Arborea
The Outer Plane, Arborea is embodiment of the chaotic good alignment. A plane of joy as well as sorrow, Arborea is the home of the dreamers, a seemingly delicate sylvan realm of astounding heartiness and deep-seated enchantment. Its beauty is almost overwhelming, the landscape embodying the lovely and peaceful, and the passionate and wild, all at the same time.
Arborea is first and foremost a land of emotions, running high, deep, and far. These are not all positive emotions; Arborea is a place of powerful love and hate, where rage and joy are equally common and equally honored. Like Limbo, it can be considered the opposite of Mechanus, not in the sense that it countered rigid order with formless chaos, but in that its deep-seated feelings are the antithesis of Nirvana's mechanical logic.
Arborea is most accurately described as "boisterous", favoring melodrama as opposed to stoicism. Vibrant energy fill the plane, the air tingling with excitement and constant anticipation in the literally emotionally charged atmosphere. It is not merely a place where the emotional gathers, but a place that made those present short-tempered, passionate, and, at times, hammy. It is a larger than life realm of huge appetites that change as quickly as the heart, where the violent moods and whims are backed by steel and the fervent affections and passions blazed bright before burning out.
Greed, envy, lust, and wrath are strong on Arborea, and emotions can be released with dangerous consequences, but that is not to say that the plane is an evil one. Arborea is as much a plane of good as it was one of chaos, disavowing the notions of those who see chaos as destructive disharmony or a tumultuous maelstrom. Rather, the Olympian Glades are a realm of individuality and independence, a good-natured place of celebrations and strong desires where personal freedom is paramount. As strong as the vices are, charity, justice, love, and kindness are equally rampant on Arborea.
Despite their rowdy and chaotic nature, Arboreans are bound by superstitions, ancient tradition, codes of conduct, and systems of respect that no one would dare violate. All Arborea is permeated by a supernatural power of oath-binding, more concentrated in some places than others, that prevented others from going back on their word lest they suffer horrible consequences, the worst of which could include a painful death.
One of Arborea's more subtle aspects is its addictive quality. The longer one stayed, the more likely one would never want to leave, and after about a month would possibly need to be dragged back home by well-meaning friends. Just because they leave Arborea however, didn't mean they have escaped its pull; they will need to be confined until the intense yearning subsided and its influence has had waned.
Layers
Arborea's three layers each has unique landscapes, the first being the most well-known and the others being difficult to get to, with most travelers not bothering to.- Arvandor Arvandor contains the great forests for which Arborea is known, towering assortments of monstrous maple, birch, oak, lindens, and other deciduous, broadleaf trees rivaling the redwoods of the Material Plane in height. The height of the trees leave the forest floor relatively bereft of brush, the rolling land beneath the canopies a great open space of velvet moss and ferns. Clear glades are as common as briar patches and tangles, but paths snaked through what undergrowth existed, and even without it one can climb and brachiate (swing from branch to branch) through the trees without touching the ground. Various plant-life is exclusive to Arvandor, such as serren trees, vessels for nature spirits with branches that, once fallen, can be used to create bows, arrows, and bolts imbued with a portion of the spirit, granting them the ghost touch property. Also rare are a kind of large reddish fruit known as thane's pears, which can cure various maladies including viruses and infections when eaten. While not as wild as the Beastlands, Arborea still has its share of ancient groves, and would quickly grow untamed away from claimed territories. Towns are rarely needed either way, for the lush layer is almost paradoxically bountiful, far more so than most planes. Flowers bloom and bore fruit simultaneously, and even in the wildest regions plentiful food can be found if one was clever. Generally even an urbanite can live off the land so long as they can pluck fruit from the bushes (which are almost invariably edible) and summon the will to climb trees. Where the forests break away are open glades of wildflowers, naturally neat rows fruit trees, fields of swaying, wild wheat and barley, and untended orchards heavy with bounty. The naturally fertile climate gives Arborea its reputation for first-quality foodstuffs as the "breadbasket" of the planes. The day and night cycle of mimicks that of the Material Plane, a crystal blue sky with a golden sun above the trees in the day and a white moon amongst a river of stars on the warm nights. Arvandor's unpredictable weather might manifest as sudden squalls beating the paths with heavy winds, leaving sunny arcs of warm light filtering down from above minutes after it passed. There is seemingly always the faint sound music in the distance, as often the playing of instruments as the tune of wind curling through the holes in the trees. Arborea is also a layer of steep mountains cut by great passes, all massive enough to make those from the Prime Material Plane stare slack-jawed. What would be mountains there were hillocks in Arborea, the actual mountains larger than all but the floating earthbergs of Ysgard. The uplands are covered in snow that shined beautifully beneath the sky.
- Aquallor The second layer of Arborea is also known by many names; it is Ossa to the Olympians, Aquallor to the elves, the Endless River to the selkies and the Green or Abiding Sea to those of Araunthys. Regardless, the layer is an endless, emerald ocean, an entirely aquatic plane that few travelers can make their way through. It is disputed whether or not the plane had any land above surface, whether in the form of scattered islands or coastlines, but even stranger is the depths. Unlike Lunia's Silver Sea or Thalasia in Elysium, the seas of Aquallor are ironically shallow for a plane of otherwise great size, no more than 3 ft (0.91 m) deep over most of the realm. The shallow seabed is occasionally broken by cavernous trenches that opened up in random places, and the lower depths of the plane are pitch-black. By traveling through the underwater chasms, one can reach the undersea domains of various sea gods. The weather changes in Aquallor are as quick as those in Arvandor, taking the form of titanic storms that wrack the surface of the mighty sea, as well as great undersea currents that threw travelers miles off course.
- Mithardir Also known as Pelion, Mithardir is a fitting name for the third and deepest layer of Arborea, its name meaning white dust in the Elven language. It is a borderless plain of fine, chalky grit, a white desert nearly devoid of all life. The particles in the air are as cold as ice and so easily mistaken for snow at first glance, though snow is also potentially present along with the sand. The desert is neither hot nor particularly cold either way, just temperate in most places, but it is extremely dry. So long as the air is still, not much of the choking grain would lift off the ground, but more often than not the incessant winds end up grinding the bones of unprepared explorers to powder. Mithardir's dramatic weather manifested as lightning storms that regularly sweep the desert, driving huge storms of dust ahead of them that could bury travelers alive. Pelion is sometimes called 'the realm now known only for dust" and for good reason. Once upon a time, like Arborea above it, the layer is a great forest, home to beings alternately described as giants or titan-like gods. Whatever powers once dwelt there had long since died or departed to elsewhere in the multiverse, the remains of their disintegrated domain little more than a few scattered ruins of towers and tombs peeking out from the ever-shifting sand. The time of the ancient powers of Pelion had long since past, and the whole layer projected a sense of emptiness, like an abandoned house. Whole ages had gone by, with entire races having completely disappeared since they vanished, and even in those eras Pelion had been a land of legends and dust for untold centuries. Whoever they were, they were undoubtedly might beings with great powers of divination and access to True Words, words of power so potent that to utter them could destroy mountains, create life, and slay anything (though even the words predated them). Their realms, treasures, and ancient secrets laid hidden beneath Pelion's surface, the remnants of their once great cities consumed by the march of time, but perhaps still uncoverable by those with the foreknowledge and patience.
Cosmography
The River Oceanus (the upper planar counterpart of the River Styx) found its end in Arborea. After weaving its way through Elysium and directly carving through the surface of the Beastlands, it passes through Arborea before outflowing into Aquallor. However, that isn't necessarily the end of the conduit; there are often rumors of vast, funnel-like maelstroms in the darkest depths of Aquallor that will send travelers back to Thalasia, where the river begins, implying that the multiplanar river moved in an unending circle. There are also portals between Aquallor and the Elemental Plane of Water. Natural portals between the bordering Beastlands and Ysgard are common in Arborea, as are shifting borders between planes that could cause a traveler to instantaneously cross between one and another. Silver-plated beeches and the centers of lightning-blasted oaks in the Beastlands always lead to Arborea, and one enters Arborea through Ysgard using marked wells (although a fifth of the time the portals are marked incorrectly). The usual color pools exist for Astral travelers, in Arborea's case being bright, sapphire blue.Inner Portals
In contrast to the many ways in and out of Arborea itself, portals between layers are rarer on the Olympian Glades than they are on other Outer Plane. Such portals take the form of spinning crimson disks, but divination magic is required to determine where they would deposit a traveler. The gods of Olympus located and identified all permanent portals within a few thousand leagues of their realms in all directions, and such places were guarded by them and petitioners and sometimes with stone walls and iron gates.[1][11] This tight control isn't so much to stop travelers as it is to slow the curious and prevent dangerous and/or stupid creatures from wandering where they dont't belong. The Elvish pantheon doesn't particularly care about extraplanar viewing points in their realms, but particularly irritating ones (such as those that stayed in one place too long as if someone was planning to break in), are dispelled and the caster brought in and lectured. Portals to Aquallor in other areas of Arborea often goes to the watery domain of Deep Sashelas. Undersea gateways are often guarded by elven petitioners.Inhabitants
Though their recklessly release emotions sometimes with devastating consequences, the denizens of Arborea are mostly good-natured and dedicated to fighting the forces of evil. Often the Arboreans enjoy lives of unrestrained hedonism, and they value emotional reactions over more sober responses. They play, fight, live, and love hard, and depending on how they feel about a given individual, that person would either be in serious trouble or great success.Celestials
Celestials are common in Arborea, though are were more unpredictable than their counterparts elsewhere and often keep to themselves unless asked to serve as an agent for a god or powerful entity. Agathia, devas, planetars, solars, hollyphants, and foo creatures form the usual cohort of creatures ubiquitous to the Upper planes, and celestial lammasu, einheriar, and whole herds of buraq roamed the plane. Many lillendi thrive on the emotions rippling through the plane, and balaena can be found in the Oceanus, the Arborean stretch being their winter feeding grounds. They can be found on the coasts of Arvandor and are common modes of transport on Aquallor. The most common celestials in Arborea are the eladrins, natives to Arborea just as demons are to the Abyss. The wild, fey-like celestials constantly move from place to place on the plane, exulting in their own free existences. The best known and most commonly encounter breeds were the ghaeles, that are often found hunting through the wilderness. Coures, firres, ghaeles, shieres, and tulani all preferred the 1st layer of Arborea, while noviere favored Aquallor and the bralani raced across Mithradir.Monsters
Some of the most common creatures in Arborea are monsters from the legends of its most famous pantheons. Chimerae, gorgons, harpies, medusae, sphinxes, and pegasi all make nests or lairs in the mountainous terrain, or live and lurk in the wilderness of the first layer. Fey spirits lurk everywhere, easily provoke and utterly unpredictable compared even to those who will draw blood at the smallest insult. Titans dwell and roam in the hinterlands of the infinite plane, some rebellious and still bitter over past grudges, and some (in a few cases) completely oblivious to the fact that many of their kin had been imprisoned in Carceri. Giants (including giant-kin like cyclopses) also wander the plane looking to challenge those seeking adventure, sometimes including various deities. The giant gods make use of agents and proxies to torment and spy on their ancient enemies. The wilderness and size of Arborea, for both them and others, present many hiding places and opportunities for vengeance. Though fell beasts stalk the plane and hungry predators will make easy prey out of injured travelers, the giant animals of Arborea were no more aggressive than usual varieties, and they typically left groups of mortals or petitioners alone. Celestial and anarchic monsters and animals are present there, the former fighting with relish only if disturbed and the latter being predictably unpredictable. In general, the creatures of Arborea are bigger, tougher, had more powerful bearing and demeanor, and, in the case of humanoid monsters, have a 5% chance of possessing incredible magical powers. However, those qualities are reduced when Arborean native creatures entered other planes.Petitioners
The petitioners of Arborea are as diverse as the trees to be found in a forest. Most are the elves of Arvandor, but almost all sylvan races, including gnomes, centaurs, satyrs, nixies, and harpies, can be found there. Petitioners of Arborea are hearty folk, quick to react with personal vice and/or virtuous deed. They grinn wide, slapped backs, and sang epics when happy while excessively drinking and wailing like banshees when saddened. Though ready to fight without hesitation if angered, conflict in Arborea isn't so much a matter of battle as it was brawl, since despite the violence, death is seldom the result. Never dull, with constant, swashbuckling bravado, the Arboreans always have hunts, fights, contests of strength, tests of bravery, and long, loud parties. These are effectively the plane's commoners, and they tend to the woodlands and meadows of Arborea with the same care and diligence of a peasant anywhere else. Just because Arborea is lush didn't mean they didn't farm, for grain and hay is needed for livestock and the best and biggest bounty is more easily grown than gathered. The inhabitants like to claim credit for Arborea's bounty; merchants go through the Outlands gate-town of Sylvania to bring various foods and stranger ingredients like ram's blood, fermented fish, and wine of oak sap to Sigil. Many ancient groves still need care, and arsonists, woodcutters, sport-hunters, and even those who cut a path through untouched wilderness, can often find themselves suffering from lethal attacks by the protectors of the ancient wilds. Not all of the elven dead incarnated as elves again when they reached Arborea. Some, as happen to most petitioners at the end of their "lives" infused the plane itself, while others reformed into celestial or anarchic creatures. Worthy souls are rewarded by Corellon with elven form, and are known as the "Chosen of Arvandor". Within the canopied clearings where they make their settlements, the Chosen engaged in an idyllic elven life. Hunts and challenges, trysts and celebrations, feasts and tales around the fire, and other wondrous pastimes fill the afterlives of such elves. In a single day there, lifelong friends can laugh over a meal before fighting over a mutual lover, then end the evening celebrating each other's bravery and integrity. There is also service in Corellon's oak-lined halls, duty as scouts, wardens, and servitors in the magic glades and magnificent castles of the Seladrine. The souls of elves in Arborea are similar to those elsewhere, differing only in the intensity of their emotions. In Arborea, their passions run unrestricted, joy, love, and contentment on spectacular display in their myriad extremes as much as rage, lust, and jealousy. They express their elation and sadness by pouring it into heart-achingly beautiful music, and their rage with cold, hard vengeance. In the day, the splendor of the Seladrine illuminates the lives of the elves there, and their elven trances were intoxicating blissful due to their closeness to Corellon. Elves of all kinds can be found in Arborea, including seasonal fey eladrin, sea elves dwelling in Aquallor, and even a few special drow. Elves born on Arborea are celestial creatures, wild at heart and ready to fight evil in an instant, but the plane can be dangerous for mortal elves not born there. Their boisterous and mercurial native kin might wish to fight over the slightest lapse in tradition or ill remark. Unique to Arborea are the petitioners known as the bacchae, the spirits of gluttons and gourmands, well-intentioned drunks, and those that otherwise relished living. Somewhere between man and animal, the satyr-like creatures are equal parts chaotic and good, for they lived in the moment and strove to make that moment the best. While not intentionally destructive, they are incredibly irresponsible in their pursuit of wanton pleasure, roving Arborea in wild mobs of revelry. Almost anything can provoke their ire, but they are generally nonviolent, more likely to offer bread and drink to an attacker if not simply flee, and they might suddenly stop a fight out of genuine appreciation of the opposition's skills (or to get a second-wind). If an outsider enjoy their company and are accepted in turn, whether petitioner or planar traveler, they will be at risk of turning into a bacchae as well.Powers
If the petitioners of Arborea are its commoners, then the nature spirits were the rulers. The elfin asrai are water spirits that protect the watching over streams, rivers, springs, lakes, and seas of Arborea. Oreads are tied to mountains, protecting their peaks and valleys from harm, with the legendary snowhairs being the guardians of entire mountain ranges. Dryads are ruling protectors of whole oak forests and woods, and sylphs are the masters of the heights. The spirits require sacrifices in the many sacred groves, ancient caverns, and other natural landmarks of prophecy and judgement. Small shrines forewarn of nearby spirits; failing to appease them is an invitation to bad luck, and to not just ignore, but outright mock them, is sure to bring a price. The feuding gods of Arborea are not ashamed to use their followers to settle vendettas, and though some will be flattered by the personal attention, being a pawn in such games could likely result in disappearance or a martyr's death. To avoid the attention of the gods, the Arbroean residents devise many elaborate rituals and tributes to appease and distract them, including libations poured from all cups onto the ground, gifts of gold, perfume, spice and impressive vegetables, and the sacrifice of animals (particular prize animals) at midsummer and midwinter. The hedonistic lack of restraint of the Arboreans is partially due to the fact that even the rituals dont't always keep the powers that are from meddling.The gods, and even some nature spirits, can bring about curses on those that crossed them, including jinxes as benign as spoiled rations, spooked animals, untied knots, and as serious and tragic as blindness, exile, enslavement and death. To break a vow, compare oneself favorably to gods, or give an insufficient offering (if any), is an action with potential consequences, and anyone can make a mistake.Magic
Using magic on Arborea requires small sacrifices, ritual offerings to the spirits. Wine, milk, olive oil, oat cakes, gold, well-made idols, untouched animals, or a mage's blood are typical offerings, but each school of magic, and sometimes individual spells, can require specific gifts. Despite the rules on sacrifices, Arborea is relatively benign as far as spell-casting goes so long as the nature of the plane is respected, but the backlash of a spell going wrong can be worse than having not cast one at all. Summon monster spells are answered by nature spirits, and trying to summon a creature of the lower planes will bring down the wrath of the Elvish Gods. Summoning spells that called creatures in Arborea typically require a bit of food for the entity summoned, more powerful spells needing carved images, and the greatest requiring one to speak its language. Those that conjure forces rather than creatures could be cast without issue. Divination is a respected art across Arborea, but require some external props to perform, such as entrails to read, signs to draw from the stars, or some other form of omen to interpret, and thus took longer than normal depending on the strength of the spell. Divinations often use inanimate offerings like gold, gems, or wine for weaker spells, a living sacrifice (but this could be freeing rather than slaying a creature) for more powerful spells, and requires a particularly valuable item from the caster (like a sacred object or magic item) for high-level magic. Enchantments regarding emotions are stronger in Arborea, but can accidentally fill the target with berserker rage that would disperse upon the caster's death or the feeling of pain, after which they typically flee. Enchantment magic requires the target's attention to be caught (such as through a joke or riddle, though puns were bad form), for weak spells, the target's name or a group name for middling magic, and an offering of something the subject wanted for higher magic. Being a vigorous plane with little patience for disruptions of the natural order, necromancy involving death or the undead typically didn't function, while positive healing spells worked normally. Low-level necromancy need a few dark gems, more powerful spells a small goblet of life-related liquid like a goblet of blood or sap, and in the highest cases, pure life energy. Elemental magic required a sacrifice to the opposite element proportional to the effect of the spell, for instance a bucket of water for burning hands or lighting a small forest fire to balance out a minor flood.Arvandor
, The realm of deep woods with ancient trees and cathedral-like groves of towering green. Canopies are sometimes divided into multiple layers, with sun-loving trees at the top and shade-loving vines and scrub trees closer to the earth. The upper layers are inhabited by giant squirrels and bats, aarakocra, and a few elven tribes that avoid the ground, believing it to be unclean or unlucky. The undergrowth and rotting trunks of fallen trees can make certain sections almost completely impassible, and completely hide the ground floor, and creatures of darkness, including spiders, ettercaps, and shadows, lurk within the dense foliage. Rogue predators or fell monsters that wander in from other realms or planes can end up hiding in the forest, prompting the declaration of a hunt. Contrasting these darker areas are the beams of sunlight in Arvanor's meadows, where babbling brooks are common. Crashing giants opened up clearings that flowered all-year around, sporting bluish snowblossoms in winter that heralded spring. Though praised as a land of untouched by civilization, the High Forest is a tame wilderness. There were almost no villages because the residents lived with nature rather than apart from it, living in favored glades, groves and treetowns that were more a part of the land than urban centers. Similarly, some would say Arvandor, with its unearthly beauty and wild passion, exemplified all of Arborea, but the elves had color their realm more than the plane has had colored them. Non-elves that enter Arvandor are at risk of losing themselves to the beauty of the place, compelling them to seek out elves to dance, sing, and indulge with, (though the elves there normally acted this way regardless) requiring others to guide and lead them. The elvish pantheon are chaotic and good, showing less organization and regimentation and displaying their equally fervent passion with greater elegance. Each member of the Seldarine value their independence and often worked separately, but when needed they will work together without having to be told. Once per year, all members gather in a huge grove in the High Forest to discuss elven activity on the Material Plane, followed by a grand, weeks-long festival. Not taking much interest in the governance of Arvandor, the Seldarine delegates rulership to proxies and emissaries, with the High Kings and Queens of Arborea ruling entire races of elves. Their ornate homes can be huge cathedrals grown from living plants, wondrous palaces of gems and stones, or simply small shrines or circles of natural stones in the middle of their domains.- Aerdrie Faenya: The Winged Mother, Aerdrie is the Seldarine goddess of air and avians, and share her domain with the aarakocra goddess Syranita. The Aerie, as it was known, consisted of clouds and floating islands, and she usually keeps it calm despite delighting in changing its weather. The Aerie philosophically bordered Arvandor and Alfheim, and Aerdrie often leave to wander the winds of both accompanied by several birds.
- Araushnee: Formerly known as the Weaver of Destiny, Araushnee was the original name of Lolth when she was the Seldarine goddess of art and fate. Her realm was once an autumn grove of trees with silver-stems, with a spring at the center that saw great merriment and reflection. After her betrayal and rebellion, it was reduced to a series of dead trees with a sludge pool at the center, haunted by giant spiders and banshees.
- Corellon Larethian: Coronal of Arvandor, Correlon is the Seldarine's leader and primary elf deity. His home is Gwyllachaightaeryll (meaning The Many-Splendored and often called so), a magnificent tower of white marble and golden spires in the heart of Arvandor. The castle rose in and through the trees, smaller towers spinning off in patterns of whimsical confusion, and all rooms but the throne room constantly change places.
- Deep Sashelas: Lord of the Undersea, Sashelas is the Seldarine god of knowledge, creation, and the ocean. Depending on his mood, his realm of Elavandor lays either in the Sparkling Sea on Arvandor's edge, or somewhere in Aquallor, with many gates between the two existing in his domain. His coral, gold, and marble palace was surrounded by glowing, crystal blue water, and sits at the floor of a deep sea chasm.
- Erevan Ilesere: Called The Trickster, Erevan is the Seldarine god of mischief and change. His resting place in Arvandor, built next to the Gnarl, is a sprawling palace made of whatever material suited him and that always changes when one returned to it. Visitors are invited to test their wits and skills there, against every trap that ever amused or confused the Trickster, and even to try and steal the treasures from its shifting halls.
- Fenmarel Mestarine: Known as the Lone Wolf, Fenmarel is the Seldarine god of solitude and outcasts. Normally he resides in his realm of Fennimar in Limbo, but despite his voluntary removal, he still has a home in Arvandor when he decided to stay there. Only Sehanine Moonbow's kindness draws him back to Arvandor on rare occassions.
- Hanali Celanil: Known as the Heart of Gold, Hanali is the Seldarine goddess of love and beauty. Her splendorous crystal palace in Arvandor is so well-made that a single candle, if properly placed or slightly readjusted, could brighten or darken the entire structure. One can't look inside from the outside, but from within it is like looking through exceptionally clear glass.
- Labelas Enoreth, Known as The Lifegiver, Labelas is the Seldarine god of longevity and time. Aside from Corellon's, only his whims determined if wizardly necromancy will work in Arvandor. The exact location of his home is a mystery, some saying it is under one of Arvandor's huge hills and others claiming that it is a vanishing tower that appeared as an omen of trouble or new elf leadership.
- Rillifane Rallathil: Known as the Leaflord, Rillifane was the Seldarine god of the woodlands and the harmony of nature. At once his corporeal form and his realm, he was depicted as a great, ethereal oak tree in the heart of Arvandor, so huge that his roots penetrated reality and reached into the Prime Material Plane.
- Sehanine Moonbow: The Daughter of the Night Skies, Sehanine is the Seldarine goddess of death and dreams and the mightiest of the female elven deities. She shares Corellon's tower in Arvandor, spinning webs of illusions and omens from behind its marble walls.
- Shevarash: The Black Archer, Shevarash is the Seldarine god of vengeance and loss. He had no realm of his own, but he often visited Arvandor.
- Solonor Thelandira: Known as Keen-Eye, Solonor is the Seldarine god of archery and hunting, whose domain in Arvandor is thick with forests and fast-flowing streams. The center of this region is the Pale Tree, a magnificent (possibly mystical) white arbor with silver leaves and muddy gray roots that contrasted the surrounding deep green grove. Solonor usually prowled his domain looking for creatures that had to be slain or relocated.
Others
Iallanis: giant goddess of love, beauty and mercy, Iallanis's realm of Florallium is on Arborea's 1st layer. Consisting of crystal springs and quiet gardens, Florallium was, by the tacit consent of the gods and petitioners, a neutral ground for giantish beings. It is where peace is negotiated in times of conflict, and where fortuitous events can be celebrated in times of peace. Morwel: The Faerie Queen, Morwel is the leader of the eladrins, and controls the seat of their power, the timeless demiplane known as the Court of Stars. Not even gods can enter without her consent, and so long as nightfall covers the land, it can go between the layers of Arborea, even in and out of divine realms, at her whim. She reigns from a crystal palace within the autumnal, sylvan forest, under its starry sky. The Seelie Court, the pantheon of faerie deities including Titania, Oberon, Caoimhin, Damh, Eachthighern, Emmantiensien, Fionnghuala, Nathair Sgiathach, Sqeulaiche and Verenestra, dwell in the identically named Seelie Court, a wandering demiplane that temporarily stays in Arborea at times. It consists of calm glades and woods eternally gleaming with moonlight. One of Arborea's most attractive features is an enigmatic fountain that can hardly ever be found. Called Evergold by the elves, and alternatively called the Fountain of Beauty or Fountain of Youth, it is a pool of crystal blue water surrounded by golden sand. Its sheen is so bright that it hurt the eyes to gaze upon it, and by bathing in its waters, one can enhance their appearance for a limited time. The reported location of the Evergold is highly variable. Some said is rests in the center of Hanal'i's crystal palace in Arvandor, where she uses it as a kind of crystal ball. Others claim it can be found in Helena's domain, or that it can only be accessed through the eladrin Court of Stars. In truth, all of are answers were correct; Evergold is not a stationary site but a phenomenon that shifts throughout Arborea on a pattern that few but gods has had deciphered, appearing wherever it is needed. Regardless of where it is, the various like-minded goddesses of beauty and glamour shares its bountiful waters.Rumors and Legends
Arborea was not always home to the Elven, the divne group asserted themselves after banishing two other pantheons from the plane. First were the Seldarine, a comparatively tiny and emaciated group next to the brawny giant pantheon, who, under Corellon, challenged the giants for dominion. Seeking glory, the elven pantheon abandoned their former home of Ysgard and took Arborea in a battle of gigantic proportions, leaving the giants to flee to the lands they had once occupied, and leaving behind many of their treasures. One could still find the stone cities and halls of the giants scattered throughout elven lands, massive stone buildings with 50 ft (15 m) or higher walls (a scale matching that of the plane) more like hills than products of artifice. Iallanis, who had stayed at the hearthside during the war, was allowed to stay, though the Seldarine didn't respect her much. Arborea is a plane of secrets and enigmas, from the unpredictable path of the Evergold, to what entities and secrets once and still resides in the sands of Pelion. There is also the timeless Faerie Queen Morwel, who had always ruled over the manifestations of chaotic good that were the eladrin and had existed since the Age Before Ages when the multiverse was still nascent and forming, and no one dared ask her age. The elven domain of Arvandor is the region of Arborea best known to Material Plane visitors, and it too is a mystery, even to the elves themselves. Beyond that domain is even more hidden matters, perhaps realms ruled by deities unknown. It is said that only the gods know the secrets of the Olympian Glades, and even then the more adventurous deities could still be stumped by its greater mysteries.Geography
Compared to its depraved counterpart in the Abyss, which is, if not literally then effectively, an infinite number of foul layers, Arborea can seem small since it possessesonly three. However, while the Abyss isa chaotic cluster of miniature realms, its individual, warring worlds each horrific and harsh in their own unique ways, the comparative cohesiveness of Arborea's layers is not to be mistaken for a lack of diversity.
In truth, Arborea is a fantastically patchwork plane, a crazy quilt of thriving climates and environments with endless abundance. Though named after its endless, rolling forests, that is a mere fraction of the plane. Settled landscapes are pleasant and pastoral, with gently rolling hills, meadows, vineyards, fruit orchards, and fields of oats, barley, wheat, and millet, all passing by in quaint succession. Unlike the neighboring Beastlands it is not totally given over to wilderness, and it wasn't an obvious deathtrap like the Abyss, the emotional journeys likely being more dangerous than the virtually harmless environment.
However, in the hinterlands between settlements, Arborea's wilderness can be almost impassable, increasing in hostility the deeper in one goes and not just because of prowling predators. Normally even the Arborean winter is mild, but the weather of the plane is as whimsical and unpredictable as the inhabitants. The plane lacks the serenity of its lawful counterpart Mount Celestia, its pleasant breezes turning to violent storms in an instant and death on the plane coming mostly from lightning and hail. Still, one normally has to go looking for trouble in Arborea to find it, and even the weather at its most extreme doesn't soil the overpowering and bewildering beauty of the plane.
Arborea's larger than life aspect is both figurative and literal, the big emotions reflecting the big plane. The sheer extravagant size of everything simply can't be understated: every craggy mountain was stupendous, every ravine unbelievably deep, every lush forest filled with monstrously huge trees, every ocean unimaginably deep, every river mighty, and every plain a wild stretch. Never doing small, Arborea's immensity makes it difficult to traverse due to steepness and distance.
Nature Spirits
The Abyssal layers are said to be sentient, though unintelligent and dormant, each with their own primal urges and hungers (other layers not precluded from their tastes). Likewise, Arborea itself is determined to remain true to itself, wild and pure. Though most visitors to Arborea are unaware of it, the very land is alive with nature spirits. Some of these are the better known sylvan guardians such as dryads, sylphs, and sprites, but the actual spirits of the land itself are far greater. Every forest, glade, mountain, stream, and cloud has a guardian, and carving through virgin lands before polluting the environment is sure to provoke a reaction. Exactly what that reaction will be varied from place to place, but the less tame the terrain, the more severe the results will typically be. A river might flow backwards or simply vanish and an angered spirit of a grove might move all the landmarks around while the offender sleeps. Spirits are immortal unless one planned to destroy the entire land they are protecting, but luckily such things aren't likely to be needed. Though they tolerate no infringement, the nature spirits are typically either too shy or too benevolent to actually be dangerous, and could instead be reasoned with. Most of them will create a shape to communicate through resembling the other party, a forest for example taking on a humanoid form with leafy hair, twigs for fingers and eyes of sap.Fauna & Flora
Arborea's fauna is just as bountiful and abundant as its flora, and its game was both plentiful and trusting. Massive, wild cattle roam free, herds of red deer and elk filled the meadows, The streams are brimming with enormous (but wily and not easy to catch) fish, and a trapper can always expect a fat hare or thick-furred fox in their snares. However, the great size don't stop at the prey, for Arvandor is also the home of great beasts, including giant bears, boars, eagles, lions, serpents, and wolves. Even beneath the trees, great fireflies arrange themselves in ever-shifting constellations at night.
Alternative Name(s)
Olympian Glades of Arborea, Olympus
Type
Plane of Existence
Included Locations
Additional Rulers/Owners
Contested By
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