PART II: The Gods, the Cosmos, and the World (Continued)
THE COSMOS
My lists of deities complete, and with most of them detailed in
Deities and Demigods (all three major versions), I can work on the Planes of the Greek Cosmos. Grabbing my
Manual of the Planes I can detail the planes of the Hellenic Cosmology.
Material Plane
The Material Plane is the center of most cosmologies and defines what is considered normal.
The Material Plane has the following traits:
* Normal gravity.
* Normal Time
* Alterable morphic.
* No Elemental or Energy Traits (specific locations may have these traits, however)
* Mildly neutral-aligned.
* Normal magic.
The material Plane is represented by what we know as the Universe. Earth exists in a Heliocentric Solar System with eight known planets and several Kupier Belt objects like Puto, Charon, Varuna, and Orcus. The known space of the Solar System is based on real world physics.
The Astral Plane
The Astral Plane connects to Olympos, Hades, and the Elysian Fields. When a character moves through an interplanar portal or projects her spirit to a different plane of existence, she travels through the Astral Plane. Even spells that allow instantaneous movement across a plane briefly touch the Astral Plane.
The Astral Plane is a great, endless sphere of clear silvery sky, both above and below. Occasional bits of solid matter can be found here, but most of the Astral Plane is an endless, open domain.
Both planar travelers and refugees from other planes call the Astral Plane home.
The Astral Plane has the following traits.
* Subjective directional gravity.
* Timeless. Age, hunger, thirst, poison, and natural healing don’t function in the Astral Plane, though they resume functioning when the traveler leaves the Astral Plane.
* Mildly neutral-aligned.
* Enhanced magic. All spells and spell-like abilities used within the Astral Plane may be employed as if they were improved by the Quicken Spell feat. Already quickened spells and spell-like abilities are unaffected, as are spells from magic items. Spells so quickened are still prepared and cast at their unmodified level. As with the Quicken Spell feat, only one quickened spell can be cast per round.
The Etherial Plane
The Ethereal Plane is coexistent with the Material Plane and often other planes as well. The Material Plane itself is visible from the Ethereal Plane, but it appears muted and indistinct, its colors blurring into each other and its edges turning fuzzy.
While it is possible to see into the Material Plane from the Ethereal Plane, the Ethereal Plane is usually invisible to those on the Material Plane. Normally, creatures on the Ethereal Plane cannot attack creatures on the Material Plane, and vice versa. A traveler on the Ethereal Plane is invisible, incorporeal, and utterly silent to someone on the Material Plane.
The Ethereal Plane is mostly empty of structures and impediments. However, the plane has its own inhabitants. Some of these are other ethereal travelers, but the ghosts found here pose a particular peril to those who walk the fog.
It has the following traits.
* No gravity.
* Alterable morphic. The plane contains little to alter, however.
* Mildly neutral-aligned.
* Normal magic. Spells function normally on the Ethereal Plane, though they do not cross into the Material Plane.
The only exceptions are spells and spell-like abilities that have the force descriptor and abjuration spells that affect ethereal beings. Spellcasters on the Material Plane must have some way to detect foes on the Ethereal Plane before targeting them with force-based spells, of course. While it’s possible to hit ethereal enemies with a force spell cast on the Material Plane, the reverse isn’t possible. No magical attacks cross from the Ethereal Plane to the Material Plane, including force attacks.
The Shadow Plane, or the Shadow World
The Plane of Shadow is a dimly lit dimension that is both coterminous to and coexistent with the Material Plane. It overlaps the Material Plane much as the Ethereal Plane does, so a planar traveler can use the Plane of Shadow to cover great distances quickly. The Plane of Shadow only connects to Hades.
The Plane of Shadow is a world of black and white; color itself has been bleached from the environment. It is otherwise appears similar to the Material Plane.
Despite the lack of light sources, various plants, animals, and humanoids call the Plane of Shadow home.
The Plane of Shadow is magically morphic, and parts continually flow onto other planes. As a result, creating a precise map of the plane is next to impossible, despite the presence of landmarks.
The Plane of Shadow has the following traits.
* Magically morphic. Certain spells modify the base material of the Plane of Shadow. The utility and power of these spells within the Plane of Shadow make them particularly useful for explorers and natives alike.
* Mildly neutral-aligned.
*
Enhanced magic. Spells with the shadow descriptor are enhanced on the Plane of Shadow. Such spells are cast as though they were prepared with the Maximize Spell feat, though they don’t require the higher spell slots.
Furthermore, specific spells become more powerful on the Plane of Shadow. Shadow conjuration and shadow evocation spells are 30% as powerful as the conjurations and evocations they mimic (as opposed to 20%). Greater shadow conjuration and greater shadow evocation are 70% as powerful (not 60%), and a shades spell conjures at 90% of the power of the original (not 80%).
* Impeded magic. Spells that use or generate light or fire may fizzle when cast on the Plane of Shadow. A spellcaster attempting a spell with the light or fire descriptor must succeed on a Spellcraft check (DC 20 + the level of the spell). Spells that produce light are less effective in general, because all light sources have their ranges halved on the Plane of Shadow.
Despite the dark nature of the Plane of Shadow, spells that produce, use, or manipulate darkness are unaffected by the plane.
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OLYMPOS
In Greek mythology, Mount Olympus is the home of the Twelve Olympians, the principal gods in the Greek pantheon. The Greeks thought of it as built up with crystal mansions wherein the gods, such as Zeus (The King of Gods and Goddesses), dwelt. It is also known in Greek mythology that when Gaia (mother earth) gave birth to the Titans (the ancestors of the gods) they used the mountains in Greece as their thrones since they were so huge, and Cronus (the youngest and most powerful of the Titans) sat on Mount Olympus itself. The etymology and meaning of the name Olympus (Olympos) is unknown, and it may be of Pre-Indo-European origin.
Mount Olympus is a popular mountain name. There is a Mount Olympus in Cyprus, one in Utah, one in Washington State and many others.
Mount Olympus in this Campaign Setting is found in the Atlas Mountains (Rocky Mountains) region of Atlantis (North America). Mount Olympus is represented by
Grand Teton Mountain in the Grand Tetons. Olympos itself is a Mighty Peak that extends so far above the Material Plane that it is a plane unto itself.
Olympos is an Outer Plane, the home of the Gods. All of the Gods make their home and domains on Olympos.
Olympos can only be reached from the Astral Plane.
Olympos has the following traits:
* Normal Gravity.
* Timeless.
* Infinite Size.
* Divinely Morphic.
* Mildly positive dominant.
* Mildly neutral-aligned.
* Normal Magic.
Elysion
The Elysian fields, or sometimes Elysian plains, were the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous. Two Homeric passages in particular established for Greeks the nature of the Afterlife: the dreamed apparition of the dead Patroclus in the Iliad and the more daring boundary-breaking visit in Book 11 of the Odyssey. Greek traditions concerning funerary ritual were reticent, but the Homeric examples encouraged other heroic visits, in the myth cycles centered around Theseus and Heracles.
The Elysian Fields lay on the western margin of the earth, by the encircling stream of Oceanus, and there the mortal relatives of the king of the gods were transported, without tasting death, to enjoy an immortality of bliss (Odyssey 4.563). Lesser spirits were less fortunate: an eerie passage describes the twittering bat-like ghosts of Penelope's slain suitors, led by Hermes:
"down the dank moldering paths and past the Ocean's streams they went
and past the White Rock and the Sun's Western Gates and past
the Land of Dreams, and soon they reached the fields of asphodel
where the dead, the burnt-out wraiths of mortals make their home"
(Odyssey 24.5-9, translation by Robert Fagles).
Elysion connects only to the Astral Plane.
Elysion has the following Traits:
* Normal Gravity
* Normal Time.
* Infinite Size.
* Divinely Morphic.
* No Elemental or Energy traits.
* Mildly Good-Aligned.
* Normal Magic.
HADES, The Underworld
The Greek underworld is a general term used to describe the various realms of Greek mythology which were believed to lie beneath the earth or beyond the horizon.
These include: 1. The great pit of Tartarus, which was originally the exclusive prison of the old Titan gods, but which later came to mean the dungeon home of the damned souls ; 2. The land of the dead ruled by the god Hades, which is variously called the house or domain of Hades (domos Aidao), Hades, Erebus, the Asphodel Fields, Stygia and Acherontia ; 3. The Islands of the Blessed or Elysian Islands ruled by Cronus, where the great heroes of myth resided after death ; 4. The Elysian Fields ruled by Rhadamanthys, where the virtuous dead and initiates in the ancient Mysteries were sent to dwell.
The five rivers of Hades are Acheron (the river of sorrow), Cocytus (lamentation), Phlegethon (fire), Lethe (forgetfulness) and Styx (hate), which forms the boundary between upper and lower worlds. The only way to get to Hades is either through special gates to the Underworld (and by calling on Hades' name) or through the Shadow World.
Hades has the following traits:
* Normal Gravity.
* Normal Time.
* Infinite Size.
* Divinely Morphic.
* Mild Negative Energy Dominance.
* Mildly evil aligned.
* Normal Magic.
TARTAROS
In classic Greek mythology, below heaven, earth, and hades is Tartarus, or Tartaros (Greek Τάρταρος, deep place). It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit or abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering. While almost all the dead were said to go to hades, the gods cast the very worst mortal sinners and immortal enemies into tartarus for endless punishment. In the Gorgias, Plato (c. 400 BC) wrote that souls were judged after death and those who received punishment were sent to Tartarus. As a place of punishment, it can be considered a hell. The classic hades, on the other hand, is more similar to Old Testament sheol.
While, according to Greek mythology, Hades is the place of the dead, Tartarus also has a number of inhabitants. When Cronus, the ruling Titan, came to power he imprisoned the Cyclopes in Tartarus. Zeus released them to aid in his conflict with the Titan giants. The gods of Olympus eventually defeated the Titans. Many, but not all of the Titans, were cast into Tartarus. Atlas, Cronus, Epimetheus, Metis, Menoetius, and Prometheus are some Titans who were not banished to Tartarus. In Tartarus, prisoners were guarded by giants, each with 50 enormous heads and 100 strong arms, who were called Hecatonchires. Later, when Zeus overcame the monster Typhon, the offspring of Tartarus and Gaia, he threw it, too, into the same pit.
Originally, Tartarus was used only to confine dangers to the gods of Olympus. In later mythologies, Tartarus became the place where the punishment fits the crime. For example Sisyphus, who was both a thief and murderer, was condemned for eternity to push a boulder up a hill only to have it roll down at the top. Also found there was Ixion, the first human to spill the blood of a relative. He caused his father in-law to fall into a pit of burning coals to avoid paying the bride-price. The fitting punishment was to spend eternity on a flaming wheel. Tantalus, who enjoyed the confidence of the gods by conversing and dining with them, shared the food and the secrets of the gods with his friends. The fitting punishment was to be immersed up to his neck in cool water, which disappeared whenever he attempted to quench his thirst, and luscious grapes above him that leapt up when he tried to take a hold.
Tartaros is only reachable through Hades.
Tartaros has the following traits:
* Normal Gravity.
* Normal Time.
* Infinite Size.
* Divinely Morphic.
* no elemental or energy traits.
* Strongly Evil Aligned.
* Normal Magic
