Gateways to the Planes

Planes of Nycos

Personae are born into a fantastic realm that manifests incomparable magic and marvel. Monsters, Mayhem, Magic, and Might are discoverable in environs from polar to equatorial. It is the beginning, the alpha, the plane and place that birthed it all. There are seven other planes of existence, that can be as close as the next doorway or dream, or as far away as the deepest shadow or the last thing you forgot.   In Nycos, the passages and crosspoints to the other planes can be experienced as physically natural occurrences where the planes intersect or are constructed by a variety of powers for a virtually infinite set of reasons and intentions.  

Natural Formations

Those of natural occurrence can be found deep in caverns or behind waterfalls and usually have particularly venturesome beings from the plane beyond living there and protecting its natural clime from the interlopers, or opportunistically consuming or otherwise taking advantage of those who would pass through. As these are often undiscovered for untold centuries, the dimensional leakage from one side to another is rare and usually short-lived, for the planes are truly alien one to the other (with a few exceptions) and thus are in effect toxic to one another. Theoretically, these natural passageways might even lead to cross-pollination over the millennia, one realm bleeding over into another within these ellipses of supernatural similarities. For Nycos - each of the Otherwhere loca is identifiable when looking at a natural formation by the color of the misty cascade emitted by the Portal. Some portals, in fact, are from one place on Nycos to another, and the life that is Nycos, in all its myriad forms leads the color cavalcade... so, here is the common coloration experienced on Nycos:

Otherwhere Destination	Manifestation Color	Characteristic
Everdark	Deep Purple	Natural Cavern
Crossroads	Burnt Orange	Lonesome Road or Pathway,
Aethyr	Powder Blue	Horizontal Portal
Asomatum	Fuscia	Dreams and Visions
Fae	Deep Green	Ring of Seed or Stone
Penumbra	Gray	Deeply Shaded
Oblivion	White	Irregular Misty place

Constructed or Improved Natural formations Where the weaknesses occur in populated areas, the contact points are usually quickly enshrined as places of power unexploited for centuries, even sometimes regarded as sources of perhaps religious value as a seer or wisdom source. In the cases where the two are coincidental, it is possible that they become virtual communication centers, where the Voices of the place are worshipped, or, just as possibly, marked as cursed and feared. In the former case, their existence is lauded and revered; in the latter, barriers and locks are usually developed to prevent crossover. Even in the most extreme case, the actual transition is fraught with physical and psychological dangers, and only the hardiest of Cadre members or bands of Persona will make the effort. in all cases where there has been an improvement on the Nycos side, the loca manifest as a simple doorway as it is the easiest way a Nycosian can comprehend them - the mind just rebuilds it in that shape for interaction. Further, the persons who have created the actual doors (or barriers) manifest the same color convention, allowing a trace of the planar energy to flow through the crystal doorknobs. (Vision mechanisms like Eyes of Cabaal reveal them to be the same thing as the natural versions superimposed over the Door mnemonic). The door serves also to differentiate for the viewer the "locked" or "Unlocked" version... manifesting a swing-arm bar if locked to passing, no such bar if open. As Nycos is the place of origination for the majority of Persona, it has the widest accessibility to the skills of career and occupation.