Planes of Monvesia: Astral Companions

Just as the Ethereal Plane exists as two transitive planes in Monvesia, so does the Astral Plane.  Uniting them as a "companion" pair is Vaynon, the Dominion of the Far Wandering Star--a plane that exists simultaneously in these planes and the Material Plane. In this setting, these Astral Companions are the planes of thought (conscious and subconscious) and the planes of fantasy (dream and nightmare).

Generally speaking, spells and creatures that make use of the Astral Plane do so through the analog of the Dreaming.  Should a spell effect be destructive (ie. maddening), however, or a creature malignant, then the analog of Limbo is used.  For each unique instance, if it is necessary to know which Astral Plane is used, this is at the DM's discretion.

It is here that the Taint takes physical form as a writhing, inky purple mass that shimmers, pulses, and continually grows.  As the home of the HMDJVNW, Limbo is the ultimate plane of the Taint's origin; though it has long since spread into the Dreaming and even Vaynon.  Many psionicists, students of psychic power and mystic arts, believe that Vaynon has been completely consumed.

Monvesian Seekers: Muses

The Seekers of Monvesia are called Muses.  Instead of coming from the ranks of the gods, they are the archdaemons of the Dreaming, powerful egregores of knowledge:  the Trivium of humanities (Poeia, Philosophia, Theologia) and Quadrivium of sciences (Arithmetica, Astrologia, Geometria, Musica).  While the Trivium seek to understand Why the world works, the Quadrivium seek to understand How.

Unlike the other archdaemons, the Muses do not have a "standard" physical form; each person who sees them sees what they want to see.  Nearly all who have encountered these Muses agree that they are female--but each describes them as being the epitome of their own race.  The only other common attribute from all accounts is the color of each Muse's robes.

There are more Muses than those detailed  below.  These include the matriarchs--Grammatica (mother of Poeia), Logica (mother of the Quadrivium), and Rhetorica (mother of Philosophia and Theologia)--who are so ancient and powerful that their interest in mortals has diminished.  Many of the Muses below are matrons themselves, with daughters and grand-daughters; these younger generations, while powerful enough to inspire mortals in the arts and sciences, are not powerful enough to patron warlocks or sponsor saints.

Classifying Monvesian Creatures: Anachronisms, Doubles, Thoughtforms

Three new creature types were created for Monvesia in order to associate one creature type with each transitive plane as its daemon.  While several creatures were reclassified into these types, several more still need to be created.  In this post I will review the various creatures that can and will fill the ranks of these types.

NOTE:  Three races from the Eberron campaign setting could find their way into Monvesia through these creature types:  Warforged as mortal modrons or inevitables; changeings as doppleganger descendants; or even kalishtar as embodied thoughtforms.

Classifying Monvesian Creatures

RETCON NOTE:  Portions of this posts are sysematically being replaced by a series of posts under the heading of "Classifying Monvesian Creatures":

• Aberrations, Celestials, Fiends
• Anachromisms, Doubles, Thoughtforms
• Beasts & Monstrosities
• Divinities
• Elementals
• Fey [& Plants]
• Humanoids & Giants
• Undead

General information about creature classification in this setting will remain in this post.

As has been pointed out in previous posts, the nature of Monvesia is different from that other D&D worlds.  To accommodate these differences, there needs to be some minor shuffling of creatures.  A few new monster types have even been created.  The creature types of Monvesia are listed below, showing those both new and altered.

Beasts

Many creatures normally classified as monstrocities are included among the beasts of Monvesia. 

• Catoblepas [beast]
• Roc [beast]

Daemons (Multiple Types)

Daemons are a family of several monster types, each tied to one of the three-Sphere transitive planes. Five of these types already exist in the game, and three are new: Aberrations, Anachronisms, Doubles, Celestials, Fey, Fiends, Thoughforms, and Undead.