Cosmology on Novemterra

Novemterra Cosmology – Distinctions from Traiditional D&D Cosmology


Novemterra as a planet exists in the known universe. Scientifically speaking, it exists in the near-vacuum of outer space, and has a more or less conventional orbital pattern around a single star which acts as the light-giving sun.

Novemterra physically exists on the D&D equivalent of the Material Plane – in the Novemterra campaign setting it is referred to as the Mortal Realm. The Mortal Realm also covers the physical expanse of the universe and encompasses other worlds, including Earth.

The Astral plane from D&D also exists in Novemterra as the Great Divide, which is its own dimension despite how it sounds. Similarly, it is the dimension or state of existence where thoughts, memories, and psychic energies lie. Its substance is philosophical, and it its theorized that the divine powers make their dwellings here. Creatures based in the Mortal Realm who die traverse the Great Divide on their way to a suitable afterlife. It is during this process that patron divines judge or protect their charges, and many who were faithless while alive on the Mortal Realm are snatched up by certain deities and forced to redirect their travel to a corresponding sub-dimension.

Beyond the Great Divide is the Eternal Realm, where mortal spirits spend their afterlife. There is no clear concept of heaven or hell in this realm, although it is assumed that good-aligned individuals more or less have a better afterlife than evil-aligned individuals (though this is more of a superstition than even a hypothesis). The Eternal Realm in Novemterra replaces such dimensions as the celestial and infernal planes – creatures such as celestials, demons, and devils are based in the Mortal Realm, but exceptional there because they are empowered by energies given to them from good and evil realms within the Great Divide.

Similarly to the lack of celestial and infernal planes is the lack of elemental energy planes – all such creatures and energies are based in the Mortal Realm.

The Ethereal Plane from D&D exists in Novemterra as a thin spherical border between the Mortal Realm and the Great Divide and is known as the Event Horizon. Many ethereal undead are in fact composed of spirit energy from the deceased coming from the Mortal Realm as they pass through on their way to the Eternal Realm, and so it is thusly explained as to why an overwhelming majority of ethereal undead are malevolent in spirit – they are the spiritual remnants of evil-aligned mortal creatures, or good- and neutral- aligned creatures who have been corrupted between their death and travel through the Event Horizon on their way to the Eternal Realm. Obviously, there are creatures native to the Event Horizon itself – these are creatures that the traditional D&D game describes as originating from the Ethereal Plane.

Linking the Mortal and Eternal Realms is an energy-conducting cosmic pathway known as the Lifestream. It is a river of pure life energy composed of the spiritual energy of those who have passed on. It is unknown how mortal souls in the Eternal Realm end up in the Lifestream, how many, or how long it takes, if ever. Though individual souls are almost always absorbed into the Lifestream, resulting in an unconscious addition of mental and spiritual energy to it, occasionally there are individuals powerful enough whose entries into the Lifestream may cause it to change, shift, or mutate. This can have unforeseen effects on the Mortal Realm, to which it is linked.

There are many points in the Mortal Realm to which the Lifestream connects to. It is commonly thought that in most cases, the Lifestream connects various parts of itself to the cores of habitable planets, sustaining the life and renewable processes on it. It is also thought by many that the Lifestream connects to areas in the Mortal Realm also in more specific locations – it could be a random point underground in solid earth, or in the sky, or in someone’s room, or in space, or in a volcano, or anywhere else.


Game Note: D&D descriptions involving its traditional plane cosmology translate directly to the Novemterra cosmology instead, as described above.

Descriptions involving the use of energy from areas such as elemental planes instead draw their energy from sources on the Mortal Realm. For example:

Code:

 Element Type         Source in Mortal Realm
    Fire                   Fiera
    Cold                   Crystalla
    Acid                   Zenith
    Electricity            Aquatrane
    Law                   Orbitus
    Chaos                 Impetus
    Sonic                 Gaia
    Shadow                Dark Star

For example, a spell that describes its energy as being drawn from the Elemental Plane of Fire is instead drawn from the desert fires of Fiera.

Because any creatures not indigenous to the Novemterra dimensions are now based in the Mortal Realm, spells or effects that summon them essentially snatch them from their home Shell.