The World Axis is a cosmological model created after the dramatic changes to the nature of the multiverse caused by the Spellplague of 1385 DR, and quickly became the most widely accepted model during the late years of the 14th century DR and for most of the 15th century.
Despite its isolation from the Prime Material, scholars in Tiriande were quick to adopt the new model, as cosmologists are highly interested in placing the Dungeonscape within this new understanding of the structure of the multiverse.
Structure
The World Axis was composed primarily of the fundamental and parallel planes. "Above" and "below," the fundamental planes of the Astral Sea and Elemental Chaos encircled the rest of the cosmology, forming hemispheres in the conceptual model, though since both the Astral Sea and the Elemental Chaos were infinite in size, this was mostly metaphorical. To the "left" and the "right" of the Prime Material Plane, which laid at the center of this cosmology, sit the parallel planes of the Feywild and Shadowfell, which floated in sync with the Prime. Together these planes formed the World Axis, other planes lying outside of the model and having an indistinct cosmological placement.
Astral Dominions
Within the Astral Sea laid the astral dominions, planes separated and unique from the surrounding fundamental plane but which owed their existence to it. Formed from the will of the Astral Sea's inhabitants[8] the astral dominions were once linked into an intricate network within the World Tree. As a result of the Spellplague, the formerly bound planes drifted freely in the Astral Sea.
Elemental Realms
When the elemental and energy planes collided to form, or possibly reform, the Elemental Chaos most of them were lost, along with the other planes that fell into the mix, such as Limbo or Jotunheim. However, within the Chaos those beings strong enough and powerful enough to shape the materials around them were able to create new planes or preserve parts of old ones, either of which became known as elemental realms. Here numerous elemental creatures resided, alongside the mighty primordials who first created the planes alongside the gods.
The Place of the Dungeonscape in the World Axis Model
It is a subject of much study and a source of great debate among cosmologists of the Royal University where, exactly, in the World Axis model the Dungeonscape fits; most believe it to be an Astral Dominion, though some believe the ever-changing links of the World Crevasse nullify that theory.
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