You instinctively wince and curl, a promise of impact triggering your need to defend yourself, the dread as the air begins to heat around you. Then, whoom, you impact and pass through harmlessly, the heat fading.
You glance over your shoulder to see it gone. You just passed through the Divine Gate.
The Divine Gate was a barrier that prevented the gods of Exandria, both good and evil, from physically crossing into the Prime Material Plane and the Elemental Planes.
The more powerful a supernatural creature is, the harder it was for the creature to pass through the Divine Gate. It was permeable to lesser supernatural creatures and to mortals who had the magic to travel between planes.[2] The Gate was made by the Prime Deities after the Calamity to better protect mortals from the influence of the Betrayer Gods and prevent other gods from influencing the world directly, not even allowing them to send through enough essence to incarnate as mortal avatars.[3] Though the creation of the Gate is widely considered to coincide with the Divergence, the barrier wasn't fully finished until years after the apparent disappearance of the gods from Exandria, when the All-Hammer crossed and added a mortal-crafted "keystone" as the final piece.[4]
A similar structure surrounds Ruidus,[5] preventing Teleportation directly to the surface of the moon[6] and increasing the difficulty of drawing on divine power for Scrying.[7] Moreover, the material of the Hallowed Cage, the final barrier around the captive god-eater Predathos, is built of material similar to that of the Divine Gate, and the Ruidusborn carry within them the key to opening it.[8]
When the gods were persuaded to become mortal in 843 PD, the Divine Gate audibly cracked in the sky, forming a kaleidoscope of golden spidering that dissipated as it crumbled. Everyone in Exandria felt that the gods were able to walk amongst them again, and shortly afterwards the Matron of Ravens appeared in Vasselheim in person to enact the Rites of Catatheosis, confirming it.[9]
Structure of the Divine Gate[]
Screenshot of the Divine Gate, by Cyarna Trim from "Exandria: An Intimate History" (Sx61) at 5:14.[art 1]
The Divine Gate resembled a burning tapestry suspended in the blackness of the Astral Sea. It was filled with many portals.[10] It was an esoteric, non-Euclidean structure that was a barrier between the Prime Material Plane and everything else.[11] The Feywild and the Shadowfell border closest to the Prime Material Plane, but there was still a fine veil between them based on the Divine Gate.[12]
The Planes of Existence[]
Members of Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein were able to travel between the Material Plane and several other Planes of Existence without noticing a passage through the Gate:
- Inner Planes: The Elemental Planes of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water
- Several of these instances involved moving through gateways or rifts, rather than using a spell like Plane Shift.[13][14][15] But even when using a spell, there was no mention of the Gate when Keyleth carried the party to or from the Elemental Plane of Fire.[16][17] When Jester used Plane Shift to return from the Elemental Plane of Fire to Exandria, there was no mention of anything resembling flight through the Divine Gate; instead, she and her group were enveloped in the green cloth of Artagan's cloak and suddenly appeared at her destination.[18]
- Overlapping the Material Plane
- The Feywild[19][20][21][22]
- The Shadowfell[23]
- The Ethereal Plane[24]
In the deepest reaches of the Underdark, Vox Machina also touched the edge of a thin membrane, or veil, separating the Material Plane from elements of the Far Realm.[25]
The Mighty Nein did not notice the Divine Gate when passing through the Immensus Gate to the Astral Plane[26]. but did notice it when using Plane Shift to return.[27]
Using Keyleth's Plane Shift spell, Vox Machina encountered and passed through the Gate during their visits to each of the following:
- Outer Planes:
- The Nine Hells[28]
- Elysium, using the tuning fork gifted by Sarenrae[29]
- Pandemonium[30]
- Unknown Plane
The Astral Sea[]
This space between the planes is the matrix in which the Gate and the planes were suspended.[34]
Strength and significance[]
A unanimous effort of all the Prime Deities[35][36] or possibly an unsealed Tharizdun working alone[37] could have broken the Divine Gate, which would have led to another Armageddon on the mortal realm.[35]
The ascension of Vecna in "The Endless Atheneum" (1x106) presented a new problem for Exandria. Vecna did not need to cross the Gate to enter Exandria; he simply achieved godhood on the mortal side of it.[38] This marked the first time since the Gate's construction that a deity had free rein in the mortal world.
Furthermore, when the gods last clashed during the Calamity, they were all fighting on the same plane. During Vecna's ascension, the Prime Deities could not physically join in the fight, as they were still held back by the Gate. So, not only was Vecna a god on the wrong side of the Gate; he was also a god unchecked by any other gods.
Trivia[]
- The field of energy that surrounds Ruidus, the small moon of Exandria, like a cage,[39] seems to be similar to the Divine Gate.[40]
References[]
- ↑ See "Vox Machina Go to Hell" (1x91) from 1:15:00 through 1:15:55.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 11.
- ↑ See CR Cooldown - C3 E109 (subscription required) at 8:23 (Transcript).
- ↑ See "By Heart Alone" (E4x04) at 5:17:43.
- ↑ See "Breaking Point" (3x31) at 0:31:40.
- ↑ See "A Gathering of Heroes" (3x76) at 2:22:59.
- ↑ See "Doorways to Darker Depths" (3x86) at 3:23:04.
- ↑ See "Looming" (3x108) at 2:45:54.
- ↑ See "A New Age Begins" (3x121) at 1:43:49.
- ↑ See "The Fate-Touched" (1x103) from 3:19:40 through 3:20:51.
- ↑ See "Explorer's Guide to Wildemount Q&A and Fireside Chat with Matthew Mercer" (Sx53) at 1:03:33.
- ↑ See "Explorer's Guide to Wildemount Q&A and Fireside Chat with Matthew Mercer" (Sx53) at 1:04:35.
- ↑ In "Aramente to Pyrah" (1x22) Keyleth led the way into the Elemental Plane of Fire through the rift near Pyrah.
- ↑ In "A Name Is Earned" (1x49), several members of Vox Machina briefly plunged through gateways to the Elemental Planes in Kamaljiori's chamber.
- ↑ In "Tangled Depths" (1x88) Vox Machina traveled through the rift below Vesrah to the Elemental Plane of Water.
- ↑ See "Path of Brass" (1x74) at 1:54:51.
- ↑ See "Brawl in the Arches" (1x76) at 3:41:09.
- ↑ See "Between a Ball and a Hot Place" (2x129) from 3:22:08 through 3:23:37.
- ↑ See "A Cycle of Vengeance" (1x58) at 3:37:30.
- ↑ See "The Echo Tree" (1x63) at 3:59:32.
- ↑ See "Dark Dealings" (1x112) at 3:05:18.
- ↑ Artagan sends Vox Machina from the Feywild back to Thar Amphala on the Material Plane. See "The Final Ascent" (1x113) at 50:07.
- ↑ See "Thar Amphala" (1x101) at 2:29:38.
- ↑ Vex used oil of etherealness to travel through the depths of the newly mobile Thar Amphala, which did not exist in the same place in the Ethereal Plane. Matt explained, "The Ethereal Plane overlaps this one. It layers over it in a similar way that the Shadowfell does." See "Dark Dealings" (1x112) at 2:34:19.
- ↑ See "K'Varn Revealed" (1x10) from 1:53:07 through 1:55:40.
- ↑ The Mighty Nein seem to be simply passing through a doorway. See "Hell or High Water" (2x136) from 3:07:05 through 3:31:28.
- ↑ See "Fond Farewells" (2x141) at 14:19.
- ↑ See "Vox Machina Go to Hell" (1x91) from 1:15:00 through 1:15:55.
- ↑ See "The Fate-Touched" (1x103) from 3:19:40 through 3:20:51.
- ↑ See "The Search For Grog" (Sx42) from 1:20:55 through 1:21:30.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 23.
- ↑ See "The Fear of Isolation" (1x105) from 3:36:55 through 3:38:30.
- ↑ See "The Fear of Isolation" (1x105) at 1:37:43.
- ↑ See "The Fate-Touched" (1x103) from 3:19:40 through 3:20:51.
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 14.
- ↑ See "A Test of Fate" (3x109) at 4:09:57. The Raven Queen reveals that as long as there is at least one of the creators of the Divine Gate against its destruction, it remains.
- ↑ See "Titles and Tattoos" (2x84) at 2:53:23.
- ↑ See "Unfinished Business" (1x100) at 5:37:26. The dead cultist's answer to Pike's question, near the end of the episode.
- ↑ See "Breaking and Entering..." (3x20) at 3:26:06.
- ↑ See "Breaking Point" (3x31) at 0:31:40.
Art:
- ↑ Screenshot of the Divine Gate, by Cyarna Trim from "Exandria: An Intimate History" (Sx61) at 5:14. Used with permission.