Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Planes of Monvesia: Dominions, Part 2

In the cosmology of Monvesia, demi-planes are called Dominions.  These are further divided into Greater Dominions and Lesser Dominions.  The former include the Thrones, which unite the Comic Marches with the Elemental Planes ans serve as home to aeons, angels, and archsaints; also the Powers, which unite the Mortal Realm with the Otherworlds and are home to particular otherworldly mortal races. Principalities are the lowest class of the Greater Dominions; these unite the Otherworlds with the Cosmic Marches, and serve as home to the immortal archdaemons.

The Lesser Dominions are all other demi-planes, great or small.  Though never as large as a Power or Throne, many lesser dominions do rival the Principalities in size.

Principalities

The Principalities are shared by an Otherworld and three Cosmic Marches.  Each Comic March contains two principalities; while each Otherworld contains only one--therefore, their are eight Principalities.  These are the domains of the archdaemons--transcendent immortals of the otherworlds.

Mortals know very little about these planes--for few have conceived that they might exist, and even fewer have had the chance to visit them.  While not visible from the Mortal Realm by mundane means, they could be perceived through the use of extremely complex astrological equipment.  If detected, they would be seen as companions of the Powers.

The City of Choirs

Dominion of the Virtues
  • Location:  the Empyrean, Bedlam, Elysium, Olympia
  • Temperamental Association:  Altruist, Idealist, Vitalist
  • Inhabitants: Virtues
From Orbimond, this Principality would appear as a "sungrazing" comet, regularly passing close to Heylon with an apparent origin near the star Providence.

The City of Legions ("Pandaemonium")

Dominion of the Vices
  • Location:  the Inferno, Bedlam, Dis, Gehenna
  • Temperamental Association:  Idealist, Nihilist, Vitalist
  • Inhabitants:  Vices
From Orbimond, this Principality would appear as a "sungrazing" comet, regularly passing close to Heylon with an apparent origin near the star Oblivion.

The City that Sleeps

Abandoned dominion of the HMDJVNW (now inhabiting Desolation in Raviq)
  • Location:  Limbo, Dis, Fantasia, Tartarus
  • Temperamental Association:  Dynamist, Idealist, Nihilist
  • Inhabitants:  lesser HMDJVNW?
From Orbimond, this Principality would appear as a moon of Vaynon. 

The Great Crypt

Dominion of the Undying Ones
  • Location:  the Abyss, Gehenna, Purgatory, Stygia
  • Temperamental Association:  Materialist, Nihilist, Vitalist
  • Inhabitants:  Undying Ones
From Orbimond, this Principality would appear as a moon of Vasperon.

The House of Twelve Gates

Dominion of the Legacies
  • Location:  Eternity, Stygia, Tartarus, Utopia
  • Temperamental Association:  Dynamist, Materialist, Nihilist
  • Inhabitants:  Legacies
From Orbimond, this Principality would appear as a cluster of a dozen small asteroids in orbit at Sylane's fifth Lagrangian Point.

The Kaleidoscope

Dominion of the Deep Reflexions
  • Location:  Infinity, Arcadia, Hesperia, Utopia
  • Temperamental Association:  Altruist, Dynamist, Materialist
  • Inhabitants:  Deep Reflexions
From Orbimond, this Principality would appear as a pair of bright asteroids in binary orbit at Sylane's fourth Lagrangian Point.

The Labyrinthine (or Akashic) Library

Dominion of the Muses
  • Location:  the Dreaming, Arcadia, Fantasia, Olympia
  • Temperamental Association:  Altruist, Dynamist, Idealist
  • Inhabitants:  Muses
From Orbimond, this Principality would appear as a moon of Vaynon.

The Palace of All Seasons

Dominion of the Archfey
  • Location:  Faerie, Elysium, Hesperia, Purgatory
  • Temperamental Association:  Altruist, Materialist, Vitalist
  • Inhabitants:  Archfey
From Orbimond, this Principality would appear as a moon of Vasperon.

Lesser Dominions

Beyond the cosmologicaly fixed Thrones, Powers, and Principalities, other demiplanes also exist.  These are private planes created by powerful mages or priests for particular purposes.  The possibilities for other Dominions are virtually endless.  As a rule, all dominions are coexistent with a at least one--though often more--major planes (the Mortal Realm, Otherworlds, Cosmic Marches, or elemental planes); any time a demiplane is created, it must be bound to one or more such planes in order to be stable. Typically, Lesser Dominions are bound to only one or two.

Only one lesser dominion is presented below; this is one that was created for a particular campaign.  Others will be presented as they are created for the world.

The Tavern

  • Location:  the Mortal Realm, Eternity
  • Temperamental Association:  Dynamist, Idealist
  • Inhabitants:  the Innkeeper, Champions of the Tavern
The Tavern will be created over a century from now by a warlock of the End of Days.  This warlock will be the Tavern's first Innkeeper--charged with guiding the Champions chosen by the Tavern to shape the course of history on behalf of the End of Days.  300 years after its creations, under the purview of the tenth Innkeeper, the Tavern will select a group of Champions from the current time.  These Champions will be gathered from disparate cultures throughout Orbimond, and taken to the Kingdom of Montaigne, where the Princes of Elemental Evil threaten the will of the End of Days.
The Tavern began as a plot device to bring the players of a campaign together; it is modeled strongly (and unabashedly) after the TARDIS of Doctor Who.  It is the Tavern itself that is the "time lord," however; and the successive Innkeepers are not progressive incarnations of each other.

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