It is the land of splendor.
It is where ultimate goodness is idealized.
It is law and good, understanding and mercy.
The single sacred mountain of Celestia rises from an infinite sea of holy water to incomprehensible heights. Here, justice, kindness, order, celestial grace, and mercy are the rules. Here, watchful eyes hold the ramparts against evil in all its many forms. Here, all things are beautiful.
The Seven Mounting Heavens are the planar home for mortal souls of kindness and empathy for their fellow creatures. But it is a paradise that fiends of the lower planes would conquer if they could Mount Celestia is a promise of betterment and ultimate union with the powers of good and law for those worthy. So supplicants of every snipe ascend the layers, one after the other, to the ultimate height of the Heavenly City, and from thence into the Illuminated Heaven.
Bahamut, lord of kindly dragons, resides on Celestia, as well as Heironeous, the god of valor, Moradin, the lord of dwarves; and Yondalla, the goddess of halflings.
But what makes ascending Mount Celestia more than just a matter of climbing is that each layer has many paths leading to the next layer. Only those who have found some truth regarding law and goodness can find the path.
Thus, attaining the pinnacle involves a series of trials during which the supplicant is slowly washed of ideals that do not conform to the plane. However, there are rumored to be nonspiritual shortcuts for the traveler who knows where to look or whom to talk to.
Celestia's primary residents, the archons, are to Celestia what the devils are to the Nine Hells: natives of the plane and purveyors of its ideals. Archons come in many types; most common are lantern archons, hound archons, and trumpet archons.
Most petitioners of Celestia are lantern archons. More so than most petitioners on other planes, they are graced with both knowledge and power. Every petitioner's goal is to ascend through the layers of Mount Celestia and evolve into a more glorious archon type. Other archons treat lantern archons like children, forgiving their errors and guiding them onto paths of virtue. Lantern archons appear as floating balls of light that glow like a torch.
Castle Mahlhevik: The wonders of Lunia offer much, even for a chaotic evil wizard committed to learning the paths of goodness. Calling in favors from various demideities and revealing his sincerity to highly placed archons, the wizard Mahlhevik built his castle on the shore of the Silver Sea in peace. While he's sincerely attempting to reform, he's got a long way to go, and retains many instincts and notions of his former lifestyle.
Mahlhevik welcomes visitors and allows travelers of any alignment to stay in Castle Mahlhevik. Some of Mahlhevik's “old friends” such as Sytris, once called the Soul Reaver, and Japheth, formerly known as Lifeleech, visit from time to time. Arriving onto the plane waist deep in the holy water of the Silver Sea has a way of scarring and frightening away Mahlhevik's old friends, so they don't visit often. Interesting trades and even more interesting stories can be had at Mahlhevik's castle, and travelers who don't want to deal directly with archons regard it a good place to stay.
Great tombs and wondrous mausoleums on Mercuria grant eternal rest to the noblest of fighters. Here, the inhabitants of Celestia honor their deeds during an annual Day of Memory.
Bahamut's Palace: This glittering wonder is built entirely from the treasure hoard of Bahamut the Platinum Dragon, ruler of good dragons and a paragon of wisdom, knowledge, prophecies, and song. The palace's windows are gemstones in settings of gold and silver, its walls are inlaid with copper and jade, and its floors are beaten mithral. Within, seven great wyrms attend Bahamut amid treasure gathered over eons—and the bones of a thousand failed thieves.
Bahamut's Palace moves among the first four layers of Celestia at Bahamut's will, carried aloft by a whirlwind. For travelers friendly to the Platinum Dragon, the palace offers an alternative method for traveling Celestia without using the paths.
The Glass Tarn: This mountain lake of icy water is nestled in a bowl-shaped valley between three peaks, fed by the runoff from a glacier of blue ice high above. When a believer throws something truly important and valuable into the tarn as an offering, a light rushes up from the incomprehensible depths. When the light reaches the surface, it takes the form of a prophecy featuring the supplicant-or a powerful archon to deal with the intruder if the offering was not sincere.
Green Fields: Here crops never fail, the weather is always mild, and plentiful harvests are a blessing. This is the realm of the halfling deity Yondalla, and that means comfort. The realm is a combination of burrowed households, small rustic buildings, and endless fields. No large predators live in the Green Fields; moles, rabbits, and badgers are common.
Many of the slopes hold mighty glaciers above, and they remain rich in ore and precious minerals below. Solania's peaks are home to monasteries, cathedrals, and other holy shrines. Often, these structures are the destinations of interplanar pilgrims seeking answers to questions of creation, toil, and love.
Erackinor: The slopes of Solania are deeply tunneled with a vast dwarven mansion called Erackinor. None but dwarves and dwarven petitioners are allowed within. Those who enter and return speak in hushed tones of stonework and craftsmanship that far surpasses anything a dwarf might have seen on the Material Plane.
When Moradin fires up the deep Soul Forges below the roots of Mount Celestia, all the halls rush with the noise of the bellows. Dwarven clerics say Moradin uses the Soul Forges to temper the spirits of his people and their weapons. The forges may have other uses as well.
The armories of Erackinor are second to none, and the combat-veteran dwarves and dwarven petitioners that fill Erackinor's halls make the mansion nigh impregnable.
Empyrea: Also called the City of Tempered Souls, Empyrea sits on the edge of a cold, clear mountain lake. The many healing fountains and curative waters in Empyrea can restore withered limbs, lost speech, derangement, and life energy itself; those who ail need only find the right fountain. Empyrea is also known for its healers and hospitals, and many a pilgrim seeks to reach this legendary site of perfect health.
Yetsira, the Heavenly City: The Heavenly City is visible from everywhere on Jovar and from vantage points on lower levels. The city is a seven-layered ziggurat. An enormous staircase on each of its four faces connects the terraces. Gemstones of profound value make up every step and every stone on the ziggurat, and all glow with an inner light. Hosts of archons move up and down the stairs, but the structure is so massive that the steps never grow crowded.
On the lowest terrace sits the Exchequer of Souls, a black marble building of graceful arches and onion domes laced with threads of gold and silver. Here powerful archons weigh the virtues of lower archons, elevating the worthy to higher forms.
The Radiant Arsenal on the fourth terrace is a long, narrow building with a vaulted ceiling and extensive cellars. Here weapons both magic and mundane are stored to arm the archon hosts if necessary. The most important weapons are said to contain the essence of powerful archons. They reside in pearl-lined vaults sealed by deityscribed glyphs. The Bridge of al-Sihal on the seventh, highest terrace is a beam of blinding light. This is the portal to the seventh heaven, Chronias, and it is guarded by a solar named Xerona who turns aside the unworthy.
Chronias The seventh layer of Celestia is also called the Illuminated Heaven. Chronias is a mystery, though some say it is the mystery. Those few who achieve the Illuminated Heaven never return, so no account records Chronias' true aspect.
Tales say that those who enter have their inherent goodness magnified until their essence joins with Celestia itself. Or, if they harbor evil, their souls are extinguished and their existence is permanently erased from the multiverse.
It is where ultimate goodness is idealized.
It is law and good, understanding and mercy.
The single sacred mountain of Celestia rises from an infinite sea of holy water to incomprehensible heights. Here, justice, kindness, order, celestial grace, and mercy are the rules. Here, watchful eyes hold the ramparts against evil in all its many forms. Here, all things are beautiful.
The Seven Mounting Heavens are the planar home for mortal souls of kindness and empathy for their fellow creatures. But it is a paradise that fiends of the lower planes would conquer if they could Mount Celestia is a promise of betterment and ultimate union with the powers of good and law for those worthy. So supplicants of every snipe ascend the layers, one after the other, to the ultimate height of the Heavenly City, and from thence into the Illuminated Heaven.
Bahamut, lord of kindly dragons, resides on Celestia, as well as Heironeous, the god of valor, Moradin, the lord of dwarves; and Yondalla, the goddess of halflings.
Celestia Link
The only way to reach Celestia is by entering its first and lowest layer, Lunia, also called the Silver Sea. Visitors always find themselves in the surf of an ocean surrounding Mount Celestia. Very few portals from other planes lead anywhere on Celestia other than to the Silver Sea. A sequence of portals connects Celestia's seven layers. Each portal to a higher layer sits at the highest physical point of the next lower layer. Moving through the layers is one and the same as ascending Mount Celestia.But what makes ascending Mount Celestia more than just a matter of climbing is that each layer has many paths leading to the next layer. Only those who have found some truth regarding law and goodness can find the path.
Thus, attaining the pinnacle involves a series of trials during which the supplicant is slowly washed of ideals that do not conform to the plane. However, there are rumored to be nonspiritual shortcuts for the traveler who knows where to look or whom to talk to.
Celestia Inhabitants
Celestia is home to many creatures of good, such as aasimars, devas, planetars, and solars. In addition, several groups of good-aligned natives of the Material Plane have set up residence on the lowest slope, along the beach of the Silver Sea.Celestia's primary residents, the archons, are to Celestia what the devils are to the Nine Hells: natives of the plane and purveyors of its ideals. Archons come in many types; most common are lantern archons, hound archons, and trumpet archons.
Most petitioners of Celestia are lantern archons. More so than most petitioners on other planes, they are graced with both knowledge and power. Every petitioner's goal is to ascend through the layers of Mount Celestia and evolve into a more glorious archon type. Other archons treat lantern archons like children, forgiving their errors and guiding them onto paths of virtue. Lantern archons appear as floating balls of light that glow like a torch.
Features of Mount Celestia
From the seashore at the bottom of the first layer to the heights of the seventh, paths wind up the many peaks, ridges, canyons, and passes of Mount Celestia. Somehow, every incline looks up to the next layer, which shines like the sun on the layer below. Each rift eventually leads down past arching waterfalls and rushing brooks to the Silver Sea. Even from many layers above, the ringing chimes of each wave breaking on the shore of Lunia are faintly, reassuringly audible.Lunia
The first and lowest layer of Celestia is also called the Silver Heaven. Portals from other planes connect to Lunia at the edge of the wine-dark Silver Sea, a vast gulf of holy water. The Silver Sea is salt-free and contains all manner of aquatic life, from tiny schools of silvery fishes to leviathans moving in the depths. Lunia's sky is dark but filled with silvery stars bright enough to illuminate the shore of the Silver Sea where it runs up against the base of the mountain. The shore is dotted with citadels and redoubts of polished white stone of various architecture and inhabitants. Many are open to trade from sea elves from the Material Plane.Castle Mahlhevik: The wonders of Lunia offer much, even for a chaotic evil wizard committed to learning the paths of goodness. Calling in favors from various demideities and revealing his sincerity to highly placed archons, the wizard Mahlhevik built his castle on the shore of the Silver Sea in peace. While he's sincerely attempting to reform, he's got a long way to go, and retains many instincts and notions of his former lifestyle.
Mahlhevik welcomes visitors and allows travelers of any alignment to stay in Castle Mahlhevik. Some of Mahlhevik's “old friends” such as Sytris, once called the Soul Reaver, and Japheth, formerly known as Lifeleech, visit from time to time. Arriving onto the plane waist deep in the holy water of the Silver Sea has a way of scarring and frightening away Mahlhevik's old friends, so they don't visit often. Interesting trades and even more interesting stories can be had at Mahlhevik's castle, and travelers who don't want to deal directly with archons regard it a good place to stay.
Mercuria
The second layer of Celestia is also called the Golden Heaven. It is a place of thin air and high hopes, where golden light suffuses everything. Here, the slopes are tame, the valleys lush, and the streams fast-running. Plateaus and passes provide spaces for small settlements of archons and other goodly beings.Great tombs and wondrous mausoleums on Mercuria grant eternal rest to the noblest of fighters. Here, the inhabitants of Celestia honor their deeds during an annual Day of Memory.
Bahamut's Palace: This glittering wonder is built entirely from the treasure hoard of Bahamut the Platinum Dragon, ruler of good dragons and a paragon of wisdom, knowledge, prophecies, and song. The palace's windows are gemstones in settings of gold and silver, its walls are inlaid with copper and jade, and its floors are beaten mithral. Within, seven great wyrms attend Bahamut amid treasure gathered over eons—and the bones of a thousand failed thieves.
Bahamut's Palace moves among the first four layers of Celestia at Bahamut's will, carried aloft by a whirlwind. For travelers friendly to the Platinum Dragon, the palace offers an alternative method for traveling Celestia without using the paths.
Venya
The third layer of Celestia is also called the Pearly Heaven. The slopes of Venya are old, rounded, and occasionally laced with snow. The brooks run warm and clear, though ice often forms on the banks in winter. Terraced fields and carefully tended woodlands are common sights on the slopes.The Glass Tarn: This mountain lake of icy water is nestled in a bowl-shaped valley between three peaks, fed by the runoff from a glacier of blue ice high above. When a believer throws something truly important and valuable into the tarn as an offering, a light rushes up from the incomprehensible depths. When the light reaches the surface, it takes the form of a prophecy featuring the supplicant-or a powerful archon to deal with the intruder if the offering was not sincere.
Green Fields: Here crops never fail, the weather is always mild, and plentiful harvests are a blessing. This is the realm of the halfling deity Yondalla, and that means comfort. The realm is a combination of burrowed households, small rustic buildings, and endless fields. No large predators live in the Green Fields; moles, rabbits, and badgers are common.
Solania
The fourth layer of Celestia is also called the Crystal Heaven. A sky that shines with the glow of burnished silver hangs above the quiet slopes of Solania. Luminescent fogs and invigorating scents shroud the valleys.Many of the slopes hold mighty glaciers above, and they remain rich in ore and precious minerals below. Solania's peaks are home to monasteries, cathedrals, and other holy shrines. Often, these structures are the destinations of interplanar pilgrims seeking answers to questions of creation, toil, and love.
Erackinor: The slopes of Solania are deeply tunneled with a vast dwarven mansion called Erackinor. None but dwarves and dwarven petitioners are allowed within. Those who enter and return speak in hushed tones of stonework and craftsmanship that far surpasses anything a dwarf might have seen on the Material Plane.
When Moradin fires up the deep Soul Forges below the roots of Mount Celestia, all the halls rush with the noise of the bellows. Dwarven clerics say Moradin uses the Soul Forges to temper the spirits of his people and their weapons. The forges may have other uses as well.
The armories of Erackinor are second to none, and the combat-veteran dwarves and dwarven petitioners that fill Erackinor's halls make the mansion nigh impregnable.
Mertion
The fifth layer of Celestia is also called the Platinum Heaven. The slopes of Mertion are gentle, leveling off in great, sweeping plains dominated by citadels and domes. The citadels of Mertion are marshaling grounds for paladins, celestials, and other creatures of good and law.Empyrea: Also called the City of Tempered Souls, Empyrea sits on the edge of a cold, clear mountain lake. The many healing fountains and curative waters in Empyrea can restore withered limbs, lost speech, derangement, and life energy itself; those who ail need only find the right fountain. Empyrea is also known for its healers and hospitals, and many a pilgrim seeks to reach this legendary site of perfect health.
Jovar
The sixth layer of Celestia is also called the Glittering Heaven. The slopes are strewn with great rubies and garnets twinkling with light so beautiful that it steals the breath at first sight. Here, hosts of archons wander the gem fields, lost in contemplation of the glory of their previous lives.Yetsira, the Heavenly City: The Heavenly City is visible from everywhere on Jovar and from vantage points on lower levels. The city is a seven-layered ziggurat. An enormous staircase on each of its four faces connects the terraces. Gemstones of profound value make up every step and every stone on the ziggurat, and all glow with an inner light. Hosts of archons move up and down the stairs, but the structure is so massive that the steps never grow crowded.
On the lowest terrace sits the Exchequer of Souls, a black marble building of graceful arches and onion domes laced with threads of gold and silver. Here powerful archons weigh the virtues of lower archons, elevating the worthy to higher forms.
The Radiant Arsenal on the fourth terrace is a long, narrow building with a vaulted ceiling and extensive cellars. Here weapons both magic and mundane are stored to arm the archon hosts if necessary. The most important weapons are said to contain the essence of powerful archons. They reside in pearl-lined vaults sealed by deityscribed glyphs. The Bridge of al-Sihal on the seventh, highest terrace is a beam of blinding light. This is the portal to the seventh heaven, Chronias, and it is guarded by a solar named Xerona who turns aside the unworthy.
Chronias The seventh layer of Celestia is also called the Illuminated Heaven. Chronias is a mystery, though some say it is the mystery. Those few who achieve the Illuminated Heaven never return, so no account records Chronias' true aspect.
Tales say that those who enter have their inherent goodness magnified until their essence joins with Celestia itself. Or, if they harbor evil, their souls are extinguished and their existence is permanently erased from the multiverse.