Elysium (e-LIS-ee-um)
Let your troubles wash away in the river's flow, and may you be at peace. -Elysium is the most strongly good-aligned plane in the great wheel, a place of good untrammeled by issues of law or chaos. On this plane doing well by others is more highly valued than any other ideal. Elysium is the plane embodying the concept of pure good without being overly restricted by law nor dissipated by the randomness of chaos. The first layer of the plane is a riot of color. Visitors marvel at brilliant green meadows dotted with starburst flowers, pools as deep blue as a jay's plumage, and silver clouds drifting against a perfect sky. The plane itself seems to vibrate with its own sense of life and intensity. It is usually a peaceful place, and tranquility seems to seep into the bones and souls of those that cross it. Elysium consists of four layers strung together by the myriad courses of the River Oceanus. The first layer is most like the Material Plane, with sweet-smelling pines and flowering trees along its banks giving way to open meadows and rolling fields. The second layer is rougher and more mountainous, and rapids and falls are common along the channels of the river. The third layer is a great marsh awash with life. The deepest layer is the sea itself and the headwaters of the great river, dotted with islands where veteran heroes of good relax for eternity. The size of the River Oceanus varies from a braid of smaller side channels to a mighty flow that tops its banks and floods the surrounding area. Along the river ate islands, low gravel bars, and rocky promontories, which are often the homes of petitioners and other more powerful denizens. Most features of the four layers of Elysium are found on or near the banks of the river Oceanus which linked the plane with two other Upper planes: The Beastlands and Arborea. Oceanus is the counterpart to the river Styx which flows through the Lower planes except that Oceanus has only natural hazards and contained potable water. Lands near the riverbanks are lush with pines and flowering trees that filled the air with natural perfume. Farther from the river smaller trees grow and started to thin until finally, after hundreds of miles/kilometers, the forest gives way to fertile veldt regions, vast grasslands, and eventually badlands and desert. There are no suns, moons, or stars in Elysium except those that the inhabiting Powers manifest, created by moving about in various vessels, or moving their entire realms across the skies. Depending on who or what is aloft, the shade of the sky can be deep indigo to a bright cerulean at any given moment.
- Amoria The first layer, Amoria, also referred to as the "innermost" layer, is connected to the Astral Plane by color pools and to Twin Paradises, Happy Hunting Grounds, and Concordant Opposition by unmarked portals located in dark caverns. Divination spells are required to determine the destination of these portals with certainty. Navigating the river Oceanus downstream also leads to the Happy Hunting Grounds but any underground passages are not likely to be safe for boats. Amoria best fit the description given above and the river Oceanus has many side channels that split and merged back again, creating many "banks" for the establishment of realms.
- Eronia The second layer of Elysium is very mountainous and many branches of the Oceanus became spectacular waterfalls and tumbling cascades before forming channels bordered by steep cliffs of gray rock. Like Amoria, Eronia supports abundant wildlife along the banks.
- Belierin Contrary to Eronia, Belierin is mostly flat with marshes and wetlands stretching inland for miles/kilometers before larger plants and trees can be found. Oceanus split and form many island nations inhabited by extraplanar beings.
- Thalasia The fourth and "outermost" layer of Elysium is a great ocean, sometimes called the Thalasian sea, that was both the source and final destination of the River Oceanus. Small, green islands are scattered about, collectively known as Avalon. No big land masses existed here.
Inhabitants
The native celestial population of Elysium are the guardinals. In addition, there are myriad species of fish and wildlife, and other sentient beings who choose to live in Elysium were many of those species found in other Upper planes: hollyphants, planetars, solars foo creatures, agathia, and baku. Moon dogs are numerous and widely used as servants and watchbeasts for the Greater and Lesser Powers of Elysium. The rare and magical phoenixes are native to this plane and spend most of their time here in the beautiful landscapes that Elysium offers, avoiding those that would hunt them for profit.Afterlife
The spirits of those who perished in the service of good and those heroes the gods choose to spare from death are rewarded by being placed on the Isles of the Blessed in Thalasia. There, the living and the dead exist without responsibilities, have all their needs provided for, and can not be summoned or controlled.
Alternative Name(s)
The Blessed Fields of Elysium
Type
Plane of Existence
Included Locations
Inhabiting Species
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