Ask me anything

(This is my universe, the Cosmos Arboraetum. As the title says, ask me anything about what’s contained herein and I’ll elaborate further.)

Spinning in the trackless void, there is a crystal sphere of light and energy that contains within itself… ***the Cosmos Arboraetum.***

The Cosmos is a delicate sphere, through which can be seen the shining light of other such spheres, as though peering through a pane of glass. These are not the stars, however, for they are born within the Cosmos itself, within a separate but connected realm which orbits the rest in an endless circuit. They are instead other such places: other cosmos, each with their own rules and inhabitants. None know of these beings, for in all the long ages of the world none have ever set foot outside the Cosmos Arboraetum. It is all things, and merely a fraction of all things. All at once, and never. Without time, and the heart of time.

There are five layers to the Cosmos Arboretum, each separated by a gossamer thin veil known as the Sightblind. Where the Sightblind is weak, energy from neighboring realms can pour through and be made manifest as what mortals call Magic: the essence of existence itself, distilled and then directed by a sentient mind to alter or shape the universe around them. Only within the Cosmos Aboraetum can this energy be used, for outside, there is nothing: an endless void populated by countless crystal spheres, like a sea of pearls. The Sightblind is strongest in Lower Realms, where the light of the stars and the sun cannot reach. For the sun itself is merely a breach in the fabric of creation, through which comes the energy of existence in the form of incandescent light, from the realm at the highest of peaks: the Cradle of Stars, or the Sea of Light.

The upper layers of the Cosmos are known thusly:

“Ta’Cori Carda”, The Sea of Light: the high realm, where the energy of existence coalesces and disperses itself endlessly to form the Stars men see in the night sky. The Sun is a window into this realm: half open, so that energy might pass through, but ONLY energy. At the heart of the Cradle rests the Lightmother, the living source of all stars, who births and absorbs them at will. It is theorized by mortal scholars that the Gods of the world are merely the children of the Lightmother, who broke through the Sightblind to manifest as physical beings. As such, some cultures revere the Lightmother as the true source of all creation, with the Gods merely being her instruments in the mortal plane.

“Ta-Lanys Hyla”, or The Highlands: a pocket of reality suspended above the Sun within the Cradle of Stars, through which all magical energy must pass before it may enter the mortal plane. Acting as a filter to the raw incandescence that flows from the Sea of Light, It is a realm of floating islands and ethereal flying creatures, where gravity holds no sway and even the mightiest of monsters may take wing. It is a realm where magic permeates every facet of existence far more deeply than even in the mortal plane, so that even the weakest of mages may create wonders within it. Natives of this realm include the mighty Griffons, the fierce Sky Drakes, and the enigmatic Angelun.

(Separating the higher and lower realms is the Skyfather, the Sun, which acts as a sort of gate into the higher reaches, through which only energy may pass downwards into the Ta’Morti Mundi, or the Mortal Plane. There are ways of circumventing the Skyfather to enter the Sea of Light or the Highlands without first passing through him, but they are few, and all are exceedingly dangerous)

“Ta’Morti Mundi”, or The Mortal Plane: home to the Celestial Configuration of which Äskiia is merely a part. There is Ta’Nula, the Moon, and Ma’sar, the Neighbor. There is Ortifus, the Great Brother of Winds, and there is the cold and rocky Na’fal, the Farthest Brother. Of these worlds, only Äskiia is home to intelligent life, and it comprises the remaining “lower levels” of the Cosmos Arboretum within itself, each lower realm nested into the next. Firstly, there is-

Æthyrn, or “Existence,” which comprises the material realm wherein those who are living dwell and the laws of reality set by the gods hold sway.

Sķðæda, or “Spectral,” which comprises the plane of incorporeal beings such as spirits, ghosts, and the disembodied souls of greater demons.

Vælhaalüm, or “Resting Ground,” the realm of the afterlife, the plane where the immortal souls of sentient beings go after overcoming their fear of moving on. It is an ethereal and unexplored region, and rightly so. Here the dead rest in eternal peace, and the Gods do not take kindly to the disturbance of their charges, for any reason. None may enter the Vælhaalüm save the Gods who wrought it and the souls they allow into it, while none but the Gods may leave it at their will.

The core of the Cosmos is the world of Äskiia, and it is comprised mainly of one large supercontinent, Magna-Yöta, with a few scattered breaks in the landmass which allow for the formation of small bodies of water. Inland seas are known to dot the vast continent, but very few who currently live have ever seen the so called “edge of the world” for themselves, where the land breaks and the endless ocean begins. To many, it is just a myth. The planet is inhabited mainly by two dominant but diametrically opposed species. These are the Yocan, and the Lepen. The two races evolved from opposing animals: Ursinids for the Yocan and small rabbit-like creatures in the case of the Lepen. The Yocan are universally tall, heavily muscled, and compared to a humanoid, absolutely enormous, with young children known to reach five to six feet in height before hitting puberty. They possess large and prominent claws, and pronounced canines that protrude slightly from the bottom lip. Yocan are sexually dimorphic; with males often being larger and stronger than females, though this by no means makes them weak or helpless. The Yocan female is the lithe and sleek to the male’s brawn and bulk. They too have been known to reach five to six feet in height before reaching true adulthood, but whereas a male will continue to become stronger with age, a female will remain as she is for an incredibly long time, experiencing none of the senescence the males experience in old age. They do not grow stronger, rather, they grow wiser. In this way, they learn to temper the harsher traits of their companions, and to guide them toward better decisions when such things are possible.

The second race is known as the Lepen: lithe, quick, and fleet of foot and thought, the Lepen are a race apart from the Yocan in many ways: they possess digitigrade legs, thinner bones, and weaker vascular systems, but in exchange for these things, they have gained the swiftness that their race is known for. The slowest Lepen could outrace a trained warhorse, leading the Yocan to sometimes refer to them as “Flickers” or “Blurred Ones.” Once the Lepen were organized into Hive-like tribes, each ruled over by a queen known as a Denmother. The discovery of civilization removed much of the need for their former lifestyle of gentle, eusocial coexistence however: causing many Lepen to become greedy and incapable of mercy. The Denmothers were eventually weeded out of the gene pool, left to die at birth whenever a new one is brought screaming into the world so that the already impressive Lepen population does not grow any further.

Below the world, deep near the core of Äskiia, rests the Hollow: a massive subterranean realm that encompasses the entirety of the innermost reaches of Äskiia. Magic is virtually none existent in this dark, ancient place, and only a handful of native races are hardy enough to truly call it home. Magic is almost nonexistent in this realm, as it is located so far from the Ta’Cori Carda that no ambient energy from that region can seep down into it, leaving it entirely mundane according to the usual laws of the Cosmos Arboraetum.