Reality extends far beyond the mortal world. Ancestral is surrounded by countless planes, realms of spirit, dream, shadow, light, elemental power, and cosmic forces.
What the living call “the world” is only one room in an immeasurable house. Beyond its walls lie dimensions without number, each obeying laws of its own, and together they form the architecture upon which all existence is built.
“You believe you stand upon solid ground. You stand upon a single page, in a book without end.”
The Architecture of Existence
The material world of Thera lies at the centre of these dimensions, connected by ancient pathways, hidden portals, and the ever-present Haze. Together they form the vast architecture of existence through which souls, Eternals, and powerful beings travel, some by long-known roads, others by doors that open only once and never twice.
| Realm | What dwells there |
|---|---|
| Spirit & Dream | the sleeping minds of mortals, and what they build there |
| Light | life, warmth, and enlightenment |
| Shadow & Void | nightmares, demons, and forgotten horrors |
| Elemental | the raw, unshaped power of creation |
| Cosmic | forces older and vaster than the world itself |
The Haze, the Mother’s Breath
Threaded through all of it is the Haze, the breath of the Mother and the source that binds existence. It is not a place so much as a presence, pooling thickest where the planes press close to Thera, and it is from the Haze that every spell, every vision, and every working ultimately draws.
Realms of Light and Nightmare
Not all planes are alike in temperament. Some nurture life and enlightenment, offering refuge, wisdom, and power to those who reach them. Others harbour nightmares, demons, and forgotten horrors, and the line between light and shadow runs through the planes as surely as it runs through every soul.
The Plane of Dreams
Closest of all to the living is the plane of dreams, which is strongly bound with Therasya and the minds of mortals. There, sleeping mortals do not merely dream, they make. Entire civilizations rise within their slumber, intricate and inhabited, dissolving with the dawn or, sometimes, refusing to. To learn what stirs in that twilight between sleeping and the void, walk Of Dream & Void.
“Walk far enough down any corridor of creation, and you will find it is only another door.”
Eolon of Oemon · Loremaster
