Summary
Mount Celestia is a breathtakingly beautiful plane that is home to the Seven Heavens, a series of seven layers that ascend like the very concept of a mountain. It is a place of extreme goodness and virtue, where the souls of lawful good creatures are reborn as lantern archons and can advance through the ranks by performing selfless deeds. The plane is inhabited primarily by celestial creatures known as archons, but there are also communities of mortals and other celestial beings.
Powerful beings such as
Bahamut, the god of good dragons, and
Moradin, the god of dwarves, can be found in and around the Seven Heavens. Evil acts are not tolerated anywhere on Mount Celestia, and those who perpetrate them find the plane itself working against them. Fiends from the Lower Planes view Mount Celestia as the ultimate expression of good and positivity in the multiverse and have fought numerous battles against the archons stationed on the Silver Sea, the plane's lowest layer. Wisdom, patience, and justice are highly valued on Mount Celestia, but its inhabitants can be rigid and inflexible, making it overwhelming for those who walk a different path.
The Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia are each distinct, yet they share general features such as a mountainous landscape with towering peaks, idyllic valleys, and winding rivers. Each layer is referred to by its name as well as a more general reference that gives a good overview of its landscape properties.
Ascension
Ascending the Seven Heavens requires passing trials found at the highest point of each layer, which then gives the traveler access to the next higher plane. The seventh and highest layer is the hardest to reach and is said to contain a blinding radiance holding true enlightenment, though few have seen it.
The Silver Heaven
Mount Celestia's first layer is called Lunia, also known as the Silver Heaven, and is the most accessible. It is characterized by a midnight blue sky dotted with bright stars, and a vast wine-dark gulf called the Silver Sea, which is home to many creatures, celestial and mundane. The terrain beyond the Silver Sea is mostly hills and shallow valleys, and is well-lit by the starlight. The Beacon Towers, occupied by lantern archons, are the most famous strongholds built upon the natural alabaster stone pillars that rise from the blessed waters of the Silver Sea.
The Golden Heaven
Mercuria is the Golden Heaven, located beyond Lunia, where a golden light fills the sky and gentle slopes are easy to ascend. It is a place for the honored dead who fought to keep Mount Celestia safe, and archons tend to burial sites with solemn attitudes. However, Mercuria is not a sad place, as memories of heroes and royalty are kept alive by the countless stories told in villages and settlements.
The Pearly Heaven
Venya, the Pearly Heaven, is the third layer of Mount Celestia. It has soft, snow-covered hills and pine woodlands, and a mild climate perfect for farming. Halflings are common here, working the land and living in cozy burrows. The layer is also home to the Green Fields and the cheerful
Halfling god
Yondalla.
The Crystal Heaven
Solania is the Crystal Heaven, where a burnished silver sky hangs over the quiet slopes and glaciers. A luminescent fog shrouds most of the valleys on Solania, many of which hold deep mountain lakes fed by the towering nearby glaciers. It has rich deposits of ore and numerous hidden monasteries and temples. The legendary Monastery of Seven Flowers can be found among its peaks. The vast subterranean realm of Erackinor is also located here, with thousands of dwarves and the dwarven God
Moradin. The sound of active mines and forges fills the marvelously engineered tunnels and caves.'
The Platinum Heaven
Mertion is the Platinum Heaven, a gentle place with rolling plains and still lakes surrounded by grassy hills. The sky is perpetually in a rose-gold color, and numerous paladin orders and celestial hosts train here to combat evil. The highest orders of archons plan strategies and take in reports from across the Cosmos. Empyrea, City of Tempered Souls, is also found here, renowned for its hospitals and healers.
The Glittering Heaven
The mountain slopes are literally littered with rubies, garnets, and red diamonds in countless gem fields that stretch in every direction. The rose-colored sky reflects these magnificent gemstones, each one sparkling with an inner light that catches the eye and steals the breath. Archons, who have no need for the priceless gemstones, wander through the fields without purpose as they reminisce about their past lives and deeds. Several enormous ruby heads shaped like humanoids with massive foreheads can be found on Jovar, though their purpose is a mystery to even the archons.
The Heavenly City of Yetsira sits at the highest point of Jovar so that its radiance can be seen everywhere on the layer. It’s a seven-layered ziggurat with enormous staircases running up each of its four sides. This is the only way into Chronias, the highest layer of Mount Celestia, and few have made it and returned to tell the tale.
The Illumonated Heaven
Chronias is the seventh layer of Mount Celestia, known as the Illuminated Heaven, and is considered the most mysterious layer. It is believed by many scholars to be a shining radiance created from the composite goodness of the entire Cosmos. Those who prove worthy enough to cross the Bridge of al-Sihal into the Heavenly City of Yetsira are said to sublimate into the pure radiance of ultimate goodness. The stars in the midnight-blue sky over the Silver Sea are believed by some to be visual representations of those who have reached Yetsira.
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