while others might be of just pure evil. When Void Lords wage war against each other, the power of magic is pushed to the very limits, and it reaches out to other planes. This might cause summoning of Void beasts in other Planes, creation of elementals and great natural catastrophes. This does not summon Voidspawns, though. Can only be created by condensing Void energy and by the creator sacrificing them/itself.
Terrain[edit]
Even the terrain on The Void may have "minds" of their own. It may seem like some open plains doesn't do much, but they can if they will. They might create some unnoticeable, difficult terrain while you're in a fight, or while you simply walk over it. It might also support you in fights or while you walk. But in some terrains, you may actually see clearly that the terrain is trying to hinder you, or even kill you.
F. ex. if you walk by a tree you shouldn't, it might attack you with its branches. Most terrain doesn't attack you at random. It often has a reason, like if you're destroying it, or attacking the innocent inhabitants, or that the Void Lord of the area commands it to. Or, as mentioned above, it might help you if you're trying to help it, killing unnatural or evil inhabitants, or - again, if a Void Lord says so.
Void Crystals are one of the riches in The Void. They glow mainly purple, but they might eventually glow orange, red, blue or green. They contain high concentrations of residuum. Void Crystals are actually pure magic forged into something consistent. Because of this, whenever a mage touches it, he or she may regain power or lose some. Outside of The Void, the crystal only has limited touches before it looses it's powers and become a stone. If you melt it - which requires the heat of 1000 C, it turns into a glowing liquid, which rapidly changes color. When it becomes consistent again, it turns into pure residuum. Why this is so, no one knows. Void Fey feel some kind of connection to these, therefore stealing a Void Crystal from a fey, may get terrible results. But you can turn it to you're advantage; you might bribe a Void Fey with one.
But, as with most things in The Void, the terrain varies. All from high, snowy mountains, to open plains and deep caverns.
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