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The World Tree cosmology model was introduced to the Forgotten Realms with third edition D&D and offered little in the way of continuity with the Great Wheel cosmology model used in first and second editions. In the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition, players learned of the treelike shape of the multiverse and an almost completely new set of Outer Planes with no reason, explanation, or calamitous event given for the change&mdash;effectively retconning the entire cosmology. In game time, third edition FR began in 1372 DR, the Year of Wild Magic, and lasted until fourth edition which began in 1479 DR, the Year of the Ageless One. However the World Tree cosmological model was invalidated by the Spellplague in 1385 DR and the decade that followed, during which the Elemental Planes collapsed into the Elemental Chaos, the Ethereal Plane and World Tree were destroyed, and the Outer Planes that survived became drifting dominions in the Astral Sea as described by the World Tree model's successor, the World Axis cosmology model.

Basic Structure
The Inner Planes, also known as the Elemental Planes plus the Energy Planes, made the transition from Great Wheel model to World Tree model almost intact. The major difference being that they were connected to the Prime Material Plane via the Astral Plane instead of the Ethereal Plane. The Outer Planes underwent extensive rearrangement, increasing in number from seventeen to twenty one (in third edition) to twenty six (in 3.5 edition, see ), and severing nearly all interplanar connections except those to the Prime. Thus the connection map could be said to resemble a tree, with the Prime Material Plane being the trunk with roots "descending" to the Inner Planes and branches "ascending" to the Outer Planes. No longer arranged strictly by alignment, the Outer Planes were grouped into three categories based on being predominantly Good, Neutral, or Evil, regardless of the influences of Law or Chaos. The three categories were the Celestial Planes (good), Neutral Planes (neutral or unaligned), and the Fiendish Planes (evil).

Two more planes were added that also connected to all the Outer Planes: Cynosure and the Fugue Plane. Only deities could pass through the astral portals from their realms to Cynosure and back to their home plane. The Fugue Plane was where the souls and spirits of the dead congregated, awaiting judgment or transport to the domain of their primary deity. Only divine, demonic, or devilish servants of the gods could use the portal from their realm to the Fugue Plane for the purpose of guiding, stealing, or bargaining with souls to take them back to their eternal reward.

The Plane of Shadow was upgraded from a demiplane to be coexistent with the Prime Material Plane, touching it at all points just like the Ethereal Plane, allowing rapid travel between distant destinations on the Prime. It was believed that the Shadow Plane also connected the Prime to other Material Planes such as Oerth for example.

An adventurer's journey to another plane of existence was typically accomplished by means of an astral projection, plane shift, or gate spell. Astral projection was considered the safest mode of exploring because your physical body was left behind in a (hopefully) protected location while your astral self traveled through the mostly barren Astral Plane to a color pool that was the door to your destination. Upon arrival a new physical body was formed out of the materials of the destination plane and this new body was therefore immune to any pervasive environmental hazards. (On the Elemental Plane of Fire a body might be formed out of elemental fire, magma, and brimstone, for example.) In contrast, gate and plane shift transported your body and possessions directly into possible peril.

Travel between one Inner or Outer Plane and another without passing through the Material Plane was either difficult and dangerous or impossible without involving the mercurial gods and their servants. Deities could maintain astral portals between their realms and those of other agreeable powers, but these were usually not for mortals to use. Two cross-planar features existed that could be used to journey between some of the Outer Planes. First was the World Tree itself, a sentient "tree" on a cosmic scale that joined all of the Celestial Planes together, much like Yggdrasil the World Ash connected Gladsheim to Hades in the Great Wheel cosmology model. The World Tree did not tolerate intruders unless they had a good and noble reason for using it as a celestial shortcut. The other feature was the River of Blood which coursed through all the Fiendish Planes except for the Supreme Throne and the Demonweb Pits in a fashion similar to the river Styx which flowed through all of the Lower Planes in the Great Wheel model. All manner of evil creatures swam in the river, lurked on the banks, piloted craft on the surface, or patrolled the skies above the River of Blood looking to catch anyone brave or foolish enough to navigate the deceptively smooth waters. And just like the Styx, any mortal immersed in the river immediately lost all memories.

Outer Planes
The terms Inner and Outer Planes originated with the Great Wheel cosmology model when the structure of the cosmos was seen as a series of somewhat concentric spheres and the names continued to be used in the World Tree model. The Outer Planes were divided into three distinct groups mainly based on the Good, Evil, or Neutral alignment of their inhabitants. Some of the Outer Planes had multiple layers that were coterminous with their neighboring layers, usually at very high or very low elevations giving the impression that they were stacked like tiers. The Astral Plane connected to all layers of a plane if there was more than one (however, see House of the Triad and Nine Hells below), whereas the plane shift spell always targeted the first layer of the destination plane.

Celestial Planes
The Celestial Planes were the home of deities and beings that were fundamentally Good in nature, word, and deed. Each of the Celestial Planes were connected to the Prime Material Plane by a branch of the Astral Plane. Additionally, each of them was coterminous with at least one "neighbor" via the World Tree, which could be used as a "back staircase" with the Tree's permission or tolerance. The roots reached into Arvandor and Dwarfhome from the trunk which touched Brightwater, the Golden Hills, and the House of Knowledge. Extending from the trunk were branches to Dweomerheart, the House of the Triad and Green Fields with the top of the Tree terminating in the Gates of the Moon.


 * Arvandor
 * Formerly known as Olympus in the Great Wheel model, Arvandor was the home of the Seldarine and their cousin drow goddess Eilistraee before her death. Arvandor was filled with natural beauty: a druid's paradise. Known portals included passages to Brightwater, Dragon Eyrie, the House of Nature, and the Gates of the Moon.


 * Brightwater
 * Brightwater was the home plane of Lliira, Sharess, Sune, Tymora and Waukeen. Similar in beauty to Arvandor but less wild and more gentrified, Brightwater was a thriving community full of revelry and rollicking fun. Connections were known to exist between this plane and Arvandor, Green Fields, and Heliopolis.


 * Dwarfhome
 * Dwarfhome was the home of the Morndinsamman, except for the exiled Deep Duerra and Laduguer. Dwarfhome consisted of one mountain big enough to swallow worlds and a smaller second peak called Mount Clangeddin, both of which were full of industrious activity, expert craftsmanship, and astounding artistry. No portals were known to exist on this plane.


 * Dweomerheart
 * A beautiful city with structures only magic could create, Dweomerheart sat on the highest plateau above a warren of caves, caverns, and more plateaus, appearing like a shining university for the study of magic. Mystra and Azuth, as well as their subordinates Savras and Velsharoon, made their home here. No known portals to this plane existed, requiring visitors to travel astrally or successfully placate the World Tree for passage.


 * Gates of the Moon
 * Selûne was the primary resident of this plane at the top of the World Tree, along with Finder Wyvernspur and Shaundakul. A sea of iridescent water surrounded a stony island mountain topped by Selûne's silver palace, all bathed in perpetual moonlight. One portal to Arvandor was kept here by some eladrin but no others were known. However, the mysterious Infinite Staircase would appear during the full moon and was rumored to connect Selûne's realm to every city on every plane.


 * Golden Hills
 * Seven bucolic hills formed this plane, each one the home of a member of the gnomish pantheon. The only member not present was Urdlen who was allowed to live in Hammergrim. Everything on this plane was either a golden hue or tinted, highlighted, adorned, trimmed, or plated with gold. The only known portal in the Golden Hills connected to Gond's realm in the House of Knowledge.


 * Green Fields
 * Very similar to the Golden Hills except more natural colors and cultivated fields, this plane belonged to the halfling pantheon who mostly shared the plane rather than carve out personal realms. The plane of Green Fields was a rural paradise of small, non-permanent settlements where the inhabitants alternated hard work with enjoying the fruits of their labor. Somewhere on this plane was a portal to Tymora's realm in Brightwater.


 * House of Knowledge
 * Oghma, Gond, Milil, and Deneir shared this plane, with its ancient oak forests and spring-fed pools occasionally interrupted by buildings which formed the Library of All Knowledge. In these buildings were the records of every field of academic study: spells and magic items, songs and music, science and alchemy, history and prophecy, writing and language. The only known portal to and from this plane was held by Gond and it connected his workshop to Flandal Steelskin's realm in the Golden Hills.


 * House of the Triad
 * This plane was composed mainly of three large mountains surrounding a central gigantic mountain called Celestia. (See ) Mount Celestia had seven layers, each connected by portal from the highest point of one layer to the lowest point of the next higher layer. Only the lowest layer of Celestia was accessible from elsewhere on this plane or the Astral Plane. The gods Ilmater, Torm, and Tyr each had a realm atop one of the lesser mountains while Helm and Siamorphe maintained realms around the bases of the four peaks. No portals to or from the House of the Triad were known to exist but all color pools and temporary gates were guarded by Helm's watchtower and a powerful guardian. Bahamut had a palace made of gems and precious metals that wandered about the lower layers of Celestia. After the Spellplague, Celestia and its surrounding peaks were set adrift in the Astral Sea.

Fiendish Planes
Deities and entities of the Evil persuasion inhabited the set of planes known as the Fiendish Planes. Separate branches of the Astral Plane connected each of them to the Prime Material Plane and most of them were also coterminous with one or two neighbors via the River of Blood, the only exceptions were the Demonweb Pits and the Supreme Throne. The River of Blood was thought to originate in the Abyss and flow in order through Blood Rift, the Nine Hells, the Barrens of Doom and Despair, Clangor, Fury's Heart, Hammergrim, Nishrek, and the Deep Caverns before cascading into the Fated Depths.


 * The Abyss
 * More layers than all the other planes combined, the Abyss was practically a universe of chaos and evil unto itself, overflowing with endless hordes of demons ruled by tyrannical demon lords. Every type of landscape and climate imaginable could be found here, as long as it was tainted, touched, or tortured by evil. Visitors arriving via the Astral Plane could enter any layer and portals did exist between the various layers but they were neither constant nor consistent. The shifting nature of this plane brought new layers in conjunction with the River of Blood, so travel by boat was also different each time. Known portals existed between the Abyss and the Barrens of Doom and Despair, Clangor, the Demonweb Pits, the Fugue Plane, and Hammergrim. Intermittent connections also existed to the Fated Depths and Deep Caverns.


 * The Barrens of Doom and Despair
 * Just as the name implies, this plane was nothing but deserts of various sorts, from sandy wastes to rocky badlands to diseased swamps to icy tundras&mdash;vast expanses of terrain inimical to life, under a sunless red sky hidden behind black clouds. The only landmarks to break the monotony were the River of Blood and the rare tower or citadel marking the realm of Bane, Beshaba, Hoar, Loviatar, or Talona. Portals existed to Hammergrim and the Abyss and occasionally the Blood Rift would connect to this plane allowing the combatants of the Blood War to escape or pursue each other across the border.


 * The Blood Rift
 * The Blood Rift, recently merged with the Abyss, was home of the yugoloths, renegade demons who eventually reunited with their brethren in the Abyss sometime in the Hundred Years of Chaos. The Blood Rift lay slightly below and to the left of the Abyss, while sitting above the Nine Hells.


 * Clangor
 * The home of the goblinoid and kobold deities, Clangor was eventually dissolved by Bane after his conquest of the goblinoid pantheon. Before this it lay below the Barrens of Doom and Despair and above both Fury's Heart and the Supreme Throne.


 * The Deep Caverns
 * Later known as the Dismal Caverns, the Deep Caverns were home to those beings worshiped by denizens of the Underdark that did not reside within the Demonweb Pits, including some members of the Dark Seldarine. The Deep Caverns lay above the Fated Depths and below both the Demonweb Pits and Nishrek.


 * The Demonweb Pits
 * Home of Lolth and most of the drow pantheon. Shortly before the Spellplague the Demonweb Pits were actually located deep within the Abyss but during the War of the Spider Queen Lolth reforged it as its own, independent plane, below Hammergrim, to the left of Nishrek, and above the Deep Caverns. Unlike in most fiendish planes, the River Styx did not flow through the Demonweb Pits, which were separated from the other fiendish planes except for the Abyss, with which it maintained several portals.


 * The Fated Depths
 * The home of Sekolah and Blibdoolpoolp, the Fated Depths were located below the Deep Caverns, at the very "bottom" of the fiendish planes, through which the River Styx emptied.


 * Fury's Heart
 * Fury's Heart was the home of the destructive deities Auril, Malar, Talos, and Umberlee, located below Clangor and the Supreme Throne but above Hammergrim. After the Spellplague it merged with the House of Nature to form the Deep Wilds, except for Talos' portion, which the aspect of Gruumsh took with him to Nishrek.


 * Hammergrim
 * Home of the duergar deities Deep Duerra and Laduguer, Hammergrim was eventually wiped out by the Morndinsamman in a war shortly before the Spellplague. Prior to this, Hammergrim lay below Fury's Heart and above both Nishrek and the Demonweb Pits.


 * The Nine Hells
 * The Nine Hells, as in the years after the Spellplague, were the home of the devils, ruled over by Asmodeus, who at the time was an archdevil rather than a true god. At the time the Nine Hells resided below the flaming ruins of the Abyss as well as the Blood Rift, while above the Barrens of Doom and Despair, with which it maintained several portals.


 * Nishrek
 * As it is currently, Nishrek was the home plane of the orc pantheon, ruled over by Gruumsh. Before the Spellplague it lay below Hammergrim, above the Deep Caverns, and to the "right" of the Demonweb Pits.


 * The Supreme Throne
 * The home plane of Cyric, though prior to his ascension during the Time of Troubles the plane still existed, presumably under a different name, where it was ruled over by slaadi. Although the Supreme Throne was later sealed off as punishment for Cyric's murder of Mystra, the Supreme Throne at this time was open to visitors, though it, like the Demonweb Pits, lay outside the path of the River Styx, below Clangor and above Fury's Heart.

Unaligned Planes
Not all of the planes located in the upper branches of the World Tree were composed of celestial or fiendish essences. Nor were these planes wholly aligned either with the forces of good or evil, often serving as the homes of creatures on both sides of the battle between good and evil. Located between the fiendish planes and the celestial planes the unaligned or neutral planes held no allegiances to neither of the former two nor even to each other. Most of the unaligned planes that survived the Spellplague remained in the Astral Sea while others fell into the Elemental Chaos, such as Jotunheim.

The known unaligned planes located in the World Tree's upper branches were as follow.


 * Dragon Eyrie
 * The home of the draconic pantheon prior to the Spellplague, the Dragon Eyrie collapsed during the Spellplague, with Tiamat migrating to Banehold and Bahamut to Celestia, with the fates of the other gods left unknown. Dragon Eyrie was located at the "top" of the neutral planes, above Heliopolis, and maintained portals to Arvandor, Heliopolis, and the Nine Hells.


 * Heliopolis
 * Heliopolis was the home of the Mulhorandi pantheon, who vanished without a trace after the Spellplague, possibly into Abeir's cosmological twin to the local cosmology. Tiamat also resided here, as well as in the Nine Hells and the Dragon Eyrie. Heliopolis lay below Dragon Eyrie and above the House of Nature.


 * The House of Nature
 * Ruled both by Chauntea and Silvanus, the House of Nature was also home to Eldath, Gwaeron Windstrom, Lathander, Lurue, Mielikki, Nobanion, Shiallia, and the primordial Ubtao as well as various animal lords and the deities of many nature-oriented creatures such as centaurs. The Spellplague caused the House of Nature to split apart, with parts becoming the Deep Wilds while Chauntea merged her portion with Green Fields. The House of Nature lay below Heliopolis and above Warrior's Rest, whilst maintaining a portal to Arvandor.


 * Jotunheim
 * Located below Warrior's Rest, at the very "bottom" of the unaligned planes, Jotunheim was home to powerful titans worshiped by giants as gods. During the Spellplague, Jotunheim collapsed into the Elemental Chaos and was torn apart, though parts survived as elemental realms.


 * Warrior's Rest
 * The home plane of Garagos, Uthgar, and Valkur, Warrior's Rest resided above Jotunheim and below the House of Nature. Tempus, the ruler of Warrior's Rest after the Spellplague, also maintained a demiplane within Warrior's Rest known as Limbo, which later fell into the Elemental Chaos.

Cynosure and the Fugue Plane
Unlike the rest of the astral dominions, Cynosure and the Fugue Plane were not arranged within the branches of the World Tree but instead lay on opposite sides of it, like stones flanking its trunk. The Fugue Plane lay to the "left" whilst the Cynosure lay to the "right." This kept them isolated from all the other gods, thereby preserving their presumed neutrality and maintenance of the "Balance," as defined by Ao. In no major ways did they differ from their nature in the post-Spellplague years.

Inner Planes
Travelers no longer had the capability of moving through the Border Ethereal before selecting an entry point. Instead they viewed their destination through a color pool in the Astral before passing through it to arrive on the new plane.

Because the Elemental Chaos did not yet exist the elemental and energy planes were as neatly organized as the astral dominions, though they lay at the bottom of the World Tree, acting as the roots that fed into the Prime Material Plane and the Transitive Planes. Known together as the planes of power, these realities were incarnations of the basic buildings blocks of the universe. Each of the planes was very inhospitable to all but native or the most adaptive creatures of the plane.

It is not known for sure but it is likely that the planes of power were the result of the primordials' banishment from the local cosmology by Ao during the sundering of Abeir-Toril. Before this cataclysmic event the planes of power were likely blended together into an earlier version of the Elemental Chaos much as they are currently muddled together. Differences at the time in which the World Tree cosmology was the dominant model are listed below.

Elemental Planes
The elemental planes, which lay directly below the energy planes, embodied the four of the five basic elements in nature, air, earth, fire, and water, with an elemental plane of storm being oddly absent. The planes were extremely inhospitable except for natives of the plane, such as elementals, genies, mephits, and others. Each Elemental Lord, at the time believed gods rather than primordials, also made their home in the elemental planes. Several quasi-elemental and demi-elemental planes also exist, sitting at the junctures between the elemental planes such as the Elemental Plane of Cold, which lay between the Planes of Air and Water.

The primary Elemental Planes are listed below.


 * Elemental Plane of Air
 * The primordial Akadi ruled the Elemental Plane of Air, home also to air elementals such as djinns, lay furthest to the "left" of the elemental planes, next to the Elemental Plane of Water. After the Spellplague the Elemental Plane of Air collapsed into the Elemental Chaos, except for fragments such as the elemental realm of Sky Home and a few djinn motes.


 * Elemental Plane of Earth
 * Ruled by Grumbar, the Elemental Plane of Earth lay furthest to the "right," adjacent to the Plane of Fire. Home to earth elementals such as the dao the Plane of Earth collapsed almost entirely into the Elemental Chaos during the Spellplague except for Root Hold, Grumbar's realm.


 * Elemental Plane of Fire
 * Kossuth, the mightiest of the Elemental Lords, ruled this fiery landscape that was paradoxically both the most lethal and the most prolific in native life of all the elemental planes, home to the highly successful efreeti. The Plane of Fire, which lay between the Planes of Earth and Water at the "bottom" of the World Tree, was mostly dissolved during the Spellplague like the other elemental planes although the City of Brass and the Undying Pyre both survived its destruction.


 * Elemental Plane of Water
 * Istishia ruled this water-filled realm, which lay between the Planes of Fire and Air, at the so-called "bottom" of the World Tree's "roots," and was home to water elementals such as mereids. After the Spellplague most of the plane was destroyed, although Istishia still rules over its successor plane, the elemental realm known as Cresting Spires.

The Energy Planes
Sitting just "above" the elemental planes were the energy planes, which were no less extreme than their elemental counterparts. During the Spellplague the two planes collapsed, for the most part, into the Elemental Chaos. The energy planes were home to very few lifeforms and neither any deities nor any primordials make their home in either of the two planes, which are described below.


 * Negative Energy Plane
 * A dangerous realm from which the negative energies that helped to fuel undeath flowed the Negative Energy Plane lay to the "left" of its neighbor, the Positive Energy Plane. During the Spellplague it fell mostly into the Elemental Chaos, but not before the goddess Shar folded part of it into the Plane of Shadow, forming the Shadowfell.


 * Positive Energy Plane
 * The opposite of its neighbor, which lay to the plane's left, the Positive Energy Plane was a realm filled with intense radiant energy. No less lethal than the Negative Energy Plane, the Positive Energy Plane eventually collapsed into the Elemental Chaos. Also known as the Plane of Life.

Parallel Planes
Prior to the Spellplague the nature of the parallel planes was unknown. The Feywild was all but forgotten and the Plane of Shadow, the world's dark echo, was considered a one of a kind oddity. However the parallel planes did exist in much the same manner as they have since the Spellplague, though in a more elusive and unknown manner.

Faerie
Prior to the Spellplague, the Feywild was almost entirely unknown. Well-read scholars did know, however, that the Tel'Quessir were not native to the Prime but rather outsiders who had arrived in the distant past. This realm was known to scholars of the time merely as "Faerie" or perhaps the "Plane of Faerie" and was thought of a twilight land lush with forests, home to the fey and their Seelie and Unseelie Courts.

Sildëyuir
Likewise, most scholars were not aware that the "demiplane" of Sildëyuir was merely an echo of the Yuirwood in Aglarond, considering it a separate plane of existence. It was best known at the time as the place of origin for the star elves.

Transitive Planes
The transitive planes differed little prior to the Spellplague to how they operate now, though the Elemental Chaos had yet to form and the Shadowfell was still divided into the Plane of Shadow and Negative Energy Plane. During the years prior to the Spellplague the term transitive plane was also used more commonly than it was afterwards.

The major differences of the transitive planes are outlined below.


 * Astral Plane
 * The former name of the Astral Sea, the Astral Plane's nature as a fundamental plane was unknown prior to the Spellplague. Likewise, just as the dominions were wrongly believed infinite the Astral Plane was wrongly believed infinitesimal, when it was in fact, infinite in size. The few bits of matter scattered throughout the vast plane were mostly portals leading to every plane in the cosmology.


 * Ethereal Plane
 * The Ethereal Plane was a misty continuum that coexisted with the Material Plane. Individuals within the Ethereal Plane could see into the Material Plane, but not vice versa. It was accessed by spells such as etherealness and ethereal jaunt, as well as various portals scattered through the planes. The Ethereal Plane was destroyed during the Spellplague, though its exact fate is unknown, perhaps being folded into the Astral Sea, Shadowfell, or both.


 * Plane of Shadow
 * The Plane of Shadow, prior to its transformation into the Shadowfell, acted as a transitive plane. The most common way of accessing the plane is through spells and abilities like shadow walk, most often used for covering great distances on the Material Plane undetected and unhindered. Mask and Shar both made their homes within the Shadow Plane and it was through Shar that the plane was later remade into the Shadowfell.