Planar Anthropology

Planar anthropology describes any study of the relationship between sentient society and the planar nature of the Known Universe. It encompasses dozens of disciplines from societal methods of Voidwalking to interplanar economics and territorial warfare to multiplanar implications on religion.

Interplanar Integration

A fundamental classification in planar anthropology is the level of integration between a civilization and its planar neighbours, in other words how aware the society is of Voidwalking, the existence of other settled planes, et cetera. A plane's integration score often acts as a rough measure of their overall advancement.

While schools vary on how this is measured, it's commonly divided into five broad categories: Unintegrated, Low [integration], Moderate, High and Full[ly integrated]. They are usually accompanied by a percentage of the population that is aware of other settled planes.

• Unintegrated — Planes that have not been contacted at all by outside civilization and have not themselves discovered away to traverse the Void. Most scholars agree there are many such planes that remain undiscovered. Sometimes subdivided into "Solipsist" planes that have no theory or belief in outside planes and "Learned Unintegrated" who have hypotheses about planar cosmology. Some cultures make sure a plane has evolved beyond "Solipsist" before initiating first contact with it.
• Low — Less than 1% of the population is aware of other settled planes, Voidwalking, et cetera; usually only a handful of elite mages, scholars or extraplanar visitors. A large majority of settled planes have a Low integration score. Waking Materia is one such plane.
• Moderate — Perhaps a maximum of 20% of the population is aware of planar cosmology, generally restricted only to the magical, scholarly or political elite. The middle and peasant classes remain unaware.
• High — 20%-80% of the population is aware of planar cosmology. Some or all of the peasant class may remain ignorant. This describes all planes in the inner Greater Eridún Crux Region (GECR).
• Full — More than 80% of the population is aware of planar cosmology. Very few remote, socially isolated cultures remain unaware. Describes the innermost planes of the GECR, as well as advanced, densely-populated planes like Rozsa, Tassalit and Terminal Vista.

Denialist Beliefs

Even on planes with high integration scores, religions and other belief systems may be present that depend on a mono-planar cosmology, and as such reject the existence of other planes even if their presence is accepted by the wider populace. Their inclusion in integration scores vary: in some schools they are still considered aware of the concept and are not counted against the plane's score, in others they are considered effectively unaware.