Mount Celestia
A cutter who comes to Mount Celestia for easy answers to his troubles is, well... He's clueless. Good and law may be lots of things, but they ain't easy.The Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia, is the pinnacle of lawful goodness. The Seven Heavens are dedicated to goodness shaped by law and justice tempered with mercy. Celestia is the ultimate in law and good. All aspects of Celestia are beautiful and perfect; it is where the souls of many creatures of lawful good alignment go to after death. Celestia is home to numerous celestial creatures including various types of archons, the petitioners of this plane.
As an outer plane, Celestia is spatially infinite and consisted of seven infinite layers (or sub-planes). The seven individual layers form a colossal mountain that rise from an infinite sea of holy water on the bottommost layer, to the summit on the topmost layer. Ascending the mountain is analogous to travelling through subsequently higher or 'deeper' layers to the top. Each of the seven layers contain at least one mountain or high structure rising into the sky, and most have whole mountain ranges. The barriers between the seven layers are arranged such that entrances are at the lowest geographical points and exits are at the highest, so a traveler from the Astral Plane would enter the first layer at the base of a mountain (actually, in the surf of the ocean surrounding the mountain) and have to climb to the peak to reach the next layer, only to emerge at the nadir again. The sky of each layer has its own hue which softly bathed everything in gentle shades of luminance.
- Lunia
Celestia's first (bottommost) layer shared borders with the neighboring planes of the Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia and the Twin Paradises of Bytopia; travel is possible between Celestia and these planes at certain locations. Known as the Silver Heaven, Lunia is the first layer travelers encountered. The sky of Lunia is a nighttime sky filled with stars that illuminated the layer with a silver glow. The color pools of the Astral Plane would deposit visitors in the surf of a vast ocean, the Silver Sea, full of clean, fresh water that have the properties of holy water. The sky above Lunia is perpetually dark, filled with beautiful constellations of silver stars bright enough to illuminate the base of the mountain. The dark, starry Silver Sea is full of many good aquatic beings, including celestial whales and sea elves. The adjacent beach belonged to an island with a majestic mountain decorated with grand citadels made from polished white stone. Descriptions of the citadels varie among travelers leading cosmologists to theorize that there are many of these mountain islands. Also in the surf of Lunia are the portals to the Twin Paradises, Arcadia, and Concordant Opposition which are large, permanent, free-standing blocks of finished stone. Black granite blocks veined with gold led to Arcadia, white granite blocks with veins of silver lead to the Twin Paradises, and red granite blocks flecked with blue took you to Concordant Opposition. Travelers merely have to touch a block to activate the portal. - Mercuria
The second layer, Mercuria is known as the Golden Heaven because a warm golden light suffused everywhere. This layer contain the armory for the noblest warriors who come here for their eternal rest. If necessary, Mercuria is the marshaling ground for the armies of the Heavens. Gentle hills and lush green valleys comprise this layer, which is also dotted with small settlements of archons and other good-aligned beings. Mercuria is known for its great tombs and monuments to noble fighters and paladins resting on the layer. These warriors are honoured during an annual Day of Memory. Bahamut's jeweled palace move about the first four layers of Celestia. It is made entirely from Bahamut's enormous treasure hoard, with walls made of mithral and windows composed of huge gemstones. Inside, seven great wyrms closely guarded the huge hoard of amassed treasure. - Venya
The third heaven, also called the Pearly Heaven, or Heaven of Pearls, is a lush and verdant land with crops, meadows, moors, hills, and rolling countryside all bathed in the soft glow from a sky reminiscent of the luster of white pearls. It is somewhat colder than the previous two layers, its slopes often seen covered with a gentle layer of snow. Peaceful brooks and carefully terraced fields are common on Venya. The halfling pantheon made its home in Venya in the realm of Green Fields. It is a place of safety for the many halflings that live there; their crops always give plentiful harvests and there are no large predators to speak of. - Solania
Solania, the fourth layer, has a sky that glowed like burnished silver and was called the Electrum Heaven, or sometimes the Crystal Heaven. Its valleys are enveloped in mist, fog, and strange scents. The peaks are home to numerous holy shrines, including monasteries and magnificent cathedrals controlled by demigods. Many of the slopes are rich in precious ores and minerals and are mined by populations of dwarves that resided there. Many pilgrims come questing to the roof of this layer in the hopes of finding answers to life's persistent questions. A vast dwarven mansion called Erackinor is located on the slopes of Solania, where the dwarven deity Moradin made his domain, with his wife Berronar Truesilver. It is the location of the giant Soul Forges, which Moradin is said to use to temper the spirits of his people. Uroboros, the Gates of Wisdom, the airborne realm of Jazirian of the couatl, float above the mountainside of Solania. - Mertion
With a sky not too different from Solania's, the fifth layer is known as the Platinum Heaven. Vast plains and savannas serve as the mustering ground for paladins and other lawful good servants. Instead of mountains, Mertion have majestic citadels and huge black spherical domes dotting the plains. Access to the next higher layer is found at the tops of the domes. The city of Empyrea, also known as the City of Tempered Souls, is located on the edge of a cold mountain lake. It is known to host many magical fountains with powerful healing properties, as well as many hospitals and expert healers. - Jovar
The sixth layer, Jovar, is known as the Glittering Heaven or the Heaven of Gems. Its hills are studded with precious gemstones that glittered in the light. This layer is actually a vault lined floor to ceiling with huge rubies and garnets that give off a glow like a hearth fire. A seemingly unending ziggurat is the home of the Jovarian archons and guards the entrance to the seventh heaven. Known as Yesteria, the Heavenly City, the huge seven-layered ziggurat display a large staircase on each face connecting the terraces of each layer. The stones that make up the city were made of precious gemstones, similar to those seen around the surrounding hills. On the topmost terrace is the bridge of al-Sihal, formed of pure light, where the portal to the topmost layer of Celestia, Chronias, is located, It is guarded by a powerful solar named Xerona who judges who is allowed to enter. - Chronias
The topmost and final layer of Celestia, Chronias is called the Illuminated Heaven. Little is known of its structure because nothing is ever recorded by the few who have had visited and returned. The legends said that Chronias is so good and lawful that it glowed of its own accord and any who entered have all evil and neutrality burned out of them, leaving them inherently good, if they survived. Many religions make this level the home of their lawful good deities, believing any lesser realms were merely to accommodate less worthy souls. It is thought to be the ultimate goal of the inhabitants of Celestia to ascend the layers one by one in order to reach Chronias, where their souls would join with the essence of the plane itself.
Inhabitants
The archons are the native and most numerous inhabitants of the Seven Heavens, cheerfully going about the business of serving the Higher Powers. Many types of archons live in the first six layers but only rumors existed of a ruling archon ensconced in Chronias. Other creatures found on this plane were solars, planetars, hollyphants, devas, foo creatures, and agathia. Human and non-human pilgrims, shedu, lammasu, ki-rin, and dragon horses visit fairly often. Collectively, the inhabitants of Celestia are called "Celestians".Afterlife
The spirits of those who earn a place in the Seven Heavens become lantern archons much the same as evil souls became larvae in the Lower Planes. There are two ways to ascend the spiritual levels of Celestia:- Ascending the spiritual levels themselvels.
- Getting a Sponsorship from another deity in the Heavens and Zaphkiel authority.
History
When the multiverse was first created, before any mortals had yet died, Mount Celestia had no archons. The first seven martyrs of law and goodness whose souls arrived from the Material Plane were transformed into the plane's first archons and mandated with the role of ruling its seven layers for eternity. The seven martyrs and their successors continued to rule Celestia as the Celestial Hebdomad.
Alternative Name(s)
Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia, Seven Mountains of Good and Law, Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia, Seven Heavens
Owning Organization
Inhabiting Species
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