World Composition

The Surface
Much like our world, the surface is composed of seas and continents arranged very much like ours, with a few notable differences. Lands which were inhabited by civilizations considered mythical in our world like the Lemurians and Atlanteans, exist somewhere in this world. There are also certain areas of concentrated magic where the World Trees from the Core intersect with the Inner Surface, and protrude into the Surface world, causing great rainforests, deserts, tundras as well as more fantastical sights such as floating landmasses, magical storms and other phenomena.

The Mantle
The Mantle separates the Surface world, and the Underdark, and has various tunnels and catacombs running throughout. Once deep enough into the mantle, pressure and gravity increases to the extent that it is not possible to discern what is up or down, simply that it is difficult to move in any direction. Going ‘deeper’ will then slowly invert gravity, until gravity has flipped and one would be effectively climbing ‘up’ away from the Surface, towards the Underdark.

The Inner Surface / Underdark
Unlike our world, which is mostly solid and liquid rock below the surface, this world has a mostly hollow centre, in which the Underdark is placed. In the centre of this (where the core would normally be) is a solid dark purple/blue/black pulsating orb of magical energy. Various, gargantuan pillars stretch out of this orb and seem to support the Earth’s structure above it, with a complicated network of vein-like structures intertwined between them. Where these great tree-like pillars make contact with the inner surface, strange and fantastical beasts and phenomena occur. If a mortal was to venture near such a place without protection, they would be torn to shreds by the magical energies present. Due to these magical energies, most of the inner surface (excepting areas where the Pillars intersect the inner surface) is habitable because of the heat produced (since there is no Sun underground, or normal molten core). Another counter-intuitive effect of the magical energies present, is the seemingly random way gravity acts; in some places, it seems to draw straight into the core, as evidenced by vast waterfalls which fall towards the centre; in other places, it seems to follow some invisible curve, or flow along the veins, or even repel out from the centre, as some waterfalls flow back out from the core to the inner surface, forming inner seas and lakes. As such, the inner surface has its own weather patterns, often interspersed with magical storms.

The Core
As mentioned previously, the core is a fantastical site to behold. Reaching the core is virtually impossible due to the maze of world tree veins which criss-cross the intervening space, as well as the vertigo-inducing changes in gravity and magical phenomena. The exact makeup of the core is something that scholars can only theorize about, but all attempts to investigate further are usually met with a sticky end by the magical energies flying around, or intervention by the Drow and other creatures who inhabit the Underdark.

The World Trees
Despite the surface races not having much contact or knowledge of the Underdark, knowledge of the Pillars of the Earth resembling great magical trees has permeated into many of the world religions, and are known by various names such as Yggdrasil, Mirovoye Drevo, Kalpavriksha, or more generically World Trees.