Cosmology of the World of Ere

The Black (Transitive plane)
The many Prime Material worlds exist in an endless sea of blackness called The Black. This infinite expanse is an utterly cold void where billions upon billions of miles of distance separates one world from another.

The temperature is cold enough to kill any creature with cold resistance less than 30, there is no breathable air and no atmosphere to speak of. It is almost impossible for a creature to live in its harsh environs.

Unless a world operates on unique metaphysics, or is connected directly to another plane, The Black can be reached simply by traveling upward from the surface of a plane long enough.

Eternity (Transitive Plane)
Slightly out of synch with The Black, Eternity is a transitive plane where the planes are considerably closer together; many only a matter of day’s travel from one another. Eternity however is a sea of metaphysical chaos where the physical and metaphysical rules of infinite worlds clash against each other.

Being unprotected in Eternity is even more deadly than in The Black. The chaos of Eternity reduces any energy or matter not protected by spells or special materials to its base components within a single round of exposure.

The inky black of Eternity is interrupted by colored haze as the elemental planes threaten to overlap and burst forth into the Eternity. Where these planes extrude into Eternity, planar flotsam forms, protected from Eternity by the proximity of the plane from wince it came. Planar travelers built outposts and cities upon these islands.

Entering Eternity requires a planeshift spell and leaving it requires a second such spell at the planar boundary with the destination plane.

The Ereandu Fragment
At some time in the Previous Age, Ere became disconnected with the Eternity, its planar boundary growing unstable and invisible from the Eternity. Where once it had a traditional ‘Wheel’ cosmology, with moral and ethical planes and connections to the elemental planes, it now has a unique configuration known to those few that know of the multiverse as the Ereandu Fragment.

Accessing a plane in the Ereandu Fragment from the Eternity requires a planeshift spell and a knowledge (the planes) check DC 35. Planeshift spells attempting to leave the Ereandu Fragment only succeed 1% of the time.

The Planes of Ere
Ere is the center of the unique cosmology of the Ereandu Fragment. It floats between Ola, its sun and the invisible black moon, Nubul. Around Ere rotate the planar moons Gracellia and Mayana. In The Black, Ere is orbited by Azelia, the green moon. Ere overlaps a plane called the Well of Souls, which serves as its afterlife.

All the planes in the Erandu Fragment share an Astral Plane and a Plane of Shadow. Each plane has its own Ethereal Plane

Ola, Sovereign Sun
The white star/plane Ola serves as Ere's sun it is a plane composed of flames infused with positive energy, thought it is not the elemental plane of fire and not the positive energy plane. The plane is composed of floating slabs of scorched carbon floating on a sea of chaotic flame. Many of these carbon slabs are the size of small continents; filled with a core of magma.

The carbon islands are the only places where creatures without the fire subtype or other immunity to fire can live for any amount of time and places host to small communities of remnants from a time when a planar society, now long cut off from Ola, used the plane’s natural features to set up massive foundries.

Ola radiates positive energy into The Black to rain down upon all the other planes in the Ereandu Fragment.

Ola can be reached by a planeshift spell.

The Ola 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.
  • Self Contained – Ola is a great sphere, looking to be a ball of white fire from The Black and the Eternity.
  • Fire dominant
  • Major Positive dominant. Some regions of the plane have the minor positive-dominant trait instead, and those islands tend to be inhabited.
  • Enhanced magic. Spells and spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor are both maximized and enlarged (as if the Maximize Spell and Enlarge Spell had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots). Spells and spell-like abilities that are already maximized or enlarged are unaffected by this benefit.
  • Impeded magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use or create water (including spells of the Water domain and spells that summon water elementals or outsiders with the water subtype) are impeded.

Azelia, the Matron
A forested green moon, Azelia is made up of temperate forests, rolling grasslands and pine covered mountains. It is on the same plane of reality as Ere and as such is the only moon that effects the tides.

Azelia can be reached in sixteen hours of normal travel in The Black or two rounds of travel in Eternity. A planeshift spell cannot access Azelia from Ere or visa versa, but a spell caster with an understanding of Azelia’s nature (knowledge (the planes) check DC 20) may attempt to teleport to a site on Azelia.

The Azelia has the following traits:

  • Finite. Azelia is a literal moon orbiting the planet of Ere.
  • Minor positive dominant.
  • Enhanced magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use positive energy, including cure spells, are maximized (as if the Maximize Spell metamagic feat had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots). Spells and spell-like abilities that are already maximized are unaffected by this benefit.
  • Impeded magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use negative energy (including inflict spells) are impeded.

Gracellia, the Night Maiden
Formed of elemental air and earth, Gracellia appears to be an orb of white in the night sky of Ere. It is actually an infinite, clear blue sky between a ceiling of rolling, white clouds and a floor of swirling, black clouds. The light on the plane is created by the ceiling of clouds themselves.

Between the two float lazily rotating islands of rock, metal and crystal, where the planes inhabitants have built their homes.

Gracellia can be reached by a planeshift spell.

The Gracellia has the following traits:

  • Objective directional gravity. ‘Down’ on Gracellia is always toward the center of the largest physical object.
  • Self contained. While Gracellia is infinite in most directions, moving through the cloud ceiling will deposit a traveler at the cloud floor and visa versa.
  • Enhanced magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use, manipulate, or create air (including spells of the Air domain) are both empowered and enlarged (as if the Empower Spell and Enlarge Spell metamagic feats had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots).
  • Enhanced magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use, manipulate, or create earth or stone (including those of the Earth domain) are both empowered and extended (as if the Empower Spell and Extend Spell metamagic feats had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots). Spells and spell-like abilities that are already empowered or extended are unaffected by this benefit. This effect only exists on the islands.

Mayana, the Baleful Eye
The red moon, Mayana is a desert world riddled with canyons and vast underground catacombs. Unlike the other planes, it does not serve as an elemental plane. Despite the harsh environs, civilization, mostly underground, have formed. Some of these even have secret trade with certain organizations on Ere.

Mayana can be reached with a planeshift spell.

The Mayana has the following traits:

  • Fire Dominant. Mayana’s environs are most unsuitable for creatures of the Cold or Water subtype, though some aquatic creatures survive underground.
  • Impeded magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use or create water (including spells of the Water domain and spells that summon water elementals or outsiders with the water subtype) are impeded.

Nubul, the Hidden Sea
The invisible black moon is a vast sea and Ola's opposite, drawing off enough bombarding positive energy to keep the people of Ere from being obliterated by positive energy death. The sea exists above a core of negative energy, its life sustained by the positive energy the plane attracts. Nubul serves the purpose of an elemental plane of water and negative energy.

Nubul can be reached by a planeshift spell. It is rumored that the center of Nubul conceals a gateway out of the Erandu Fragment.

The Nubul has the following traits:

  • Water Dominant.
  • Major negative-dominant. The sea surrounding the core of the plane only has the minor negative-dominant trait, and is inhabited.
  • Enhanced magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use negative energy are maximized (as if the Maximize Spell metamagic feat had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots). Spells and spell-like abilities that are already maximized are unaffected by this benefit. Class abilities that use negative energy, such as rebuking and controlling undead, gain a +10 bonus on the roll to determine Hit Dice affected.
  • Impeded magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use positive energy, including cure spells, are impeded. Characters on this plane take a -10 penalty on Fortitude saving throws made to remove negative levels bestowed by an energy drain attack.

The Well of Souls
The Well serves as both Spirit World and afterlife for Ere. Those souls that do not remain as undead (such as ghosts) pass on into the Well. A soul transforms or sinks further into the well based on their deeds in life, the manner of their death, or encounters in the Well.

Layers of the Well
The Well of Souls has nine layers, plus a core called the Source of All Souls. To return to the Source is said to be the greatest reward a soul can hope for, but to earn it, the soul must resist the temptations of the first two layers (The Realm of Memory and the Realm of Dreams) and avoid sinking into the Seven Interlocking Hells of Inferno.

To do so, a soul must be pure, unattached to their past lives, want not for their dreams and dwell not on their sins. This is not to say that a soul cannot be content in Memory or Dreams or even in the Seven Hells.

The Well of Souls is not accessible except with divine intervention or artifacts.

[return to top]

Return to Index

Open Gaming Content

Material on these web pages uses the Open Gaming License. All Open Game Content is contained within white outlined boxes, and is copyright Landon Porter and Paradox-Omni Entertainment.

 

©Landon Porter