Cosmology

The Albuanon Cosmology is a complex and intricate series of relationships between the various planes. It is comprised of several different parts.

The Terrestrial Sphere
The innermost sphere of the cosmos is the Terrestrial Sphere, which contains Albuanon, and its two coterminous planes (coexistent in the case of the Ethereal), the Ethereal Plane, and the Shadow Plane. Note, however, that the Shadow and Ethereal Plane are not coterminous with each other.

Albuanon
The material plane of the cosmos, Albuanon, forms a sphere in the center of the cosmology. It is not currently the home of any deity and is ill-suited for such residence as it is not divinely morphic (and also does not have large outsider populations to serve as servants). Nevertheless, it is possible for gods and there servants to get to Albuanon but, unless they have access to powerful magic, they must travel through the Elemental Wall in order to do so (which explains the comparative peace and safety of Albuanon from outsider invasion over the eons).

The Ethereal Plane
The Ethereal Plane was formed during the Cosmic War, when the Elementals met in a grand battle that formed Albuanon form the mix, the steam burned off from the titanic clash between Air, Fire, and Water created the Ethereal Plane, which is itself devoid of much substance. Creatures on the Ethereal plane can see onto Albuanon, but seem to be looking through a perpetual fog. The Following Spells require the Ethereal Plane to Operate:

The Shadow Plane
The Shadow Plane came about as a result of the Netherilese. During the height of their power, they sought to manipulate Negative Energy to dominate Albuanon. In a titanic battle the Kingdom of Solus splintered the Shadow Plane and the Netherilese’s dark magic, creating an alternative dimension, to which the Netherilese were banished, to reign in seclusion from Albuanon. Incidentally, much of the Eastern Sea was once land, but was torn into the Shadow Plane with the Netherilese. The Following Spells require the Shadow Plane to Operate:

The Elemental Wall
The Elemental Wall is formed of six planes in six spheres stretched into spherical shell around the Terrestrial Sphere. One side has three of the spherical planes arranged in a triangular shape, with the other side being formed of a similar shape, but inverted. Each plane’s opposite plane is opposite it through the Terrestrial Sphere. The Elemental Wall is much of the reason why Albuanon has been safe from the actual corporeal Cosmic Warfare that wages in much of the Outer Planes. Unless a creature has access to pretty high magic (i.e. astral projection or has the appropriate keys for plane shift), they have to make there way through the Elemental Wall (of Inner Planes) to reach the terrestrial sphere. At the borders between the various Inner Planes are para-elemental planes which take on the traits of both parents and allow movement between the two. On the outside of the Inner Planes are natural portals to the Outer Planes, by which brave and intrepid (as well as powerful) adventurers and beings can penetrate the Elemental Wall, moving between the Terrestrial and Empyrean Spheres.

The Positive Energy Plane
The home of Pelor, and the primal light force of the universe that animates most sentient creatures, the Positive Energy Plane is infused with energy that heals living creatures. The plane itself seems similar to the material plane, but everything is magnified and greater—colors are brighter, smells more acute, the senses more refined.

The Negative Energy Plane
The Negative Energy Plane is a dark and barren wasteland of black sand. It embodies the darkness of the universe. In the same way that the Positive Energy Plane heals living creatures, the Negative Energy Plane heals undead and harms living creatures. It is the home of Nerull and a bastion of darkness. It deadens the senses in the same way the Positive Energy Plane Heightens them. The Negative Energy Plane is a barren, empty place, a void without end, and a place of empty, endless night. Worse, it is a needy, greedy plane, sucking the life out of anything that is vulnerable. Heat, fire, and life itself are all drawn into the maw of this plane, which hungers for more.

The Elemental Plane of Fire
Everything is alight on the Elemental 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, not water. The oceans are made of liquid flame, and the mountains ooze with molten lava. It is a crematorium for the unprepared traveler and an uncomfortable spot even for the dedicated adventurer. Fire survives here without need for fuel or air to burn, but flammables brought onto the plane are consumed readily. The elemental fires seem t o feed on each other to produce a continually burning landscape.

The Elemental Plane of Air
The Elemental Plane of Air is an empty plane, consisting of sky above and sky below. Clouds billow up in bank after bank, swelling into grand thunderheads and dissipating into wisps like cotton candy. The wind pulls and tugs around the traveler, and rainbows glimmer in the distance. The Elemental Plane of Air is the most comfortable and survivable of the Inner Planes, and it is the home of all manner of airborne creatures. Indeed, flying creatures find themselves at a great advantage on this plane. While travelers without flight can survive easily here, they are at a disadvantage.

The Elemental Plane of Water
The Elemental 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, between saline and fresh. They are perpetually in motion, wracked by currents and tides. The plane's permanent settlements form around bits of flotsam and jetsam suspended within this endless liquid. Even these settlements drift on the tides of the Elemental Plane of Water.

The Elemental Plane of Earth
The Elemental Plane of Earth is a solid place made of rock, soil, and stone. The unwary and unprepared traveler may find himself entombed within this vast solidity of material and have his life crushed into nothingness, his powdered remains a warning to any foolish enough to follow. Despite its solid, unyielding nature, the Elemental Plane of Earth is varied in its consistency, ranging from relatively soft soil to veins of heavier and more valuable metal. Striations of granite, volcanic rock, and marble, interweave with brittle crystal and soft, crumbling chalks and sandstones. Thin veins of gemstones, rough and huge, can be found within the plane, and these unpolished jewels often lead the greedy to this plane in the hopes of picking them up with minimal effort. Such prospectors often meet their match in the natives of the Elemental Plane of Earth, who feel extremely attached (sometimes literally) to parts of their home.

The Empyrean Sphere
The Outer Planes form a ring of planes surrounding the Terrestrial Sphere and walled off from it by the Elemental Wall. They share links with each of their neighbors. They are all connected to the Outlands at the base.

The Fugue
The Fugue is coterminous to all planes, but it is not accessible by normal mortal magic (at least not for direct travel). It is the place to which all deceased sentient creatures go to be judged by Wee Jas and taken to their resting place with their deity, or incorporated into the Wall of the Faithless, which surrounds the Fugue. Wee Jas' servants inhabit the plane and aid their mistress in her task of judgment. There is only one other way to travel to the plane for mortals; there is a portal in the Underworld of the Gray Wastes of Hades.

The Astral Plane
The Astral Plane is a starry plane to which all planes are coterminous. It the transitive plane which allows access to all others and is quite convenient for speedy travel within the cosmos if one can access sufficiently high magic to use it as a highway. The Following Spells require the Astral Plane to Operate: