Cosmology

The Old School RuneScape Wiki also has an article on: osrsw:Realms

This article's name is not canonical. While the name or title of this topic is not officially recognised by Jagex, the information contained on this page is still considered to be canon and is based on official sources.

Structure of the multiverse.

Cosmology is the study of the universe. The universe is divided into several planes of existence, sometimes known as realms, within which exist worlds and other celestial bodies. These planes are separated from each other by the Abyss, and separated from the Abyss by planar barriers. At the edge of the Abyss is a membrane, also known as the periphery, separating the Abyss from the Void, which is infinite emptiness. This periphery marks the effective boundary of the universe, and the Elder Gods periodically 'revise' or restructure its contents every time they wake up from their slumber.

Because of the universe's planar structure, it has sometimes been described as a multiverse. However, the various planes of existence within the periphery are properly considered to only constitute a single universe. Other parallel universes such as uchronias do exist,but as separate and distinct planar structures of their own across the Void.

Some worlds can be planets or moons that share the same plane of existence. For example, Zanaris is the moon of Gielinor, and the planet Kethsi is in close physical proximity to Abbinah. The terms "plane" and "planet" are occasionally used interchangeably, the plane taking on the name of the most prominent world that resides within it (e.g. the plane in which the planet Freneskae resides is referred to as "the plane of Freneskae" even though the two are distinct).

Types of Planes

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Planes come in several forms, whether they be coterminous planes, incorporeal planes or multi-dimensional planes. The shadow realm is conveniently all three of those, while other planes may be layered, such as Infernus, which consists of multiple planes stacked on top of each other. All of the planes inside the multiverse can be separated into 4 different types.

• The lower planes are the oldest worlds in the current revision, except for Freneskae, which is a remnant of the previous. All the worlds on this plane are unbalanced and often lean towards a specific element. It is on these worlds leftovers from the previous cycle are most obviously visible. An example of this would be Ancient Magicks, which were first discovered on these worlds. The currently known, lower-plane worlds are:

World	Planar Alignment	Creator
Freneskae	Balance	Elder Gods
Infernus	Smoke	Elder Gods
Vampyrium	Blood	Elder Gods
Leng	Ice	Elder Gods
Shadow Realm	Shadow	Elder Gods

• The elemental planes were created by the elder gods when they split up. The worlds on this plane have an obvious alignment with a certain element. Which element depends on which god or gods created the world. Occasionally the Elders would return to these older worlds to refine their abilities of creation. The currently known, elemental-plane worlds are:

World	Planar Alignment	Creator
Muspell	Lava	Ful and Bik
Abbinah	Smoke	Jas and Bik
Yu'biusk	Mud	Wen and Bik

• The catalytic planes show a high level of sophistication. They were created when the elder gods had already learned much about the universe and were trying out new techniques for creating worlds. They combined familiar elements with other elements of the universe. The catalytic worlds themselves are divided into 3 different types. These are the currently known Catalytic worlds:

World	Planar Alignment	Creator	Sub-plane
Ocularis	Body	Bik and something else	Primordial plane
Teragard	Law	Wen and something else	Primordial plane
Kethsi	Mind	Jas and something else	Primordial plane
Naragun	Nature	Bik and something else	Higher plane
Hallow	Astral	Jas, Wen and something else	Transcendental plane
Tarddiad	Soul	Jas, Bik and something else	Transcendental plane

• The balanced planes were created last. They are capable of generating a steady flow of Anima Mundi. The worlds are created with the combined strength and knowledge of all the elder gods. It is here that the Elder gods created their perfect world and went to sleep. The currently known balanced-plane worlds are:

World	Planar Alignment	Creator
Gielinor	Balance	Elder Gods
Zanaris	Balance	Unknown

All named worlds

Main article: Category:Realms

World	Inhabitants	Description	Type
Abyss	Chthonians	The Abyss is made of the detritus of previous universes.	Binding-realm
Abbinah	Aviansie	Abbinah is a harsh place with little water and a shattered outer core consisting of floating islands, as well as a chaotic open core that is the only place where water can be found. The islands move at high speeds, with only a few city-sized islands in stable orbit. From above, Abbinah is obscured by hurricanes and storms that rage across the surface.	World
Bobonosia (previously known as Jermyn)	Monkeys, Mwanu	Unknown	Unknown
Britain	Humans	Unknown	Unknown
Cheanannais	Fairies, Pixies	Rich in nature.	World
Cosmic entity's plane	Cosmic Being	The cosmic plane is a small bit of land floating in what seems like nothingness.	Unknown
Dream World	Ethereal beings	Unknown	Unknown
Enchanted Valley	Wood Dryads, Centaurs, Tree spirits, Rock golems, River trolls	The Enchanted Valley is a world full of nature. The main area of the valley is surrounded by a thick layer of trees. At the centre of the main area lies a lake.	World-shard
Fisher Realm	Humans	The Fisher realm consists mostly of grass fields and trees.	Unknown
Freneskae	Nihils, Muspahs	Once considered a "perfect" world, Freneskae is now a dark wasteland. Its toxic atmosphere is riddled with constant lightning storms, and volcanic eruptions and lava flows mar its surface of bare rock. Its native life struggles to survive in the harsh climate, and as a result it is a world of constant warfare.	World
Gielinor	A high variety of species	Gielinor is a mixture of mountainous, barren, forested, volcanic, snowy and tropical areas. Most of its cities lie in kingdoms, and others on numerous islands. Much of Gielinor is lush with water resources, enabling the existence of vast rivers and seas. There is also a large, destroyed continent to the north called the Wilderness. Known continents of Gielinor are the Wushanko Isles and the Forinthry site, which is today called the Wilderness. Tropical areas lie to the south, while the north is cold and icy. The south-east is largely a barren desert, the far west is a dense taiga forest, and the far east has a humid, marshy climate.	World
Gorak Plane	Gorak	The Gorak Plane is a relatively small area, shaped roughly like a doughnut with grey clouds in it.	Unknown
Hallow	Icyene	Hallow is a planet covered by vast ocean and speckled with hundreds of small islands. The transition from day to night in this world takes close to a year.	World
Iaia	Ilujanka	Iaia is a planet inhabited by cold-blooded creatures. The world possesses three moons, a star and consists mainly of marshland. The star is not visible because the world is surrounded by a cloud of dust.	World
Infernus	Demons	Infernus is a world devoid of any life and contains liquid fire and rocks.	World
Kethsi	Kethsians (formerly)	Kethsi is a world of vast ruins and large, putrid swamps.	World
Killerwatt plane	Killerwatt	The Killerwatt plane is a world consisting of small islands floating in nothingness.	Unknown
Land of Snow	Ice sprites, Snow imps	The land of snow is a cold world covered with snow.	World-shard
Leng	Glacors	Leng is a frozen and inhospitable world of the lower planes.	World
Mazcab (previously known as Chantli)	Airuts, Goebies	Mazcab is a world mainly covered in reddish sand and rocks but with an abundance of water. Unlike most other worlds, Mazcab has a variety of biotopes such as jungles and deserts.	World
Muspell	Auspah	A world engulfed in flames. It's kind of beautiful.	World
Naragun	Naragi (extinct)	Naragun consists of what appears to be giant trees supporting shattered floating islands, which have leaves dangling from the bottom of them. Lights can be found dangling from the branches on the sides of these islands.	World
Ocularis	Stalkers	Ocularis is described by its inhabitants as a large moon that moves at great speed through the cosmos. There, the first Stalker was born and spread across the moon, taking over as a giant living being, with the ability to see and learn.	World
Primordial realm	None	This realm is a specific part of the Abyss, which consists of the leftover "junk" that the Elders used to form reality. It is an empty realm aside from the seemingly endless fields of sacred clay.	World-shard
Puro-Puro	Imps, Implings	Puro-Puro is a world consisting mainly of wheat-fields.	Unknown
Renmark (destroyed)	Centaurs, Ice sprites	Renmark was a world of wild nature where the four seasons were in constant conflict.	World
Runecrafting altars	None	Varies	Pocket-dimension
Runespan	Essence creatures	The Runespan is an area of small floating islands connected to each other by magic. In the middle is a huge tower, the runecrafting guild.	Pocket-dimension
The Shadow Realm	Shadow cacklers, Shadow leviathan	Shadow Realm is an expanding layer of the universe, filled with shadow.	Layer of existence
The Spider Realm	Spiders	Realm is a dark, empty place divided in levels. Each of the levels are made up of gigantic spun webs which must be navigated across in order to reach the top.	Unknown
The Spirit Plane	Gorajos, Sinkholes, Gulega, Honovi	The spirit plane appears to be a lush, wooded plane in which spirit shards are abundant.	Unknown
Tarddiad	Elves	Tarddiad is a world covered entirely by trees. It also includes various crystalline features.	World
Teragard	Humans	Teragard is a cold world covered in ice. At the centre of the world, is a rift to the Abyss known as the Schism.	World
Vampyrium	Vampyres	Vampyrium is a world with a blood-red sky and many castles and fortresses.	World
The Void	None	All of existence outside of the Abyss, void of anything.	None
Yu'biusk	Goblins, Orks, Ogres, Cyclopes, Ourg, Hobgoblins, Trolls, Fayrg, Raurg.	It was originally a cool and wet place, covered in marshes, swamps, and other wetlands. Now it is a wasteland ravaged by war.	World
Zanaris	Fairies, Gatekeepers, Orks	Zanaris is the moon of Gielinor. It is mostly covered in fungi, plants and forests. The normal laws of physics and logic do not apply on Zanaris; for instance, animals can talk and plants require no nutrients or sunlight to grow, and emit a faint glow.	Moon

There are several worlds that have been described but not named, and there are also tomb worlds, which are worlds which have died.

Afterlives and Underworlds

Afterlives and Underworlds are regions in the cosmos occupied by the souls of the departed. However, the two terms are not synonymous.

Underworlds are unique to a specific world and each world has only one. When someone dies, they are usually drawn to the Underworld of the world they consider to be their home.

Afterlives are the nigh-infinite demesnes of the deceased accessible from within an Underworld. They are places of pure spirit shaped by the beliefs and expectations of the souls that inhabit them. By and large, a soul goes to the afterlife they believe they should go to, regardless of how their moral character may be perceived by others.

Known Underworlds and Afterlives

• Hangazha
• Forest Beyond
• Fremennik spiritual realm
• Great Forest
• Underworld
  • Armadylean afterlife
  • Limbo
  • Saradominist afterlife
  • Spirit Realm
  • Zamorakian afterlife
  • Trollgrav
• Erebus (Zarosian afterlife)

Alternate realities

Besides the main worlds, RuneScape has alternate realities. There are worlds that are not just parallel to Gielinor but to multiple planes and planets. The currently known alternate realities are as follows:

• Dimension of Disaster - An alternate reality where the World Guardian never existed. This lead to a chain of events that caused Zemouregal to take over Varrock.
• ScapeRune - A universe where many things are opposite or backwards.

Trivia

• The structure of the multiverse shares commonalities with the Nine Realms of Norse mythology. This includes the idea of homeworlds for different magical creatures as well as primordial, elementally themed worlds.
• Since the release of RuneScape 3, the use of the term "planet" has become significantly more common indicating that one or more galaxies exist in the multiverse. Though the term "galaxy" has yet to be used in-game, the term has been used in the news updates surrounding the Tuska World Event.Furthermore, in the motion comic video The Origins of Gielinor, the Elder Gods are shown creating a galaxy.
• Freneskae is described as being on the opposite end of the universe as Gielinor. This may indicate that the universe may have a finite boundary. In the real world, there is also a boundary on what is observable in the universe though this is mainly due to limitations of the speed of light.