Material Plane
The Material Plane is the Inner Sphere reality in which the planet of Golarion finds itself, along with its sun and its 10 sister planets. It is an unending universe occasionally harboring life on terrestrial planets or other less-stable celestial bodies.1 Most mortals live out their lives on this plane.2
History
The Material Plane was created by primordial deities as a complex receptacle and testing ground for souls, as part of a larger process to distribute positive energy between gods and planes of the Outer Sphere. The First World is a predecessor of the Material Plane, created as a first attempt at a Material Plane and then directly overwritten by the plane as it exists today.3
Metaphysics
The Material Plane is governed by fixed, if magically mutable, laws of physics, such as gravity and a fixed speed of light.3
Relationships to other planes
The Material Plane is metaphysically coterminous with the First World and Shadow Plane, existing in slightly unaligned dimensions of the same cosmological space with the Ethereal Plane between them as a bordering transitive plane. The First World is pulled away from the anchoring Material Plane by its relationship to the Positive Energy Plane, while the Shadow Realm is pulled away by the Negative Energy Plane.34
Creation myths
Genies and elementals state and believe that the Elemental Planes existed before the birth of the Material Plane. Eventually, the Elemental Planes mixed with the Positive Energy Plane, Creation's Forge, and the latter's life-giving energies helped create the Material Plane. Many scholars believe there is some element of truth within this myth regarding the real historical facts.5
The material universe
The Material Plane is practically infinite in scale, with galaxies separated by vast voids, each galaxy containing countless stars, many stars anchoring systems of other bodies, and innumerable other phenomena in between. Its diversity, which blends concepts and creations from all other planes across its countless worlds, results in many metaphysical scholars placing the Material Plane at the center of multiversal models.6
Golarion's solar system
Even though Golarion has the most diverse lifeforms and cultures of the planets orbiting its sun, it is not alone in the solar system. Other planets include Castrovel, covered in green jungles, and the red planet Akiton with its vanished seas and endless deserts. Magical gates created long ago by lost civilizations are said to connect Golarion to its sister planets.7
Other worlds
Millions upon millions of miles away from Golarion, countless other stars with worlds of their own exist on the Material Plane. These include:8
- Androffa, the homeworld of the crashed Numerian starship Divinity9
- Carcosa, ruled by the Great Old One Hastur
- Earth, the homeworld of Baba Yaga10
- Kasath, the desert homeworld of the Kasatha11
Dark Tapestry
The immense void between the stars harbors strange life. This region is known as the Dark Tapestry, and is home to creatures stranger than any found in the Outer Rifts. Luckily for the inhabitants of Golarion, the Dark Tapestry is far enough away that its denizens rarely trouble this world.12
References
- ↑ Amber Stewart. (2009). The Great Beyond: A Guide to the Multiverse, p. 3. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-167-1
- ↑ Tanya DePass, James Jacobs, Lyz Liddell, et al. (2019). World Guide, p. 10. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-64078-172-6
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 James L. Sutter. (2016). The First World, Realm of the Fey, p. 3. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-909-7
- ↑ James L. Sutter. (2010). The First World. Sound of a Thousand Screams, p. 64. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-253-1
- ↑ Tim Akers, Judy Bauer, Jim Groves, Chris Lites, Dale C. McCoy, Jr., and Cassidy Werner. (2014). Blood of the Elements, p. 4. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-654-6
- ↑ Robert Brookes et al. (2018). Planar Adventures, p. 8. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-64078-044-6
- ↑ Erik Mona et al. (2008). Campaign Setting, p. 180–181. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-112-1
- ↑ James L. Sutter. (2012). Distant Worlds, p. 50. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-403-0
- ↑ Neil Spicer. (2014). Fires of Creation. Fires of Creation, p. 7. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-673-7
- ↑ Brandon Hodge. (2013). Rasputin Must Die!. Rasputin Must Die!, p. 8. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-496-2
- ↑ Ethan Day-Jones, Jim Groves, Jonathan H. Keith, Andrew Romine, David N. Ross, and James L. Sutter. (2014). People of the Stars, p. 8. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-674-4
- ↑ James Jacobs et al. (2011). The Inner Sea World Guide, p. 238–239. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-269-2