The plane of Thozeia, also called Radiant Thanates and Upper Material Plane, lied above Oshmondu and was easily accessible by teleportation from the Inner and Outer Planes, although not geographically connected to any of these.

History

The plane of Thozeia was created during the Dictation as a battleground for a kind of continuation of the Celestial Wars.

In 41'000 b. OW, the celestials had the strongest say in the Inner Planes. Thus, when they created Thozeia, they imposed societies in their own image, which were called Fundaments. These years of stability were called the Granite Fundament. Each of the six Fundaments had a certain central value, an attributed color scheme, and worked together with the others to preserve absolute social order and form a bulwark against fiends. A central idea was also for the Thozeians - primarily the gaians - to prove their valor by prevailing against actual fiend incursions.

Eventually, the attacks grew out of hand. Asmodeus, the ruler of devils, assembled a huge army with even larger auxiliary forces from the Abyss. The Fundaments collapsed, celestial legions arrived and did their own thing, even Asmodeus lost control over his united force, and Thozeia sank into two millennia of bloody warfare, called Shattered Order.

Over time, the many smaller factions and warlords united and formed into more enduring entities, building up the numerous small societies of the Shard Reign. The power of the Shards was about evenly distributed between those loyal to the celestial or fiendish side, although the fiendish Shards often had little support from outside.

Celestial influence over Thozeia slowly increased, until large celestial states - often called Thanates - rose once more. These undertook the Saint Crusades, sending huge armies - often coalitions - to fight against fiendish targets both on the plane and, more often, in the Abyss or the Hells. While they were rarely successful, huge amounts of resources were invested in them. Over this period's 26'000 years, they never relented.

The years of celestial dominance brutally ended in 0 OW, during an event called Oculus Waerne. The Orc Wars on Oshmondu, the soul of Antedeus - who was imprisoned in his own sword, Waerne - was freed. What remained of his anger-consumed self manifested in Thozeia, however, as a nearly invincible black mass that slowly grew, spawning shade-warriors and overtaking essentially the whole plane. This was called the Searing Desolation.