LIFE, THE MULTIVERSE & EVERYTHING
Concerning the origins of the multiverse, everyone has their own opinions and ideas for their own campaigns. Personally, I truly hope that this aspect of the campaign multiverse is NEVER defined in canon, so that we are left to indulge in our own wild imaginations. But, out of politeness, I'll assume that everybody else agrees with my views. Otherwise they'd be wrong. And I wouldn't want to assume that anybody was wrong.
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Maldin's Grand
Unified Theory of Life, the Multiverse and Everything
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by Denis "The BigPicture(tm)" Tetreault
(and including many alterations by Andrew Trauger for the Lorenvale Campaign)
Picture the very first Universe as the chaos of Limbo is now—a constantly changing plane of two Variables: Matter (earth, air, fire and water) and Physical Energy (light, sound, force). Now multiply the complexity by many orders of magnitude, and the result is the cacophony of the “Proto”-Universe, the origins of all things. These Variables could interact, merge, and change, not only within themselves, but also between other Variables. For example, the merging of Fire (Matter) and Earth (Matter) produced Magma. The merging of other variables is perhaps not comprehensible to our limited minds. But what may be incomprehensible to mortals is the very real nature of these Variables, an existence as real and tangible as the Nyr Dyv or Castle Greyhawk. Some of these Variables are (but not necessarily limited to)...
1. Matter (earth, air, fire, water)
2. Physical Energy (light, sound, force)
3. Magical Energy – not energy produced by magic, but the actual intangible magical energy that wizards tap into to produce those effects
4. Vitae, or Life Energy – (positive and negative energy, not “life” in the biological sense)
5. Dimension – (space, time, gravity)
6. Ethos – (law, chaos, good, evil) as real as matter and energy
7. Sentience – not physical individuals, but as a force unto itself. As it changed and merged, parts of the many Variables (and combinations of Variables) were sentient in an unimaginably alien way. Yes, regions could become sentient (parts of the Dimension variable) and parts of Matter could become sentient (something that is easily understood, perhaps), and of course because everything was in constant change, the sentience was spontaneously appearing, growing, combining with others, fading, and disappearing again. But also other Variables could interact with Sentience. Parts of Ethos could become sentient. Parts of Magic. Parts of Vitae. And combinations of elements of different Variables.
Side note: Some philosophers would group Matter and Physical Energy, Magical Energy and Vitae, and Ethos and Sentience as natural pairs, related to one in other in some way.
Nobody/nothing knows how long this phase lasted. For one thing, Time (as part of the Dimension variable) was a constantly, unevenly changing element throughout the Proto-Universe, so you couldn't measure it anyway. It was forever and it was in no time.
One can imagine that nothing could progress for long without being destroyed or changed. Then came the meeting of three Sentients (entities formed from various combinations of Variables with large portions of Sentience). These realized that they could not exist for long in the present state of things, besides being quite uncomfortable (for reasons to become clear). No doubt they also had other incomprehensible motivations. Working together, they devised a plan to bring stability to the Proto-Universe by pulling apart some of the aspects of the Variables. Of course, the composition of the Sentients determined their preferences for the existence they were about to shape.
Sentient One, now known as “The Balance,” was mostly composed of Ethos, with just enough Dimension to stabilize it.
Sentient Two, as yet unnamed, was a composite of Matter, Physical Energy, and Life Energy, also with a stable nature because its three Variables were in equal, balanced parts. Some scholars postulate that it now exists simultaneously within all the Elemental Planes, making those planes almost alive. Others credit it as the conduit through which elemental energy can travel to the other planes. Still others view it as the Uber-power that elementalists unknowingly tap into.
Sentient Three was mostly composed of Dimension, with a large helping of Magic and a small portion of a homogenous blend of Ethos (true neutrality). Many scholars debate the exact nature of this Sentient. How many dimensions (as we know them) would exist within this Sentient? Could a three-dimensional being ever hope to interpret the shadow of a 5-dimensional object? A 15-dimensional object? No. Similarly, Sentient 3 casts a sort of “shadow” into the few dimensions we can experience. The result is what we see in our paltry, simplistic existence. Popular theory suggests that our interface with Sentient Three rests in the Codex of the Infinite Planes.
Part of their motivation for creating stability in the Universe was because they themselves had more elements of stability than most other Sentients forming/changing around them. Instability was uncomfortable to them, and left unchecked it would place their viability at risk. Everything wants to shape its environment to its own end, but the three Sentients determined to take control of this shaping.
In the Proto-Universe, Sentients were continually forming and fading away. As the Three began to alter their environment to suit their own specific existence, fewer and fewer new Sentients formed, and more and more of them faded away (because the environment was becoming increasingly hostile to anything but the Three). Eventually, only the Three Sentients remained.
It is possible, however, that a few Sentients escaped to other universes, their return now impossible. It is also possible that a fragment of one or more early Sentients still exists in some dark, remote, protected corner of the Multiverse. Perhaps the Demi-plane of Dread?
What pattern did the Three Sentients use for the new shape of the Multiverse? From the beginning, parts were segregated off to help stabilize the whole, yet still anchored to a center point embedded in the Proto-Universe. A stable but non-uniform 6-point matrix of Matter, Physical Energy and Vitae was spun off (the proto-Elemental Planes). Over time, border zones (the quasi and para-elemental planes) formed on their own. A region of uniform Ethos and Dimension (with bits of everything else) was created, giving rise to the original Prime Material Plane.
From the remains of the Proto-Universe, the extremes of Ethos were spun off (Chaos, Law, Evil, and Good). Over time, these extremes interacted with each other, eventually fragmenting into the alignment regions of CE, NE, LE, LN, LG, NG, CG and CN. With more passage of time, border zones spontaneously formed between these regions also (as with the Elemental planes), forming the ring of Outer Planes we know it today.
All that remained of the original Proto-Universe was a region of non-uniform Magic that lacked extreme Ethos, and still contained the “anchor” for the whole of the Proto-Universe. This region we now call Concordant Opposition (or the Outlands). The anchor, though often seen differently by different beings, it is most often called the Spire. Only the Three Sentients can exist within the Spire.
Additional buffer zones (the Astral and Ethereal) were created between the various segments both to prevent them from rejoining, and to prevent them from flying apart and separating permanently. Time was stabilized across the whole by shattering it, and fixing it at different rates in different segments (preventing it from fusing again into a malleable spectrum).
Thus became the Multiverse as we now understand it. The work of the Sentients was so incomprehensibly brilliant, that the framework has been stable for hundreds of millions of years. Part of the reason is a plasticity of the parts that prevent planar tension. Studies have shown, for example, that the boundaries between the Outer Planes are not fixed, but can move and change under a variety of conditions. Also, spot-eruptions or concentrations of any Variable Fragments can be released as safety-valve-like bubbles. These get deposited as demi-planes tethered to the Ethereal (hence their often truly bizarre nature). Even though the source of the “irregularity” could be anywhere in the Multiverse, the sudden formation of a demi-plane in the Ethereal gives the impression that its point of origin is the Ethereal. Having said that, some of them could also be legitimately due directly to natural processes occurring within the Ethereal.
Just as The Rules of Oerth define what is possible in our world, so do The Rules (the interaction of the Variables) define the Multiverse. Magic, time travel, inter-dimensional space, elementalist theory, non-biological sentience, all exist because of these Variables establishing them as the original Rules set at the creation of the Proto-Universe.
But where are the gods? Nowhere…yet. Before the Proto-Universe could be stabilized into the Multiverse, nothing could exist for long. Now that things had stabilized, things could evolve on the wide variety of planes now in existence. As different classes of organisms and beings evolved, so did the physical nature of many of the individual planes. Accidents and leakages sometimes spontaneously created subplanes - including the pinching off of new Prime Material planes, demiplanes, etc.
Creatures that evolved were normally composed of the common elements available in their plane of formation, plus a fragment of Sentience. Some of the beings that evolved were composed entirely of Matter (such as the Prime creatures), some were composed of Matter and Physical Energy (Elemental creatures), and some were Matter infused with Ethos (Outer Planar creatures).
Under certain conditions (such as death, in the case of Prime creatures) the fragment of Sentience can be freed (sometimes called the Soul). Incidentally, since many deaths occurred prior to the formation of gods (who would use the freed souls for power and in return guarantee their safe harbor), the fragments of Sentience drifted about, seeking fragments of matter on which to cling. In time they formed a large mass of broken Sentient fragments, and some of these eventually worked together to carve out a dark and depressing region that mocked their former homes. We call this foreboding place the Plane of Shadow. The other Sentient Fragments also combined their efforts to produce a place of bright colors and strangely wonderful happenings, a region that also mocked their former homes. We call this marvelous place the Plane of Dreams.
Some of the evolved beings had large components of Life Energy, Magical Energy, Ethos or even Dimension. This greater class of organisms was the Powers, what we have come to know as the gods. Evolving simultaneously and independently, they grew to exert some control over their “sphere of influence,” which depended on their particular composition. For example, one imbued with Light, or Negative Energy, or Evil, or Time, has some control over those elements. As their sphere of influence grew, lesser classes of beings came to recognize the Powers for their supremacy, and pay tribute to them in hopes that they would influence things favorably. As the number of these adoring beings increased, the Powers (gods) formed organizations (now called religions) to deal with the countless requests (petitions and prayers) being made of them. With the passing of time, these worshippers would die and the gods would collect their souls, partly as reward for faithful service and partly to establish and grow a power base.
The first gods existed tens or hundreds of millions of years ago and are all long gone. Although their lifespans tend to be incredibly longer then other classes of beings, there have been countless generations of them. Many (particularly ones imbued with Dimension) altered the Multiverse in small ways, such as the modification or creation of demi-planes or alternate Prime Material Planes. Somewhere out there in the Multiverse, however, still exists THE Original Prime Material Plane. What secrets it still holds is anybody’s guess.
At some point, a certain new Prime Material Plane was created millions of years ago, consisting of a large crystal sphere containing a planetary system floating in a substance known as the phlogiston. This sphere was what we now call Greyspace, which contains six planets revolving around a single sun, this planet being known as Oerth. Most of the Powers of this present day have come into existence since the time of the sphere’s creation.
The Vitae. It’s not really impetus, locomotion or motivation. That wouldn’t really tie in to the positive/negative material planes. It is biological energy, but of course not everything that lives is biological in origin. It is likewise different than psychic energy, which is tied to sentience. Put simply, it is that energy that is drained by certain undead creatures.
Time. Time has always existed as a part of Dimension. Time as we know it was distinguished out of the more general Dimension, and then shattered and fixed in various velocities to stabilize the whole. Time is not, and never was, constant or homogenous…just stable. That is, standing in one place, time can change speed, and if you moved through space, you would encounter regions where time flowed differently than adjacent regions.
Breaking it into different pieces at different rates is like hammering nails into a vibrating rope to stop it from moving around.
Incorporeal creatures. An incorporeal creature occurs when a departed soul (Sentience fragment in all creatures) maintains a portion of Matter still attached, albeit a much smaller portion than the being’s original form.
Petitioners. Petitioners on the Outer Planes are formed when the reigning god merges the departed soul with the Matter of that Plane.
The Elder Elemental God & Tharizdun. Theories about these entities are that they are two still-existing gods that predate Greyspace and our current pantheon. The EEG seems to have a strong desire to return the Multiverse to its original state of primordial soup. Tharizdun is the god of the Void, and probably wishes (insanely) that all were turned into nothing! Both likely are insane, for even they could not survive in the primordial environment, supposing that the Three Sentients would even allow such a reversion. Little is actually known about the Elder Elemental God, and Tharizdun is mentioned only in the darkest corners of Oerth. One wild theory states that Tharizdun originally was a powerful god of Goodness and Pure Light, and that he took on some terrible burden that caused him to go utterly insane. Perhaps somewhere on a remote plane (the Original Prime Material?) there is evidence of Tharizdun’s original goodness and ultimate sacrifice.
Immortality. Some postulate that true immortality exists only in the Three Sentients (and any others who may have escaped from the Three). Others argue that the gods are truly immortal rather than incredibly long-lived, and that they are infused with a “shard” from the Three Sentients. At question is whether a mortal body could contain even the tiniest sliver from a Sentient, but if so, we really cannot know. Perhaps the gods prepare bodies to receive the shard…and immortality.
Ranking in the Pantheon. Elder gods (like Tharizdun, Lendor, Io, and others) predate the creation of Greyspace. Greater gods were some of the first to arise from the Variables and lay claim to the souls of the Multiverse. The Intermediate and Lesser Gods, and certainly the demigods, are simply younger entities. This is the most commonly held view. Opposed to this is the view that the distinctions are brought about by the amount of the Variable invested in the being. That is, Elder gods have more (or stronger portions) of a Variable than Greater gods, who have more than Intermediate gods, and so on. As no mortal can know this with certainty, the debate ever rages.
**By
application of this “Grand Unified Theory,” one can collect together all the
seemingly disparate, arbitrary and often contradictory elements of the D&D game
and campaign worlds and tie them up in a neat, internally consistent bundle.
The physical structure of the planes, the origins of mortals and immortals and
their relationships, the laws of magic, the different natures of planes (such as
the varying effects of magic and time) and how they change and interact, the
imbuing of sentience without the need for complex brains (such as simple
organisms, objects, and even planes), the palpable nature of good, evil, law and
chaos on so many levels, the twisting of time and dimension impossible within
mere physical laws... ALL this can be explained.
Everything from the
Creator UberBeings to mortal souls, from the purpose of the “Spire” on the
Outlands to the existence of portable holes and intelligent swords, this seems
to make sense of it all.
