Shavarath, the Endless Battleground, is the plane of war. The inhabitants of Shavarath are locked in an endless war that began at the moment of creation and will continue until the end of time. Most of the combatants are immortal spirits, celestials or fiends, and every fallen soldier returns to the front line within a day of their death. The various conflicting forces in Shavarath are perfectly matched, so much so that a decisive victory is impossible, they will always be fighting.
The inhabitants of Shavarath, the soldiers in this endless war, believe that the state of their war is reflected across reality, that the balance of power in Shavarath is roughly equivalent to the balance of power on the Material Plane. Thus, when the balance of power in Shavarath shifts, when the fiends gain ground, the immortals believe that this is reflected everywhere, and that evil has gained the upper hand across existence. Every angel, demon, and devil in Shavarath knows that they will never win the war, but that isn't what matters to them, what matters is that they hold the line.
Shavarath encourages violence, and this can be felt across the plane and in its manifest zones. It is easier to bring yourself to strike someone down, or to grit your teeth and soldier on despite grievous injury, and the plane encourages those influenced by it to answer challenges with violence and aggression. The passage of time in Shavarath varies between layers, though it is consistent within any given layer. Most layers mirror the Material Plane, but not all of them.
There is a sliver of every mortal soul in Shavarath, just as every soul has a shadow in Mabar and a lumen in Irian, and these slivers form the bulk of the armies of Shavarath. The power of these conscripts is generally representative of the strength and skill of the mortal soul that spawned them, and just like the natives of the plane these conscripts reform when killed for as long as their mortal source survives. The side that these conscripts take in the war is also dependent on their own morals on the Material Plane.
Every creature in Shavarath has a role to play in the endless war, and these soldiers are split between the Legion of Justice, the Legion of Cruelty, and the Legion of Tyranny. Each of these legions is governed by a higher power that the immortals simply know as "Command", and it is these higher powers that dictate the battlefields and the rules of engagement. There are a variety of immortals native to Shavarath, but generally celestials will fight for the Legion of Justice, and fiends will fight for either the Legion of Cruelty or the Legion of Tyranny, depending on their individual demeanor and beliefs. It might seem that the Legion of Justice is outnumbered, but all three legions are fighting a war on both fronts, and they have been at a standstill since time began.
Shavarath is split into countless layers, each of them a battlefield that explores a particular struggle or aspect of war. There are brutal guerilla wars, gigantic open field battles, and fortresses that are forever under siege. Travel between layers is possible via heavily fortified portals located in the headquarters of the legions that are present on a given layer.
Known Manifest Zones
- Ash Tower in the Mournland (FoW)
- The Fields of Desolation in the Talenta Plains (FoW)
- Tamor Gultch in Thrane (FoW)
- Valin Field in Thrane (FoW)
- The Valley of Blades in the Byeshk Mountains, Droaam (FoW)
- The Harvest of Pain in Argonnessen (Dragons of Eberron)
- Gul Dol in Borunan, Riedra