The Nexus
The Nexus is a planar portal transport system constructed by a race long since forgotten. It also had the unfortunate side effect of acting as 'cracks' in the planes, trapping those who didn't bind to rift shards or who had problems respawning at their shards. Trapped there for eons, many of the citizens of the factions have gone insane.... Perhaps a breakdown in the magics that sustain the Nexus is what is responsible for the dimensional rifts which are flooding Aetheria with invaders.
The Nexus is connected to each of the faction cities. Each of these seven areas also connect to one other location on Aetheria itself as well, and two planes beyond Aetheria itself. These planes in turn appear to be interconnected in a way not fully understood by Aetheria's sages and loremasters. The entire Nexus itself is constructed in a roughly circular pattern. Its rough form is two planes for each faction arranged around the central column of the Nexus, each plane on the left connecting with the plane above and to the right, the reverse for the other connecting to below and to the left. Access to the Nexus is granted by entering Rift Portals scattered throughout Aetheria and on the planes themselves.
Nexus' can be traveled downwards into other nexus in order to facilitate faster travel, the bottom-most nexus can then wraps around to form a loop. In addition, some planes have connections to other planes at certain locations within.
The planar portal shop spawns at pre-defined locations in many of these planes
See a list of areas by challenge rating if you wish to know which planes might be most-suited to you.
| Nexus | Plane 1 | Plane 2 | Entrance |
|---|---|---|---|
| NC | Elysium | Positive Plane | Amazon City: Temple |
| MA | Negative Plane | Halls of the Dead | Frostdale: Icy Crypt Depths |
| SL | Demonweb Pits | Shadow Plane | Haddon Mirk: Crypt |
| RK | Dwarf Home | Earth Plane | Wastes of Angmar: Formian Hive |
| LA | House of Knowledge | Fire Plane | South Road Tower: Depths |
| TC | Forest Home | Water Plane | Giant Mountain: Depths |
| AO | Dragon Eyrie | Air Plane | Frostdale: Shiv'las' Lair |
In addition, there are connections between certain pairs of the lesser planes:
- Dragon Eyrie - Elysium
- Shadow Plane - Halls of the Dead
- Dwarf Home - Fire Plane
- Demonweb Pits - Earth Plane
- House of Knowledge - Water Plane
- Forest Home - Air Plane
There are 3 greater planes that can be traveled to only through lower planes; they are:
Finally, the Abyss and Celestia are joined by an area called the Great Divorce. With this, it's possible to run a Great Circle or Planar Tour through all the planes without returning to Aetheria proper:
Great Divorce (Celestia) -> Posi -> NC Nexus -> Ely -> Dragon Eyrie -> AO nexus -> Air -> Forest Home -> TC Nexus -> Water -> Halls of Knowledge -> LA Nexus -> Fire -> Dwarf Home -> RK Nexus -> Earth -> Demonweb Pits -> SL Nexus -> Shadow -> Halls of the Dead -> MA Nexus -> Negative -> Great Divorce (Abyss)
