The Far Realm
The Far Realm is a plane of madness situated very far from the planes of the standard cosmology. This maddening is was feared for its power to twist unfortunate visitors into gruesome monsters, and it is from here that aberrations come. According to scholars, all cosmologies are threatened by the same Far Realm.
Few beings can comprehend the impossible geometry behind this extradimensional space. In short, both gravity and time are absent in the Far Realm, and instead of the normal rules of physics, the Far Realm is composed of an infinite array of translucent layers that seemingly meld into each other. Inhabitants of the Far Realm can pass from one layer to another simply by willing it, and landmarks—encompassing everything from alien seascapes to forests of giant floating tentacles—might stretch across multiple layers.
Chances are, travelers to the Far Realm will be flummoxed by the place’s strange geometry, only comprehending bits and pieces of lifeforms and landmasses depending on which layer they stand on.
The layers are also highly morphic. On the whim of the alien entities that drift through them, the layers continually evaporate, divide, spawn, and breathe. Changes in the elemental and energy traits of the layers continuously occurr, creating the Far Realm equivalent of a storm. These changes can be seen from far off, moving from layer to layer rather like a storm drifting across a natural world.
On the Far Realm, landmarks and entities are multidimensional, existing on multiple layers at once. One could imagine the layers as a stack of translucent parchment, with a given feature appearing as a single mark upon each page. Taken individually, such marks might have no meaning, but when viewed all together in the stack, they seemingly coalesce into a three-dimensional object.
Although full of a dark nothingness, the Far Realm is full of bizarre scenes and what passes for wilderness. Strange blue globes rain down from unseen heights, bursting when they strike something and unleashing horse-sized ticks that immediately scuttle away to hunt for blood. Gelatinous worms crawl through the layers. Forests of writhing tentacled vegetation are encrusted with orange moss, growing above an amoebic sea. At the very limit of sight drift huge multi-layer shapes, vaguely resembling creatures of the deepest ocean, but the smallest being is the size of a city, and they don't even notice the lesser beings that occupy only a single layer.
Gravity and time do not exist in the Far Realm. The only kind of movement possible on the Far Realm is passage between layers, which needs only a thought. The air is as viscous as syrup—it is possible to swim through it, though it was very hard.
The Far Realm has many different inhabitants, many of them sentient. Some resemble mammals, while others are insectoid. Some are even as powerful as deities. When meeting beings from the Prime Material plane, the Inner Planes, or the Outer Planes, Far Realm entities often adopt forms of creatures familiar to the viewer.
When considering creatures either native to the Far Realm or touched by its energy, one should think of aberrations—including beholders, illithid, and aboleths, as well as lesser-known entities like the neogi and the nothic.
The simplest natives of the Far Realm are the pseudonatural creatures that roam the different layers, occupied with unguessable errands. They dwell beyond time itself and the regular planes of existence, living forever in a state of seeming insanity. When summoned to the Material Plane, they often emulate and take the shape of familiar creatures, although they are always more gruesome than their material counterparts. Sometimes, however, they appear in a form more closely related to their origins, usually a mass of writhing tentacles, although more terrible forms are always possible.
The Elder Evils or Great Old Ones, are beings set apart from what mortals consider reality, as well as the masters behind the sinister heralds of doom known as star spawns. Usually incapable of leaving the Far Realm, the Elder Evils’ influence leaks out into the worlds of the Material Plane, often influencing the actions of power-hungry cultists. Examples of these horrific, primordial forces include Nyxarath, the Eye Beyond the Stars.