So I wanted to create something special for a campaign I'm running and decided to deviate from The Great Wheel (As great as it is)... So May I present:
THE INORDINATE MONUMENT
I liked the idea of a fifth-dimensional tower that encompasses the entirety of the Outer Planes. The tower rises up from the Abyss - which in this cosmology exists as an inaccessible crater in the Gray Wastes- and reaches toward the promise of Elysium. The in-between exists as Limbo and beyond the Abyss is the Far Realm. Mechanis circles and rotates around the Material Plane and Bytopia is actually inside the Material Plane as a 5th-dimensional core of the world. In this cosmology, the Material Plane serves as a central hub of the Aural Powers of the Gods of the Outer Planes and in turn is a stabilization point for the vast Multiverse.
I'd love to hear other thoughts on this and suggestions on how to improve it for further campaigns.
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Des Noirs - Black Dice (Direct Translation) / The Slaves (Literal Translation)
OMG OMG OMG!!!! You truly are the Lady of Pain!! I have had similar thinking during my write up for a planescape campaign that actually rends the Great Wheel asunder when Tharzidun/The Elemental Chaos begins rending the last of his bonds in the Abyss. His first Binder was the Lady of Pain, who was the actual First Entity of Creation.
I see Good and Evil as points of view depending on where you are in the spectrum of time! As such, instead of the slender column you have, form a wide Double Cone with the Prime Material (including the elemental planes, the Feywild and the Shadowfell) in the middle, sheltered by the shell of Mechanus, which reordered itself to protect the Prime Material. Then the graduating layers of the former outer planes "Up" towards Creation and "Down" to Destruction. Just as Gate towns might get swallowed by their corresponding plane if they dont misalign themselves enough, so too did the planes. Some planes merged with others in willful solidarity, some were conquered to hold the forces of Destruction at bay.
The Nine Hells, with matter and support from Mechanus and Acheron absorbs Gehenna and brings the Blood War deep into the plane of Hades. Asmodeus actually becomes a near heroic figure because "You cant conquer the universe if there's no universe to conquer!" Here the Forces of the Abyss have conquered Carceri, and in Tharziduns great cosmic thrashing, shredded Pandemonium into Limbo. Ysgard's warriors would join with the Githzerai and Githyanki and create a second front against Tharzidun's Abyss.
The Gods of the Upper Planes and most powerful of all the Prime crystal spheres were invited to meet atop Mount Celestia where the Creation Pact merged the Upper Planes in a grand alliance. Arborea merged with the Beastlands and set themselves as the first fallback point. Elysium prepares to sacrifice itself to power the forces of Mechanus to shift the prime plane beyond the new Wooded Hunting Grounds to protect it from Tharzidun, should the Hells, and Ysgard fall to the Demonic onslaught.
Meanwhile the planes of Arcadia, and Bytopia merged with the Outlands to form a new base to mount Celestia where the most powerful beings of creation will reinforce the Prime Material and ensure its continued existence. And above Celestia's summit, the Torus of Sigil, The Lady's Cage stands apart. In desperate need of those she cannot abide.
Not sure if you'll ever read this… but this is just how mine would work. I deeply thank you for making a visual representation of what I have had spinning in my head for years.
So I wanted to create something special for a campaign I'm running and decided to deviate from The Great Wheel (As great as it is)... So May I present:
THE INORDINATE MONUMENT
I liked the idea of a fifth-dimensional tower that encompasses the entirety of the Outer Planes. The tower rises up from the Abyss - which in this cosmology exists as an inaccessible crater in the Gray Wastes- and reaches toward the promise of Elysium. The in-between exists as Limbo and beyond the Abyss is the Far Realm. Mechanis circles and rotates around the Material Plane and Bytopia is actually inside the Material Plane as a 5th-dimensional core of the world. In this cosmology, the Material Plane serves as a central hub of the Aural Powers of the Gods of the Outer Planes and in turn is a stabilization point for the vast Multiverse.
I'd love to hear other thoughts on this and suggestions on how to improve it for further campaigns.
Des Noirs - Black Dice (Direct Translation) / The Slaves (Literal Translation)
A possibility of untold horror and mystery
OMG OMG OMG!!!! You truly are the Lady of Pain!! I have had similar thinking during my write up for a planescape campaign that actually rends the Great Wheel asunder when Tharzidun/The Elemental Chaos begins rending the last of his bonds in the Abyss. His first Binder was the Lady of Pain, who was the actual First Entity of Creation.
I see Good and Evil as points of view depending on where you are in the spectrum of time! As such, instead of the slender column you have, form a wide Double Cone with the Prime Material (including the elemental planes, the Feywild and the Shadowfell) in the middle, sheltered by the shell of Mechanus, which reordered itself to protect the Prime Material. Then the graduating layers of the former outer planes "Up" towards Creation and "Down" to Destruction. Just as Gate towns might get swallowed by their corresponding plane if they dont misalign themselves enough, so too did the planes. Some planes merged with others in willful solidarity, some were conquered to hold the forces of Destruction at bay.
The Nine Hells, with matter and support from Mechanus and Acheron absorbs Gehenna and brings the Blood War deep into the plane of Hades. Asmodeus actually becomes a near heroic figure because "You cant conquer the universe if there's no universe to conquer!" Here the Forces of the Abyss have conquered Carceri, and in Tharziduns great cosmic thrashing, shredded Pandemonium into Limbo. Ysgard's warriors would join with the Githzerai and Githyanki and create a second front against Tharzidun's Abyss.
The Gods of the Upper Planes and most powerful of all the Prime crystal spheres were invited to meet atop Mount Celestia where the Creation Pact merged the Upper Planes in a grand alliance. Arborea merged with the Beastlands and set themselves as the first fallback point. Elysium prepares to sacrifice itself to power the forces of Mechanus to shift the prime plane beyond the new Wooded Hunting Grounds to protect it from Tharzidun, should the Hells, and Ysgard fall to the Demonic onslaught.
Meanwhile the planes of Arcadia, and Bytopia merged with the Outlands to form a new base to mount Celestia where the most powerful beings of creation will reinforce the Prime Material and ensure its continued existence. And above Celestia's summit, the Torus of Sigil, The Lady's Cage stands apart. In desperate need of those she cannot abide.
Not sure if you'll ever read this… but this is just how mine would work. I deeply thank you for making a visual representation of what I have had spinning in my head for years.
you are so good at painting
That's really good and original. I like the idea of Mechanus orbiting the Material Plane, keeping it stable and orderly.
This is what happens when you let a nothic onto the forums. Longtime mapmaker and forever GM.
Resident map-fiend. Writer, storyteller, worldbuilder. Lover of music & food; hater of elves & numbers. Threads I enjoy:
The Bloody Barnacle | The Spider Guild | The Wonderful Roleplay Guild | Anything BUT the OGL 2.0 | The Tower of Lore | The Universe Smorgasbord | The Afterglow