1. Lunia	2. Mercuria	3. Venya	4. Solania	5. Mertion
6. Jovar	-	-	-	7. Chronias
The Outer Planes	-	-	-	Manual of the Planes

Heaven idealizes the ultimate in goodness tempered by law && justice operating with mercy. <alt>
They are also called the 7 Mountains of Goodness && Law. <compare to: 7 hills of Lisboa>
The plane is pictured as ascending from the <1st> layer to the <7th>.
The reason for this apparent ascendancy is explained below;
as are the various layers and what is known of them.

All of the layers of the plane of the 7 Heavens are bathed in a soft light of the color && shade of the heaven itself. <>
Each of the layers is an ideal setting.
The gravity remains constant in these heavenly planes,
so that a traveller is not made uncomfortable by objects standing at right angles,
as they do on the plane of Nirvana.

There are seven planar layers to the Heavens.
The crossable barriers to ^higher^ layers are found only at the highest physical point of each layer.
An individual at a barrier can breach it as described in the general rules on the Outer Planes.
That brings the traveler to a deeper (higher) layer of the Heavens, usu. at the lowest point of that layer.
A traveller from the Astral would enter the 1st layer of the Seven Heavens,
climb the mountain to reach the barrier on the 2nd layer,
and find himself at the bottom of another mountain in the the 2nd layer.

For this reason,
the Seven Heavens have the illusion of ascendancy,
that each planar layer is above the next,
just as the Hell give the illusion of each plane descending deeper into a pit.

The names for the Seven Heavens come from the Archon terminology for their layers.
Other inhabitants, mythoi, and pantheons have their own names
    (hobbits call the Third Heaven The Green Fields and call all the other layers of the Heavens by a native word that means "the REST of the stuff").

1 = LUNIA (The Silver Heaven)

2 = MERCURIA (The Golden Heaven)

3 = VENYA (The Heaven of Pearls)

4 = SOLANIA (The Electrum Heaven)

5 = merTion (The Heaven of Platinum)

6 = Jovar (The Glittering Heaven)

7 = Chronias (The Illuminated Heaven) <theory: try to echo the art of illumination>

Portals: The portals into Heaven are free-standing && permanent,
but as mentioned before, only exit into the surf of the First Heaven, <alt>
which acts as holy water. It is not possible to steer an astral viewing portal onto
the island to make a {dry} landing, but it is possible to raise
it far enough so that flying creatures could enter the First Heaven without <alt>
getting wet.

Portals in Heaven resemble large blocks of finished stones.
Those that touch the stone are transported to either

    Heaven is home to many good and powerful
creatures, incl. planetars, solars, all manner of devas,
agathia, foo creatures, hollyphants,
LG visitors and pilgrims both human && otherwise, shedu, lammasu, ki-rin,
dragon horses, and an occasional titan. Heaven is
also the home of the archons, who are native to Heaven in
much the same way devils are to Hell. <corrected>
 
 

Features of Heaven

Archons are the common creatures of Heaven.
They joyously perform the duties called upon them by their superiors
and the Greater Deities. Little is known of archons, as their
activities usu. are more beneficial && subtle than the blunderings
of the lower plane races. There are five types of Archons in
Heaven thus far identified:

    Lanterns are the lowest form of archons. They are the spirits of
the newly dead (the equivalents of larvae in the Lower Planes). As <in Hades?>
the spirits of good && law, they appear as soft bubbles of light
with dim awarenesses.

    Hounds are the first true archons. They serve as guardians,
watchmen, soldiers, and servants. They appear to be perfectly
formed humans with dogs' heads (they can shape change at will
into dogs).

    Wardens appear to be bears with grasping hands, sentient
eyes, and coats of golden || silvery fur. They are the watchmen
and observers. They have the power to CAST any divination spell.

    Swords are the leaders of the hounds && wardens. They look
like radiant humans with feathered wings and the heads of lions
and other great cats. They have prodigious spell-casting abilities.

    Tomes are the most powerful of all known archons, though
their power does not match that of a deva || planetar.  Tomes are
winged wih the heads of noble hawks (in some cases owls).
Their power is knowledge;
they know much of secret weaknesses && unknown passages.

    The connexion between archons && devas, planetars, and
solars is unknown, though archons defer to the powers of the latter
creatures and follow their bidding. It is unlikely that the planetars && solars
are ruling archons, but the issue is not settled yet.
In any event, archons are only rarely found outside of Heaven
and the neighboring planes of Arcadia && Paradise.
They do not actively seek out evil on the PMPs,
though they battle evil where they encounter it.
 

The Realms of Heaven

Yondalla (The Green Fields)	Arvoreen (The Green Fields)	Cyrrollalee (The Green Fields)	Moradin (4:Solania.Erackinar)	Berronar (4:Solania.Erackinar)
Bahamut	Chung Kuel (4: Solania)	Kuan Yin (4: Solania)	Vishnu (2: Mercuria)	Surya (2: Mercuria)
Ebisu (1: Lunia)	Girru (2: Mercuria)	-	-	-

    Yondalla and the majority of the halfling mythos, incl.
Arvoreen and Cyrrollalee, inhabit a large realm on the third layer
(known to halflings as the Green Fields). Their domain is a combo
of burrowed households and small rustic buildings of great
simplicity but much strength && warmth (most halflings believe it
is what is inside a house that counts). Other deities of the halflings
visit this plane to seek advice and company, and the demi-god
Brandobaris often uses the Green Fields as a bolt hole when
he has angered some Great Power from another plane. Yondalla
and her fellow deities are on good terms with the archons. Often
very short incarnations of those creatures (with halflign bodies
rather than human) appear to followers of the halfling gods.

Moradin and his spouse Berronar are the most powerful god
&& goddess of the dwarven mythos. They make their home
beneath the steep mountains of Solania, which the dwarves call
Erackinar, the home of the Soul Forge. The dwarven theologists
state with some conviction that it is the heat of this forge, with
which Moradin tempers the spirits of his people and their weapons,
that provides the warmth for this layer of the Heavens. The
smoke from his foundry is siad to become the mists that hang in
the vales. Moradin and Berronar are served by dwarven spirits
similar to those in Clangeddin's Host, with the xception that
their intended purpose is not battle, but building and forging and
testing and bettering the race of dwarves.

Bahamut, also called the Platinum Dragon and Draco Paladin,
is said to make his home in the Seven Heavens, though there is
an equal chance that he makes his abode in the plane of Air or a
Prime Material plane.  Bahamut's glittering palace has been
placed on separate occasions on the first, second, third, and
fourth layers of the Seven Heavens. Either the most powerful of
the good dragons maintains a number of households, has found
a way to have his palace coexist on several layers simultaneously,
or is capable of moving his celestial abode from place to place at will.

The Chinese gods Chung Kuel and Kuan Yin make their
homes on the fourth layer, occupying adjacent realms that span
the length of the mountaintops. Followers of Chung Kuel seek out
the god of truth and testing for knowledge, while those of Kuan Yin
for ask for peaceful mitigation of troubles and blessing in
childbirth. These gods are served by archons and spirit-folk.

The Indian mythos has two powerful beings who occupy adjacent
realms in the second heaven: Vishnu, the god of light && mercy,
and Surya, the god of the sun. Their realms are huge expanses of
rich and fertile <rainforests> that rise out of the planes. In these <rainforests> are
stone temples that detail the exploits of the Lawful and good members
of the mythos over those considered evil and chaotic. Common
to both of these realms is Garuda, king of all birds.

Of the lesser powers, Ebisu of the Japanese mythos, the deity
of good luck, is a native of Lunia (the first heaven). He often
greets travelers in the guise of a poor fisherman with a good
catch from the pier. (Ebisu also often rescues those who are
foolish enough to drown in the ocean.)

Girru of the Babylonian
mythos makes his abode in the second layer. He leads a troop
of followers into battle with evil.

Both of these lesser gods are served by archons.

Regardless of the planar layer a deity calls its home, it gains all
benefits for its home plane anywhere on the plane.
 
 

(Notes)
 

Die Roll	Frequency
2	Very rare
3	Very rare
4	Very rare or rare
5	Rare
6	Rare
7	Uncommon*
8	Uncommon*
9	Common**
10	Common**
11	Common**
12	Common**
13	Common**
14	Uncommon*
15	Uncommon*
16	Rare
17	Rare
18	Very rare or rare
19	Very rare
20	Very rare

* Alternately; choice of two very rare creatures.
** Alternately; choice of two rare creatures.

In Heaven:
The Germans schedule events.
The British greet you.
The French cook.
The Italians entertain.

In Hell:
The Italians schedule events.
The French greet you.
The British cook.
The Germans entertain.

Gary
 

On the subject, though, I would prefer Heaven with the Italians cooking--my favorite cuisine,
then Chinese,
then French (traditional and provincial only).

<use Arabic font for the opening quote>