Post by Stix on Apr 15, 2007 1:26:47 GMT -5
A few primes call it the Seven Heavens, but as usual they're off the track. The tag is descriptive, but it's still wrong. For some cutters, this is the best of all worlds law and goodness tempered by understanding and mercy. For other berks, it's worse than the Abyss. It's Mount Celestia, or the Seven Mountains of Goodness and Law. Mount Celestia's a plane bathed in the golden radiance of justice and mercy, where everything is the ideal model of prime-material things.
It should be clear to even the most leatherheaded basher that there are seven layers on this plane. Each layer is farther up the slope of a great mountain, which rises out of an endless ocean. The first layer's at the mountain's base. Climb a ways and a sod eventually reaches the second layer, and so forth. Unlike a lot of other planes, a cutter can see the other layers, since the whole thing is one continuous mountain.
Petitioners on this plane are unique because their spirits are transmuted into archons as soon as they arrive. They start as lantern archons - little balls of light - and progress through hound, warden, sword, and tome classification. A petitioner's goal on this plane is to ascend to proxy - hound or better - and eventually become one with the plane.
Layer: Lunia. The first layer is a land of constant night - not a fearful dark, but a pleasant summer's night, filled with stars and silver moonlight. Portals open into the shallow surf at the ocean shore's edge. The water itself is as sweet as holy water and has the same effect on undead. On this section of the slope are citadels and palaces of many minor powers as well as the trading centers of the plane. Heart's Faith is the largest of these towns, not far from a portal to the Outlands.
Layer: Mercuria. This layer is bathed in golden light. Here Bahamut, Draco Paladin, maintains an immense palace. Not far away are the jungle realms of Vishnu and Surya, which are filled with stone temples. Throughout the layer are armories and mustering grounds used by the armies of archons, which Mount Celestia calls upon in times of need. Archon troops constantly drill on this layer.
Layer: Venya. This layer is lit by soft, white light. It's also known as the Green Fields to halflings, for it's the home of Yondalla and other halfling deities. The land is lush and fertile, and the slopes are covered with terraced crops, meadows, and moors.
Layer: Solania. Here, the sky becomes silver and the land is rugged with impressive canyons and crashing rivers. Fog clings to the hollows. Monasteries founded by lesser powers dot the slope; Kuan Yin maintains the most powerful of these. In tunnels that pierce deep into the mountainside is the great hall of the Soul Forge, Moradin Dwarffather's realm.
Layer: Mertion. In Mertion, the sky burns with silver even brighter than that of Solania. The layer is dominated by great plateaus upon which rest huge fortresses. Here reside archons who in their previous lives were paladins.
Layer: Jovar. This layer is named for its sky, which glows with the sparkling fire of gems of all kinds. These pulse with the beat of life. The layer is home to the Jovian archons. The peak of the great mountain is found here, topped by a giant ziggurat that ascends even higher. This ziggurat is said to be the palace of a ruling council of archons. The seventh layer of Mount Celestia can be reached only by climbing the ziggurat.
Layer: Chronias. Only uncertain tales describe this heaven. Supposedly it glows with the force of goodness and law so intensely that it burns out all indifference and evil. Furthermore, those who are already lawful good are said to merge into the very essence of the plane, losing their individual selves to the glory of all. Many greater powers might reside here, but no one knows for sure.
It should be clear to even the most leatherheaded basher that there are seven layers on this plane. Each layer is farther up the slope of a great mountain, which rises out of an endless ocean. The first layer's at the mountain's base. Climb a ways and a sod eventually reaches the second layer, and so forth. Unlike a lot of other planes, a cutter can see the other layers, since the whole thing is one continuous mountain.
Petitioners on this plane are unique because their spirits are transmuted into archons as soon as they arrive. They start as lantern archons - little balls of light - and progress through hound, warden, sword, and tome classification. A petitioner's goal on this plane is to ascend to proxy - hound or better - and eventually become one with the plane.
Layer: Lunia. The first layer is a land of constant night - not a fearful dark, but a pleasant summer's night, filled with stars and silver moonlight. Portals open into the shallow surf at the ocean shore's edge. The water itself is as sweet as holy water and has the same effect on undead. On this section of the slope are citadels and palaces of many minor powers as well as the trading centers of the plane. Heart's Faith is the largest of these towns, not far from a portal to the Outlands.
Layer: Mercuria. This layer is bathed in golden light. Here Bahamut, Draco Paladin, maintains an immense palace. Not far away are the jungle realms of Vishnu and Surya, which are filled with stone temples. Throughout the layer are armories and mustering grounds used by the armies of archons, which Mount Celestia calls upon in times of need. Archon troops constantly drill on this layer.
Layer: Venya. This layer is lit by soft, white light. It's also known as the Green Fields to halflings, for it's the home of Yondalla and other halfling deities. The land is lush and fertile, and the slopes are covered with terraced crops, meadows, and moors.
Layer: Solania. Here, the sky becomes silver and the land is rugged with impressive canyons and crashing rivers. Fog clings to the hollows. Monasteries founded by lesser powers dot the slope; Kuan Yin maintains the most powerful of these. In tunnels that pierce deep into the mountainside is the great hall of the Soul Forge, Moradin Dwarffather's realm.
Layer: Mertion. In Mertion, the sky burns with silver even brighter than that of Solania. The layer is dominated by great plateaus upon which rest huge fortresses. Here reside archons who in their previous lives were paladins.
Layer: Jovar. This layer is named for its sky, which glows with the sparkling fire of gems of all kinds. These pulse with the beat of life. The layer is home to the Jovian archons. The peak of the great mountain is found here, topped by a giant ziggurat that ascends even higher. This ziggurat is said to be the palace of a ruling council of archons. The seventh layer of Mount Celestia can be reached only by climbing the ziggurat.
Layer: Chronias. Only uncertain tales describe this heaven. Supposedly it glows with the force of goodness and law so intensely that it burns out all indifference and evil. Furthermore, those who are already lawful good are said to merge into the very essence of the plane, losing their individual selves to the glory of all. Many greater powers might reside here, but no one knows for sure.