Caelum

Caelum is a collection of ether islands which forms a plane.

Astralogium, a Hesperidean city near Eden.

Geography/Astrogeography

Eden

Main article: Eden

Eden is one of the two largest remnants of the planes which originally comprised Caelum. It is home to the the Sylphs and the Angels. Eden, unlike Nod, is relatively intact, it's ekati core being large enough to maintain a sizeable plane. It is large and plentiful, with abundant resources and room for many peoples and races. However, there is some fear that as the Hesperidean Empire expands, it could strip Eden of it's natural resources and reduce it to a shell like Nod.

Nod

Main article: Nod

Nod is one of the two largest remnants of the planes which originally comprised Caelum. It is home to the Vampyres and the Bloodspawned. Nod is a crumbling, desertified shell of what was once a plane that could rival Eidyn. The powerful Kingdom of Baeinica overused it's resources, including ekati, and to compensate they attempted to mine it's core, unleashing a swarm of Arbiters that destroyed nearly all life on the plane. Ever since, the only survivors are mutants and monstrosities. Nod is a dying world where nothing living can exist for long.

Upper Isles

Main article: Upper Isles of Caelum

The Upper Isles are a series of islands found around Eden, ranging in size from as small as a boulder to as large as Kharnstheim. They are inhabited mostly by the Federation of the Astralii, a group of nomadic, airship-using Sylphs, though evidence exists that once, a powerful magitek empire existed here.

No two islands are alike, but they have a general resemblance to Eden.

Central Isles

Main article: Central Isles of Caelum

The Central Isles form the heart of Caelum, being found between Eden and Nod. They take up most of the mass not in the aforementioned planes and are home to a massive variety of races and cultures, many of which are descended from miners who came for the infamous "Caelum Ekati Rush" which depleted the Old Rings.

Due to it's position between both the zenith and the nadir of the Ring of Fire's orbit, it is always twilight in the Central Isles. As a result, they are often called the Twilight Isles. The islands are home to a large population, but one unevenly spread out over a large area. As a result, the islands are mostly untamed and a wide variety of flora and fauna exist in the absence of sapient interference. Most of the life-forms here are found nowhere else.

The Isles are home to a peculiar phenomenon - "Nimbus Islands," solid clouds formed when water droplets falling from the Falls of Glory at the edge of Eden cling to drifting ekati crystals and become solid. These clouds/islands take up about a quarter of the total mass of the Isles.

Lower Isles

Main article: Lower Isles of Caelum

The Lower Isles are a chain of islands formed by the gravitational influence of Nod. They have been colonized by the Vampyres and serve as one of their chief producers of resources. Careful farming and cultivation of the soil has turned these once-barren isles into idyllic paradises, though looks can be deceiving, as many of the rulers of these islands employ dictatorial/totalitarian means of governing.

The islands formed as a result of Nod's near-destruction, when large chunks broke off of the collapsing plane and soon entered it's orbit.

Inner Rings

Main article: Inner Caelumic Ekati Rings

The Inner Rings are a series of ekati rings surrounding both Eden and Nod. They are the innermost remnants of the First Old Ring. Most of the objects in the ring range between particles of dust and enormous boulders. A few approach the size of a mountain. In Caelum proper, they are rarely, if ever, visible to the naked eye.

Outer Rings

Main article: Outer Caelumic Ekati Rings

The Outer Rings are a series of ekati rings surrounding both Eden and Nod. They are the outermost remnants of the First Old Ring. This is the smallest of Caelum's three ring systems and it's particles are even more minute than those in the Inner Ring. The Outer Rings can't be seen from Caelum.

Heavenly Rings

Main article: Seven Heavenly Rings of Caelum

The Heavenly Rings are a series of seven major ekati rings surrounding Caelum. They formed from the remains of the Second and Third Old Rings, as well as the remains of the moon Aztlan. They are easily seen with the unaided eye, even during the day, and are brighter than Caelum's most reflective moons at night. Some of the larger objects within the rings approach the scale of fully-fledged ether islands. They are inhabited by the Ringlords, a mysterious race which lives in the ether, and include several ancient Sun Elf monasteries.

The Ring of Fire

Main article: Ring of Fire (Caelum)

The Ring of Fire is Caelum's equivalent of a sun. Unlike the other rings, it not only rotates, it moves up and down. While it is up, it is daytime in Eden and the Upper Isles and nighttime in Nod and the Lower Isles. While it is down, Nod and the Lower Isles experience day and Eden and the Upper Isles experience night. The Central Isles, being situated in between these points, always experiences light, so even at nighttime, the darkest it gets is a distant twilight.

Satellites

Aztlan

Main article: Aztlan

Aztlan was once the largest moon in the Caelum system and the home of the first Sylphs. However, the Angels slaughtered many of their number before draining the ekati core and shattering the moon. Most of the remains coalesced in the Heavenly Rings, but a sizeable remnant of the moon still exists, albeit a quarter of it's former size and totally devoid of life, save for a handful of Cherubim that survived.

Sanguia

Main article: Sanguia

Sanguia is a blood-red moon orbiting the lower part of the Caelum system. It is worshipped by some Vampyre cults, and it is believed that under the light of Sanguia, they are strongest. Legend has it that Novi Vahled, one of the most powerful Vampyres of all time, was born on a night when Sanguia shone brighter than ever before.

Valynor

Main article: Valynor (Caelum)

Valynor is a moon which orbits the Caelum system at a very odd angle, vertically rather than horizontally from high to low and back again. Many suspect it was originally in a normal orbit before colliding with a large asteroid and being flung into this new one. It is home to a large Elven population, being the place where the Angeli sent them after the Astrologian Genocide.

Note to self - add more moons

This place is gonna have so many moons, it's a wonder they don't crash into each other more often!

Three Daughters of Fire

Main article: Three Daughters of Fire

TBA

Other Geographic Features

The Great Shield

Main article: Great Shield (Caelum)

Many years ago, a powerful magitek empire which ruled Caelum discovered that the system was drifting apart. To prevent their home from being destroyed, they sent airships into the ether and placed them at various points orbiting Caelum. The ships, or more accurately spaceborne fortresses, generated a powerful field of energy which surrounded Caelum and held it together.

This field still exists. Unfortunately, it historically prevented access to and from Caelum after the empire fell, meaning no one could open or close rifts in it to allow passage for airships. Caelum remained isolated for centuries until the Hesperideans discovered the fortresses maintaining the field and worked out how to open rifts.

Ever since the Hesperideans' discovery, Caelum has benefited from contact with the Planar Triad of Eidyn, Khyorgan and Valorum. The field, referred to in recent times as the Great Shield, remains in place. However, some suspect that it may be weakening and fear it's total deactivation could spell the end of Caelum.

Nations

Hesperidean Empire

Main article: Hesperidean Empire

TBA

Astralii Federation

Main article: Astralii Federation

TBA

Skyridge Dominion

Main article: Skyridge Dominion

TBA

Races

Native

Sylphs

Main article: Sylph

Angels

Main article: Angel

Apocritans

Main article: Apocritan

Apisan

Main article: Apisan

Vespan

Main article: Vespan

Vampyres

Main article: Vampyre

Bloodspawned

Main article: Bloodspawn

Non-Native

Humans

Main article: Human

Elves

• Moon Elves

• Sun Elves

• High Elves

• Wood Elves

• Cloud Elves

Dwarves

Main article: Dwarf

Valkyriis

Main article: Valkyrii

Trivia

• Caelum has the greatest land mass of all known planes of Eidyn, but much of it is spread out among the various islands, moons and rings. The plane with the greatest intact land mass is Khyorgan.

• Technically speaking, Caelum is not actually a plane, but a collection of planes held together by the forces of magic and gravity.

Gallery

Races

A group of wingless Vespan drones prepare for battle.

An Angel awaits it's unsuspecting prey.

A Sylph woman preens her feathers while sitting one of Caelum's floating rocks.