Mertion

Mount Celestia — Layer the Fifth

The Platinum Heaven, Illumis, the Heaven of Perseverance

Themes of the Layer: Duty, Righteousness, Proselytising

Celestial Hebdomad: Raziel the Firestarter

Description: The skies of Mertion, the Platinum Heaven, burn with a silver brighter even than Solania, that never dims or falters. The holy radiance is so intense that it burns fiends and the undead, although it’s almost unheard of for any to make it this far up the Celestial Mount.

Mertion is a layer of vast plateaus, as if it’s the summit of the mountain, but a cutter still has to climb to ascend to the next layer. Instead of rocky terrain though, enormous domes of black obsidian tower above the plain. The size of hills or even mountains themselves, the domes are sometimes carved into great citadels, or spiral stairways, or even polished perfectly smooth. At the top of some are gates to Jovar, although the local archons rarely point a cutter to which when asked; tracking down a gate is something only the truly righteous can achieve.

The terrain between domes is filled with crisp icy permafrost, or deserts of snowflakes or glittering dust, swamps of crystal clear holy water and crystalline mangrove trees, or forests seemingly cast from platinum with leaves of pure light. The clearings are mustering grounds for armies of archons and paladins, while the forests are home to celestial creatures.

The black domed citadels bustle with holy zeal, with proselytising missionaries, armies of the Celestial Host training for the next Crusade, or empyreal judges cooking up new theories of divine law.

Typical Settlements:

Hierarchical temples
Workhouses of faith
Prayer halls
Mustering halls

Locations of Mertion

Archenar, Alpha Eridani, the Rising of the River (independent burg)
Arvenna, the Chanting Grounds (realm of Mayaheine & Tarasita)
Brigia (realm of Briggith)
Concord (independent burg)
Cursa, Beta Eridani (gate town to Solania)
Empyrea, City of Tempered Souls (independent burg)
- Empyrea Mere (site)
- Healer Market (site)
Fields of Autumn (site)
Half-Empty Palace (site)
Hall of Heralds (site)
Illumis (independent burg)
Rempha, City of the Sands of Time (independent burg)
River Eridanus (planar pathway)
Soqed Hezi, City of Swords (realm of Al Akbar)
The Winding Tower (site)

Powers of Mertion

Alia Allitur(Oerdian peer of ethics)
Al Akbar (Oerdian power dignity)
Brigaith (power of righteous combat)
Mayaheine (Oerdian power of justice)
Tarasita (Mystaran power of justice and revenge)

Cutters of Mertion

Bahram — the Conquering and Triumphant Fire
Donathiel — a solar charged with the protection of Rempha
Evansheer — astral deva, Fist of Raziel
Falayna — an empyreal lord preparing her troops for battle
Och — a warden archon herbalist and alchemist and advisor to Tahariel
Archangel Raziel — the Firestarter, known for his judicious wrath
Salaphiel — an elven wizard lord of the Winding Tower
Secundus — clockmaker of the court of Rempha
Shalgiel — a warden archon
Tahariel — throne archon ruler of Empyrea
Temperion — celestial unicorn
Xokariel — the Chief Moderator

Notes on integrating D&D editions & Pathfinder: Mount Celestia and Heaven both have seven layers, so I merged them directly one to one. Where descriptions of the layers differed, I used the Planescape descriptions as a base. Pathfinder names for layers are presented as alternatives that might represent the name for a layer (in the Empyreal tongue, perhaps?). Where the stewards of the layers differed, I used the Planescape version – or made up a story why there might be controversy. Powers, creatures and characters were all added in, and merged into single entries where appropriate. I supplemented additional locations and characters I found on the web while researching, including ideas from the Mimir.net site. I also added in many new non-canon ideas and added to canonical ones.

Canonical References

Read First: Planes of Law: Mount Celestia [2e] p22-24

Book of Exalted Deeds [3e] p133
Planescape Monstrous Compendium I [2e] p59
Manual of the Planes [3e] p135
Manual of the Planes [5e] p225-227
On Hallowed Ground [2e] p78-79, 164, 172, 177-178, 180
Planescape Campaign Setting: DM’s Guide [2e] p62
Planewalker’s Handbook [2e] p13
Planar Handbook [3e] p155, 178

Source: Jon Winter-Holt, mimir.net