Heaven

The realm of the archons and the pinnacle of enlightened order, the shining mountain of Heaven seeks to tame the forces of disorder and evil. A paradise unto itself, this plane is home to celestials and gods who seek to pacify the Maelstrom and tame the Abyss and Hell, forever crusading into their depths even though the task seems impossible. It is mildly law- and good-aligned.

Towering high above the landscape of the Outer Sphere stands the plane of Heaven, the domain of the archons and the bulwark of enlightened order. A realm of law and good, its natives see little to distinguish the two concepts: order is good, and good is order, while both chaos and evil are a perversion of the proper nature of the cosmos.
Almost as wide as it is tall, Heaven is a solitary, massive mountain rising up from the surrounding chaos of the Maelstrom. At times so gently sloping as to resemble flat plains, and other times filled with hills or spiraling cliffs and jagged rocks, the plane supports almost every lush environment possible. But whatever the environment, the landscape is filled with stately and ordered towns and cities, while forests, meadows, and cultivated fields exist in harmonious balance with one another, with the archons’ fortresses and grand constructions standing among them all with a presence truly awesome to behold.

Geography

Notable Sites

Presented below are just a few of the myriad deific realms and important bastions of goodness that have sprung up along Heaven’s slopes.

• Alabaster Passage

• Courts of Accord

• The Empty Palace of Melek Taus

• Erastil’s Domain

• Fortress of Ragathiel

• The Great Library of Harmonious Scripture

• Heaven's Garden

• Iomedae’s Domain

• Khalignin

• Prime Vallation

• Red Rotunda

• The Summit

• Torag’s Domain

Fauna & Flora

Petitioners

Heaven’s petitioners arrive at the mountain’s base, within view of the massive crystalline walls and golden gates that gird their new home. As they watch the archon armies marching forth, each soul is shown that his or her salvation (and ultimately that of the cosmos) only comes through sacrifice and struggle, and that such is not the struggle of individuals, but the cooperative acts of families, groups, nations, worlds, and planes. Through order good is sustained, and likewise compassion fosters order.
Each petitioner not destined to join one of Heaven’s patron gods is cataloged by the plane’s archon judges, who are appointed by the seven celestial paragons of their plane. The judges assign each spirit a form (usually resembling its shape as a mortal) and a specific region of the mountain that best suits its nature (if possible, reuniting it with family or friends already in Heaven). Heaven’s petitioners arm the great archon armies and support their crusades to further expand their dominion, bettering the cosmos by their labor.

Archons

Unlike the other good-aligned planes of Nirvana and Elysium, only a single race of celestials populates Heaven: the archons. All the archons that have ever been began their existences as mortals. After their deaths and subsequent arrival before the judges, souls are asked, “Does our judgment suit you?” Many souls nod in agreement—such is the judges’ ability to read the nature and needs of their charges—but souls destined to become archons pause, look up to the summit of the mountain, and shake their heads.
Each judge knows the meaning of that response, even if the soul in question might not. The confused spirit is released from the archons’ queue and allowed to wander invariably toward the mountain’s soaring heights. When the spirit returns, descending from the mysterious summit, it does so no longer as a petitioner, but as an archon.
The archons are often described as a race designed from their lowest to highest ranks as the perfect army. Foremost in the archons’ eyes is the Abyss, and their armies drive deep into the Maelstrom borderlands to fight demons as they emerge from each newly opened chasm. They have even brought their holy war into the Abyss itself, though such instances are rare and hideously costly. While many archons take orders from their paragon leaders, a nearly equal number serve the lawful good gods whose domains are in Heaven.

Alternative Name(s)

Celestia, Mount Celestia

Type

Dimensional plane