Norden
The Plane of Norden is an artificial world, one of a group of 7 hourglass-shaped worlds created by a mysterious elder race of "dreamers".
Norden is circular and arranged in three layers, like a wedding cake. The levels are connected by sheer cliffs ½ mile high. There are stone stairs at irregular intervals.
The outer, lowest level of the plane is a swampy plain hundreds of miles across, relatively deserted except for a few cattle herders ekeing a living in the difficult conditions.
The second level is a smaller plain, fertile and grassy with farms and villages.
The third level is a walled city on a hill surrounded by a moat, leading up to a central tower that supports the sky which arches down, glassy and blue, to meet the earth at the centre of the world.
Half of the plane is daylight, and the other half night, and the line of dawn/dusk slowly turns once a day, pivoting on the central tower. North is always towards the centre of the world.
Magical flying is forbidden, and lightning strikes repeatedly at those who try, though ordinary birds are unaffected.
The plane of Norden is populated entirely by humans though the world is relatively under-populated due to various (un)natural disasters over the past 100 years or so.
A number of portals exist, dotted around all three levels, allowing freely-available instant teleportation to any other portal in the network.
There is a fair amount of commerce with the other 6 planes which are also accessible through the portal network. These other planes have the same basic shape and world-mechanics, but different terrains:
Outside of the other 6 sister-planes, there was little contact with other planes of existence until Lord Arondel, then the ruler of Norden, hired a party of adventurers to help him regain control of his world. Arondel has since retired and handed over the running of Norden to his successor, Lord Sarn.
During investigations an eighth, "linchpin" world was discovered:
- Alleshim (spelled Allusin in some sources).
See scribe notes:
- Return to Norden (Spring '98)
- Return to Sudar (Spring '99)
And Issue 25 of the Seagate Times, pages 4-5.
