Elemental Planes

in Magical Space

Classification

Discrete planes can be generally categorized into three main groups- greater, lesser, and pocket. Greater planes are intrinsically linked to their concepts, and taking actions associated with said concepts Celestially calls upon the plane. For example, lighting a fire in the human plane creates an attunement to the Plane of Fire with negligible strength. Lesser planes have a one-way relationship with their concepts: while they can be used to create them, they are not called upon by others doing so. Spilling or otherwise manipulating blood does not create attunement to the Plane of Blood unless part of a ritual specifically intended to do so. Pocket planes are generally barely kept stable, used as 'working space' for a magical effect.   Note that the distinction between greater and lesser planes is mostly a matter of the dimensional link strength. Think of invoking a plane as the following:   (action affinity) * (self affinity) * (ambient affinity)   Ambient affinity for greater planes has an absolute minimum above zero, so they're always invoked to some degree, while lesser planes can have a local affinity multiplier of zero. As ambient affinity increases for one element, it decreases for others. The fact that the ambient affinity of Fire, Storms, and Darkness cannot equal zero is a quirk of the continent and potentially not absolute throughout the entire world.