Gafrenor

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Origins: In order to give you an idea of how Gafrenor sits in relation to the many worlds of the multiverse, one must understand how it came into being. Now such a story is not exactly easy to come by. Few planeswalkers actually know of its origins, and those who do have only the vaguest of understanding of how this realm came to be, for it is just as much a subdivision of an existing realm as it is realm all to itself.

In one of many thousands of existences, there is a being of phenomenal power. Uncontested in its supernatural might, it wandered the astral realm with little fear of the other beings which it encounters. Neither particularly benevolent or malicious, it was constantly in search of challenges to its staggering intellect and magical prowess. These challenges often proved devastating to those other creatures around it as planar boundaries ruptured, time itself was woven into infinite loops, and various aspects of reality found themselves warped, distorted, or suppressed by the creatures playful experimentation.

Its form is massive and beautiful to behold, a mixture of flowing mane and brilliant feathers across a vaguely quadrupedal form of staggering strength, arms and feet ending in powerful claws, two sets of wings upon its back, and a pair of tails ending in wavy purple hair. Its head would appear birdlike with a large beak and keen eyes, though if you look closer it would almost seem to have a more draconic appearance, with feathery frills running the length of its neck and out to the shoulders.

One day, a witty planeswalker known far and wide as a trickster and a cheat came across this most powerful being. At first the trickster tried to harass the creature for his amusement, but the creature did not take kindly to such badgering. With but a thought, the creature imprisoned the trickster inside an impenetrable cage, swiftly putting a stop to his bothersome antics. The trickster quickly soured in his cage and fell silent, and the creature curled up and returned to its intellectual searching.

For many centuries the trickster sat in his prison and pondered a way to escape. He sat and watched the all-powerful being for all this time as it played with stray threads of ether and astral energy, weaving itself new realities and experimenting with planar intra-temporalities. Occasionally the trickster conversed with the being, asking it questions and posing various problems to it. The astral entity responded in kind most eagerly, encouraged by the trickster's wit and unique point of view on various problems. The prisoner and the jailer formed a rather interesting sort of relationship as time passed, even going so far as to give names to the other. The entity called the trickster 'Jester,' and he in turn dubbed the entity by the name it is now called: 'The Astral Griffin.' And through it all, the Astral Griffin's harmful trists continued to wreak havoc on existence.

Many years later, the Jester at last stumbled upon an avenue for his escape after at last finding what seemed a flaw in the Astral Griffon's endless supernatural power. Where the Griffon's concentration lapsed, its supernatural influence proportionately waned. Jester thereby gave the Astral Griffon a new challenge, to create its own working existence purely out of thought. This was indeed something that the Astral Griffon had never done before, and it eagerly rose to such a monumental challenge. Curling up and closing its eyes, the entity turned nearly all of its thoughts upon the new task at hand.

More centuries passed, and existence calmed in the wake of the Astral Griffon's stillness. And eventually the entity's thoughts turned to creative ponderings, and those ponderings broadened into a broad and marvelously constructed dream world. The deeper the Griffon concentrated, the more extensive this dream world became, and the bonds which held the Jester at bay in the waking world slowly but surely weakened. Over the course of time, eventually the Astral Griffon forgot about its waking existence entirely, so drawn into this dream realm as it was, its every thought bent on keeping this dream realm alive. With the entity's attention so inwardly drawn, the Jester's prison soon faded away and ceased to be, releasing the planeswalker to roam the multiverse once again.

Over the years to follow, a curious thing happened. The dream realm began to take on a solidarity of its own, more and more beginning to fuel its own existence rather than being powered by the thoughts of the Astral Griffon. And yet as dream progressed on its own, the Astral Griffon could not help but watch in awe at its creation, letting its awareness roam over every fine detail of the continually evolving world, its infinite expanse, and its many happenings. New developments which the Astral Griffon had never predicted fell into being, and stories began to play out that further captured its interests. As the Griffon's thoughts sustained the dream, the endless possibilities of the dream world continued to sate the entity's intellectual hunger. Indeed, a sort of symbiosis developed between the dream and the dreamer, until at last the two became inseparable. Even now the Astral Griffon sleeps, its thoughts resting on the line that lies now blurred between dream and reality.

Cosmology: Gafrenor, being based on an existing reality, bears many similarities to the Prime Material. There are, however, a few key differences as noted below.

The arrangement between Gafrenor and the elemental planes is a bit looser, with weaker boundaries. Only a thin layer of ether divides the prime material, the four elemental planes, and the positive and negative material from one another. It is rumored that if one travels to the edges of the prime where the material world fades to ether, one could simply pass through the ethereal wall and find themselves in one of the elemental planes. This does not necessarily mean that the various elements have more power on the prime, just that the connections are a bit stronger.

The prime, its elemental variants, and the ethereal which encompasses them all is but a small globe resting at the heart of an infinite expanse known as the Astral Plane. On the outer reaches of this infinite expanse are the realms of the deities which preside over the world, collectively known as the Great Wheel. Many of the realms on this wheel bear striking similarities to the realms of gods of other existences, with a few minor differences.

Though Gafrenor was birthed from the dream of a powerful astral entity known as the Astral Griffon, it does in fact exist as part of the multiverse and can be accessed and visitted by any planeswalker or other planar traveller.

Magic Level: Standard, as far as most realms go. Magic seems to be a bit more flexible with regard to the more powerful spellcasters, who are capable of 'bending' the typical capabilities of their magic with sufficient effort or creativity. Magic items tend to be fairly rare, but can be extraordinary when found.

Technological Advancement: Gunpowder has recently been discovered by a collaboration between the gnomes and dwarves, leading to the development of the arquebus, as well as primitive explosive devices. Larger sea-going vessels typically have at least a pair of cannons on board for defense.

The Core Continent: Gafrenor is in fact an infinite and flat expanse, consisting of a great and endless ocean riddled with continents and smaller islands. The map shown at the top of this page reflects the greatest continent of all that lies at the heart of this infinite expanse, where most of the realm's population resides and, consequently, most of the action happens.

The Outer Islands: Any island in the Great Gafrian Sea that is not included as part of the Core Continent shown above is considered an outer island, and each is a realm entirely unto itself. In many cases, these fringe islands do not play by the typical rules, disregarding certain laws of physics or putting new twists on the way things should work.

Ecology: The inhabitants of Gafrenor, for the most part, resemble those common to other realities. There are, however, a few exceptions. Most notable is the addition of a new humanoid race known as the Hinru, a tall and lanky race with subtle feline and avian features. Also, certain creatures which are common to other realms do exist on Gafrenor, though with minor or major differences. Angels, Demons, and the like do not actually possess a corporeal form on Gafrenor, for example. Also, Griffons tend to be more in abundance on Gafrenor than in most other existences.

History: Gafrenor is still young among the other existences, and much of the core continent is still uncharted wilderness. A few capitol cities and small kingdoms have been erected here and there, but in many places it is the law of the land which rules supreme.