Elysium
Elysium
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Elysium is the plane
of ultimate good, unsullied by the concerns of hierarchy || anarchy.
The spirits that reside here cannot
be summoned || controlled, for they are
at final REST. The Powers
of the plane answer only those callings
that they deem worthy (or
profitable).
Oceanus: The
four layers of Ellysium are dominated by the River
Oceanus,
which begins in the fourth (outermost) layer of this
plane and flows down to the innermost
(the layer nearest
the Astral). From there Oceanus meanders
into the Happy Hunting
Grounds and then into the innermost layer
of Olympus. These
three good planes are linked by the river
Styx.
The chief difference
is that the Oceanus is a slow, peaceful
flow, navigable by
mere mortals (though its peaceful flow
is often broken by rapids,
cascades, waterfalls, and occasional fallen
trees). The river seperates
and recombines many times in its passage,
so travellers
often find themselves journeying down
side channels that soon
rejoin the main stream. There are no equivalents
to Charon or
charonadaemons for the Oceanus, but there
are also no hydrodaemons
to threaten travellers. There are other
creatures that live
in the Oceanus, incl. nymphs similar to
those int he Prime
planes. Therea re the standard chances
for boats to capsize and
travellers to drown in the Oceanus, though
this flow lacks the dangers
of hte Lethe || Styx.
The lands of Elysium are fertile along
the banks of the
Oceanus, filled with pines and sweet-smelling
flowering trees.
Farther from the banks, the vegetation
becomes smaller but no
less rich, until rolling grasslands are
reached some hundreds of
miles from the river. These grasslands
eventually give way to arid
rock formations of startling beauty carved
by wind or the hand of
some artistic Deity. Most of the realms
are found along the
banks of the Oceanus, though there are
great Deities who make
their homes far from the crowd.
A traveller on the Oceanus can usu. reach
another layer by
travelling downstream (or upstream, for
the flow doubles back
several times) for 1d10 days. Another
plane can be reached in
10d10 days. Normal encounters for the
plane apply, and there is
a 10% chance per day of encountering cascades,
snags, or other
features that block passages and may capsize
or hole the craft.
The sky of Elysium ranges in color from
an almost solid indigo
to robins-egg blue, depending on the #
of glowing orbs in
the sky. There is no sun || night in the
conventional sense, but a
large # of the Deities that inhabit this
realm hold sway over
dawn, light, the night, and the moon.
The passage of their various
craft (and even that of their realms,
as noted in their descriptions)
causes the sky to vary in brightness,
depending on who || what is
ascendant at a particular time.
The four layers of Elysium, from innermost
to outermost, are
Amoria, Eronia, Belierin, and Thalasia.
Amoria is the layer that borders
the Astral, the most common
arrival point for travellers.
The description of the banks of the
Oceanus applies best to this plane. Portals
to the other planes
appear as dark caverns, w/ no clues as
to which plane they lead
to (though divination spells can tell
whether a cavern leds to
Paradice, Concordant Opposition, or the
Happy Hunting Grounds).
Those cavens that swallow the flow of
the Oceanus
always lead to the Happy Hunting Grounds
after an underground
passage of 10d10 turns, though there is
no guarantee that the
passage is navigable by boat.
Eronia is a mountainous region where
the Oceanus is often
broken by falls and cascades (double normal
chances for such
obstructions). The banks of the Oceanus
here are sheer and of
grey rock, though the life around the
banks is as profuse as in
Amoria. Among these mountainous domains
are the realms of
Enlil and the Sumerian mythos.
Belierin is a wide, flat region
where the banks are marshes 10
miles or more wide before trees and other
large plants take hold.
Many great strongholds and realms are
located beyond these
banks. Many of the large islands in the
Oceanus contain huge
nations of extraplanar beings.
Thalasia is the great sea from which
the Oceanus flows and eventually
returns to after it reaches its destination
in the realm of
Poseidon in Olympus. A traveller passing
through the barriers into
this realm likely finds himself swamped
in the Thalasian sea, for dry
land consists of a few small islands scattered
throughout this layer.
These Isles of the Blessed are the final
resting places of those who
perished for the cause of good. Also here
are heroes of good who
have been spared from death and brought
to this plane at the wishes
of the gods. The spirits here are rewarded
by existence w/o care,
need, or responsibilities. Their wants
are seen to by the Deities of
the various pantheons concerned with the
dead.
Passing between barriers is as elsewhere.
These barriers can
be found in many different locations,
high && low, within each
planar layer. Usu. that terrain at the
far side of the barrier is at the
same elevation as that of the other layer
(thus there is no illusion
of ascending or descending into Elysium).
Magic in Elysium obeys the general rules
for all the outer
planes. Certain deities may impose additional
restrictions on
spells within their realms.
Elysium is the home of many of the standard
creatures found in
the upper planes, incl. hollyphants, planetars,
solars, foo creatures,
agathia, and baku. The plane is also home
to the phoenix,
which is comfortable in both the sylvan
settings of the plane and in
the rocky wastes far from the river. Moon
dogs are found in great
numbers in the layers of Elysium. They
act as servants, watch
beasts, and vassals of the Greater and
Lesser Deities of that plane.
Features of Elysium
Some of the realms of Powers in the plane
of Elysium have a
tendency to MOVE about from layer to layer.
A traveller seeking a
particular realm should get recent info
on its whereabouts
or risk wasting a lot of time trying to
locate it.
The Egyptian goddess Isis
holds sway over a large realm of the
layer of Amoria, incl. several paths of
the Oceanus. These
realms are lit by small lanterns in the
trees are patrolled by moon
dogs, who call attention to any intruder
with their piercing howls.
Another Egyptian Deity, Seker, has a realm
enclosed in a great
sphere, littered with portals, and named
Ro Stau (Doors of the Corridors).
Ro Stau can be moved by Seker's will from
layer to
layer, its shining surface bringing the
light of day when it is in
flight. Seker and Ro Stau spend most of
their times adjacent to
Isis's realm on the Oceanus, or among
the Isles of the Blessed
(Seker tends to the inhabitants in his
role as a death god).
Ishtar
is the godess of both love && war to the Babylonians,
embodying physical conquest as well as
the conquest of the
heart. She too rules a great realm in
Amoria, but hers is not
adjacent to that of Isis. Though the two
goddesses have little cause
for conflict, they do have occasional
rivalries, particularly involving
love and magical abilities. At the center
of her realm Ishtar
has a great city topped by a glowing statue,
half a mile high, of
herself. This statue continually lights
that part of her realm.
The Sumerian
gods have a great outpost in the second layer of
Ellysium, for it is in this great mountainous
region that Enlil, the
supreme head of the Sumerian pantheon,
dwells with Nin-Hursag,
the earth goddess. Enlil can form a conduit
to a PMP
in much the same way as Anu (see Anu
in the plane of Nirvana).
Adjoining the realms of Enlil and Nin-Hursag
is that of the Sumerian
moon-god, Nanna-Sin. Nanna-Sin does not
take his realm with him,
but he does travel the Oceanus in a great
barque that is shaped like
a crescent moon. In passing he provides
a moon-like radiance to all
on the banks of the river. In his moon-barque,
Nanna-Sin journeys, dangerously, <alt>
through the <4> layers of Elysium.
His craft cannot be upset by
waterfall nor blocked by fallen trees
or ice. Nanna-Sin is not Charon,
however--any dealings for safe passage
must be with the god himself,
and on the god's terms.
Ushas of the Indian
pantheon is the goddess of the dawn. Her
realm is enclosed in a
great reddish dome that she moves from
layer to layer, bathing the land in a
reddish light.
Tsukiyomi, the Japanese moon god, has an enclosed realm of mirrored silver <> that gives off a light similar to that of the moon in the night sky when it traverses the heavens.
Finally, the Lesser
Deity Bragi makes his home in Elysium, travelling
once a year from his Viking-style retreat
in the second layer to
Gladsheim to swear fealty to Odin and
report all that has occured of
note in the planes. Bragi usually makes
the journey in a longship
crewed by einheriar
(see Appendix III, page 122) as far as Olympus,
then completes the journey on foot to
Asgard in Gladsheim. Despite
his Lesser Deity status, the greater gods
of the planes he crosses
do not bother him, out of respect for
his prodigious abilities and the
short-tempered nature of his liege, Lord
Odin.
