Cosmology of Creation

Epic Path \ Cosmology of Creation

excerpts from the book, Cosmology of Creation, by Elliard Baskerbury III

The Prime Material Plane

In geology, there is a notion of volcanic activity called "hot spots," a spot in the Earth'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.