Planes & Existence: An Introductional Thesis
The following is an academic thesis that attempts to explain the cosmology of the planes and planar forces through a secular lense. Some aspects of this paper line up with the religious doctrines while other parts deny them in their entirety. The concepts shared rearrange the cosmos to paint a different picture of reality that casts the same shadow of what we experience. Due to the greater powers and scales of reality being discussed, it is possible that both this secular explanation and those of the religious in the world are 'topologically the same' in the greater scheme of the world but it is unknown what is true.
The cosmos of existence is made up of a myriad of planes. A plane can be thought of as a world or dimension of specific properties and whose native inhabitants follow a similar ideology. It is tempting to think of planes as planets in our solar system but there are some key critical differences. First, planes do not revolve around a point; planes are static in comparison to each other. Second, a person cannot get from one to another simply by flying away from the ground into the void. All physical movement happens in the same plane. Magic must be used to go from one plane to another.
A better way to think of planes is a three-dimensional space in a soup of a five-dimensional universe. For example, the plane you exist in is a dot on a piece of parchment. No matter how much you move around in your dot, you will never leave the dot to go visit another dot an inch away on the parchment. To do so, you must find a way to either step out onto the piece of paper to walk there yourself or find some way of folding the paper so the two dots are on top of each other and touching. The most common means of traveling between planes is either magic or finding a point in space that has a planar tear (a dimensional hole) to enter through. These planar tears may be constant but are usually subject to changes in the level of ambient magic present.
Continuing the dots on paper metaphor, a general map of the cosmos can be drawn by first making a dot in the center. This dot is the Prime Material Plane: us. This is where mortals are from. It is inhabited by folk, plants, animals, and monsters of all sorts. This plane can be seen as the center point of planes and is the balancing point for the rest.
All other planes are formed from a differing ratio of Aspects that control the planes. These aspects fall into two groups: Components of Existence and the Dualities. Most planes will be dominated by one of these and that will determine whether it is a Component Aspect Plane or a Duality Aspect Plane. The spaces between the planes also have their own properties. The Ethereal Sea fills the space between the Prime Material Plane and the Component Aspect Planes. All of these make up the category of Inner Planes. The space outward of the Component Aspect Planes and between the Duality Aspect Planes is the Astral Sea. The Astral Sea and the Duality Aspect Planes make up the Outer Planes.
The Component Aspect Planes
In a multicolored fog that forms a dense ring around the central dot and hazes outward are the Component Aspect Planes. The Component Aspect Planes are those of which based on the Components of Existence: Solid, Liquid, Gas, and Reaction. These planes are commonly referred to as the Planes of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, though they consist of much more than their singular colloquialisms. Solid planes also contain metals, woods, pure elements, and frozen liquids. Reaction planes can also include acids, dramatically increased rusting, gas production, and fusion of materials. Each of these Aspects form extremely concentrated portions of the ring of planes surrounding the Prime Material Plane in the Ethereal Sea. As the individual aspects extend outward the slowly grow diluted and mix with their neighbors. In this way, a mortal would most certainly perish if they attempted to travel to a plane of purely Solid Aspect without great magical protection but could more easily survive a Solid dominant plane sparse with caves of Gas. It is important to remember that individual planes can contain Aspects of multiple regions of the Inner Planes as well as those of the Outer Planes. The Aspects act as heterogeneous , partially mixed zones within the soup of the Ethereal and Astral Sea.
The Duality Aspect Planes
As the Component Aspect Planes form a perfect balance in the center of the cosmos as the Prime Material Plane, they come close to doing likewise as they extend outward. The different Component Aspects become so hazed as they move outward that they begin to form an almost perfect balance again. What prevents this vast Astral Sea of planes from being replicas of the Prime Material Plane is that the Duality Aspects form concentrated pockets. The Duality Aspects are exactly that, two opposing ideas with the Prime Material plane serving as the neutral fulcrum between the two. As the Component aspects mix with each other and outward to the Duality Aspects, so too do the Duality Aspects themselves. If a mortal were to find a line in the Astral Sea of one of these Dualities and followed it outward from the center of the cosmos, he or she would find the planes to become more and more greatly consumed by not only that half of the Duality, but that half of the Duality greatly outweighing any other Duality Aspect.
The Dualities of Existence are: Civilization/Nature, Conflict/Peace, and Endoism/Exoism. Before explaining them, it is important to note that there is no Duality of Evil/Good. Good and Evil are moral which makes them based in complex intentions. Complex intentions only exist in higher sentience and the planes themselves (let alone the building blocks that make them up) are unthinking.
The Duality of Civilization/Nature is the plane’s propensity for either the natural world to remain dominant or for the inhabitants to create an artificial structure over the native world. This duality does not control whether there will be forests, deserts, barren wastelands of rock, tropical paradises, or chasms of death. Whatever side of the spectrum this duality falls dictates to what extent the world allows itself to be purposefully utilized, as well as how likely the native inhabitants are to initiate and follow through with such actions.
The Duality of Conflict/Peace is not so much a physical aspect of the plane but the temperament the plane puts into its inhabitants. The native inhabitants are to likely be rather rigid to the planes position in this duality. Additionally, the stronger the pull of the given half, the faster a foreign creature will be drawn towards that duality as well while on the plane. This Duality should not be interpreted as good and evil. Peace can either be communal among peers or unopposed rule. Conflict can either be continual violence among its inhabitants are an unending crusade against evil.
The Duality of Endoism/Exoism is the most physical of the Duality Aspects for a plane, though it is also effects the temperaments of the plane’s inhabitants. Endoism is the amount to which a plane takes in and absorbs while Exoism is the amount to which a plane gives. Endoism can result in cold wastelands, grounds that take much more nutrients and water to produce vegetation, and individuals that are inclined to greed and gluttony and avaricious simply from the plane sucking away personal life energy. Exoism planes can result in warmer planes, fruitful vegetation, high birthrates of inhabitants, and a general sense of altruism. Once again, good and evil can be incorrectly assigned. Though Exoism planes may seem nicer, inhabitants may become wasteful, slothful through not needing to lookout for themselves, and become so entitled to what is present that thievery is common. Endoism planes may seem horrid, but they can create hearty individuals that know they must work to survive and have true value in life, others, and gifts.
The Prime Material Plane
As described, the Prime Material Plane exists at the center of the cosmos and serves as the neutral point for all three Dualities and for the four Components of Existence. This creates a great stability in the plane that is extremely difficult to disrupt for any great length of time or to budge far from its balance. However, it is this very stable neutrality that makes the Prime Material Plane so important to the great beings of the other planes. Those of ill intent know that causing it to tumble from its balance can be in great favor of whatever force has managed to push it while those of good will know that the actions taken here can do the most to help maintain their own cause.
Not only is the plain a neutral point but all of the native inhabitants are as well. Because the Aspects of a Plane are also infused into the Plane’s natives, the natives of the Prime Material Plane have the ultimate amount of free choice. Sentient creatures of other planes have inherent inclinations towards the building blocks of their plane. Due to the balance of the Prime Material Plane, the mortals therein act with self-direction and therefore are the most likely to affect the balance of their own plane. This is the basis of while celestials so willingly reward mortals of good intent and fiends are so quick to tempt, bribe, and make deals. No matter how much power these outside immortals have, the mortals own choices matter more.
Mortal and Immortal
The terms of mortal and immortal have begun to be thrown around and it would do well do explain them. In simplest form, they do follow the definitions of “can die” and “cannot die” though it does go deeper. The natives of the Prime Material Plane are mortal. Folk, Monstrous folk, animals, plants, and whatnot can die. Death occurs when the body has accumulated enough damage that the Spark of Life can no longer bind Body and Spirit. In death, the spirit that was in the body is released. The body decomposes over time while the Spirit continues to its final rest in the Realm of Spirits.
Immortals are creatures that cannot truly die. Rather than being composed of a separate Body and Spirit, they are a single entity imbued with a Spark of Life. If on the Prime Material Plane when their body would be “killed”, they are banished back to their home plane where the creature was spawned and revitalized with a new Spark of Life. If “killed” among the planes, the creature is entirely destroyed and absorbed back into the Aspects of its created plane and reborn as a new creature. What once was in personality, knowledge, and experience is lost without a spirit to hold it together. The exception to this rule is immortal beings of such immense power that through force of will alone does their experienced life remain unchanged in renewal. In this case, only death upon their home plane is capable of obliterating and homogenizing their essence to the point of elimination.
The Realm of Spirits
If the Immortal is consumed and renewed in death, what happens to the Spirit of the Mortal? The Prime Material Plane is only half of the Primary Plane, but it is usually referenced to as the whole because it is what we experience. The Prime Spirit Plane (or the colloquial Spirit Realm) is the other half of this coin. The Spirit Realm surrounds the Prime Material Plane in an unseen ghostly haze both as one and entirely separate. When release from a body during death, the Spirit is in this layer of the Primary Plane. The most successful resurrection rituals occur early when the spirit has not strayed too far. However, over time the spirit is drawn to its final Karmic rest. Rather than separate places for paradise and damnation as many older religions believe, the Spirit Realm serves as both. The spirit is drawn along the path it built in life. All morally good actions build a bridge to reward while all evil actions dig out these foundations into a pit of punishment. The further the work is taken in life the greater the extremity in death. In this way, actions of the sentient in life directly affect that sentience postmortem.
As earlier stated, Good and Evil are moral intentions only existing within sentience. All spirits from non-sentient creatures establish themselves into the natural world. These spirits may be called on by worthy tribal warriors or become part of a greater collective such as the spirit of a mighty river or oak tree.
A Way to Immortality
The line between Mortal and Immortal is not a hard one. Mortal creatures are those native of the Primary Plane. Most Immortals are native Planar creatures from the rest of the cosmos. It is possible for the line to be crossed though. If a mortal shows himself worthy enough, a powerful being of another plane may offer the individual a doorway from mortality into immortality upon death. Rather than the body perishing, the individual either become Sanctified or Profaned, depending upon the situation. In either case, the individual continues on as if they had never died, the cause of death being removed, and is treated as being an Immortal native to the plane of the Being who offered the doorway.
Sanctified and Profaned
Sanctified and Profaned are qualities capable of any creature, object, or place to be granted permanently or temporarily. Living creatures tend to achieve the quality permanently.
Sanctification instills the recipient with an innate quality of natural flow, order, and intention. A sanctified creature works towards the natural state of life and the planes; sanctified objects or places disrupt and resist that which is profane or seeks to profane
Being profaned is a perverted twist upon natural order and a disregard for established flow. A profaned creature seeks to inflict its own will against what a plane is inclined towards, to place itself over what is established, and to work against what is inherent in the cosmos. Profaned objects contort that which is sanctified. Items and objects can be profaned by removing themselves from the natural order, such as raising a dead body without a spark of life.~
Long Term Effects of Past Interferences
In the beginnings of the history of the cosmos, the Primary Plane was swayed in many directions before neutrality was fully stabilized. The most obvious is a profane influence leading to the creation of the Monstrous Folk. However, the Dualities had also begun to have their influences. The variation in Folk is one of evolution but it can be argued that the Dualities have created a flow of them. Elves reflect the pulls Civilization/Nature. Halflings are the balance of Conflict/Peace. Gnomes are the flow of Endoism/Exoism. Finally, Dwarves are the stability and adaptability of the Prime Material Plane itself in its found neutral balance. With the Dualities having even this minor level of influence over the races, the mixed neutrality of Humans becomes that much more prominent in the legends of the world. The prominence of humans across the world and the decisiveness of humans in legends takes on a more significant effect. If extraplanar creatures seek to influence the cosmos through the actions of mortals, the actions of humans becomes that much more significant.
Avatars and Incarnates
The speculation on the creator or creators of the cosmos is one that most likely shall never be answered and most probably has little consequence of knowing. The best comparison would be a desert ant understanding tidal flows. The creatures would understand something many orders of magnitude greater than itself with no actual context in the layers between and nothing even remotely similar to it or the world around it up its family history and down it to extinction. The greatest scale desirable of cosmological knowledge falls down to Avatars and Incarnates.
Avatars are what the ancient cultures would have labeled as their pantheons of “gods”. Many races have their personal pantheons including champions, tricksters, crafters, and bestowers of knowledge. In more recent ages, the most advanced of these cultures have begun to understand that these “gods” are contextualized and personalized embodiments of a singular larger pantheon. Though the stated goals and cultural significance of the “god of war/slaughter/chaos” may change whether you are talking with the tribal goblins or the battle raging barbarians opposing them, both avatars seek the same ends and the context is what inspires the two different sides into the action of battle. The reason for this is that both of the avatars are simply that: two different embodiments of the same entities.
The Incarnates are incarnations of the spectrum of Dualities found in the cosmos. Where planar creatures are constructed of their dualities and granted a Spark of Life, the Incarnates are manifestations of the raw Dualities and are directly tapped into it. Of each Duality, there are “profaned” Incarnates that seek to press theirs over the others and spread its influence and there are “sanctified” versions that seek to champion theirs in the context of the greater continuity. Due to the communal view of the sanctified versions, there also exists a sanctified middle ground of Incarnates for each Duality.
There are more Incarnates existent in the cosmos than those generally known within the Primary Plane but only a small selection of them are directly concerned with the Primary Plane and therefore are acknowledged, prayed to, served, sought after, and revered. Almost all legitimate ancient and modern “gods” of consequential power can be traced back as Avatars of these fifteen Incarnated. Due to the growing understanding of their universal role, the Incarnates are commonly referred to by titles rather than old names their Avatars used to be known as though less advanced cultures may still use their Avatars in place of the universal Incarnate.
A better way to think of planes is a three-dimensional space in a soup of a five-dimensional universe. For example, the plane you exist in is a dot on a piece of parchment. No matter how much you move around in your dot, you will never leave the dot to go visit another dot an inch away on the parchment. To do so, you must find a way to either step out onto the piece of paper to walk there yourself or find some way of folding the paper so the two dots are on top of each other and touching. The most common means of traveling between planes is either magic or finding a point in space that has a planar tear (a dimensional hole) to enter through. These planar tears may be constant but are usually subject to changes in the level of ambient magic present.
Continuing the dots on paper metaphor, a general map of the cosmos can be drawn by first making a dot in the center. This dot is the Prime Material Plane: us. This is where mortals are from. It is inhabited by folk, plants, animals, and monsters of all sorts. This plane can be seen as the center point of planes and is the balancing point for the rest.
All other planes are formed from a differing ratio of Aspects that control the planes. These aspects fall into two groups: Components of Existence and the Dualities. Most planes will be dominated by one of these and that will determine whether it is a Component Aspect Plane or a Duality Aspect Plane. The spaces between the planes also have their own properties. The Ethereal Sea fills the space between the Prime Material Plane and the Component Aspect Planes. All of these make up the category of Inner Planes. The space outward of the Component Aspect Planes and between the Duality Aspect Planes is the Astral Sea. The Astral Sea and the Duality Aspect Planes make up the Outer Planes.
The Component Aspect Planes
In a multicolored fog that forms a dense ring around the central dot and hazes outward are the Component Aspect Planes. The Component Aspect Planes are those of which based on the Components of Existence: Solid, Liquid, Gas, and Reaction. These planes are commonly referred to as the Planes of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, though they consist of much more than their singular colloquialisms. Solid planes also contain metals, woods, pure elements, and frozen liquids. Reaction planes can also include acids, dramatically increased rusting, gas production, and fusion of materials. Each of these Aspects form extremely concentrated portions of the ring of planes surrounding the Prime Material Plane in the Ethereal Sea. As the individual aspects extend outward the slowly grow diluted and mix with their neighbors. In this way, a mortal would most certainly perish if they attempted to travel to a plane of purely Solid Aspect without great magical protection but could more easily survive a Solid dominant plane sparse with caves of Gas. It is important to remember that individual planes can contain Aspects of multiple regions of the Inner Planes as well as those of the Outer Planes. The Aspects act as heterogeneous , partially mixed zones within the soup of the Ethereal and Astral Sea.
The Duality Aspect Planes
As the Component Aspect Planes form a perfect balance in the center of the cosmos as the Prime Material Plane, they come close to doing likewise as they extend outward. The different Component Aspects become so hazed as they move outward that they begin to form an almost perfect balance again. What prevents this vast Astral Sea of planes from being replicas of the Prime Material Plane is that the Duality Aspects form concentrated pockets. The Duality Aspects are exactly that, two opposing ideas with the Prime Material plane serving as the neutral fulcrum between the two. As the Component aspects mix with each other and outward to the Duality Aspects, so too do the Duality Aspects themselves. If a mortal were to find a line in the Astral Sea of one of these Dualities and followed it outward from the center of the cosmos, he or she would find the planes to become more and more greatly consumed by not only that half of the Duality, but that half of the Duality greatly outweighing any other Duality Aspect.
The Dualities of Existence are: Civilization/Nature, Conflict/Peace, and Endoism/Exoism. Before explaining them, it is important to note that there is no Duality of Evil/Good. Good and Evil are moral which makes them based in complex intentions. Complex intentions only exist in higher sentience and the planes themselves (let alone the building blocks that make them up) are unthinking.
The Duality of Civilization/Nature is the plane’s propensity for either the natural world to remain dominant or for the inhabitants to create an artificial structure over the native world. This duality does not control whether there will be forests, deserts, barren wastelands of rock, tropical paradises, or chasms of death. Whatever side of the spectrum this duality falls dictates to what extent the world allows itself to be purposefully utilized, as well as how likely the native inhabitants are to initiate and follow through with such actions.
The Duality of Conflict/Peace is not so much a physical aspect of the plane but the temperament the plane puts into its inhabitants. The native inhabitants are to likely be rather rigid to the planes position in this duality. Additionally, the stronger the pull of the given half, the faster a foreign creature will be drawn towards that duality as well while on the plane. This Duality should not be interpreted as good and evil. Peace can either be communal among peers or unopposed rule. Conflict can either be continual violence among its inhabitants are an unending crusade against evil.
The Duality of Endoism/Exoism is the most physical of the Duality Aspects for a plane, though it is also effects the temperaments of the plane’s inhabitants. Endoism is the amount to which a plane takes in and absorbs while Exoism is the amount to which a plane gives. Endoism can result in cold wastelands, grounds that take much more nutrients and water to produce vegetation, and individuals that are inclined to greed and gluttony and avaricious simply from the plane sucking away personal life energy. Exoism planes can result in warmer planes, fruitful vegetation, high birthrates of inhabitants, and a general sense of altruism. Once again, good and evil can be incorrectly assigned. Though Exoism planes may seem nicer, inhabitants may become wasteful, slothful through not needing to lookout for themselves, and become so entitled to what is present that thievery is common. Endoism planes may seem horrid, but they can create hearty individuals that know they must work to survive and have true value in life, others, and gifts.
The Prime Material Plane
As described, the Prime Material Plane exists at the center of the cosmos and serves as the neutral point for all three Dualities and for the four Components of Existence. This creates a great stability in the plane that is extremely difficult to disrupt for any great length of time or to budge far from its balance. However, it is this very stable neutrality that makes the Prime Material Plane so important to the great beings of the other planes. Those of ill intent know that causing it to tumble from its balance can be in great favor of whatever force has managed to push it while those of good will know that the actions taken here can do the most to help maintain their own cause.
Not only is the plain a neutral point but all of the native inhabitants are as well. Because the Aspects of a Plane are also infused into the Plane’s natives, the natives of the Prime Material Plane have the ultimate amount of free choice. Sentient creatures of other planes have inherent inclinations towards the building blocks of their plane. Due to the balance of the Prime Material Plane, the mortals therein act with self-direction and therefore are the most likely to affect the balance of their own plane. This is the basis of while celestials so willingly reward mortals of good intent and fiends are so quick to tempt, bribe, and make deals. No matter how much power these outside immortals have, the mortals own choices matter more.
Mortal and Immortal
The terms of mortal and immortal have begun to be thrown around and it would do well do explain them. In simplest form, they do follow the definitions of “can die” and “cannot die” though it does go deeper. The natives of the Prime Material Plane are mortal. Folk, Monstrous folk, animals, plants, and whatnot can die. Death occurs when the body has accumulated enough damage that the Spark of Life can no longer bind Body and Spirit. In death, the spirit that was in the body is released. The body decomposes over time while the Spirit continues to its final rest in the Realm of Spirits.
Immortals are creatures that cannot truly die. Rather than being composed of a separate Body and Spirit, they are a single entity imbued with a Spark of Life. If on the Prime Material Plane when their body would be “killed”, they are banished back to their home plane where the creature was spawned and revitalized with a new Spark of Life. If “killed” among the planes, the creature is entirely destroyed and absorbed back into the Aspects of its created plane and reborn as a new creature. What once was in personality, knowledge, and experience is lost without a spirit to hold it together. The exception to this rule is immortal beings of such immense power that through force of will alone does their experienced life remain unchanged in renewal. In this case, only death upon their home plane is capable of obliterating and homogenizing their essence to the point of elimination.
The Realm of Spirits
If the Immortal is consumed and renewed in death, what happens to the Spirit of the Mortal? The Prime Material Plane is only half of the Primary Plane, but it is usually referenced to as the whole because it is what we experience. The Prime Spirit Plane (or the colloquial Spirit Realm) is the other half of this coin. The Spirit Realm surrounds the Prime Material Plane in an unseen ghostly haze both as one and entirely separate. When release from a body during death, the Spirit is in this layer of the Primary Plane. The most successful resurrection rituals occur early when the spirit has not strayed too far. However, over time the spirit is drawn to its final Karmic rest. Rather than separate places for paradise and damnation as many older religions believe, the Spirit Realm serves as both. The spirit is drawn along the path it built in life. All morally good actions build a bridge to reward while all evil actions dig out these foundations into a pit of punishment. The further the work is taken in life the greater the extremity in death. In this way, actions of the sentient in life directly affect that sentience postmortem.
As earlier stated, Good and Evil are moral intentions only existing within sentience. All spirits from non-sentient creatures establish themselves into the natural world. These spirits may be called on by worthy tribal warriors or become part of a greater collective such as the spirit of a mighty river or oak tree.
A Way to Immortality
The line between Mortal and Immortal is not a hard one. Mortal creatures are those native of the Primary Plane. Most Immortals are native Planar creatures from the rest of the cosmos. It is possible for the line to be crossed though. If a mortal shows himself worthy enough, a powerful being of another plane may offer the individual a doorway from mortality into immortality upon death. Rather than the body perishing, the individual either become Sanctified or Profaned, depending upon the situation. In either case, the individual continues on as if they had never died, the cause of death being removed, and is treated as being an Immortal native to the plane of the Being who offered the doorway.
Sanctified and Profaned
Sanctified and Profaned are qualities capable of any creature, object, or place to be granted permanently or temporarily. Living creatures tend to achieve the quality permanently.
Sanctification instills the recipient with an innate quality of natural flow, order, and intention. A sanctified creature works towards the natural state of life and the planes; sanctified objects or places disrupt and resist that which is profane or seeks to profane
Being profaned is a perverted twist upon natural order and a disregard for established flow. A profaned creature seeks to inflict its own will against what a plane is inclined towards, to place itself over what is established, and to work against what is inherent in the cosmos. Profaned objects contort that which is sanctified. Items and objects can be profaned by removing themselves from the natural order, such as raising a dead body without a spark of life.~
Long Term Effects of Past Interferences
In the beginnings of the history of the cosmos, the Primary Plane was swayed in many directions before neutrality was fully stabilized. The most obvious is a profane influence leading to the creation of the Monstrous Folk. However, the Dualities had also begun to have their influences. The variation in Folk is one of evolution but it can be argued that the Dualities have created a flow of them. Elves reflect the pulls Civilization/Nature. Halflings are the balance of Conflict/Peace. Gnomes are the flow of Endoism/Exoism. Finally, Dwarves are the stability and adaptability of the Prime Material Plane itself in its found neutral balance. With the Dualities having even this minor level of influence over the races, the mixed neutrality of Humans becomes that much more prominent in the legends of the world. The prominence of humans across the world and the decisiveness of humans in legends takes on a more significant effect. If extraplanar creatures seek to influence the cosmos through the actions of mortals, the actions of humans becomes that much more significant.
Avatars and Incarnates
The speculation on the creator or creators of the cosmos is one that most likely shall never be answered and most probably has little consequence of knowing. The best comparison would be a desert ant understanding tidal flows. The creatures would understand something many orders of magnitude greater than itself with no actual context in the layers between and nothing even remotely similar to it or the world around it up its family history and down it to extinction. The greatest scale desirable of cosmological knowledge falls down to Avatars and Incarnates.
Avatars are what the ancient cultures would have labeled as their pantheons of “gods”. Many races have their personal pantheons including champions, tricksters, crafters, and bestowers of knowledge. In more recent ages, the most advanced of these cultures have begun to understand that these “gods” are contextualized and personalized embodiments of a singular larger pantheon. Though the stated goals and cultural significance of the “god of war/slaughter/chaos” may change whether you are talking with the tribal goblins or the battle raging barbarians opposing them, both avatars seek the same ends and the context is what inspires the two different sides into the action of battle. The reason for this is that both of the avatars are simply that: two different embodiments of the same entities.
The Incarnates are incarnations of the spectrum of Dualities found in the cosmos. Where planar creatures are constructed of their dualities and granted a Spark of Life, the Incarnates are manifestations of the raw Dualities and are directly tapped into it. Of each Duality, there are “profaned” Incarnates that seek to press theirs over the others and spread its influence and there are “sanctified” versions that seek to champion theirs in the context of the greater continuity. Due to the communal view of the sanctified versions, there also exists a sanctified middle ground of Incarnates for each Duality.
There are more Incarnates existent in the cosmos than those generally known within the Primary Plane but only a small selection of them are directly concerned with the Primary Plane and therefore are acknowledged, prayed to, served, sought after, and revered. Almost all legitimate ancient and modern “gods” of consequential power can be traced back as Avatars of these fifteen Incarnated. Due to the growing understanding of their universal role, the Incarnates are commonly referred to by titles rather than old names their Avatars used to be known as though less advanced cultures may still use their Avatars in place of the universal Incarnate.
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