Sea of Thought

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The Sea of Thought is a realm beyond the physical world. It's a place composed entirely of imagination and memory — terrifyingly full of possibilities. You visit the Sea of Thought when you dream. When you think. When you reminisce. When you invent. When you cast spells. Some minds are more suited to navigate these waters than others.

The Sea of Thought is known by many names. The "astral plane." The "dream world." The "realm of the mind." The "higher consciousness." It is limitless and dynamic. A talented mage, mystic, psychic, oracle, sage, or scholar might be capable of projecting their own mind into the Sea of Thought and leaving their own world for a spell. The twelve elements that combine to form the Mortal World are also part of the Sea of Thought, except they are much more concentrated and pure there.

Light and verdance emanate from above, where an infinite space of radiance and energy dwells. Dark and ruin emanate from below, where an empty, lifeless, and bottomless hole lies. These four elemental forces influence all the others which reside in the center. Bordered below by darkness and decay, a vast ocean of water angrily churns and roils. The crushing depths are teeming with secrets, forgotten ideas, and deceased elementals. A daring explorer of the Sea of Thought might be able to recover one of these. Above this sea flies a spacious expanse of air that streams whimsically under a crown of illumination and life. In the vaulting heavens far above the clouds, ideas are created, elementals are spawned, and inspiration originates. Sprawling islands and continents rest steadfastly on the surface of the ocean, stretching into its shallows and towering into the sky. This is the realm where memories linger. Air, water, and earth are continually pressing against each other, so the vicinity around these borders are places of constant activity and home to other elements. Slime is found in the water, especially near land. Ice is found where water borders air, especially since the sky eternally steals from the ocean to form clouds — its favorite playthings. Bereft of its water, the ocean repeatedly angers and retrieves it in violent fashion. The battle between them incites electricity to dance through the sky and rivers to flow across the earth. Fires ignite and volcanoes erupt along the border of earth and air, just as metal is found where fire and lava touch the earth. The heavens and the depths both exert their power on the air, water, and earth.

All mana comes from the Sea of Thought. When a mage sleeps, he dreams, so he drinks from the water and replenishes his own well of mana. In fact, the mana located throughout the Mortal World in physical form are tiny amounts of the Sea of Thought that have leaked through into our reality. Crystalline mana is either earth, ice, or metal. Liquid mana is either water, fire, or slime. Gaseous mana is air or electricity.

When a mage casts a spell, he surrenders some amount of mana. Bound by the laws of the universe, an elemental is manifested to collect the mana, siphon power from the Sea of Thought, and activate the effects of the spell.