NOTE: PLAYERS IN MY CAMPAIGN SHOULD NOT READ THIS. This includes Rod, Dave, Chuck, or anyone else who is on this list.
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This is an idea I came up with for my campaign. It is only half-baked, more a brain dump than anything else, but I thought I'd throw it out for comments. Please excuse the pseudo-purple prose in places.
Really what this is, is an excuse to use the new Manual of the Planes and allow travel to/from other campaign worlds, something my players seem extremely fond of. And it also provides some nifty epic plot hooks.
The True Nature of the Multiverse
by Mike HarveyIn the beginning, the multiverse was created by the Old Ones. None know where the Old Ones came from, or even what they were. The Old Ones also created gods to populate the multiverse and give it direction, and to both serve and judge the mortals. None know the Old Ones' purpose in all this. Some believe that universal truths are embodied in the very structure of the multiverse, while some believe that the multiverse only exists as an amusing diversion, and yet others say there are no Old Ones. Whatever the truth, if the Old Ones exist, they apparently are busy with more important things and only occasionally check in on the multiverse. It is said that when they drop in, the Old Ones may clothe themselves in avatars and take on mortal identities.
In the remote past, there were wars among the gods. One such god was Tharizdun, who enslaved or devoured many evil gods, until he was the most powerful of all the gods. Recognising the danger, the other gods united and defeated him and his slaves, imprisoning him in The Void.
There was an age of Light, in which good flourished and evil was weak. But the light passed, marked by great cataclysms on many worlds, and ushered in the present age of conflict and uncertainty.
It is prophesied that the current age will end in more upheavals, and an age of darkness shall arrive, when Tharizdun shall awaken and defeat the gods and rule supreme. Yet even the age of darkness shall have an end, and no prophecy tells what shall come after it.
When Tharizdun was defeated, the gods fashioned a dimensional prison to hold him sleeping, calling it The Void. But even as he slept, Tharizdun dreamed, and such was the malice and power of his dreams that a New Thing was created: the Sphere of Entropy. And from that sphere, a subtle corruption radiated out into the multiverse. In some places the corruption flowed strong and black, and pooled into new planes and dimensions. Of such was formed the Nightmare dimension, and the Domains of Dread, and the Abyss. And fragments of Tharizdun's personality took on the aspects of evil new godlings, who crept forth to corrupt and slay and devour. The lesser of these were the Baatezu and Tanaari, and the greater are like unto gods themselves.
Once again there was war in the heavens, as Tharizdun's dream-servants rose up against the good gods. At first Good had the ascendance, and easily defeated the darkness. But Tharizdun dreamed on, and evil was strengthened continuously, until Good was evenly matched, and evil gods sprang up to oppose the good, drawing from Tharizdun's dark power. Then the Good gods knew the futility of the war, and decided to cut Tharizdun off altogether from the multiverse, imprisoning him in the heart of a Vortex from which his evil could not escape.
Four of the mightiest good gods offered themselves up to create the Vortex. The gods would sleep as Tharizdun, opposing his dreams with their own. Four gods to oppose one, uniting their power under a single will: one god of Thought to direct and unite them, one god of Energy to provide the raw power of opposition, one god of Matter to lawfully constrain and direct the energy, and one god of Time, that the Vortex should endure through the aeons. The Vortex in configuration is like a vast storm which draws inwards to the heart, so powerful that nothing can escape its pull. From the outside it appears as a thing of utter blackness, and this black hole is known in the multiverse as The Void.
In creating the Vortex, the gods severed a portion of the multiverse -- the portion containing The Void in which Tharizdun slept -- and placed it within the Vortex. Or more accurately, they constructed the Vortex around it. The Vortex itself is neither plane nor dimension, but an unnatural anomaly within the fabric of the multiverse itself.
Thus it contains planes and dimensions, and is a small multiverse unto itself. Yet despite being a subset of the greater multiverse, the lesser multiverse within the Vortex is also infinite in scope.
Only the Old Ones understand how such things can be, and perhaps even they haven't figured it out.
The Vortex contains the power of five greater gods, if Tharizdun is included, and focuses all their power inwards. This power pools within the multiverse at the centre of the Vortex, and has created a phenomenon unknown in the multiverse outside: five spheres of raw power. Since the gods are sleeping, this power is undirected and may be drawn upon by those within.
Mystara, Old Alphatia, and many other worlds exist in the pocket-multiverse within the Vortex. At first this multiverse had no gods, since no gods wished to be trapped with Tharizdun, but the worlds did contain mortal life. This life grew and developed, subtly altered by the ambient energies, and developed into many intelligent races. Eventually, some mortals were able to tap into the Spheres and become immortal. These immortals learned to strengthen the spheres, and eventually developed power rivalling that of the gods outside.
But they could not pass through the vortex. Some entered the Vortex and were not seen again; perhaps they found a way to escape into the multiverse beyond, tapping into the energy of the Vortex itself in order to open a path. Perhaps those that escaped withered to become powerless souls, cut off from the Spheres, or perhaps they discovered a means to make the transition into true godhood.
Within the Vortex, history repeated itself. Tharizdun continued to dream, and his dreams created new immortal beings to threaten the new immortals, and his dreams also created the Nightmare dimension.
The Outer Beings are truly from outside. In the greater multiverse outside the Vortex, there was another war among the gods, and evil was again defeated. The defeated gods were so foul that they were cast into the Vortex, where they became trapped. They alone know the secret of the Vortex but do not wish to escape, for their enemies lie outside; rather, they covet the power of the spheres, plotting against the immortals, and wish to rule the Inner Multiverse as unchallenged masters.
Arik of the Hundred Eyes is not a true immortal; he is a powerful entity of pure malice dreamed by Tharizdun. In some sense, he is Tharizdun's unconscious avatar. He made war upon the Inner Multiverse. The immortals managed to defeat him, and imprisoned him... but he is not asleep, and seeks escape through his "eyes". His intentions are unclear, but they are certainly malevolent. If Arik were to learn the true nature of the Vortex from the Outer Beings, he may attempt to destroy it, freeing Tharizdun; not only would this be cosmically bad, but the raw forces could damage the Inner Multiverse.
Of course, maybe this is the meaning of the Dark Prophecy.
Some gods of the Outer Multiverse may have found a way to send an avatar into the Vortex; the avatar could not escape, but might function as the eyes and ears of the god. Perhaps beings such as Thor or Orcus might do so. An evil god may be seeking ways to tap the immense power of the Spheres, while other gods may wish to monitor Tharizdun's prison.