The Planes

[swordofmodness]

The Planes Reality cannot exist without imagination. Existence means nothing without concepts to underpin it. For the Radiant Swords, three planes exist that tie inherently to their purpose and their powers, though exactly what the connection is has never been explained in exact and specific terms. The three planes are Thesis, Antithesis, and Dreams. Each is ruled by a mysterious and overtly alien being that takes the plane's name as its own -- or vice versa, or may simply BE the plane in various fundamental and confusing ways. Countless lesser beings populate the planes in turn, for each of them is a sprawling and complex world of its own, but these beings are all of spirit and concept rather than matter and individuality. A Radiant Sword can't talk to Andy, the clerk at the Thesis Water Exchange; they talk to the Clerk of the Water Exchange, the being who exists for that purpose and only that purpose. As such, the planes are not suitable homes for Radiant Swords, who are generally people at heart with all that implies, and Radiant Swords who try to escape their duties to them slowly become like grit in the machines, when the machines are self-cleaning. Still, the planes are valuable resources to Radiant Swords, both as an escape from the bleak lifelessness of Aspire and the harsh and shifting conditions of the Once-Was, and as a source of supplies or information. The distant rulers of the planes may claim to have no investment in the Radiant Swords, but somehow their actions never seem to quite deliver... Thesis The Plane of Creation, Thesis rules the majority of Elements, as they involve creating something from nothing. Thesis sprawls out in every direction from the City of Radiance, seemingly unlimited in expanse. No matter where you go in Thesis, there are no shadows anywhere; the light is uniform and omnipresent indoors and out, reaching or maybe emanating from even the smallest cracks and tiniest niches. Thesis also tends to be unpleasantly warm by the standards of most Radiant Swords. There is no weather in Thesis, no night, and very little change. In Thesis: Thesis Swords are more effective. Thesis swords can create and control more of their element with less effort. Antithesis Swords are much less effective. It is vastly harder for an Antithesis element to accomplish anything with their power in Thesis, and their scope and scale are much diminished. Synthesis Swords are treated as Thesis swords. They can create, but not destroy. You cannot leave Thesis with a net loss. If you wish to take an item out of Thesis, you must have created something in Thesis to balance the loss. If you cause a loss in Thesis, even a loss of order by knocking over a bunch of cans, you cannot leave until you have balanced that loss. If you create within Thesis and then leave without balancing it, Thesis considers its new boundaries to include what you have created (which has many interesting ramifications, but primarily means you can't rack up credit for someone else). The City of Radiance A metropolis in white marble, the City of Radiance sprawls both wide and tall as Thesis's greatest and most central feature. Resembling nothing so much a modern city fused with ancient Roman aesthetics, every inch of Thesis is either sleek lines for an elegantly functional form, or wrought with art of the finest forms, sculpture or paint or just impressive architecture. Everything here is beautiful, from the vehicles roving gracefully if noisily down the street to the frequent plaza and parks tucked way in any available corner. The city is static elegance... like the rest of Thesis, never changing, but also never growing. Thesis Palace, from which Thesis rules, stands at the very center of the city, raised on a hill from which waterfalls tumble. The palace is almost entirely symbolic, since Thesis barely ever needs to give audience or instructions to its well-run plane, but Radiant Swords who want to petition the leader should come here. The Fire Plain It's a plain. It's on fire. It stretches farther than the eye can see. The fire never goes out, never wavers, never varies. The Font A bubbling spring of clear, cold water, the Font sits just outside the City of Radiance on the main highway, easy to access even for out-of-plane visitors -- who are its main visitors anyway. The Font is a water exchange for Radiant Swords. Use your Sword to add to the plane, and the Font-Trader will allow you take away an equal quantity of water. With Aspire and the Once-Was in such poor condition and Water swords not always immediately available to satisfy thirst, this is one excellent way to stockpile water for any purpose. Antithesis The Plane of Destruction, Antithesis rules over those Elements that decay, dissolve, deconstruct, or destroy. Unsurprisingly, Antithesis is a bleak, chaotic hellhole in constant flux. The outcropping of rock from last week might be mere powder and fragments this week, or it might be a slimy puddle of mud, or a void in which a vast drop howls. Antithesis isn't hopeless, though. A few fixed locations linger on in the center of this constant flux, places where Radiant Swords can find things of value. In Thesis: Thesis Swords are more effective. It seems counter-intuitive, but the plane hungers for more to destroy, and the constant flux encourages creation that the plane doesn't otherwise have. Antithesis Swords are vastly more effective. Using an Antithesis Element is incredibly easy in Antithesis, and produces wild and powerful results. Synthesis Swords are treated as Antithesis swords. They can manipulate and destroy, but not create. Taking anything out of Antithesis brings Antithesis with it. Some form of entropy, destruction, or rot will come with anything brought out of the plane. Most often this occurs when a Radiant Sword takes advantage of the plane to create more than they otherwise could, only to find that some object or possession or creation of theirs soon after collapses or decays. The Last City Antithesis has something of a flair for the melodramatic. The Last City is most likely also the first and only city, a collection of mud huts and crude constructions that somehow resists the chaos of Antithesis more than the rest of the plane can. There is no transportation, sometimes even no streets, but the Last City manages to be more convenient than most other places because geography itself has broken down within it -- so wanting to be a place is 95% of what it takes to get there. Almost all of Antithesis's residents are in the Last City, not needing to be near the destructive processes they're monitoring, and they're all incredibly cheerful and friendly. Somehow this crazy chaotic plane has produced denizens that are happy, love life, and are eager to make friends. Antithesis itself follows in this model; the ruler has no formal palace or protocol, and is likely to be found stomping around the city checking on things and chatting up its loyal subjects (or guests). The Void Just outside of the Last City, the forces of Antithesis reach their peak focus in one pool about six feet wide. Its surface looks smooth as glass, but it is neither solid nor liquid nor anything that has a name outside of raw and pure destruction. Nothing tossed into the Void has ever been seen again, to the knowledge of anyone in the plane... but can it really be the absolute end? Dreams Dreams is not accessible at present. But just from the name alone, one can begin to guess at what it might contain... Premise | Rules | FAQ Navigation