Difference between revisions of "Liber Demonica (3.5e Sourcebook)/LD1"

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== The Origins of the Abyss ==
 
== The Origins of the Abyss ==
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The origins of the Abyss, like the origins of all the planes, are something of a mystery that no-one has been able to adequately solve. Even the gods are silent on the topic when questioned, as many of them ascended long after the present structure of the planes had been established. While some powerful (and mildly insane) necromancers have tried asking the corpses of deities on the Astral Plane questions about the origins of the planes, and of the Abyss in particular, they have never found anything satisfactory (or, at least, nothing intelligible). It has been left largely to highly-experienced demonologists (who are individuals of questionable motive anyway) to make some sense out of the history of the Abyss, and the fragments they have gathered, when pieced together, retain some consistency.
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The oldest time any being questioned recalls is named No Time. During this time, there was no meaning of 'now' and 'then', nor of 'here' or 'there'. Everything was awash with every possibility, and nothing ever remained fixed for long. Some of the deepest areas of Limbo are the closest approximation of such a thing anyone can locate now, but even they are bound to ''some'' laws of space and time, whereas No Time was not bound by any laws whatsoever. The true nature of such a thing would be so alien as to render any creature that currently exist irrevocably damaged, but at the time, this was the norm of the multiverse. The planes had not been separated yet, and energies and beings that governed them were not formed yet.
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All this changed with the coming of Paradox. Believed to be a cosmic accident, this entity, now known as the Paragon of Time, was the first to try and impose some order on Not Time. Fearing for the end of his existence, Paradox saw that, as long as time was not kept flowing in a steady and predictable direction, nothing could ever be assured of continued existence. Paradox had also been born with the gift of arcane magic - the ability to affect his environment with his will alone. By imposing his will on Not Time, he forced time to flow in only a single direction, and with that established concepts such as causality, the passage of time, age, and ultimately, entropy. Entropy was a vital part of this, as it gave 'time' meaning as such. Everything from now on, even Paradox himself, would ultimately move towards an end - of everything, forever. Whether Paradox realised this or not is not known - surely no entity would ever wish to truly end everything? At the same time, this was the consequence of the ordering of time - that eventually, no matter how far in the future, everything would end, forever.
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 +
With this action, something was taken from Not Time - the ability for time to flow freely. Although Paradox had left in some possibility of lateral movement through time, he had put strict conditions on its use, and set himself up as its protector against those who would try to tinker with it excessively. As a result of this, for the first time, parts of Not Time became different to each other - marked by their flow of time. As Not Time was bounded, this meant that some parts lost their potential for faster, or more unusual, time, and instead were left with less of it - or perhaps, none at all. It was this effect that ultimately led to the creation of the Abyss.
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Not long after Paradox came the First Ones. These are believed to be the gigantic dead bodies that float in the Astral Plane, and these, like Paradox, saw something about the multiverse that they wanted to change. Some wanted to impose additional rules, like mortality, or bounded energy, or landmasses, while others were more concerned with arranging the work of others, by bringing together like and like. These First Ones kept moving different sections of the multiverse around, and are believed to be the original creators of the planar structure and many of the rules that govern it today. However, just as Paradox had changed the multiverse by transferring something away from something else, so did these beings do the same. This left some parts of the multiverse barren, with little remaining, while others became bountiful and empowered. The First Ones that gathered like with like, establishing the universal principle of sympathy, naturally saw fit to combine such barren areas together, creating large planes of emptiness, darkness and horror, where none of them saw fit to go. These planar wastelands were largely left alone, and grew larger and larger as the First Ones sucked out more and more of the essence of the multiverse and concentrated it in their chosen domains.
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 +
All of this changed with the coming of the Un-Beings and Nega-Beings. Stepping from these planar wastelands, these beings were the perfect antithesis to creation, representing both the final end that Paradox had placed as a vital part of the universe, and also drawing power from everything the First Ones had left behind - all the emptiness, loss and darkness that they chose to leave behind in the huge planar wastelands that remained. They too sought everything that the First Ones had, but unlike the massive power to create and rearrange that the First Ones possessed, the Un-Beings and Nega-Beings could only take or destroy. Where they went, the planar wastelands grew, being sucked dry of their essence, returning it to the wastelands. However, the energy, once concentrated, instead became dispersed, making the whole wasteland only slightly less harsh in return for the toppling down of the First Ones' pleasure palaces, gardens and lifeforms.
 +
 +
War between the First Ones and these newcomers was completely inevitable. This conflict, which bears no name, was the last of its type, as it led to even more unforeseen outcomes, each more terrifying than the last. With each destroyed Un-Being or Nega-Being, a stranger wasteland came about - one where Not Time was both possible and impossible at once, a place which both existed and didn't exist, which became the Far Realm. Each destroyed First One created another floating corpse on the Astral Plane, but also took back much of their essence, feeding their destroyers and giving them additional form and power. It is believed that Paradox himself was almost destroyed, which would have meant the unmaking of time itself, but he chose to take his present form instead of destruction, which explains his unformed absence today. In the end, the First Ones created one final, cosmic rule, which bound all the Un-Beings and Nega-Beings, but took their own existences to fuel. All of them - First One, Un-Being or Nega-Being regardless - were removed forever from the multiverse.
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All, that is, but one.
  
 
== The Obyrith ==
 
== The Obyrith ==

Revision as of 20:51, 6 December 2010

Chapter 1: Tales of the Abyss

The demons, and their home, are the subject of many legends and stories, and few of them have any consistency or even sanity to them. However, some common ground does emerge from the ravings of the loremasters who make the study of this place their life's work, and these commonalities, ripped screaming (at times, literally) from their works and libraries are listed here.

The Origins of the Abyss

The origins of the Abyss, like the origins of all the planes, are something of a mystery that no-one has been able to adequately solve. Even the gods are silent on the topic when questioned, as many of them ascended long after the present structure of the planes had been established. While some powerful (and mildly insane) necromancers have tried asking the corpses of deities on the Astral Plane questions about the origins of the planes, and of the Abyss in particular, they have never found anything satisfactory (or, at least, nothing intelligible). It has been left largely to highly-experienced demonologists (who are individuals of questionable motive anyway) to make some sense out of the history of the Abyss, and the fragments they have gathered, when pieced together, retain some consistency.

The oldest time any being questioned recalls is named No Time. During this time, there was no meaning of 'now' and 'then', nor of 'here' or 'there'. Everything was awash with every possibility, and nothing ever remained fixed for long. Some of the deepest areas of Limbo are the closest approximation of such a thing anyone can locate now, but even they are bound to some laws of space and time, whereas No Time was not bound by any laws whatsoever. The true nature of such a thing would be so alien as to render any creature that currently exist irrevocably damaged, but at the time, this was the norm of the multiverse. The planes had not been separated yet, and energies and beings that governed them were not formed yet.

All this changed with the coming of Paradox. Believed to be a cosmic accident, this entity, now known as the Paragon of Time, was the first to try and impose some order on Not Time. Fearing for the end of his existence, Paradox saw that, as long as time was not kept flowing in a steady and predictable direction, nothing could ever be assured of continued existence. Paradox had also been born with the gift of arcane magic - the ability to affect his environment with his will alone. By imposing his will on Not Time, he forced time to flow in only a single direction, and with that established concepts such as causality, the passage of time, age, and ultimately, entropy. Entropy was a vital part of this, as it gave 'time' meaning as such. Everything from now on, even Paradox himself, would ultimately move towards an end - of everything, forever. Whether Paradox realised this or not is not known - surely no entity would ever wish to truly end everything? At the same time, this was the consequence of the ordering of time - that eventually, no matter how far in the future, everything would end, forever.

With this action, something was taken from Not Time - the ability for time to flow freely. Although Paradox had left in some possibility of lateral movement through time, he had put strict conditions on its use, and set himself up as its protector against those who would try to tinker with it excessively. As a result of this, for the first time, parts of Not Time became different to each other - marked by their flow of time. As Not Time was bounded, this meant that some parts lost their potential for faster, or more unusual, time, and instead were left with less of it - or perhaps, none at all. It was this effect that ultimately led to the creation of the Abyss.

Not long after Paradox came the First Ones. These are believed to be the gigantic dead bodies that float in the Astral Plane, and these, like Paradox, saw something about the multiverse that they wanted to change. Some wanted to impose additional rules, like mortality, or bounded energy, or landmasses, while others were more concerned with arranging the work of others, by bringing together like and like. These First Ones kept moving different sections of the multiverse around, and are believed to be the original creators of the planar structure and many of the rules that govern it today. However, just as Paradox had changed the multiverse by transferring something away from something else, so did these beings do the same. This left some parts of the multiverse barren, with little remaining, while others became bountiful and empowered. The First Ones that gathered like with like, establishing the universal principle of sympathy, naturally saw fit to combine such barren areas together, creating large planes of emptiness, darkness and horror, where none of them saw fit to go. These planar wastelands were largely left alone, and grew larger and larger as the First Ones sucked out more and more of the essence of the multiverse and concentrated it in their chosen domains.

All of this changed with the coming of the Un-Beings and Nega-Beings. Stepping from these planar wastelands, these beings were the perfect antithesis to creation, representing both the final end that Paradox had placed as a vital part of the universe, and also drawing power from everything the First Ones had left behind - all the emptiness, loss and darkness that they chose to leave behind in the huge planar wastelands that remained. They too sought everything that the First Ones had, but unlike the massive power to create and rearrange that the First Ones possessed, the Un-Beings and Nega-Beings could only take or destroy. Where they went, the planar wastelands grew, being sucked dry of their essence, returning it to the wastelands. However, the energy, once concentrated, instead became dispersed, making the whole wasteland only slightly less harsh in return for the toppling down of the First Ones' pleasure palaces, gardens and lifeforms.

War between the First Ones and these newcomers was completely inevitable. This conflict, which bears no name, was the last of its type, as it led to even more unforeseen outcomes, each more terrifying than the last. With each destroyed Un-Being or Nega-Being, a stranger wasteland came about - one where Not Time was both possible and impossible at once, a place which both existed and didn't exist, which became the Far Realm. Each destroyed First One created another floating corpse on the Astral Plane, but also took back much of their essence, feeding their destroyers and giving them additional form and power. It is believed that Paradox himself was almost destroyed, which would have meant the unmaking of time itself, but he chose to take his present form instead of destruction, which explains his unformed absence today. In the end, the First Ones created one final, cosmic rule, which bound all the Un-Beings and Nega-Beings, but took their own existences to fuel. All of them - First One, Un-Being or Nega-Being regardless - were removed forever from the multiverse.

All, that is, but one.

The Obyrith

The Tanar'ri

The Birth of the Material Plane

The Separation

The Eternal War


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