The Inner Planes: The Planar Crucible

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[SIZE="6"]The Inner Planes:  The Planar Crucible[/SIZE]




[SIZE="5"]On the alignment, co-ordination, and interactions of the Inner Planes

By Manannan Maiea, The Magnificent
Wyrm-Watcher
Wizard of the Hedge
1382[/SIZE]

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Introduction

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[SIZE="4"]All of creation was manufactured by the combination of the forces of the Inner Planes.  By definition, these planes are those nearest our own, and not the providence of any god, archon, malign prince, or demigod.  The elemental primordials claim residence in the Inner Planes, however their worship was born of an appreciation for their power, and divinity came thereafter.

While the forces of the inner planes are seemingly beyond our ken, they are in fact in play all about us.  It takes the elements of earth, water, air and fire to allow a thing to grow and prosper.  Positive to nourish it, and negative to see it wither to make way for new life.  Though the gods themselves may lay claim to various facets of creation, it was from these base forces of the inner planes that these facets were constructed.[/SIZE][/tface]

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Planar Schema

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[SIZE="5"][tface=FellSC]Overview[/tface][/SIZE]

[SIZE="4"][tface=FellSC]Conceiving that the Inner Planes are a sphere, with the center of that sphere being the Prime Material Plane, or the plane we know and exist within.  The top of the sphere is the Positive Plane, and the bottom is the Negative.  The Four Elemental planes swirl about in a rotation on the axis of the imaginary line that passes from the center of the positive plane, through the prime material plane, and into the center of the negative plane.

Outside of the sphere are the Outer Planes.  The Heavens and Hells.  The Abyss, and all the other realms of the divinities.  They each touch upon several of the Elemental Planes and the Positive or Negative planes in their fashion, but are not the topic of this tome.

Where each of the inner planes touches another, there exists a surreal quasi-elemental plane that combines the principles of the two (or more) that it borders.[/tface][/SIZE]

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[SIZE="5"][tface=FellSC]Overview[/SIZE]

[SIZE="4"]Conceiving that the Inner Planes are a sphere, with the center of that sphere being the Prime Material Plane, or the plane we know and exist within.  The top of the sphere is the Positive Plane, and the bottom is the Negative.  The Four Elemental planes swirl about in a rotation on the axis of the imaginary line that passes from the center of the positive plane, through the prime material plane, and into the center of the negative plane.

Outside of the sphere are the Outer Planes.  The Heavens and Hells.  The Abyss, and all the other realms of the divinities.  They each touch upon several of the Elemental Planes and the Positive or Negative planes in their fashion, but are not the topic of this tome.

Where each of the inner planes touches another, there exists a surreal quasi-elemental plane that combines the principles of the two (or more) that it borders.[/tface][/SIZE]

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[SIZE="5"][tface=FellSC]The Elemental Planes[/SIZE]

[SIZE="5"]Fire[/size]

[SIZE="4"]It is a plane continually ablaze.
It smells of burning flesh and ashen dreams.
It is flame incarnate.

Rains of hot ash move about like thunderstorms, threatening those on or near the ground with hot embers and blinding ash.  Rivers of Magma and corrosive steams.  A constant and blinding flash of light.[/SIZE]



[SIZE="5"]Air[/SIZE]

[SIZE="4"]It is as open as the eternal sky.
It is as solid as a child's breath.
It is falling forever.

The very substance of the plane seems to radiate the magnificent sapphire hue of a clear summer day. Weather is the primary natural hazard in this plane. The winds are normally light to moderately strong throughout the plane but can intensify into tornadoes, maelstroms, and hurricanes with powerful lightning. These extreme weather events are common.[/SIZE]



[SIZE="5"]Earth[/SIZE]

[SIZE="4"]It is a place of hidden riches.
It is a wall against all foes.
It is a grave for the greedy.

An infinite expanse of solid matter pockmarked by bubbles of other elements and riddled with fissures and tunnels created by burrowing creatures.  Solid does not imply stationary: the substances of this plane are constantly moving in a slow, grinding motion punctuated by earthquakes from small tremors to massively violent upheavals.  Open spaces are gradually filled by the relentless shifting of the plane itself.[/SIZE]



[SIZE="5"]Water[/SIZE]

[SIZE="4"]It is an ocean without a surface.
It is domain of current and wave.
It is a bottomless depth.

There is no deep or shallow, no dark depths nor wavy surface, just an endless ocean that feels as if you are submerged several feet in any body of water on the Prime Material Plane. There is no sun, yet the water itself seems to glow dimly with a bluish green luminescence.[/SIZE][/tface]

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[SIZE="5"][tface=FellSC]Positive and Negative[/SIZE]

[SIZE="5"]Positive[/size]

[SIZE="4"]It is power incarnate.
It is radiance beyond compare.
It is life realized to the fullest.

A continuous explosion of energy not meant for mortals.  An infinite, empty, blinding firestorm of life-giving light.  The source of all healing and life.[/SIZE]



[SIZE="5"]Negative[/SIZE]

[SIZE="4"]It is the blackest night.
It is the heart of darkness.
It is the hunger that devours souls.

An airless, featureless void of darkness with gravity being an individual choice.  The atmosphere is not vacuum but can not be used by winged creatures for propulsion, nor can it sustain life, yet torches and lanterns will burn for a short while before being extinguished.[/SIZE][/tface]

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[SIZE="5"][tface=FellSC]The Para- and Quasi-Elemental Planes[/SIZE]

[SIZE="5"]Para-Elemental Planes[/size]

[SIZE="4"]Existing upon the borders of any two of the Elements, are the "Para-Elemental Planes.  They exist as a amalgam of the two elements that they border.  The Para-Elemental Planes are:

Smoke (Ether) - Existing at the borders of the planes of Fire and Air.
Magma (Lava) - Existing at the borders of the planes of Fire and Earth.
Ooze (Mud) - Existing at the borders of the planes of Earth and Water.
Ice - Existing at the borders of the planes of Water and Air.[/SIZE]



[SIZE="5"]Quasi-Elemental Planes[/SIZE]

[SIZE="4"]Existing upon the borders of any elemental plane, and either the Positive or Negative Energy Planes, are the "Para-Elemental Planes.  They exist as a amalgam of the two planes that they border.  The Quasi-Elemental planes are:

Lightning - Existing at the borders of the Positive plane, and the elemental plane of Air.
Steam - Existing at the borders of the Positive plane, and the elemental plane of Water.
Crystal - Existing at the borders of the Positive plane, and the elemental plane of Earth.
Radiance - Existing at the borders of the Positive plane, and the elemental plane of Fire.
Vacuum (Shadow) - Existing at the borders of the Negative plane, and the elemental plane of Air.
Salt - Existing at the borders of the Negative plane, and the elemental plane of Water.
Dust - Existing at the borders of the Negative plane, and the elemental plane of Earth.
Ash - Existing at the borders of the Negative plane and the elemental plane of Fire.[/SIZE][/tface]

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Copies of this tome are periodically dusted, and re-catalogued.