Cosmology of Creation

The Prime Material Plane

Excerpts from the book, The Nascent Seed, by Elliard Baskerbury III

"In geology, there is a notion of volcanic activity called "hot spots," a spot in the planet's mantle which is particularly hot, right at the planet's crust, causing volcanoes to form in this space. As tectonic plates slide over this spot, the hot spot in the mantle remains stationary, but new areas of the tectonic plate swell and breech with new volcanoes, and over time these new breeches cause island chains to form, such as Devil's Teeth. These events occur over millennia of volcanic activity and tectonic movement.

A similar case is true of the Prime Material Plane. The Prime Material Plane is called the Prime because it is the plane that sits at the hot spot of all Creation, enjoying the perfect conditions for the sustenance and comfort of the vast majority of life. And, like tectonic plates, the Prime Material is slowly sliding off of this perfect hot spot of elemental confluence, losing its place in the Primacy of all the infinite planes of Creation.

This hot spot is called the Nascent Seed among civilized races, though it has many names, depending on how far afield you encounter other cosmologists (or, indeed, how educated they are).

From this, we have determined that there are, indeed, an unimaginable number of other planes besides the Prime Material, perhaps even an infinite number. Certainly there are the planes which most recently occupied the Nascent Seed, but were shunted aside for us, as well as those planes which might sit upon it once our Prime Material is shifted off of it. Rather than some linear parade of planes marching inevitably through and past the Seed, these planes are all shoved together like bubbles in a foam, and numerous external forces seek to influence their position in relation to the Nascent Seed.

Furthest away from the Nascent Seed are the two competing forces which cause it to exist. In the broadest terms, these are entropy and enthalpy, but more specifically, they are the Silent Black and the Well of Power, which each exert tremendous energies over all of creation to constantly shuffle matter about, though typically over the course of thousands or millions of years. Both of these planes are so inimical to life that nothing can exist there.

It is important to note that, when speaking cosmologically of the many planes of Creation, the ideas of spatial relationships are largely irrelevant, and highly ambiguous. While the Nascent Seed could be seen as the perfect nexus between the Silent Black and the Well of Power, its 'position' between the two is hard to explain, since, to someone living within any one of these planes of existence, that plane appears to be the entirety of existence. There are no edges or curves -- they simply go on forever. Thus, while the Silent Black and the Well of Power must, by definition, be the furthest apart of any two planes of existence, they are also in all places at all times.

(It is for this reason that my colleague, Sir Forderick Alamand, retired early, complaining of constant headaches and also of being constantly watched by invisible monsters from other dimensions.)

I leave it to the sociologists and anthropologists to describe what the Prime Material Plane actually is. You, my dear reader, may also take it as an exercise to determine it for yourself, if you feel brave enough to do so. Beware, however, that your limited sense of what is not limit your judgement to what could be, and most especially to what must be."

Solaria

Excerpt from Solarian Waspines: The Great Abominations of Solaria, by General Mortemius Roam of Celegia.

"Solarian Waspines originate from a magically hyperactive version of reality, often called 'Solaria', less commonly The Sunward Reaches, Temperest, or Hellcore. Solaria is highly difficult to reach from the Prime Plane, and even more difficult to survive due to the extremely hostile environment. (See Report: Bathing in the Firestorm: Living, Moving, and Spellcasting within High Mana Realities.) The reasons for Solaria's difficult conditions lie in the fundamental aspects of the plane itself. Solaria is a version of reality in which the overall power level is extremely high, compared to most. As a result, Waspines express very high levels of power compared to most creatures of the Prime Material, at the expense that they have difficulty surviving in less energy intense realities. (See Report: Conversion of Mount Canderly Caldera to Extra Planar Habitat.) Most versions of reality are what they consider to be freezing cold and dark places with nothing of interest within them. Of all the known realities, Solaria is the highest-energy place known to support any intelligent life, although the degree of sentience of the Waspines is debated. There are semi-apocryphal reports of even higher-energy realities, but no intelligent life is said to originate there. (See Report: Apocolyptica, The Infinite Well?)

[...]

Solaria is very high in energy and mana, and as a result looks little like the Prime Material. There is no 'ground', the entire demi-infinity instead being a limitless expanse of blazing light-filled space. Gravity is partially conventional for such realities, being locally expressed but universally defined: Away from any mass all creatures seem able to fly by will, but will experience a universal 'down' next to any of the floating features. Within this buoyant photonic sea exists a realm of white-hot clouds, giant drifting stones (driftstones) and long floating strands of viscous fluids. (In truth, the clouds are actually vapors of stone: The liquids are usually molten metals and the stones are far more durable substances with no known Prime analog.) (See Report: Solarian Driftstone: Potential Resource for Ultimate Dweomermetals?) Masses of free-floating flames are very common terrain features, often clinging to the drifting blocks of stone. (Again, the flames are vapors of Prime material fundaments.) "Plant" life here is heavily mineral and flame based, although the viscous ichor/lava fluid also figures prominently. Many of the "animal" Iifeforms are partially or totally incorporeal or energy-based or both, with bits of flesh/stone/ichor mixed in. One hundred and one suns blaze their light into the realm, and since there is no fixed earth, the suns blaze from all directions, above, to all sides, and even from beneath. There is no nighttime, although the motions of the suns create very complex patterns of shadow and analogs of constellations. "

Editor's Note: Roam's journals, while apparently quite well-referenced and thoroughly researched, have been widely debunked by several scholars of the Celegian Ministry of Science. In fact, Roam himself publicly renounced many of his works as exaggerations and lies, claiming he only wanted to further his career in the Exploration Corps of the Celegian Army. His death soon thereafter was only quietly noted by authorities, making it apparent that he died of shame. Those conspiracy kooks who claim he was forced to recant his research because the Celegian Army wished to weaponize the entities living within the Plane Solaria have never found any shred of evidence to support it.

Sadly, as few other scholars claim any knowledge or expertise on Solaria, Roam's journals are the only potential source of information.