Cynos

The Bearer of Life and Death

From the Welsh word cyfnos, meaning twilight, and the English word cynosure, meaning something that is at the very centre of attention.

Cynos, also referred to as and synonymous with the Material Plane, is the planet unintentionally created by the conflict between Ashra the Sun and Boda the Moon. It was created at the very centre of the Universe, perfectly balanced amidst the currents of Law and Chaos.

The eternal struggle between Ashra and Boda kept constant pressure and friction between their Elemental Planes. The pressure build over eons until it finally reached a bursting point, erupting explosively and suffusing the centre of the Universe with Elemental Chaos. At the core of the maelstrom, the planet Cynos formed. A perfect hybrid of all four basic elements, Cynos is the third and only celestial body aside from Ashra and Boda. It is unique because it occupies physical space in the The Astral Sea but it is not a being or god in its own right.

Mortality and the Afterlife

Along with the inadvertent creation of Cynos came another unprecedented phenomenon: mortal life and death. Beings such as angels, devils and demons have aways existed as aspects of Ashra and Boda, but they were mostly confined to their own Celestial Planes and none of them knew the concept of permanent death. When the first mortals died on Cynos, their souls floated through the Ethereal Plane into the Astral Sea, where the natural currents of space carried the soul to its final resting place based on the alignment of the soul in question. Mortals of moral ambiguity were instead brought before either Ashra or Boda for Divine Judgement before being delivered to their appropriate afterlife. For mortals who are truly neutral in terms of Law and Chaos, a disturbing phenomenon known as Soul Tearing occurs, where the mortal's soul is torn in two and each half is delivered to the appropriate destination.

The Quasi-Material Planes

Ashra and Boda each preside over Law and Chaos, respectively, and both embody Good and Evil in their own way. However, with the birth of Cynos, the Universe was introduced to a new dichotomy over which neither had any jurisdiction: life and death. The currents of the The Astral Sea naturally handled the souls of deceased mortals, but the very concept of death was alien to the immortal Ashra and Boda, and without death to provide contrast, so too was the nature of life. The birth of Cynos was accompanied by the simultaneous creation of three Quasi-Material Planes to manifest these new concepts. All three are nearly identical to Cynos in physical layout and geography, and exist in an adjacent dimension to the Material Plane.

The Feywild

main article: The Feywild

The Feywild is a manifestation of life amplified to overabundance. Trees, plants and foliage grow rich and lush, covering the land in vibrant green. As life is amplified, so too is magic, and the Feywild is suffused with extra magical power. The result is an assortment of hyper-magical creatures like faeries, sprites and hags, all of which reside natively in this realm. It is said the mortal elves of Cynos descend from such Fey creatures.

The Shadowfell

main article: The Shadowfell

The Shadowfell is a manifestation of the absence of life. The geography of the Shadowfell mimics that of material Cynos, but there is little to no life forms to be found anywhere. The whole plane is devoid of vegetation and great, dry craters occupy space where a lake might be found on Cynos. Very few beings choose to take up residence here, though it has been known to attract vampires, shades and similar creatures.

The Ethereal Plane

main article: The Ethereal Plane

The Ethereal Plane serves as a parallel, transitional dimension between the material Cynos and the Astral Sea. Unlike the Feywild and Shadowfell, those who enter the Ethereal Plane can still see the Material Plane and everything within it, but they are unable to interact with it. When a mortal dies, its soul traverses the Ethereal Plane to the Astral Sea, whereupon the astral currents deliver it to its final resting place. Because of this, the Ethereal Plane is moderately populated with ghosts. Mages and other arcane practitioners can access the Ethereal Plane by magical means, allowing them to use it creatively for storage, transportation and even combat strategy.

The Impact

full article: The Impact

The global climate after the Impact.

In the year 0 ADB, Ashra succeeded in killing his sister Boda, sending her celestial body plummeting toward Cynos where it broke up in the atmosphere. Enormous chunks of lunar rock bombarded the planet's surface, sending dust, ash and debris into the air and blotting out light from the Sun. The resulting impact winter would last for centuries and forever change Cynos's geology.