On the Divide Primordial

As discussed, our unique cosmology was a result of a great division of energy early in our world’s creation… I call this the Divide Primordial, and it relates to Haylene’s formation. The following, of course, is unverifiable, and based primarily on investigations of various Titans… creatures that existed prior to the First Conjunction.¹

In the beginning, there was a singular point where the Astral Plane, rife with portals to the Great Wheel and the realms of gods and belief, came in contact with the Ethereal Plane, the conduit to the elemental planes. Normally, when this happens, the influence of one plane or the other proves dominant, producing a sort of planar gradient, and essentially causing a material world form, like drop of hot wax forming an orb in water.² In our case, however, the two planes were essentially balanced, meaning no great flow could occur from one to the other. Rather than a massive orb coalescing, a bubble formed on one side (and presumably the other) that grew to a small size, and essentially crusted over. This small bubble is Haylene… formed on a completely flat plane, and with a bubble of space over that flat expanse in which it can grow.³

This bubble, of course, is inherently unstable, which is why the primordial forces of our world formed Io and the Dark Moon, and ultimately Titania during the First Conjunction.⁴ These moons function as screens… creatures of spirit or the elements can leave, but not enter, preventing our bubble from popping, for lack of a better word. Without them, our limited space would become crowded with planar interlopers, and ultimately overrun us with otherworldly energies.⁵ Whether or not these moons are sufficient remains to be seen… they are either slowly draining our world of the plots of fiends and celestials alike, or those same creatures will eventually overwhelm the lunar wards and bring about an end to Haylene as we know.

Whether or not that will happen likely lies in the possible existence of our mirror dimension. There is absolutely no reason that the planar bubble ought form on only one side of the Divide Primoridal… indeed, there are many reasons why it shouldn’t. Every piece of mathematical or arcane evidence points to the existence of a twin world to Haylene somewhere in the multiverse. If it still exists, the study of its divergence from this world would offer tremendous insight into our ultimate fate.

Unfortunately, I must admit that after a century of investigation, I am no closer to finding Haylene’s twin sister. As I continue to eliminate possibilities, I am faced with one grim but enduring theory: the mirror dimension was destroyed, as, one day, ours will likely be.

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1 There are seven Titans, each a unique creature described in either the Monster Manual or Tome of Beasts. They are Hraesvelger (a giant, and the only one that actually ages, albeit at a very slow rate), the Elder Brain, the Empyrean, the Kraken, the Tarrasque, the Zaratan, and Acererak (the demilich, the first and only undead created before the First Conjunction).^↩

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2 A crystal sphere. ^↩

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3 Essentially, Haylene is not only coterminous with the Astral and Ethereal planes, but the two are coterminous with each other in this land.^↩

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4 Prior to the construction of Io and the Dark Moon, there was no concept of time in Haylene, and it didn’t full exist as a material world. After those two moons were created, it was still thousands of years before the creation of Titania.^↩

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5 The Red Witch is describing the Ban of Benlyndor, which prevents celestials, elementals, fiends and even fey from entering Haylene under most circumstances.^↩

On the World of Haylene and It’s Unique Composition

A note to Astrel: I assume basic knowledge of the “Great Wheel cosmology” as described by Master Wetet in his well-known manual.¹

Possessed of a unique perspective, having been to other realities entirely, I must say that the most peculiar fact regarding the world of Haylene is that it is entirely flat.

To expand: I have personally visited six other worlds that would be considered “material” and have evidence of the existence of over a hundred others.² Generally, a material world possesses the following qualities:
Mortal creatures, possessed of both body and soul, are native to this worlds.
Creatures of spirit (such as fiends or celestials) are not generally native, nor are creatures of the elements (elementals).
The world connects to the Great Wheel (or aspect thereof) by the Astral Plane, and the elemental planes by way of the Ethereal.
The world possesses a consistent and generally immutable sense of time, as well as common physical laws, including gravity and simple laws of physics.

By these definitions, Haylene is certainly a material world, possessing all the necessary characteristics and existing in the proper “place” in the accepted cosmological models. However, virtually all other worlds I have encountered consist of concentric sphere (more accurately ellipses), with a massive source of energy in the middle, creating a system of such size that any native to Haylene would have problems comprehending it.³ In such cases, great “planets,” orbit this energy source (which serves a purpose to them analogous to our own Sun), the inhabitable ones being thousands of leagues of across. Being spherical, they often have lands ten times the size of our modest world.

By contrast, Haylene is a flat disc, for all intents and purposes circular, that exists on a plane of existence roughly two thousand leagues in in diameter.

The reason for this lies in the creation of the world… instead of forming around a central point, there was a tremendous divide of energy, creating a flat plane and forcing the divine forces of the Great Wheel to organize the matter and energy of creation as a disk. I can describe this disk, and have even been to the edges: it is generally composed of granite, it is at sea level about 30 miles feet thick, dry land (the portion above sea level) is about 800,000 square miles. The rest is covered in water, the vast majority is open ocean.

The disc is bounded by an intense veil of shadow seems to be actually be planar in nature. Approximately a day’s travel from the edge, the veil of shadow intensifies, such that within 10 miles of the edge one transitions to the Plane of Shadow (and can actually travel freely within that plane).⁴ As one approaches the edge, one enters the Deep Shadow and leaves Haylene completely. This veil actually continues into the sky, forming a perfect dome. A brilliant portal to the Plane of Radiance, approximately 12 miles across, travels across the veil from East to West every day, varying in its path on a 363 day cycle.⁵ At night, it seems to disappear beyond the horizon, and it is my personal theory that it illuminates a mirror dimension.

The moon and stars are of particular interest. The stars are each portals to various demiplane, each unique in their origin and history. Our three moons drift in and out of the Deep Shadow according their orbits along the dome, which are neither concentric nor aligned with plane. Their complex motion is what leads to the various conjunctions that have defined our history.

All of these features are unique to Haylene: I have discovered other worlds that are not strictly spherical, but never another flat earth. The circumstances of our creation… of the Divide Primordial, and our mirror dimension… define us, and keep Haylene in a particular peril that may lead to our ultimate downfall.

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1 While any edition that uses the Great Wheel cosmology, Annals of the Last Conjunction assumes the 2nd Edition Planescape version as default. This includes the city of Sigil.^↩

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2 These worlds include Athas (Dark Sun), Eberron (Eberron), Krynn (Dragonlance), Neverness (from Bruce Cordell’s modules), Oerth (Greyhawk, as well as Hollow Earth and Mystara) and Toril (Forgotten Realms).^↩

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3 The Red Witch is, of course, describing crystal spheres from the Spelljammer campaign setting. Haylene is not accessible via the phlogiston, but rather only through the Deep Shadow and spells such as plane shift.^↩

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4 As an exception to the rule, the setting assumes the Plane of Shadow exists as described in the 3rd Edition Manual of the Planes.^↩

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5 This is an error on the part of the Red Witch. Haylene’s sun is actually a portal to a demiplane with significant similarities to the Paraelemental Plane of Radiance.^↩

Treatises of the Red Witch

My Dear Astrel, Blood of my Blood and My Only Apprentice, 

I trust that your days in your grandfather’s villa wear easily upon your soul, for I know like me, it won’t be long before the wanderlust takes you. Still, enjoy the respite that comes with the wealth and title my son has labored so hard to secure for his kin… it is a fleeting comfort, but a comfort none the less.¹

However, I have come to know a human wizard who called himself your apprentice… I encountered one Lord Lyman Wyndruin attempting to construct a makeshift sanctuary in the vicinity of a Vuulir stone near his family’s ancestral lands.²³ The folly of this endeavor aside, I took the opportunity to question him as to the purpose of his inquiries, and in doing so, realized the inadequacy of Lord Lyman’s cosmological knowledge. 

 Were I a Master of the Council, such a performance would reflect poorly upon not only you as his mentor but upon me as your teacher.⁴ But the Council Mages are fools, and we both know you ought not be judged on Lord Lyman’s failure to grasp the intricacies of our teachings. Instead, I would suppose that in his humane shortsightedness, he paid little attention to any lesson that did not directly relate to the mystical production of flame or lightning. And yet, I am left with a lingering suspicion that the highly… sensitive… manner in which you were taught does not lend itself to teaching students. It is difficult to share many of our adventures together, is it not? 

As such, I thought I would provide a series of treatises on the cosmology of Haylene that you might share with your apprentices. I shall excise the more arcane elements and focus on… what is the human word for it… a planewalker’s perspective.⁵ I will keep them clear, and in the interest of a human’s attention span, concise. I only ask that you do not attach my name to these essays. Instead, let us use the moniker by which I am more widely known, shall we? 

                                                                                 Your loving ancestor, 
                                                                                 The Red Witch 

The Red Witch is an archmage, adventurer, and perhaps the most experienced “planewalker” Haylene has seen in recent centuries. While some scholars might surpass her in terms of lore, her working knowledge of world’s cosmology is unparalleled (one might also learn that she has also had a hand in shaping that cosmology). In a series to treatises to her apprentice, Lady Astral the Half-Elven, she can provide clear and accurate insight into Haylene’s peculiar planar structure.

These treatises represent the knowledge one might recall with a DC 25 Intelligence (Arcana) check when address a particular phenomenon. Dungeon Masters are encouraged to provide them to their players, particular after they make an appropriate ability check. If desired, the information can be passed to the players with a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check if the footnotes are redacted.

Finally, the Red Witch is not without her biases, and she does make mistakes. This may lead to minor inconsistencies in her essays (but it’s probably best not to point that out to her).

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1 The Red Witch is a Prydani elf, writing to her half-elven kin. He son, Astrel’s grandfather, is likely an old man, while the Red Witch remains in the prime of her life.^↩

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2 Astrel has recently taken to training wizards in the ways of the Four Towers… these individuals are almost all Rhysonian nobles.^↩

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3 Wyndruin being one of the Northern Marches, and is largely devoid of human settlement since the Great Conflagration.^↩

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4 The Red Witch refers to the Council of Prydain’s High Magi.^↩

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5 The word “Planewalker” has no direct translation into Prydani (Elvish). The concept of casually exploring other realms of existence is not something a typical Prydani would think to do.^↩