Bardo

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The Bardo is one of the Concurrent Planes of Wisterian Cosmology, a distinction shared with Ahren, and The Ethereal Plane. As a coterminous plane it shares with its cousins in being a reflection of Ahren; if the Ethereal Plane is a reflection of a ruined Ahren and the collective sense-impressions of those who inhabit it, the Bardo is a reflection of Ahren in its truly natural state. Like the Ethereal Plane, home to Ghosts, the Bardo is also one of the six possible post-death resting places for the souls of creatures - the others being Heaven, Elysium, Hell, and the Abyss. While it is a little unusual for mortal races to wind up in the Bardo, many animals and magical creatures do have their souls come here by default.

Under the beliefs of the Petrenean Pantheon, those who fail to attain a true Awakening in life may find their souls spending up to 49 days in the Bardo undergoing various trials or conformities before being rebirthed into the world in some new form. Unlike the Four Dogmatic Planes, the bardo is not seen as a place of judgement but as a natural consequence of the laws of Creation.

A few gods are known to inhabit the Bardo - mostly those of the Petrenean Pantheon or Orcish Pantheon. Like the Bardo itself, they tend not to craft realms composed of their own vision, but instead leave the Bardo more or less as it is, simply living in its environs. Never the less, as gods, they do have a great degree of control over their realm and understanding these realms is important if you are interested in the politics of the gods themselves. In addition to conventionally-recognized gods, several powerful nature spirits either enhabit the Bardo natively or travel easily between it and the Ethereal Plane, consistent with the beliefs of druids among the Carcolie and Confederacy of Sages.

The Unending Wild

A stretch of wild territory that stretches across the whole Bardic reflection of Northwestern Wisteria, roughly congruent with Bastonia and the northern Lordless Lands. The region is heavily forested, much unlike the moorish, grassy expanses of Bastonia. This has become the realm of The Saintly Hunter, San Lauren. He keeps a lodge within the Unending Wild, the location of which often moves as the Bardo reimagines itself. Select among his followers occasionally wind up at the Lodge after death, unusual in the Bastonian case. The realm is also home to Cervine Protectors and other nature spirits, who exemplify and serve his conservatory attitude.

Gods Inhabitant

• San Lauren did not create the Unending Wild, though he did create the Lodge, and he does maintain the territory in conjunction with his servants.