As I walked the winding pathway through the
singing crystal plains of Amoria, winged avorials soared overhead in low clouds of silver lit
with shimmering rainbows from the crystals all around me, their voices drifting melodies
over a song of wordless tones that thrummed in air as crisp and pure as first winter's
snow. My heart seemed to want to burst from my chest
and take flight with them, waves of pleasure and sweet sorrow came from deep within me
and it was four days before I realized my face had been wet with tears that whole time,
as evening came, the sky was not dark, but instead lit by a sunset of dazzling colours
that set the crystals on fire and as cool winds whistled their own song the next day,
I would rest on the smooth crystal, which was as warm as a mothers embrace. When I felt thirst, there was a clear pool
of water and when I felt hunger, there were rich mushrooms, sweet berries and even the
grass as my feet was as fragrant and delicious as market herbs. I wandered without hurry, as I had forgotten
where I was going, and no longer cared why, even now, I realise that I had never, and
will never again know such peace as I felt there, as I was walking in paradise. And I am told, this was just one such place,
as vast as it was, there are vistas even more wonderful, and my soul aches to be there among
them. Hey there my name is AJ Pickett and I make
videos about Dungeons and Dragons lore, and lots of them, in this video I will be taking
you on a journey to the celestial realms of Elysium, a place of pure goodness. While it is a location that your player characters
may travel to in the Dungeons and Dragons multiverse, as an outer plane beyond the astral
expanse, it is a place beyond even my abilities to truly describe, it is the last reward of
the beings who were above all else, good at heart, those who gave of themselves without
expectation, who cared for others, who trusted, who healed, who helped, who nurtured and who
valued friendship and love highest among all things. It is the resting place of heroes, martyrs
and champions, yes, it is the home of the gods of love, light and hope, yes, but it
is also the peaceful home of those who also just lived a simple life, doing what they
could for others in small ways, every day, because it made them feel right. It is the place that waits for those who could
not turn their back on others in need, for those who gave up glory for service, and for
those who quietly endured and worked, for the greater benefit of all. Elysium is not the name of a plane of existence
really, it encompasses four realms who have quite loosely defined boundaries and yet,
within themselves are actually limitless. The outer planes may feel a bit like planets,
but they certainly aren't structured that way, if you keep walking in one direction,
you will never wind up back where you started, and if wandering ever onward to see what wonders
you will discover next is your greatest pleasure, then this is the realm for you. If you mention the word Elysium to someone,
their first thought is normally a place where you can just lay under a sun-dappled tree
while gazing over golden fields of wild grains, a dazzling landscape of idyllic beauty stretching
away before you, with wafting sprites and fluttering cherubs dropping perfectly delicious
fruits and beverages into your hand if you merely reach up. A place of ultimate rest, unchanging and perfect. To be fair, there are places exactly like
that there, but that is only a tiny slice of what Elysium has to offer. It is spectacular, it is amazing, and therein
lies the danger for any mortal soul who travels there and lingers too long, because the longer
one stays, the longer one will want to stay, to need to stay, until one is no longer a
mortal, but has joined the peaceful dead in the afterlife, never wanting to return. All things considered, it is an amazing way
to die, but, it is still very much a deadly place for those who are not careful to keep
their visit brief. I'll be talking more about the specific game
mechanics of these planes in just a moment. Have you got a nice beverage handy, are you
comfortable and relaxed, good, then let's get deeply nerdy shall we? Elysium borders the neighbouring Outer Planes
of Bytopia and the Beastlands. Natural portals exist between these locations,
often taking the form of caverns and cave passages found dotted randomly and the naturally
shifting borders between Elysium and its neighbours mean that travellers may find themselves on
another good-aligned plane without even realizing it, there are plenty of landmarks for those
familiar with each plane to tell when they are getting close to a border zone, for example,
the local wildlife will start to feature animals of great size and beauty which are not only
golden-skinned with silvery eyes but also intelligent and able to speak, which lets
you know that you are very close to a border with the Beastlands, as normally, the celestial
animals of Elysium are incapable of speech and are no more intelligent than their counterparts
on the prime material plane. When approaching a cave system, a traveller
may cast divination magic to determine where the cave leads easily enough, pretty much
all magic works just as it would on the prime material plane, many features of Elysium are
the same, but this is quite a strongly good-aligned plane, this means that creatures of evil,
including player characters, will suffer disadvantage on all ability checks and saving throws that
involve their wisdom, intelligence or charisma attributes, everything here just grates on
their nerves, the air itches, the sounds and smells give them headaches, the food turns
their stomach, they can't get a decent moments rest and everything feels just, wrong, the
very plane itself doesn't want them there and as they will quite swiftly discover, neither
do any of the inhabitants. For these reasons, it is a very rare thing
to encounter evil beings, unless you happen to see their corpses being burned in little
piles under the watchful eyes of some celestials or petitioners, sharing a drink and retelling
the tales of their battle. There is unbelievable peace and tranquillity
here, but don't for a moment mistake it as a plane of sleepy laziness, it is very, very
well guarded by millions of the greatest champions the multiverse has ever known. Even characters of neutral alignment will
find themselves the subject of some scrutiny, they will find the interest of celestials,
half celestials, guardinals and petitioners have a decidedly threatening air and while
they can enter and travel through the plane, the locals will make it pretty clear that
they are not welcome and best be moving along. Evil characters won't get that courtesy, they
will be lucky to escape without getting cut down where they stand. If you run your games without using alignment,
the actions of the player characters and how they express themselves to the locals are
much, much more important, so its best to warm the players that any actions considered
evil are very likely going to have terrible consequences and if they see any opportunity
to act in a good and kindly manner, by words or deeds, they better take those opportunities
like their very lives depend on it, because they do. This is not a plane of law or chaos, there
is no system of justice here, the actions of any particular native of this plane is
entirely up to how they feel in that moment and more often than not, witnessing any act
of evil will make them feel like murdering the source. Simple crimes of dishonesty, theft, fraud,
are far, far more serious here than any prime material dweller would consider reasonable
and the punishments are severe because these are planes of reward, not redemption, you
don't get to turn over a new leaf here, you get to push up daisies. Another defining trait of the planes is that
all healing here is doubled, including natural healing rates, so a character will heal two
hit points per hour naturally, healing spells roll twice as many dice and so on. Rest and relaxation is extremely restorative
and wonderful, every night's sleep is the best you will ever have, nobody suffers aches
and pains, everyone wakes up refreshed and happy, however, if you are expecting everyone
to look movie star attractive and physically perfect, you may be a bit shocked at some
of the rough locals you encounter here, many of the petitioners look very much like they
did when they were mortal beings on other planes of existence, they don't judge others
based on their appearance and don't bother with ostentation, the gods and celestials
may naturally go for gold, jewels and overall gorgeousness, but they will stand next to
rustic, homely and plain-looking petitioners without judgement, the phrase beauty is skin
deep could not be further from the truth here. Visitors experience increasing joy and satisfaction
while here. Colours become brighter and more vivid than
on the Material Plane, sounds more melodious and soft, and the nature of others seems more
pleasant and understanding. At the conclusion of every week spent on Amoria
or any of the other layers of Elysium, any visitor must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC
10 + the number of consecutive weeks spent within Elysium). Failure indicates that the individual has
fallen under the control of the plane, becoming a petitioner of Elysium, their mortal life
is over, effectively they are now dead in regard to their mortal existence, any return
there requires some form of resurrection to life. Travellers entrapped by the inherent tranquillity
and good of Elysium will not, can not leave the plane of their own volition and have no
desire to do so. Memories of any previous life fade into nothingness,
and it takes a wish or miracle spell to snap them out of it, plus whatever spell used to
return them to life back where they came from. Petitioners who arrive here naturally, by
dying and arriving here as their just reward, do tend to retain more than the usual amount
of memories of their former existence, always seen through a wistful lens, they also tend
to retain at best half of the character levels they had, so the champions of many worlds,
when roused to action, can be an incredibly formidable force, and let's not forget, they
are not alone, they walk beside celestials and gods, guardinals and powerful Djinni aligned
with pure goodness. Though nothing like the highly regimented
ranks of the lawful armies of Celestia, the ragtag militia of Elysium is absolutely devastating
if and when something were to ever fully mobilize them all. The ultimate masterminds of the infernal planes
know this and as much as they manipulate and foment conflicts, there is a line in the sand
they are always very, very careful to never cross. One of the defining features of the layers
of Elysium is the River Oceanus, as this is where the river begins its journey across
the upper celestial planes, just as the river Styx flows through the lower infernal planes,
the river Oceanus is freshwater, and its ultimate source is the great ocean of Thalazia, dotted
with countless islands, which is the fourth layer of Elysium. OK, so let's go over the four layers, by order
of the flow of the great river Oceanus and you will see how unexpectedly diverse these
planer layers really are. While each of them is infinite, most activity
and features of note are concentrated along the banks of the river Oceanus, so first let's
travel to where the river begins. Thalasia is a vast and gentle ocean of pure
water, filled with vitality and peaceful golden marine creatures, this is the source of the
endless river Oceanus and it is dotted with countless archipelagos, many inhabited with
lovely dwellings overlooking white sandy beaches and gentle coves. These islands are variously known as the Isles
of the Holy Dead, the Isles of the Blessed, the shores of Avalon, the Islands beyond the
world, or the Heroic Isles. Here we find the petitioners who seek a peaceful
eternity to follow their interests, they make their homes on the islands, retaining a fair
bit of the knowledge and power from their previous lives. Here hero-kings wait for the day when their
nations need them again, and religious scholars research great mysteries in huge libraries. like all the layers of Elysium the plane is
divinely morphic, which means those who have divine status are able to easily mould and
form the plane's raw materials as they wish, so there are many fantastic locations to visit
here, if you know where to find them. As mentioned, it is common for a mortal who
has travelled to Elysium to simply become a permanent resident and petitioner just by
lingering too long, and often this is quite intentional, many great petitioners have made
the journey to Thalasia while still alive but approaching death, whether from age or
from wounds taken in noble battle, they may have been gently escorted here by celestial
beings who have gone to collect them from the mortal world, sparing them a painful transition
entirely, bypassing the journey through the ethereal plane, the judgement of the fugue
plane and so on. In Thalasia they retain their powers and memories
but are at peace with themselves and with others, the ultimate reward for good. The purpose of Thalasia may be to provide
a good and just reward. It may also be to produce recruits to become
new guardinals, this is always optional of course, nobody would dream of forcing anyone
into service as a member of the guardinals, it tends to be fairly obvious who would enjoy
they sort of existence anyway. Like all the layers of Elysium, there are
gods here, some extremely powerful ones, such as Pelor and his mighty Fortress of the Sun,
once known as Light's Blessing, the realm of the Sun Father, the Shining One. Pelor's home is an epic manor that sprawls
across multiple islands dotted with gorgeous orchards and farmlands always laden with incredible
delights. On the largest island, known as Krigala, Pelor
has a gold plated citadel, shining bright as a beacon day and night, well, night sort
of doesn't exist within hundreds of miles of the island thanks to the gods influence
and the brightness of the fortress of the sun. Pelor sits in a great audience chamber at
the highest spire, where he confers with the top ranks of the angelic host, solars and
planetars receive instructions, as a greater god Pelor's powers of cosmic awareness are
simply incredible providing perfect intel to the angels and guardinals who happily serve
him, just as he serves the greater good. Because Pelor is one of the most powerful
deities in the D&D multiverse he has correspondingly more control over Elysium’s morphic nature. Everywhere his golden light reaches has quite
noticeably lighter gravity and all magic associated with the sun, light and radiant energy is
greatly enhanced, automatically cast as though maximized, at the same time, all magic that
creates illusions or enchantments that control the will of others are disrupted, requiring
a concentration check at disadvantage to cast or maintain. That is just constant qualities, Pelor can
make changes to reality pretty much as he see's fit in his own domain, if he wants the
air around you to turn to solid transparent crystal, it just does. Pelor can of course return anyone to any location
on the prime material plane with a mere thought, and he is able to be present and interact
with many locations on Thalasia at the same time, with fairly casual friendships with
most of the petitioners who dwell on the islands. Sometimes it might be a little shocking for
a mortal visitor when they realise the group of jovial figures joking and lazily sailing
the pure waters, casting fishing lines and laughing in conversation includes figures
of legend, demigods and even a manifestation of pelor himself... of course, Pelor's fishing
line is cast beyond the water and into the astral sea, hauling in a wildly thrashing
and very angry Astral Dreadnought which he throws back amid gales of laughter. The vast ocean of freshwater is not without
hazards, but they are more likely to be unintentional dangers, such as getting accidentally trampled
by a golden, gem-encrusted crab the size of an island that hauls itself out of the water
to move from one spot to another; it may well have the villa of a petitioner on it's back
and just be shifting around to change the view. There are many gods here, Selkiesl grotto
is the realm of Surminare, an underwater cave complex home to the goddess of the Selkies,
often visited by the gods Deep Sashelas of the Elven pantheon, manifesting as a charismatic
sea elf with deep blue skin and eyes and Trishina, goddess of dolphins and his consort. One can also find the shining realm of the
lesser Mulhorandi god of light known as Seker, a good friend of Pelor, along with the lesser
elven god of starlight, Araleth Letheranil, it can be a hilarious encounter for any mortal
adventurers to encounter these gods just hanging out with each other on a beach or passing
ship, perhaps bumping into them at a market square in Portico, an island town near where
the Oceanus flows into the layer of Belierin and a common stopping point for travellers
As one approaches the border zone where the layer literally spills over into the next,
the ocean begins to cascade over epic land shelves, vast drifts of rainbow illuminated
mist flow around the impossible sight of drifting masses of land that float in the air, massive
waterfalls plummeting into roaring pools as the river oceanus begins it's flow across
the upper planes. Descending is not as hazardous as one might
expect, vessels routinely navigate the tumbling waters, seeming to sail the mists almost as
much as their keels cut through the water, dodging rapids and rocky promontories often
carved into elegant forms, draped with mist soaked plant life and the dazzling flight
of bright birds and insects, with the occasional speeding blur of an angel taking one of their
cosmic conduits across the multiverse nearly faster than the eye can follow. Descending deeper into the mists, one naturally
transitions to the next layer of Elysium and quite a dramatic change in scenery, as we
have now arrived in the realm known as Belierin, the least widely known layer of Elysium. -----------------
Belierin is a vast realm of endless swamps, the perfect visual for this is the planet
Dagobag from Star Wars, the realm of swamps, steaming bayous, and large island jungles
resembles Earth during the Carboniferous period, a riot of abundant life, it may seem like
such a place would be unpleasant, but there are none of the biting insects, leeches, predatory
reptiles and wickedly poisonous spiders and such here, or if there are, they pay no attention
to petitioners, celestials and mortal travellers. Here the river is oceanus is no more than
a tangled braid of slow-moving water through uncountable channels, with low, flooded sandbars
and tangles of mangrove rising from it. Still, the positive nature of Elysium shines
through everywhere. The fog itself seems to spread light with
each wispy tendril, surrounding every torch and lantern with a luminous nimbus. The few communities that exist on Belierin
rise from rocky spurs that jut from the swamp. These small towns are usually built around
a cathedrallike lighthouse whose beacon pierces the mildly luminous fog, the wafting smells
of simply mind-boggling cuisine will catch the nose and engulf the senses as one draws
near to one of these diverse settlements, the bountiful life of the swamps provides
endless culinary discoveries, the spices and wildlife makes for simply the best location
to enjoy a shellfish étouffée with celestial wild rice in the entire multiverse, but, I
could go on for hours about cooking, so don't get me started. These sleepy, happy communities will provide
ample warning to mortal travellers to avoid the deeper reaches beyond the main tributaries
of the river, as Belierin is the prison of some epic deadly creatures. Some tales say the prisoners of Belierin are
super powerful monsters along the lines of the tarrasque or some monsters of mortal myth
and legend. Others say that one such is actually a former
archduke of the lower planes, perhaps a deposed elemental prince, and even an imprisoned and
deeply wounded deity or two, held for some crime only of concern to the other celestial
gods. The indisputable fact is that evil creatures
are sometimes caught lurking here, and the native guardinals of Belierin are constantly
fighting back attacks against this layer, getting caught up in one such battle is the
most common adventuring encounter for player characters here. If players take the time to stop and be friendly
with the locals, they can learn the nearby path to avoid such dangers, so safe progress
across the vast swamp is basically a series of short trips from one isolated and lovely
town to another, sampling their unique culture, learning their history and hearing the local
folklore around amazing meals and glorious twilight evenings sung to sleep by the chorus
of the swamps before moving on with fond farewells and gifts to take on their way. Not an entirely unpleasant way to travel,
but not a fast one. I guess it is something of a cosmic lesson
about learning to take your time and get to know the land and the people one is passing
through. There is an old saying, if you hurry all the
time, you end up going nowhere, just faster. The main reason why Belierin is a lesser-known
layer of Elysium is because the guardinals keep it that way, they long ago transported
the ancestor of all hydras here, an immortal monster they could not defeat so they had
to imprison it deep within the plane, sealing off all portals and blocking Belierin from
all divination magic. This effectively turned the layer into an
infinite cage, from which the only exit was the river Oceanus itself, whose blessed waters
the hydra can't touch. Notable locations within the layer are the
ancient Aasimon fortress known as Nillis-Thur in the region known as Quesar's Birthplace,
now a center of training and popular gathering place for the wandering Guardinals. They also have an outpost they built themselves
long ago called the Rubicon, located on an island in the middle of the river oceanus
near the point where it flows into the layer of Eronia. There are some deities that call Belierin
home, such as the Mulhorandi goddess Nut, wife and sister of the god Geb who was forcibly
separated from him when he was ordered to travel to the world of Toril and protect the
Mulan people in the time of the ancient Imaskari empire. Nut keeps to herself, much like the other
divine beings who live here do. Oh, I should mention, you can't reach this
layer via Ygdrassil, the world tree doesn't connect here at all. Approaching the border with Eronia, the landscape
of Belierin becomes broken by great spires of rock that start to rise from the swamplands,
until the glowing mists become thicker and the low roar of the rapids and waterfalls
of another planar transition come into view ahead, again, dotted with many diverse vessels
that ply these waters, loaded with spices, exotic medicines and unique wildlife gathered
from the endless swamps, bound for other planes market places, the happy petitioners enjoying
an adventurous eternity of rich and interesting trade and exploration. Eronia is a rising land of steep hills, sharp-toothed
mountains, and white granite valleys, which divert the river again and again, it is an
exciting realm, home to the divine realms of the gods Chauntea, Eldath, Hiatea, Lathander,
Mystra, and Urogalan, as well as many others. Rugged foothills form the banks of the river
oceanus, picking up speed in places as it thunders over daring rapids and plunging into
many of the rock formations and underground cave networks carved out of the brilliant
stone. As the light bounces off the water surface
it reflects all the colors of the rainbow from the rock walls, often illuminating incredible
carvings made by petitioners, including many dwarven champions who recount tales of heroic
deeds from the ancient days of many prime material worlds. The whistling and howling winds twist around
the highest peaks among the silver clouds and down at the base of the mountains, past,
high bluffs, plateaus, and mesas, nestled against the calmer banks of the river are
many well-established communities. Many of those settlements found beyond the
river are built to the edges of the high plateaus where the fearless petitioners take to the
air with handmade vehicles, gliding alongside the winged angels and avian avorial guardinals. Almost all travel is via the river as the
wind currents tend to be a bit too much for airships to handle, and most paths leading
up the winding valleys and cliff faces only go as far as one or two destinations. Like most of Elysium, while the expanse of
each layer is infinite, the land becomes more and more desolate the further one journeys
from the banks of the river, so heading out that far, travellers will either be in search
of something deliberately hidden away in the barren lands, or taking something to be hidden
out there, and of course, the locals are always keeping a calmly watchful eye on those going
back and forth into the wilderness. The weather is fierce on Eronia, its not uncommon
for great windstorms crackling with great bolts of lightning to put on a brilliant display
of natures power and snowfalls dump a heavy burden on high peaks, causing dangerous avalanches
and feeding quite a few glaciers that melt back into the rivers strong currents. There are seasons though, they tend to be
a bit more extreme in their range of heat and cold than on the prime material plane,
the cold doesn't bother the native petitioners and celestials at all, they tend to be well
prepared for the heatwaves, what with their ready access to water, and many waterwheels
and clever engineering of aqueducts provides flowing air, cooled by evaporating mists through
their sturdy homes and great market halls. Eronia is for the good souls who still want
to be challenged in their afterlife and the landscape provides endless amounts of rugged
trails, hardy celestial beasts and of course, the many, many caves can each have the potential
to form random crossings to other planes of existence, though almost all of them will
cross over to the boarding upper planes such as the high forest of Arvandor and the realm
of Olympus, the infinite dual realms of bytopia called Shurrock and Dothion, the planes of
the Happy Hunting grounds, including the layers named Krigala, Karasuthra and Brux. The lines that cross between these realms
are really a lot more blurred than the great wheel cosmology map may give the impression
of, and sometimes its not until one finds a jovial little halfling village nestled against
a massive spire of rock that connects to a twin realm far above the clouds that one will
realise they just crossed from Elysium and into Bytopia. You are not going to encounter border control
stations, though again, beings of evil or even selfish proclivities will most likely
find themselves getting approached by a powerful guardinal, who just happens to be in the area. There are many winged creatures at home in
the peaks and valleys, including giant eagles and Rocs though I should mention, even they
find the fierce high winds very challenging and you are not going to encounter any petitioners
or celestials who are riding winged creatures as mounts on this plane, the vast bulk of
travel is via the river, and even that is quite dangerous for those not very well experienced
in it, the navigators of the Oceanus call themselves River Rats, up in the cliffs, plateaus
and peaks great big golden fleeced mountain goats cavort on treacherous trails with prancing
satyrs far from their home in the glades of Olympus. Every now and then one may also happen across
a questing hero from the realm of Ysgard, and indeed, quite often the silver clouds
of any of the layers of Elysium will part around the epic branches of the World tree
Ygdrassil, which touches on these planes and many others. Most of the time, if adventurers encounter
monsters and other evil beings in Eronia or the other layers of Elysium, they are there
because they are running in desperation from some band of celestial heroes, hunting them
down for sport. Though any evil creature has to be completely
frantic if they actually decide to intrude on the realm which is the source of all goodness
in the multiverse! Some notable locations within Eronia are the
settlement named Precipice, accurately named, it is a large community of giant eagles and
Aarakocra built high up a steep sandstone cliff overlooking a deep lagoon formed by
the river down below, if you happen to run across a stunning female Aarakocra with an
amazing opal necklace, silver skin and pink-gold feathers usually accompanied by a few Djinn
and air elementals, that is the moderately powerful goddess named Syranita, a member
of the loose alliance of goodly gods of the aquatic mortal races, no avian being can willingly
harm her and she tends to hang out with the lesser god of the giant eagles named Remnis,
he manifests as a mighty giant eagle that has no such problems flying with divine precision
and speed in the gale force winds of this plane, sometimes carrying other gods aloft
as passengers, these two also get visits from other sky gods, such as Aerdrie Faenya of
the elven pantheon, also sacred to the bird folk. I'm not sure how, but these gods can easily
pass between this realm and the sky above Krigala, the first layer of the Beastlands,
with its dense and endless forests stretching for thousands of miles before they are lost
from sight among the mists and weather patterns the forests themselves generate across the
plane. Some river rats will pass through the supremely
peaceful lake realm of the goddess Eldath, as a goddess of peace, there is absolutely
no danger to their vessel here, but, its pretty much a certainty that every sentient being
onboard is going to doze off into a deeply restful sleep as the river craft drifts across
the lake, following the currents and the gentle breezes, waking up only when they eventually
reach the other side. Some recount dreaming of a beautiful ten foot
tall woman, humanoid, but weather elf, human, dryad or something else, they can never say
for sure... that is Eldath, every now and then stepping aboard a vessel to smile down
on the travellers, healing ills and filling their minds with reassurance and love, occasionally
checking out their cargo, sometimes leaving a gift or two behind, you never know. Other nature gods have similar realms along
the rivers many winding and hidden paths through the mountains, amazing lost valleys of super
verdant wildlife of stunning beauty and diversity, every scholar and explorer of natures most
wild and exotic places would happily wander this realm discovering such treasures for
all eternity, and many do. Its not uncommon to be able to purchase elixirs
of all kinds of restorative and enriching effects thanks to such petitioners stopping
by to experiment with super rare samples gathered on their adventures. Eventually, as one travels downstream, the
currents once more flow into a bordering region where the mountains become more like the regular-sized
ranges of the prime material plane, and settlements dot the banks of the great river oceanus with
towers that airships can safely dock at before they go too far into the fierce winds beyond. All manner of river vessels come and go and
not a whole lot of folks know that somewhere nearby the land plunges down into a huge cavern
complex that is the entrance to the divine realm of the halfling god of the earth and
of death, not as fearsome as that title sounds, his realm called Soulearth throngs with the
souls of halfling petitioners who gather here before they are sent to assigned places further
along the outer planes, with a great many travelling directly from Soulearth and into
the bordering plane of Bytopia, sort of like a waystation that receives all the soul traffic
coming in from the Fugue plane that borders the Deep Ethereal and the Astral planes. Anyway, more epic waterfalls and cascades
of dazzling rainbows with floating islands of rock and an impressive structure called
the twilight gate, a massive stone structure that soars like an open cathedral of carved
rock, constantly being worked on by blissfully happy dwarven petitioners who carve incredible
details into countless decorative and huge works of art, inlaid with every kind of gem
and precious metal that shimmer and glitter with the light gleaming from the waters that
pass below and beyond them, and then we are into the first layer of Elysium, named Amoria. I should mention that while I talk about the
light bouncing off the river oceanus, this doesn't come from sun, moons or stars in the
sky, the light of Elysium just is, the sky is dotted with the shining forms of celestials,
archons, angels and various divine beings and other celestial creatures and their vehicles,
soaring through a sky of brilliant cerulean which darkens only as far as a deep indigo
at any given time, days and nights do occur, time passes normally on these planes, but
its quite random really, the gods have more influence of the seasons, days and nights
than any sort of cyclic natural process. Amoria is easily one of the most hospitable
places on the Outer Planes, aside from its tendency to trap mortal beings in their addiction
to its peace and fulfilment. Small towns dot the banks of the River Oceanus,
and islands of rolling hills rise from the river itself. The bulk of the population of Elysium lives
on this layer, even so, Amoria is a deeply peaceful place where those who live there
take any opportunities to help others and demonstrate goodness. There is still misfortune, but it's almost
like such things exist only so the denizens of the plane can express their goodness and
provide help to those in need whenever they can. Calamities here, such as a village fire or
a capsized boat, test and identify those who are from other planes. Travellers to Amoria are besieged by small
errands and tasks, but if they complete them, they will always find powerful allies at their
side. Amoria has a very comfortable climate, so
the guardinals often deal sternly with storm giant druids and other creatures who can control
weather for causing sudden disruptions that can have unfortunate long term side effects. The rulers of the guardinals also live on
Amoria. These supremely powerful guardinals are as
powerful as the archdukes of the Nine Hells or the demon lords of ruin within the Abyss. First among their number is Prince Talisid,
the wisest and most powerful of leonals. Talisid’s lieutenants are known as the Five
Companions: the lupine Duke Lucan, the bearlike Duchess Callisto, the winged Duke Windheir,
the equine Lord Hwyn, and the antlered Lord Rhanok. Together they organize the efforts of the
guardinals, sending them on missions against evil and even striking into the lower planes
to recover those captured by the forces of evil. 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 that only grows more and more rich, immersive and amazing,
moment to moment, every vista is better than the last, every encounter a deeper and friendlier
connection to just the best beings you will ever meet, it is the most perfect day, after
the most perfect day, with restful evenings of long conversations, delicious meals, old
aches and pains just fading away along with those deeper hurts that people of the prime
material plane just seem to take as an inevitable part of life, the loss of innocence, the regret
of broken friendships, mistakes that ruin relationships, people who grow apart and never
manage to reconnect, dreams dashed for no better reason than someone happened to take
your spot before you got to where you wanted to be, these things, hurts and scars that
linger and build on a mortal soul are also slowly but surely salved and healed by the
very essence of Elysium and it is the most potent of traps.. one of pure bliss. I assure you my friend, no pain of loss compares
to having to depart from Elysium before it is too late, and you never really know who
will succumb to its charms first or last, but you will know instantly when it is too
late for them, when asked about where they are going next, or what mission drew them
here and they stop, remember once more, and that pause... the look in their eye.. when
they realize that there is nothing on outside Elysium that they want more than to just stay
right where they are.. and you know, to those they left behind, to anyone expecting to see
them again, it would literally take a miracle for them to ever return to the life they once
knew, and just like that, their mortal form is gone, and you see that now you are talking
to another petitioner of Elysium, blissfully happy and at peace at long last. Of course, not everyone is at risk of this,
those who are not so good-natured really do feel like there is some deep conflict within
themselves that just doesn't rest easy on this plane, sadly, perhaps, fortunately, they
will never be at peace here and their mortal existence is preserved for them to walk or
float back out of Amoria and beyond to other realms of the cosmos. There are many, many unique places in Amoria,
most of them located close to the banks of the river oceanus, some notable locations
are the realms of quite a few gods aligned with the cause and spread of goodness across
the multiverse, indeed, there are many bastions of the mighty Guardinals, who use Amoria as
their base from which to direct their agents across the multiverse to combat the forces
of evil, often sending active urgent rescue missions to the lower planes, even to the
diametrically opposed layers of Hades in order to recover captives of evil beings, brought
back to the healing centers of Elysium, tended to by celestials and divine powers to restore
them to health and sanity, often a difficult task,such is the depravity and violence routinely
dished out in the realms of evil. Even the guardinals themselves often need
to recover after such missions, from the horrors they have to face in order to accomplish their
most vital objectives. The goddesses Hathor, Ishtar and Isis have
realms here, plus you can find members of the elven Seldarine who travel here quite
often, particularly Kirith Sotheril and Tethrin Veraldé who are masters of spells and blades,
Kirith, a lesser elven deity manifests as a stunning elven woman with golden hair and
eyes that constantly change color, draped in a spectacular robe of literal rainbows,
she shares the realm of Tethridar with her consort Tethrin, the shining one, the master
of blades and patron of all elven bladesingers. Tethrin is hard to miss, he is boisterous
and strident, adventurous and quite impulsive for an elven deity, quite as likely to start
a fight as to finish one victorious and while he is a thoroughly good entity, he is also
mercurial and emotional, thus, can be quite unpredictable and when roused to sudden violence,
a terrible foe. Of course, the elven gods travel widely and
are just as likely to be in Arborea as they are in any of its neighbouring planes at any
given time. There are also realms within Amoria that are
not claimed by any deity, such as the lush territory of nature and peace, densely populated
by petitioners, celestial and half celestial creatures, the guardinals, a great number
of visiting beings from other planes and so on. Trade and commerce take place along wide,
slow-moving sections of the river, with flotillas of merchant's vessels lashed together to form
the floating markets of Amoria. There are many settlements on the banks, each
unique and most quite ancient. Most locals have a great love of nature and
are skilled gardeners and landscape artists who have all the time they need to perfect
their gardens and produce the very best crops, the most spectacular flowers and varieties
of foods and beverages that are sought after at great expense by people across the multiverse. So I raise my beverage to you my friend, thank
you for joining me in this journey across Elysium, Let your troubles wash away in the
river's flow, and may you be at peace. If you enjoyed this video, I'd greatly appreciate
your company in the comments section down below, let me know what this video has inspired
within your imagination and where you would like to go next in the outer planes. Hit that like button, share the experience
with your friends on whatever platform you prefer, check out my other videos, I have
plenty to choose from, or perhaps take up the challenge of binge-watching my huge playlist
of monster ecology videos? If you are particularly happy with what i
do, I have a presence on Subscribestar and Patreon for those who wish to provide me with
support and join my most like-minded friends in exclusive boards on my discord server,
who do get access to all my written scripts I post there along with my videos so you can
read along as you watch or listen. Thank you so much for all your support and
kind words, it gives me the greatest pleasure I hear that my work encouraged you to get
back into, or try out Dungeons & Dragon. Stay well, be kind to each other, wear your
geek with pride, and I will be back with more for you, very soon.
