Three Planes of Power are Conjured From the Void
The First conjured three distinct existences from the Void, called the Planes of Power. The highest of these is the Empyrean, a plane of perfection. Elven legends talk of the four spheres: the spheres of light, air, life, and dreams. These spheres exist in such an unadulterated form in the Empyrean that the cares of hunger, age, and discomfort are utterly unknown there.
The lowest of the Planes of Power is the Ynfernael. Whether the First intended the Ynfernael, or whether it was through the influence of some other malign power, is quite unknown. What is clear is that it is a dismal place populated by monstrous entities that crave to visit torture and degradation upon mortals. The Elves speak of several spheres that they associate with the Ynfernael, and these include (but may not be limited to) Darkness, Pain, Death, and Hunger.
Between them, the Aenlong was formed, the realm to which the plane of physical existence is connected. The Aenlong is a spiritual plane, however, believed to be the same as the fabled Grey Lands spoken of in the practices of the Dream Walkers. Over time, the Aenlong became full of the refuse of creation, half-tangible, unfinished things that belong in neither the Empyrean, nor the Ynfernael, nor the mortal realm.
Primordial Creatures: The Fae and the Dimora
Once the Aenlong was established, the First turned their attention to the creation of life. Elven sources suggest that by the time they themselves were created, other beings already existed, including two races that bear resemblance to mortals in that they possess corporeal bodies and thinking minds. Whether these beings were created by the First in a deliberate manner or were unintended manifestations of the Empyrean spheres of air and life is not a settled matter.
The tales say that these beings were the Fae and the Dimora, who can sometimes be found in the mortal realm. The Fae and the Dimora are wild, hostile, and rarely seen, although they do have the rudiments of language and culture. Little is known of them, and most only ever hear rumors of their existence, if that.
There is a theory that they are experiments on the creation of intelligent life that met with mixed success, and are not quite real as mortals know reality. The Fae are at home in the air and the Dimora in the earth; they are believed to be disturbing even to one another and are said to harbor mutual abhorrence. The only known protection against them is cold iron, and all books pondering their existence are girded with the thick metal.
Fae
Although there are countless stories and legends that attempt to explain the “fair folk,” if anyone knows the true origins of the Fae, they are unwilling—or unable—to say so. From a distance, one might mistakenly believe that their form and proportions make them similar to the Humanoid races in Mennara. This is purely a trick, however, of a mind unable to process what, exactly, it is seeing.
The Fae of the Aenlong are utterly terrifying. Their appearance varies wildly, but tales are told of distorted nostrils that lead to wide maws filled with razor-sharp teeth. Their horns and antlers are said to jut at unpredictable angles from their skull in ways none of the many monsters that wander the countryside can match. Most disturbing are the sightless visages some are claimed to posses; how they see without eyes is a mystery.
But the thing that makes the Fae truly unique, and completely terrifying, is the chaotic magical energy that burns inside them. Although there is no shortage of reasons to stay away from the Fae whenever possible, it’s ultimately their unpredictable, chaotic power that sends shivers up a being’s spine and warns the primitive, instinctive part of their brain to run whenever they are near.
Nevertheless, foolhardy mortals often seek out the Fae in places where the veil between worlds grows thin, such as the Greywood. Some beings are attracted by the promise of power that the Fae represent. Others seek to slay the Fae for their valuable organs, used to make rare tinctures and potions. Still more believe that the Fae are simply misunderstood: that the right person could become the foundation of a new relationship between the Fae and Mennara.
All are foolishly wrong, although it is those in the latter group who tend to suffer the most before their deaths.
Dimora
The Dimora are believed to cross into the world as formless elementals. They then build themselves out of the earth, taking on the form of stony, vaguely mole-like creatures. They are constantly shifting in density and composition, perpetually shedding the soil of their bodies and replacing what’s lost with fresh loam from the ground beneath them.
The motivations for the Dimora to cross into the mortal realm are generally unknown, as they rarely stray far from the rifts that allowed them entry, they refuse to communicate with any creatures except the Dwarves, and they seek no contact with the outside world. They aggressively defend the land around their rifts, however; pubs and taverns all across the world are filled with stories of travelers destroyed without warning for accidentally trespassing on land the Dimora have claimed as their own.
The River Taare and the Darkwood
There are two locations that are within the Aenlong, yet also sometimes outside or crossing into the mortal realm. These locations present a challenge to the non-Elven imagination, for how can physical places exist outside of the purview of reality? Once again, the Elves choose to obfuscate the issue, claiming that such locations are simply understood as both spiritual and physical.
The roaming Darkwood is one of these locations. Said to be a massive and ancient woodland, it is dense with mossy tree trunks and thick undergrowth full of ferns and fungi. The Darkwood has no fixed position in the Aenlong, but alters its position and the limit of its borders according to an unheard and random rhythm.
The River Taare appears in the myths of many races (including the Orcs, who are rarely known to worry themselves with cosmology). The river is said to form a border between the Empyrean and the Aenlong. The Elves draw a poetic comparison between the waters of the river and tears shed in sorrow, claiming that sadness, like the waters of the river, is not present in the Empyrean. Timmorran himself theorized that the river was formed from the “condensation of the Void” in a moment of somewhat scholarly humor.
The Black Realm
On the border of the Aenlong and the Ynfernael lies the Black Realm. It is through this Realm that demonic entities can sometimes seep into the Aenlong. Llovar Rutonu Lokander is thought to have met with the fell creatures of the Ynfernael in the Black Realm while he dream walked, beginning an evil pact between the Loth K'har and the Ynfernael. Indeed the Uthuk Warlocks of today find the Black Realm a useful place to visit when they wish to summon forth demons for the armies of the Uthuk Y'llan, as entering the Ynfernael itself is far more difficult and dangerous.
A mortal warlock named Gargan Mirklace became lord of the Black Realm after his mastery of its secrets. He sought to plunge Nerekhall into the fell plane, but was defeated by a party of adventurers under the aegis of the Citadel. Trapped in the dark realm between the world and the Ynfernael, his body warped and twisted over the decades. Now he dwells there on his dark throne plotting his revenge.
The Greywood
In the mortal realm just to the northeast of the Selenic Sea, not far from where the Aymhelin empties into the Broken Plains, lies the Greywood. The forest is a taboo realm of unnerving legends, where realities unpredictably bleed together and the veil between Mennara and the Aenlong becomes thin enough for creatures to easily pass from one to the other. Within its shadowed trails wander creatures that were never meant to set foot upon the Firma Dracem. Here, those who seek favors from the Fae may be able to bargain for whatever they seek.
The Elves hold a careful, perpetual vigil around the Greywood, doing their best to stop mortals from entering the dank, lightless forest, but also to prevent anything from leaving the trees as well. Much to their dismay, the Elves lack the power or ability to purge the forest of its mystical threat, so instead, they greet the unnatural creatures that try to emerge from these woods with maximum aggression.
The Dreamers
The elven dreamers spend most of their time in slumber, using their dreams as a portal to the Aenlong. Through the Aenlong as a bridge, Dreamers may also cross to the far corners of Mennara itself to touch the minds of other dreamers and discover their hopes, fears, and desires. Armed with this knowledge, the Elves can work to prevent conflicts before they begin, or know the precise moment to strike. Once they have tasted of the dream, however, few dreamers can bring themselves to return to the waking world for long. Most spend their eternal lives slumbering under the glimmering white ceilings of the Temple to the Stars.
Since the War of the Shadow Tear, parts of the sphere of dreams became tainted with Ynfernael energies, and on occasion a dreamer will succumb to the nightmare, their minds disquieted by the sights they see there. The Elven high priestesses believe it is connected with the rifts between the Aenlong, the Ynfernael, and Mennara that were opened by Malcorne and his tribesmen.
The Elves are not the only people who have learned to walk in dreams, however. Long ago, the shamans of the Loth Caara were known for the realm of T’mara T’rusheen, or "walking in-between," which they may have learned from the Elves who mingled with them. The tribal shamans submitted themselves to a trance during the full moon in order to foresee the movement of prey animals to help the hunt or to catch glimpses of disasters that would come to pass, so that the tribe could avoid the disaster. It is believed that this in-between realm was the very same as that walked by the Elves in their dreams. Now, the nightseers of the Uthuk tribes stalk this realm with their own corrupted version of the T'mara T'rusheen, using the Aenlong as a place to cavort with demons before they can be summoned from the Ynfernael into the world of Mennara.
References
- Realms of Terrinoth
- Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition): Shadow of Nerekhall