Tiz-ah-Kor: Planes and How They Work

This third entry about Tiz-ah-Kor explains how a storyteller might use Tiz-ah-Kor in something else they're doing, whether it's running a tabletop game or writing fiction. Remember that Tiz-ah-Kor is not necessarily suitable for all settings, and may require adaptation or adjustment, especially in worlds that are more mundane and less fantastical.

Tiz-ah-Kor as a story telling element is designed to integrate into other worlds, and so some of this may be presupposed by the cosmology of the universe in which Tiz-ah-Kor is manifesting. For example, in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, Tiz-ah-Kor manifests as an independent plane within a (usually prime material) plane that is spatially correlated, but manifested in place of a section of that plane. To put it simply, Tiz-ah-Kor functions like a city that just appears and exists within a plane like any other city, but within its boundaries metaphysics might behave differently. So, for example, if Tiz-ah-Kor exists in a plane that is incompatible with human life, such as an elemental plane that is hostile to life without magical protections, it still within its geographical space provides protections through its planar manifestation (and supernatural barrier generated by the Watchers). Likewise, on something like the Astral plane, the rules of physics of Tiz-ah-Kor typically manifest over the rules of the plane, so creatures within Tiz-ah-Kor continue to age normally and obey laws of gravity, for example.

For other magical settings, Tiz-ah-Kor might be a separate plane aligned to another plane. For example, Magic the Gathering’s system of planes has Planeswalkers, who travel between planes. For a story teller seeking to implement Tiz-ah-Kor into a setting that has similar systems of multiple planes through which entities can intentionally move, Tiz-ah-Kor might be an independent plane, though one which converges, draws near, or sends its own emissaries to other planes to exert the influence of order. Similarly, the system of planes in Shadowrun has parallel universes- Tiz-ah-Kor might be a neighboring plane to Earth’s, where things resemble earth more than Tiz-ah-Kor normally does, but the Watchers and their benevolent order protect its denizens from the threats of using magic, meaning that it has much more diverse magical traditions (as long as they conform to the Watchers’ will and avoid consorting with any evil or chaotic extradimensional entities) can thrive and grow. Like Anarchs and Blackjacks, who sometimes manifest in the primary plane of play but come from neighboring dimensions, Tiz-ah-Kor’s residents may manifest into the world as emissaries, mercenaries, traders, or mentors sharing their knowledge. In such a world, Tiz-ah-Kor itself might look more technologically advanced as a result of interactions between planes.

However, if you want to use Tiz-ah-Kor as the baseline for a campaign or story, it might be worth adopting a cosmology that primarily focuses on how Tiz-ah-Kor operates. Consider planes like a series of bubbles. Some of these bubbles drift through the void, distant from each other. They don’t really interact, and there are all kinds of bubbles made from different materials. Some are made of matter, others of magic, and others still of all kinds of things- pure energy, powerful divine entities, etc. Sometimes, these bubbles are close to each other, and they interact. A bubble of matter and a bubble of magic next to each other may result in magic and matter seeping through- magicians on the material plane and physical constructs of magic on the magical one. Other times, these bubbles may subsume or merge with each other- Tiz-ah-Kor could be understood as three bubbles, one of order, one of matter, and one of the supernatural power of the Watchers being folded together and assimilating into one bubble. What Tiz-ah-Kor then does is goes to bubbles where the walls of the bubbles are thin and repairs those walls- Tiz-ah-Kor manifesting in or beside planes and repelling forces of chaos and entropy. If the bubble bursts, all that is contained is lost to the void unless its assimilated by another plane- in fact, many of the relics and ruins on Tiz-ah-Kor are the accumulated remains of planes long since or long previously destroyed and then gathered by Tiz-ah-Kor. The power of magicians in Tiz-ah-Kor comes from it snatching insubstantial portions of each plane it visits and weaving them into itself- magicians from Tiz-ah-Kor or the planes it visits might find themselves powerless when they try to use magic somewhere else unless Tiz-ah-Kor is nearby.

In such a universe, Tiz-ah-Kor might hardly be unique. There could be other metaplanar cities powered by their denizens or deities which do very similar things. These may be used for storytelling purposes, either building a world or providing conflict with the protagonists. Alternatively, Tiz-ah-Kor might be truly unique or one of only a few of its kind, functioning as a story element of much more rarity. Tiz-ah-Kor can be a free-drifting element, one which goes randomly from place to place as the storyteller desires, or it could even be ensnared by another plane, perhaps by the machinations of a powerful force that the players or characters will encounter. The metaphysical nature of Tiz-ah-Kor might be entirely unimportant for your story- treat it as a regular city that has appeared for a period of time, perhaps because of magic or some looming threat regardless of the Watchers or any other nature. However, Tiz-ah-Kor should always be a strange place- by its nature, it brings together things that are alien to each other, so if it does take a more mundane role, remember that it is a foreign place that presents opportunities for exploration, scholarship, and new encounters.

That concludes this entry about Tiz-ah-Kor. I apologize for not writing for so long. I had some real world business that was fairly time consuming and had a hard time getting back to writing about Tiz-ah-Kor. Please let me know in the comments anything you want to know more about next!