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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Xanterith" data-source="post: 3240674" data-attributes="member: 47264">That was over 500 years ago.  The multiverse still has not recovered from that day.  In the months that followed this event several facts became apparent as to the state of things before the “Reconnection”.  There were many many more crystal spheres than originally thought.  Because they had lost touch with the Astral Plane, these spheres were lost and separated from the multiverse.  For them the Astral was there but did not contact the prime.  The powers that did care about their existence and had significant worshippers began to slowly feel power slip away as the connection was lost.  Some ignored and forgot these primes, turning their attention to other lands; others died from lack of faith their bodies sent to float amongst the dead powers strewn about the Astral.  Many have hypothesized on why this happened and the most accepted answer was because in the original creation the Astral was never meant to be inhabited by sentient beings.  It is an ever shifting infinite plane that touches all points at once in all primes and outer planes.  To have something existing inside this was to also have the object touching all things at once.  Since sentient, mortal beings could not possibly comprehend this, the plane adjusted itself to accommodate the beings so that it had apparent size and shape and these beings could traverse it.  Unfortunately, in doing so some spheres were separated from the multiverse.  Some spheres were severed – separated instantly and forcefully. This occurred many millennia ago, lost in the annals of history, when the first mortals entered the astral bodily.  Others were slowly separated as more and more beings began to venture to the Astral and more of the plane became defined.  All crystal spheres had some level of degradation, some were in the very early stages with no noticeable effect, others completely separated.  The overall effect was gradual, and any who were on the planes when cut off were trapped, no way of returning back to the outer.   These planes, separated from both divine and arcane magic, developed along as best they could.  Many entered times of severe hardship as all the powers they had relied on were slowly stripped away.  The realms were plunged into hundreds and thousands of years of darkness as famine, disease, and strife decimated populations.   On many, whole races were wiped out never to be seen again.  Without gods or magic to turn to the people of these lands turned inwards.  They began to study the world around them unaltered by magic.  In doing so they learned the laws of physics, and chemistry, as well as other sciences.  The world of magic and the gods slowly faded from view.  People began to no longer question their existence or the “why” of the universe, instead they turned to “how”.   While self reliance and independence did many great things to forward these people, it also forwarded many traits that went unpunished – greed, dishonesty, and selfishness resulted in personal gain with no retribution from a higher power. Overall feelings of non-retribution for any acts against a fellow person were pervasive throughout these societies.  While they had many good and honorable people, the vast majority of these peoples cared not for their fellows and only had their own interests at heart.  Gone was religion, now only an act of pomp and circumstance. For the majority of people it was nothing more than a means for social interaction.  There were three main immediate physical effects of the reconnection.  The first effect was that these primes were now fully reconnected back to the astral.  Magic returned, and access to divine power was available, although this was not because they now had access to the astral, but was because of another effect explained below.  As a part of doing this all crystal spheres were eliminated.  The shield walls were dissolved and the Phlogiston burned off as all the planets combined into one galactic prime.  By doing this, Primus insured that all points in all primes would be equally connected to the astral and at no point could part of the primes be separate.   The individual primes now became solar systems and travel between the spheres could be done without ever leaving the prime material.   Also, astral travel between the spheres was still possible, and with the infusion of technology, the Githyanki were able to develop ships that could hop from the prime through the astral back to the prime making travel between these systems very quick.  For many unenlightened worlds, there was no immediate visible, outward change to everyday life.  The effect of this change would show itself over the next couple hundred years.The second major effect of the reconnection was the rebalancing of magic and the physical laws of the multiverse.  Magic on the primes slowly over many millennia had convoluted and bent the laws of physics and the natural sciences to the point where they were not studied nor even recognized as influential.  In some cases magic even overcame the laws of the physical realm on a permanent and global scale.  Gravity, inertia, chemical reactions, all could be circumvented by magic, and therefore magic was studied above all others.   When the planar law was reestablished the physical realm returned to work as intended.  Many magical effects disappeared, and many more were altered.  For most of the mundane and lower magic throughout the planes there was very little effect, but for some of the higher magics – especially those having to do with time and space – there was dramatic change and in some cases the magic simply stopped working.  After the reconnect, magic and physics were again returned to their proper balance.  Magic still could affect the laws of physics, but these laws became standard across the multiverse and were constants.   A strange effect of this was that now the Tinker Gnomes devices actually worked….a scary prospect indeed!The third, and perhaps most dramatic effect of the reconnect was the creation of a new plane.  This plane was considered to be a perfect version of the astral, a conduit for all energy and force to transfer.  The astral remained, but now was merely a plane of travel and physical movement through the multiverse.   The new plane, dubbed the “Transmissive” plane replaced the Plane of Shadow as the 3rd transitive plane.  The Plane of Shadow became part of the ethereal.  Access to the transmissive for mortals is incredibly dangerous as the current of energy can tear a soul to pieces, distributing the spiritual energy across all of the multiverse in a thought.  There is no time or space on the Transmissive plane, and it is a place best left untouched.   All magical and divine energy is transmitted through this plane.  In addition, there are a growing number of mortals who are able to tap into this plane of force and use the power that is there for telekinesis, telepathy, as well as many personal augmentation abilities.  Throughout the prime small monasteries have been cropping up dedicated to mastering and controlling this energy.  These studies are in their infancy and have shown great potential, so much so that even the gods themselves have begun to question its impact and fear its implications.</blockquote>

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