Worldscape

Worldscape

(Plane)

Alignment

None

Denizens

Champions abducted from Earth, Barsoom, and Golarion

Description

Demiplane that draws in great warriors from other worlds

Source: Worldscape (comics)

This article covers the in-universe demiplane. For the Dynamite Entertainment comic book series, see Worldscape (comics).

The Worldscape is a demiplane connected to three worlds—Barsoom, Earth, and Golarion—which pulls the greatest warriors from each out of time and into its confines to battle for control of the realm. In 4717 AR, the Pathfinder adventurers, Kyra, Merisiel, Seoni, and Valeros were pulled into the Worldscape, where they allied with the otherworldly heroes as John Carter, Red Sonja, and Tarzan. Most are pulled into the Worldscape against their will, leading the demiplane to be called a "prison-plane" by some.

Origin

The Worldscape was created by the archwizard Nex during his campaign to besiege the city of Absalom. Using the demiplane as a battery, he powered summoned duplicates of those trapped within the Worldscape to aid him in battle. When the wizard vanished into the Refuge of Nex, the Worldscape remained, and continued to draw legendary warriors from the three worlds into itself, even millennia later.

Function

The Worldscape was designed to draw in warriors from the three worlds in its web: Golarion, Earth, and Barsoom. When someone is summoned, their surroundings seem to fade out to red, then their body fades and vanishes as they appear in the Worldscape at the foot of a summoning pillar, a ten-foot-tall obelisk inscribed with the symbol of three intertwined circles. Most warriors arrive unconscious, easy prey for the Worldscape's scavengers.

Nex programmed the Worldscape's summoning pillars to favour selecting martial combatants and to avoid magic users, as he did not want potential rivals to get their hands on the Worldscape's secrets. Without Nex's guidance, these criteria have degraded over the ages: martial combatants remain the most commonly abducted warriors, but in addition to them, sometimes the summoning pillars draw in monsters, innocents, or lesser spellcasters. The pillars have also lost their sense of time, and might bring champions to the Worldscape decades before or after their zenith of power.

In addition to Golarion (the physical location of the Spire of Nex and, by proxy, the Worldscape itself), it can contain up to two other worlds in its network. Only one 'version' of Golarion is associated with the Worldscape, which can only draw in one version of Golarian champions. Inhabitants of the other two worlds can be drawn from all possible timelines, so they can encounter alternative selves in the Worldscape, as opposed to those from Golarion, who can only encounter their past or future selves, abducted at a different time.

When a champion is brought to the Worldscape, they keep the powers they had at the point of abduction; for example, clerics can still receive spells from their deities, while John Carter retains his unusual strength on Barsoom as the result of its lesser gravity compared to his native Earth, but only if he is abducted when on Barsoom and not on Earth (in the latter case, he would retain a normal Earthman's strength). Most of the time, champions are abducted at some climax, like during a battle against a hated foe or on the verge of death.

The only way to leave the Worldscape is to gather the Scepter and the Crown, two artifacts he devised to keep his prisoners occupied so he could unleash their copies against Absalom. Touching one to the other opens a portal to the worlds in the Worldscape's web, allowing abducted warriors to return home. Those who return appear moments after they left, with their memories of the Worldscape suppressed. They might sometimes dream of it, but will quickly forget until brought back to the Worldscape, at which point the memories flood back.

Religion

By far, the most influential religion in the Worldscape's recent history is the cult of the false death goddess Issus, brought by the white Martians from Barsoom. A few other religions have also established significant influence within Worldscape society: the faith of Pharasma from Golarion; and the worship of two deities from Earth: the ancient death god Erlik, and the modern One True God.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.