Editing Elemental Pole

{{stub}}

The '''Elemental Poles''' are the [[Exalted]] equivalent of the [[Elemental Planes]] of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]; they are the material manifestation of the physical concept of a singular element and all its manifestations, and through their combined metaphysical interplay, they make the physical universe possible to exist in.

There are eleven Elemental Poles in total; the five which make up Creation itself, and the six Poles of the [[magitek]] [[ecumenopolis]] of Autochthonia.

==Poles of Creation==
The five Elemental Poles of Creation are what causes Creation to exist as a stable, defined realm, distinct from the ever-shifting flux of the [[Wyld]]. As one moves closer to the four active poles, their elemental effects grow stronger, so only the mightiest of Exalts and elementals of the appropriate type can survive in close proximity. This also causes the terrain to shift accordingly, growing more and more strongly dictated by their defining element. If you somehow manage to progress beyond the heartland of the Pole itself, you break through into the Wyld beyond.

===Earth===
Arguably the most important of Creation's Elemental Poles, the Pole of Earth is located at the very literal center of Creation, the Blessed Isle, providing the foundational stability that allows the world of mortals to exist at all.

===Air===
Positioned in the cardinal North of Creation, the Pole of Air is marked as a land of freezing snowfields and icy peaks, becoming increasingly barren and empty as you approach the Pole. 

===Water===
Positioned in the cardinal West of Creation, the Pole of Water is made up of seas; it is the largest expanse of water in Creation, and the further one heads West, the sparser the intrusion of islands to break up the monotony of endless sea becomes.

===Fire===
Positioned in the cardinal South of Creation, the Pole of Fire manifests as a land of scorching savannahs and deserts, growing increasingly hot and dry as one heads south until eventually it gives way to endless fields of smokeless fire.

===Wood===
Positioned in the cardinal East of Creation, the Pole of Wood is a realm of forests, fields and fends. The closer to the Pole, the mightier the trees become, until you have a dense jungle so high and immense that the ground might as well be the [[Underdark]] for all it matters.

==Autochthon==
[[File:Autochthon Map.png|thumb|right|300px]]
Autochthonia, the internal body of the [[Primordial]] Autochthon, is most easily described as a great mechanical emulation of a planet. The captive population of this Primordial-turned-world inhabit its fathomless interior, which is broken into six distinct Elemental Poles that roughly correspond to both physical portions of Autochthon's body and components in a great machine.

===Metal===
The largest of the six Elemental Poles of Autochthonia, the Pole of Metal is effectively Autochthon's "flesh"; it combines everything from the exterior skin of his planetoid form to the vast labyrinth of chambers and devices that make up his interior.

===Crystal===
The Pole of Crystal is effectively Autochthon's brain and nervous system, and appropriately enough it lies at the center of the spherical shape made up of Autochthonia. Structurally, it appears as a sphere-like object mimicking the exterior of Autochthonia in scale miniature, filled by many millions of distinct mineral inclusions and open spaces arranged in intricate patterns of demiorganic growth and mechanistic symmetry. All the colors of the rainbow lie strewn among these shards, aglow with surging lightning as they sing the chiming chorus of transdivine cognition. For obvious reasons, this is the most well-hidden, remote, and difficult to access portion of Autochthon; he didn't want anybody tinkering with his brain.

===Lightning & Steam===
These two Elemental Poles are so similar that they are usually discussed in tandem, as both are power-generators and effectively function as the Primordial's circulatory system. Due to the requirements of producing the energy that keeps Autochthon alive and his interior habitable, they are incredible dangerous for mere mortals to visit.

The Pole of Lightning is largely a way to quickly and efficiently transport motes of Primordial essence through his body. In the Pole of Lightning, churning dynamos along the walls rotate in opposing stacked rings, each adorned with spires that conduct the constant world-searing arcs to the appropriate circuits to fuel the Great Maker’s neuroelectric grid. Lightning does not strike everywhere at once, but the omnipresent risk of sudden vaporization keeps away most intruders. It's really quite remarkable, but there are populations of elementally mutated humans who do live here, relying largely on inhuman dexterity & reflexes to avoid being fried as they travel between shielded relay vaults.

The Pole of Steam is responsible for maintaining the pressure and energy that fuels the pneumatic components scattered throughout the Pole of Metal. It's roughly a quarter filled with high-pressure water kept boiling by lightning arcs flashing through their depths. Anything not instantly flash-fried by the scalding sea must further contend with city-smashing pressure and typhoon whirlpools of pneumatic currents. The steam atop this sea is only marginally less pressurized and scalding, but still more than capable of crushing and cooking anyone caught in it. Despite its inhospitability, the Pole of Steam is also the "breadbasket" of Autochthonia; tethered to the walls throughout the Pole are sauna-like archipelagos of cooling facilities, which use blue jade refrigeration rods to extract drinkable water, some of which is mixed with poisonous chemicals and predigested by synthetic biocrystalline coral elementals to produce nutrient slurry. Humanity wouldn't survive inside of Autochthonia if it weren't for the Pole of Steam producing the water and basic sustenance that is transported by veins throughout the Pole of Metal.

===Oil===
The Pole of Oil shares elements of circulation, endocrine and immune systems. Most of its secretions provide lubrication, fuel and catalysts for key alchemies. Other oils bind to dangerous chemicals so they can be transported and processed elsewhere. To the degree Autochthon has an actual heart as humans use the term, it exists in the complex of pumps and baffles that line the floor of his northern pole. The chemical ocean of the Pole of Oil is the single-largest
body of liquid within Autochthonia, encompassing a fifth of the world’s total volume. Most of the oil is relatively pure, existing as a viscous amber-tinted liquid. Encountering different colors or opacity indicates the presence of other chemicals, sometimes as catalytic currents and often as pollutants. Amazingly, there are people living here too, hiding out in air-filled towers rising from the ocean floor and establishing ramshackle arcologies tethered to the Pole of Metal. Braver colonies live nomadic lives aboard refinery whales, either trying to gain control over their navigation system or praying that their "host" will go up for a refuel of air and nutrients before their supplies are exhausted.

===Smoke===
The most heavily Blighted portion of Autochthon's ailing body, the Pole of Smoke serves as both his lungs and his stomach. This is the dumping ground for the waste produced by all his other systems, and it responds by constantly unleashing torrents of powerful solvents into this area to digest the built-up rubbish, breaking them down into semi-pure raw materials that are used to heal wounds and expand his physiotopography. Meanwhile, the vaporized effluvia of this consumption constantly dirties the bellow-pumps that cycle gasses through the Primordial’s body.

Although Autochthonia is a spherical world, the primary vector of gravity does not orient toward the core. Instead, that force pushes everything down from the Pole of Oil through the Pole of Metal, gradually filtering all refuse and waste products to fall into the vast junkyard hell of the Pole of Smoke beneath. The bowl occupies a fifth of the titan body’s volume, the largest open space in the entire realm. Thick fog banks cover the sky in choking toxic fumes, dozens and sometimes hundreds of miles thick. Long spires pierce the murk from the machinery above like jagged inverted skyscrapers.

Far below lies a seemingly endless plain of broken metal, torn scraps of artificial rubber, glass shards and other industrial waste. Thousands of chutes in the ceiling empty this detritus onto the cratered hell, building irregular towers of garbage that would climb to the sky if underground seas of acid did not constantly dissolve the lowest layers. While the barrage of falling junk is more or less constant, the clouds also give frequent rise to sizzling typhoons and maelstroms that pour acid rain onto the cratered ruins below. These solvents pool in lakes and eventually drain through smoking tunnels leading down into the sea. Lightning and pyroclastic hail accompany the worst of these storms.

Immense veins of varicolored jade climb the walls like so much ivy, pumping the slurry of raw materials extracted by solvent digestion back up into healthier parts of Autochthonia. The peristaltic undulations of these wide pipes makes the background waver like a desert mirage even in the rare moments where the smoke clears enough to see that far.

Not all wreckage melts, of course. Countless artifacts lie mixed in with the rubble, some broken but many not.

Because of this, despite the fact that the Pole of Smoke is the most inherently hostile region in Autochthonia and was never intended to be occupied... there are people living here. If he were awake, Autochthon might take a perverse pride in that.

[[Category: Planes]] [[Category: Exalted]]