Far Realm

Greyhawk Plane

Far Realm Type: Anomalous Layers: Infinite Alignment: None Greyhawk Powers: None

The Far Realm is a plane far removed from the standard planar cosmology, existing outside of the planes and outside of time, in the "space" before time begins and after it ends. It is inimical to the life of the known planes, and those who venture there go insane.

Some of the alien vistas reported include rivers of milk-white liquid, mysterious rains of blue globes that release arachnid creatures the size of horses, gelatinous worms, and amoebic seas. Natural laws may change at the whim of the beings who control the plane, and space, time, and logic do not work in ways comprehensible to humanity.

The Far Realm is the realm of things that are not just impossible in, but antithetical to the more familiar planes.

Description

The Far Realm contains an infinite number of layers, these layers range from inches thick to miles, and it is often possible to perceive multiple layers simultaneously. These layers can grow, spawn further layers, breathe and possibly die.

The Far Realm is home to many powerful and unspeakable beings ripped from the nightmares of the darkest minds of the waking world, beings so unfathomable that their very existence is a perversion of reality itself. These beings are governed by lords of unimaginable power and knowledge completely alien. The Far Realm is a plane far outside the others and often not included in the standard cosmology. It is sometimes referred to simply as "Outside", because in many cosmologies it is literally outside reality as mortals understand it.

Fourth edition

An anomalous plane, the Far Realm is bizarre and maddening. Creatures native to or connected with the Far Realm have the aberrant origin. Distant stars have been driven mad by proximity to the Far Realm, resulting in the abominations known as starspawn. The Far Realm also breaks into reality at various points in the Underdark, leading to the rise of the aboleth and mind flayer empires. Natural humanoids tainted by the Far Realm are known as foulspawn. The Far Realm was originally sealed off from reality by a construction known as the Living Gate, which lay at the top of the Astral Sea. The Living Gate awoke and opened during the Dawn War between the gods and primordials, and was destroyed in the same war, thus allowing the Far Realm to break into the D&D universe. Psionics are believed to have developed as a means to fight the Far Realm, in the same way that a body develops antibodies to fight an infection.

Inhabitants

Many of the Far Realm's inhabitants are too vast and inchoate to even notice visitors to their domain. Others take an interest in mortals, communicating with them through the veil between realms and sponsoring magic-users called alienists.

Gibberlings, gibbering mouthers, kaortis, uvuudaums, wystes, and other aberrant creatures have their origins in the Far Realm. Piscaethces and other Elder Evils may reside in or have formerly resided in the Far Realm.

Structure

The Far Realm has no direct connection to other planes, but portals may open during certain conjunctions of the stars. A portal called the Vast Gate was opened by "Elder Elves" in ages past, destroying their civilization in the process. As a result of this Vast Gate, the Far Realm sometimes brushes against the known multiverse, staining reality. These stains are known as cerebrotic blots. These blots twist and corrupt the flora and fauna and dreams within them. Sometimes the Far Realm touches the world first through dreams.

At least one of the "ether gaps" that form in the Ethereal Plane, Leicester's Gap, leads to the Far Realm.

There is no correspondence between the Far Realm's time and time in the known planes. A traveler in the Far Realm is untethered from history and causality, and could in theory return anywhen.

Layers

The Far Realm contains an infinite number of layers, divisions of reality that can be perceived on multiple levels at once. Many Far Realm beings exist on several layers simultaneously. The layers form and dissolve at the whim of the greater Far Realm beings. It is possible to move between them by a mere effort of will.

History

Aboleths

The aboleth race, said in some sources to be the first of all mortal life to exist on the Material Plane, is thought to have been created by accident when the Elder Evil Piscaethces brushed her body against the world while traveling the infinite layers of the Far Realm.

Quadripartite

When the Oerth was still young, beings from the Far Realm attempted to assert dominance over all reality. They sent minions to destroy the newly sentient, pre-human life that then lived on the surface of the world. Four gods rose to oppose this: Pelor, Obad-Hai, Nerull, and Kord. Pelor and Nerull had yet to form allegiances to Good or Evil in those days; they were most interested in maintaining the balance between Law and Chaos. Kord was just along for the sake of having something to fight. The four gods each sacrificed a part of their power to create an anchor that would sever the ties of the invaders to their unguessable masters, and so were able to defeat them.

Publication history

The Far Realm was created by Bruce Cordell, and introduced in the second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure module The Gates of Firestorm Peak (1996).Cordell, Bruce R. "Enter the Far Realm", Dragon #330 (Wizards of the Coast, April 2005)</ref> James Jacobs later called Cordell's work an "adventure with a distinctly Lovecraftian feel", noting that "Deep inside Firestorm Peak lies a portal to an insidious region beyond sanity and light known only as the Far Realm, and the unknowable but hostile entities of this hideous region prepare to pass through into the world." The adventure featured a magical portal that produced creatures and energies from the Far Realm.

In third edition, the Far Realm was included in "core" books like Tome and Blood, Complete Arcane, and Complete Mage.

In fourth edition, the Far Realms were included in the new cosmology design of Dungeons & Dragons. In this edition, members of the Warlock class can forge a pact (called the Starpact) with the entities from or near the Far Realm in order to gain power. The Far Realm's association with the new setting has been detailed in various supplements.

Creative origins

The Far Realm's mix of horror, madness, and strange geometries was largely inspired by the work of American writer H. P. Lovecraft.

The Far Realm is particularly inspired by H.P. Lovecraft stories like "Through the Gates of the Silver Key."^{[citation needed]}

It was created by Bruce Cordell, and introduced in the second edition adventure The Gates of Firestorm Peak (1996). James Jacobs later described Cordell's work as—

" [an] adventure with a distinctly Lovecraftian feel ... Deep inside Firestorm Peak lies a portal to an insidious region beyond sanity and light known only as the Far Realm, and the unknowable but hostile entities of this hideous region prepare to pass through into the world."
—Jamesd Jacobs, Dragon #324 (2004)

The adventure featured a magical portal that produced creatures and energies from the Far Realm.

External links

Disclaimer:Any lore presented through the following links does not necessarily adhere to established officially published content, and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of this wiki.

• Lost Realm of Olefin

References

Bibliography

• Aperlo, Peter E. "Quadripartite." Dungeon #99. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2003.
• Baker, Richard. Complete Arcane. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.
• Baker, Rich, James Jacobs, and Steve Winter. Lords of Madness. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005.
• Collins, Andy, Bruce R. Cordell, and Thomas M. Reid. Epic Level Handbook. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2002.
• Cordell, Bruce. "Enter the Far Realm." Dragon #330. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2005.

———. The Gates of Firestorm Peak. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1996.

———. A Guide to the Ethereal Plane. Renton, WA: TSR, 1998.

• Grubb, Jeff, David Noonan, and Bruce Cordell. Manual of the Planes. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.
• Hope, Matthew. "And Madness Followed." Dungeon #134. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2006.
• Jacobs, James. "The Ecology of the Kaorti." Dragon #358. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2007.

———. "The Shadow Over D&D." Dragon #324. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2004.

• Vaughan, Greg A. "Shadow of the Abyss." Dungeon #118. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2005.
• Wyatt, James. The Speaker in Dreams. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.

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Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

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