Overview
Realm of the Defender Gods, a group containing Harrus, Ydion, Yondalla and Avoreen, the shining Silver Mountainside is the pinnacle of goodness and lawfulness tempered with mercy within the Cradle. All aspects of the Silver Mountainside are beautiful and perfect; it was where the souls of many creatures of lawful good alignment went after death. It's slopes are filled with planned, orderly cities and tidy, cultivated gardens and orchards. Though they began their existences as mortals, the Mountainside's native archons see law and good as indivisible halves of the same exalted concept, and array themselves against the cosmic perversions of chaos and evil. Though inconceivably large, most viewers perceive the plane as a mountain with a mysteriously floating peak. From its base, the Silver Mountainside rises in seven tiers.
In order from the bottom of the mountain up the seven levels of the Mountain are:
- the Threshold, tasked with hospitality and defense;
- Proelera, the mustering ground of the Heavenly armies;
- Clarion, dedicated to duty and self-purification;
- Requius, the final resting place of virtuous souls who did not follow a particular deity in life;
- Illumis, where residents gather to discuss philosophy and the nature of goodness; and
- Iudica, the Mountainside's administrative center.
- The peak of the mountain is flattened and contains somewhat of a mystery. A golden wall with a single gate provides access to the beautiful Garden. No two beings in the universe see the same garden, and no two beings arrive here at the same time.
Planar Traits
- Essence mixed
- Gravity normal
- Realm immeasurable
- Structural lasting
- Time normal
- Divinely Morphic: Deities with divine realms in the Silver Mountainside can alter the plane at will.
- Alignment Strongly Good and Law-Aligned: The Silver Mountainside is home to forces of good, and a –2 circumstance penalty applies to all Intelligence-, Wisdom-, and Charisma-based checks made by creatures that are not good-aligned while such creatures are in the Silver Mountainside. These penalties stack with those inflicted by the plane’s strong lawful alignment. Silver Mountainside is a place of law, and a –2 circumstance penalty applies to all Intelligence-, Wisdom-, and Charisma-based checks made by creatures that are not lawful while such creatures are in the Silver Mountainside. These penalties stack with those inflicted by the plane’s strong good alignment.
- Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the lawful good descriptor are enhanced, because they are in sync with the nature of the Silver Mountainside. These spells function as if the caster level was 2 higher than normal.
- Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the chaotic or evil descriptor are more difficult to cast because the Silver Mountain nature interferes with such spells. To cast a spell with the chaotic or evil descriptor, the caster must make a concentration check (DC = 20 + the level of the spell). If the check fails, the spell does not function but is still lost as a prepared spell or spell slot. If the check succeeds, the spell functions normally.
Denizens of the Silver Mountain
Empyreal Lords - Operating just beneath the primary deities are the lawful good empyreal lords—agathions, angels, archons, or azatas who have achieved the spark of divinity necessary to become demigods. Encompassing dozens of individuals, this pantheon is responsible for much of the day-to-day leadership of the Silver Mountainside, with each lord having a particular area of concern.
Angels - Less populace, but significantly higher in authority are the angels. Generally operating more independently than Archons, Angels examine the structures and authority within the Silver Mountainside, preventing stagnation and keeping the forces of Lawful Goodness always evolving. Angels also are rarely agents to Aralla, guiding heroes or speaking with high level clerics,
Archons - The most populous beings on the Silver Mountainside are the Archons, beings of pure Lawful Goodness. Archons prefer to preemptively protect and guide mortals rather than intervene after corruption takes root. In leading souls toward virtue, these righteous harbingers use a subtle hand. When confronting fiends, however, archons bring the fight directly, and prove to be cunning, honorable, and zealous fighters on the fields of interplanar war. On the Silver Mountainside, their focus is often on teaching and training petitioners and souls, yet their commitment to serving their cause doesn’t stop them from laughing often and taking joy in their friends and work.
