Elysium, also known as the Blessed Fields of Elysium, is the plane of Neutral Good among the Outer Planes.

It is associated with compassion, generosity, refuge, restoration, and goodness freely extended to others. Elysium places little importance on rigid duty or unrestrained personal freedom. Its societies are instead shaped by the belief that people should help one another where they can and that peace is worth preserving when it can be found.

Much of the plane is fertile and hospitable to mortal life. Settlements are common along its rivers and coasts, while farms, workshops, gardens, sanctuaries, and small communities exist throughout its inhabited regions.

The River Oceanus passes through all four layers of Elysium and forms the principal route between many of them.

Structure and Environment

Elysium consists of four known layers: Amoria, Eronia, Belierin, and Thalasia.

Each has a distinct environment, but all are connected by the waters of Oceanus. The river passes through fertile lowlands, mountain valleys, broad wetlands, and finally the great waters of Thalasia before continuing beyond Elysium toward Arborea.

Much of Elysium's settled land lies close to Oceanus and its branches. These regions provide abundant fresh water, fertile soil, and reliable routes between communities.

The four layers also possess different skies. Amoria rests beneath perpetual morning, Eronia beneath clear daylight, Belierin beneath a lingering dusk, and Thalasia beneath an open night sky.

These conditions remain stable rather than changing in response to the emotions or expectations of those who enter the plane.

Refuge and Contentment

Elysium is often described as one of the safest and most welcoming regions of the Outer Planes.

Travelers are commonly offered food, shelter, directions, or assistance without expectation of payment. Communities tend to provide for those who cannot presently provide for themselves, particularly the injured, displaced, or exhausted.

Work remains an ordinary part of life. Fields are cultivated, buildings repaired, boats maintained, goods crafted, and roads kept passable. Such efforts are usually undertaken because they benefit the individual or community rather than because a strict hierarchy demands them.

Long stays in Elysium can have an unusual effect on visitors.

Rest comes easily, sleep is often deep, and the pressures that drove a traveler onward can begin to feel distant. Elysium does not compel anyone to remain, but those who find genuine peace there may eventually struggle to find a reason to leave it.

Movement and Travel

The River Oceanus is the most dependable route through Elysium.

Its waters are generally navigable by ordinary vessels, though the conditions vary between layers. Mountain rapids dominate parts of Eronia, Belierin divides the river into countless marsh channels, and Thalasia requires travel across open water.

Settlements frequently develop beside the river or along its tributaries. Inns, docks, bridges, ferries, and shelters are common along established routes.

Overland travel is also possible throughout most of the plane. Elysium's geography is generally stable, and roads remain where travelers expect to find them.

Local knowledge is nevertheless valuable, particularly in the mountains of Eronia and the wetlands of Belierin.

Connections to Other Planes

Elysium can be reached through the Astral Plane and through established planar portals.

Most permanent crossings are found near major settlements, divine realms, or well-traveled sections of Oceanus.

The River Oceanus also provides a connection between Elysium and Arborea. Its course does not follow ordinary physical rules as it passes between layers and planes, but established routes along the river have been traveled for generations.

Direct passages into other planes also exist, though they are less dependable than the principal Astral and Oceanus routes.

Inhabitants

Guardinals are the best-known native celestials of Elysium.

They take many forms, often combining humanoid and animal characteristics, and are strongly associated with protection, healing, and the defense of living creatures. Guardinals frequently watch over settlements, wilderness refuges, roads, and places where travelers are particularly vulnerable.

They do not form a single centralized government. Different communities and individuals take responsibility for particular regions, causes, or populations, cooperating when larger dangers arise.

Other celestials can also be found throughout Elysium, particularly those serving divine powers or traveling between the Upper Planes.

Mortal and petitioner communities are widespread. Some inhabitants were born within the plane, while others arrived from distant worlds or chose to remain after reaching Elysium through planar travel.

Ordinary wildlife is abundant and generally healthy. Animals living near settlements often become accustomed to the presence of travelers, while sanctuaries for injured or displaced creatures can be found throughout the plane.

Natural Hazards

Elysium is physically hospitable, but its landscapes are not completely without danger.

Eronia contains steep cliffs, mountain passes, powerful waterfalls, and difficult river crossings. Belierin's wetlands contain unstable ground, deep channels, heavy fog, and large areas where navigation by landmarks is unreliable.

Thalasia presents the ordinary dangers of open water, including storms, strong currents, and long distances between islands.

Dangerous wildlife also exists in less settled regions, though predation and natural competition are regarded as parts of life rather than signs of corruption.

For most visitors, becoming lost or stranded presents a greater danger than the plane itself.

Survival

Elysium is one of the easiest Outer Planes for mortal travelers to survive.

Air, fresh water, food, and shelter are available throughout much of Amoria, Eronia, and Belierin. Communities along Oceanus provide frequent opportunities to rest and resupply.

Conditions become more difficult in remote mountains, isolated wetlands, and the open waters of Thalasia.

No specialized planar protection is normally required.

Travelers who remain for extended periods should be more concerned with whether they still wish to leave than whether they are capable of surviving.

Amoria

Amoria is the first layer of Elysium.

It consists largely of fertile river valleys, open woodland, meadows, orchards, farms, and settled countryside along the many branches of Oceanus.

The river frequently divides before joining itself again, creating islands, peninsulas, and broad stretches of land well suited to settlement.

Amoria rests beneath a sky resembling perpetual early morning. Soft light remains along the horizon, giving the layer a sense of beginning without ever advancing into full day.

Communities of Amoria

Amoria contains some of the largest and most numerous settlements in Elysium.

Villages, river towns, farms, workshops, gardens, and roadside shelters are widespread throughout its inhabited regions. Many communities maintain public kitchens, guest houses, infirmaries, or other places intended for travelers and those temporarily unable to support themselves.

Craft and agriculture are important parts of daily life.

People take pride in work done well, but competition and accumulation carry less importance than usefulness, personal satisfaction, and the benefit a craft provides to others.

Hospitality is deeply rooted in many Amorian cultures. A stranger asking for shelter is more likely to be offered a meal and a bed than questioned about what they can provide in return.

Eronia

Eronia is the second layer of Elysium.

Its landscape is dominated by mountains, steep valleys, high plateaus, forests, and swift branches of the River Oceanus.

Waterfalls descend through the highlands before gathering again into channels bordered by cliffs and wooded slopes.

The layer rests beneath a bright sky resembling midday.

Travel away from the rivers can be demanding. Mountain passes, cliffs, changes in elevation, and long routes between settlements make preparation important.

Work and Renewal

Eronia has developed a reputation for places where people undertake difficult work by choice.

Quarries, workshops, monasteries, bridges, terraces, and communities built along difficult terrain are common throughout the inhabited valleys.

Craftspeople, builders, healers, and others sometimes travel to Eronia when they wish to begin again after hardship or devote themselves to a difficult but meaningful task.

Effort is valued without being treated as an obligation imposed upon everyone.

For many who settle there, the work itself becomes part of recovery.

Belierin

Belierin is the third layer of Elysium.

Much of the layer consists of wetlands, marshes, islands, shallow lakes, and broad channels formed by Oceanus.

Reeds and marsh plants dominate the low ground, while forests and firmer land become more common on larger islands.

A permanent dusk hangs over Belierin, and fog is common across much of the water.

Travel by boat is considerably easier than attempting to cross the wetlands on foot.

Lights of Belierin

Lighthouses and beacon towers stand throughout Belierin's marshes.

Many support small communities responsible for maintaining safe channels, sheltering lost travelers, and guiding boats through regions where fog and branching waterways make navigation difficult.

Some stand on isolated islands occupied by only a handful of keepers. Others have grown into substantial settlements built around docks, ferries, inns, and storehouses.

The lights are maintained through both mundane and magical means, depending on the community.

For travelers crossing Belierin, finding one usually means finding food, shelter, and a reliable route back toward Oceanus.

Thalasia

Thalasia is the fourth layer of Elysium.

It consists primarily of a vast ocean beneath a clear night sky.

Green islands of many sizes are scattered throughout its waters. Some support settlements, temples, sanctuaries, or communities of those who have chosen a quieter existence away from the more populated lower layers.

Stars remain visible across much of the sky, though their positions do not always correspond to constellations known in Eldareth.

Oceanus emerges from the waters of Thalasia before passing through the other layers of Elysium and eventually continuing into Arborea.

The sea is generally calm near inhabited islands, though storms and dangerous currents can develop farther from established routes.

The Isles of the Blessed

Some islands of Thalasia are known collectively as the Isles of the Blessed.

They are associated with mortal souls who have reached Elysium after death and are granted a place of lasting rest.

Those who reside there are freed from many of the demands that governed their mortal lives. Food, shelter, companionship, and other necessities are readily available, allowing them to remain without struggling for survival.

The spirits of the dead who reach the Isles cannot normally be summoned, bound, or compelled back into service through mortal magic.

The Isles do not replace Athael's role in the passage of souls. The Citadel of Remembrance remains responsible for watching over souls as they leave mortal life, while the Isles are one possible destination after that passage is complete.

The Moonfall Sanctuary

The Moonfall Sanctuary is the divine realm of Lerathae, goddess of the moon, dreams, night, and remembrance.

It stands upon a large island beside one of the channels where Oceanus emerges from the Thalasian Sea.

A perpetual twilight rests over the Sanctuary despite the night surrounding the rest of Thalasia. Still pools, quiet gardens, sheltered halls, and paths beside the river provide places for sleep, contemplation, remembrance, and study.

Lerathae's followers travel there to preserve memories, seek peaceful rest, record significant dreams, or consider visions whose meaning remains uncertain.

The Sanctuary also maintains a longstanding association with those mourning the dead. Names, accounts, letters, and memories are preserved within its halls so that lives are not forgotten after their passing.

Lerathae is widely believed to possess some connection to Val'Syra, though the nature and limits of that connection remain uncertain.