Every point and event in the universe exists simultaneously within eleven interwoven dimensions, which stretch out in an unbroken continuum across seventy orders of magnitude: from the smallest scale (1 x 10-36 meters) to the largest (1 x 10 36 meters). Along this vast cosmic spectrum, there emerge five distinct hyper-planar regions: the Elemental Plane, the Ethereal Plane, the Physical Plane, the Astral Plane, and the Spiritual Plane. Each of these planes present three-dimensional spatial realms (with wildly different environmental conditions) in which myriad beings, from the great universal Powers and Forces to common mortals and other trivial agents, exist and act upon the world and one another.

The Elemental Plane

The Elemental Realms are trussed,

In Fog and Fume and Draft and Dust.

‘Tween Mist, Miasma, Magma, Mire,

Pure Earth, and Water, Air, and Fire.

Curled up in the deep sub-quantum scale, between 1 x 10-36 to 1 x 10-30 meters , the Elemental plane is embodied in the Integral and Thermal dimensions, and can be conceived as a torus-shaped realm of varied states of matter at varied levels of temperature. The main body of this toroidal hyperplane is divided into four main areas: the Elemental Plane of Earth, the Elemental Plane of Fire, the Elemental Plane of Air, and the Elemental Plane of Water. Each of these four planes is separated from its neighbouring plane by a liminal demi-plane: Magma between Earth and Fire, Miasma between Fire and Air, Mist between Air and Water, and Mire between Water and Earth. Where the surface of the torus meets the Ethereal Plane, sub-planes lead to the main planes inside: Dust leads to Earth, Fume leads to Fire, Draft leads to Air, and Fog leads to Water.

The Ethereal Plane

Outside of the Elemental Plane lies the Ethereal Plane, nestled in the sub-quantum scale between the 1 x 10-30 meters and 1 x 10-27 meters. This is the space between the smallest physical particles, which is consciously experienced as an insubstantial realm of coloured, shifting clouds. Known as a “transitional” plane, the Ethereal Plane borders the Elemental Plane and the Physical Plane, creating a means of connection between the two.

The Physical Plane

Beyond the Ethereal Plane lies the vast realm of our everyday experience, the Physical Plane, stretching from the infinitesimal 1 x 10-27 meters to the macrocosmic 1 x 10 27 meters, from deep inside the smallest neutrinos and quarks to far beyond the largest supergalactic clusters. In addition to our own prime material/energy plane, there exist positive and negative material/energy planes, the ultimate sources of all life and death, respectively. These three realms of the Physical Plane are separated from each other by the Ethereal Plane.

The Astral Plane

The Astral Plane (1 x 10 27 meters to 1 x 10 30 meters)is the plane of thought, memory, and psychic energy; it is where gods go when they die or are forgotten (or, most likely, both). It is a barren, endless expanse with only rare bits of solid matter, filled with a silvery, twinkling light, the occasional astral conduit or wormhole, and other rare travellers. The Astral Plane also features Colour Pools, gateways which lead to the Outer Planes, and the Prime Material Plane. Pools leading to one’s home plane are always silver in colour.

The Astral Plane is supremely vast, and perception here occurs on an astronomical, even godly, scale. To enter, one must either physically enter the plane (via a Plane Shift spell, for example), or spiritually transcend their physical body, and mentally project an astral body into the plane. There is no space or time in the Astral Plane, though both catch up with you when you leave. The souls of the newly dead from the Prime Material Plane pass through here on their way to the afterlife.

The most well-known feature of the Astral Plane is the silver cords of travelers using an astral projection spell. These cords are the lifelines that keep travelers of the plane from becoming lost, stretching all the way back to their physical body at the traveler’s point of origin.

The Spiritual Plane

The Spiritual Plane (1 x 10 30 meters to 1 x 10 36 meters), also called the Planes of Power or the Outer Planes, are the homes of deities and other powerful extra-planar beings, and the afterlife destination for the multitudinous souls of their worshippers. In most cases, spirits arrive at the Outer Planes at the end of their mortal lives, entering through the plane of Hamistagan. There, they are judged, and sent to their ultimate destination. If they remain in Hamistagan, the spirits become Espirits. If they ascend to Nirvana, they become Prospirits. If they descend to Limbo, they become Conspirits. If they are sent over the River Sanzu to the Upper Planes, they may become Angels, or Aspirits, or Archons. If the must cross the River Styx to the Lower Planes, they will become Devils, or Despirits, or Demons.

For further reading on the Outer Planes, see Spiritology..