Planar Structure (Bleak)

Summary
Bleak is a shaped like a bowl, with the strongest concentration of Shards of Grace at the bottom. At the far ends of the "bowl" the world melds away into the Elemental Void. The inhabitants of Bleak live on the inside of the bowl. The island of Tonis orbits Kazael, one full orbit is one Bleak year, which is called a "turning".

World Composition
The Heart Forest in the center of Kazael is ringed by Shards of Grace, these act as a sort of planar anchor for the rest of the world and as a collective, they are called "Pillars of the World". All of Bleak is pushed and pulled by the vortex forces of the Elemental Void, on a planar scale these forces make Bleak spin. Kazael is held fast by the Pillars of the World, but without a way to dissipate the vortex forces Bleak would be torn apart.

Tonis receives the brunt of the power of the Elemental Void, and these forces are so strong they actually push the island. Tonis is thus moved in a counter-clockwise circle around Kazael, and throughout the year lies in a different position around the continent. The Chroma Strait acts like an arm, holding Tonis a set distance from Kazael and prevents the island from spinning off into the void.

On a small scale, the Elemental Void surrounding Bleak is completely without structure. But on the cosmic level, the elements are polarized around the Pillars of the World. As Tonis revolves around the continent, the power of the Shards of Grace and the island itself block and lessen the influence of the element they are passing through. This circular motion and the resultant cycles in elemental energy create seasons on Bleak. However, the seasons on Tonis and Kazael are opposite of one another.

The Horizon
On Earth, assuming the air is clear, the horizon is the farthest part of the earth you can see before it curves "down" relative to yourself. On Bleak, the world curves "up" relative to the viewer, and arcs into the sky. Vision is blocked by clouds of gossamer and acid that fill the inside of the Bleak "bowl." Sight range is still generally limited to what you would experience on Earth, but the weather can make things better, or more often, much worse.

The Sky
There's no such thing as a cloudless day on Bleak, such an event would allow people to see hundreds of miles into the distance. The "sky" is what fills the hollow inside of Bleak, and it's not pretty. Clouds of acid and gossamer sit just a few miles above the surface of Bleak. To the eye they look like an ever changing array of rarely-pretty life-threatening clouds of every shape and size.

The Ground
The ground on Tonis isn't merely desert like, it often looks destroyed. The surface is constantly ravaged by elemental powers, particularly close to the equinoxes. What little rain that does fall that isn't toxic is either sucked up into the parched dirt so quickly that there's no time to collect it, or the ravaged earth rejects it like after a fire and the water beads up and re-evaporates.

The Sea
The Sea changes colors based on the dacid cycle: during Dream it is purple and during Burn it is green, at Mischung it is a deep blue color. There are steady tides on the coast, which are created by the movement of Tonis. As Tonis moves, the ocean comes into existence ahead of it and fades out behind it. As a result, the island is moving against the stagnant deepwater (the surface is moved by the wind and heated during daylight), and the kinetic energy of this movement creates deep sea waves that push far out into the ocean and are then pushed back by the chroma and dreamscape. The result are twice-daily tides that are felt most prominently on the front and trailing sides of the island.

[Technically "tides" refer to graviational forces etc. etc. etc. but we're not going to make up a new word here :P ]

Time
See the Bleak Calendar . Time on Bleak is defined by the cycles of the world's turning, the elemental cycles, and by the steady waxing and waning of the radiant and necrotic powers in the south.

Turnings
Each full rotation that Tonis makes around Kazael is a turning. Each turning begins and ends when Tonis is directly north of the Pillars of the World.

Seasons
Each turning is divided into four seasons, each of which has an equinox that lies in the very center of that seaon and corresponds to Tonis being in a direct cardinal direction from the Pillars.

Ice
The Season of Ice is the first and last season of each turning. The middle of this season is the "Equinox of Frost" which occurs when Tonis is due North of Kazael. At this time, Tonis is farthest from the radiant southern energies, so it has the least light (often little more than a strongly overcast dawn or dusk on Earth). The lack of light alone would make it cold, but Tonis also passes through the the element Cold. There is so little moisture on Tonis that it rarely snows, but heavy fogs are common on the coast and freezing arctic winds are ever present inland. During this time, most of the inland tribes move closer to the coast and try to trade the goods they've been collecting throughout the year for food. For Kazael this is the Season of Shadow, the warmest, most temperate time of year, as Lightning and Fire are balanced and radiant energies are at their peak.

Lightning
The Season of Lightning is the second season of each turning. The middle of this season in the "Equinox of Thunder" which occurs when Tonis is due West of Kazael. At this time, Tonis is much closer to the energy of the South, so days are considered 'normal,' and are on par with the average days on Kazael (and Earth) in terms of light. The Season of Lightning is also the wet season on Tonis, which means that there is a drizzle at least once. At this time, seafaring is at its low point because of the constant thunderstorms in the Chroma Strait. On Kazael this is the dry season, the Season of Fire, as Lightning is at its lowest to Fire rises to its peak. North Kazael starts to cool down but the central regions are still quite nice.

Shadow
The Season of Shadow is the third season of each turning. The middle of this season is the "Equinox of Light" which occurs when Tonis is due South of Kazael. Tonis is closer to the radiant energies of the South than it will be at any other time of the year and it never gets any darker than dusk. The perpetual daytime can impeed people's sleep, so they are often on edge and irritated. Although it's never nice on Tonis, this is the best time of year, with the most light and the least interfearence from the more dangerous elements. However, the ill and infirm are more likely to die, for Tonis is also closest to Necrosis. This is Kazael's winter, the Season of Ice, when the influence of the cold North, the moisture of the east and the warmth from the rest combine to create snowfall. Days are very short and quite dim, as most of the light is literally blocked by Tonis. During this time, viewers on Kazael can actually see a vague outline of Tonis through the clouds in the sky.

Fire
The Season of Fire is the fourth and final season of each turning. The middle of this season is the "Equinox of Ash" which occurs when Tonis is due East of Kazael. Tonis is right in the middle of the eastern oven, and they feel it. Daytime temperatures soar to 120 or even 130 degrees f, and at night it rarely drops below 80. So far from the western Lightning, there is virtually no water to be seen on land, the sea level even lowers noticably. In settlements, the people must often fall back on water that has been stored in underground pots for this time of year because all but the deepest of wells run dry. For Kazael this is the wet season, the Season of Lightning as the west winds pick up and bring downpours a few times during the season. It's also the coldest time of year, particularly in the north, but in the southern parts of Kazael it remains quite nice.

Days
Each "day" on Bleak is defined by the intermingling of necrotic and radiant energy in the South. The energies rotate as they are forced together by Elemental Polarization and repelled by each other, combined with the rotation of Bleak. This results in the appearance of a white sun on one side that rotates and reveals a black sun (a "Dark Sun", so to speak) on the other. The axis that the energy field rotates about wobbles between pointing at the Pillars of the World and pointing along the same axis as Bleak, this wobble is caused by Bleak's rotation and takes therefor one turning to complete one cycle. As a result, when Tonis is in the south it is virtually always daytime and when in the far north it is virtually always dusk as observed on Tonis. Kazael receives a fairly even amount of light throughout the year.

Dacid Cycles
The elements of dreams and acid also go through cycles, it takes 20 days for a full cycle, with four cycles per season. What causes these rotations is not well understood, but their effects can be profound. The two elements constantly 'turn over' in the sky, reach an equilibrium, and then turn over again. For a long period of time it was thought that they took turns being higher and lower, but after consulting with Kazaelic civilizations it was determined that they actually take turns being inside and out.

The cycles are tracked in 9 day sets, with the fifth day of each set being either the day of Burn or Blade. Between each nine day set is a day of Mischung.

Burn
Burn is the time when the two elements sit in equilibrium with acid on the outside. This time is characterized by worse weather and, you guessed it, the presence of acid rain.

Blade
Blade is the time when the two elements sit in equilibrium with dream on the outside. This time is characterized by more moderate weather and strong, lucid dreaming. It is considered a more auspicious time to travel and to perform investigations. For those who are sensitive to such things, dreams can also become prophetic or allow the user to scry.

Mischung
"Mischung" is a term borrowed from the Kazaelic civilization, it means "mixture." Most of the dacid cycle is spent in mischung, with a tendency towards burn or blade. Since mischung is so much more frequent, people often simply state whether burn or blade is more prominent at the time.