Existence and origins
Metaphysics is the study of first principles, including abstract concepts such as existence, space, and time. Cosmogony is the study of how the Gods, the universe, and the world came into existence. Taken together, these two fields of Scholastics provide a framework for understanding reality and how we can relate to and interact with, the Gods.
There is no historical record of the beginning of the Universe because there was no historian to witness the moment. This has led some to suggest that the Universe is eternal and had no beginning. However, not being able to recall your own birth does not prove that you were never born. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
What scholars have determined from reason alone, supplemented by revelations received by all the Prelates and Patriarchs of the Seven, and as is written in the Libri Septorum, the Universe and all existence was created by the Seven at a point in time so distant from today, that one might consider it to be eternally long ago.
As to the origins of the Gods, the Seven are outside the flow of time, so questions about their age, or their first actions, are meaningless — precisely because they are timeless.
The seven planes of existence
There are seven planes of existence (sometimes called ‘dimensions’), which are frames of reference within with things exist. The planes are connected in varying degrees.
The Plane of Divinity is home to the Seven. The Plane of Life is where those who are still to be born, exist. The Plane of Afterlife is where the deceased exist. The Prime Material Plane is home to the living; it is a space-time framework containing all matter, energy, and life. The Ethereal Plane is co-planer with the Prime Material and is useful for transportation within the Prime Material. The Astral Plane can be used to reach other planes of existence through hyper-dimensional travel. The Elemental Plane is a differentially-convoluted hyper-surface, acting a reservoir of power.
The adjacent diagram attempts to illustrate these planes. The Gods’ home plane is the Plane of Divinity, which is connected to all the other planes. The Prime Material is the home plane of living things and all the inanimate things: in short, the world (and possibly other worlds). Living things are native to the Prime Material.
Parallel to the Prime, is the curious Ethereal Plane. It touches every point on the Prime, so is in some sense “parallel” to the Prime, or a strange “non-physical alternate version” of the Prime. It is possible to move in to and out of the Ethereal, in a process called “translation”. Time flows slower in the Ethereal, and because of the non-physicality of the Plane, directions such as up/down are experienced differently. Solid obstacles on the Prime, such as walls, offer no impediment to a traveller in the Ethereal. Powerful mages and clerics use the Ethereal as an alternate means of transport across the Prime Material.
The Elemental Plane is a region of raw energy, an undifferentiated wellspring of primary force. Depending on how this plane is connected to the Prime Material, the energy manifests in different “flavours”: fire, water, mud, etc. There are eight stable forms of interaction, manifesting the well-known elements. The function of the Elemental Plane is unknown. Some speculate it is merely a container for the energies left over after the material universe was created. Others think that it sustains the Prime Material.
The Planes of Life and Afterlife are also reservoirs, in a manner of speaking. The former is where all life forms that will exist in the future, currently exist. The latter is where all deceased life currently exists. These planes have special significance in that they appear to exist specifically to enable or sustain life in the Universe. The Plane of Life is the domain of Qidra, and the Plane of the Afterlife is under the guardianship of Arawn.
Finally, there is the peculiar Astral Plane, about which much has been written and speculated. It has been described as a barren vault in which floats the occasional bits of solid matter. Time flows incredibly slowly here; while a thousand years pass it seems to be only a single day has gone by. This is such extreme time dilation that it isn’t necessary to eat or even breathe while on the Astral. Not only time, but space, functions in an anomalous manner. Perhaps the most remarkable feature about the Astral Plane is that it inter-connects all the planes, allowing travel from one reality to another.