River Oceanus

The River Oceanus is a fictional location in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.

The first edition Manual of the Planes by Jeff Grubb describes the River Oceanus as one of the features of the Outer Planes, which "links the planes of Elysium, Happy Hunting Grounds, and Olympus in much the same way that the Styx links the lower planes". The river disappears and reappears a number of times in different layers of the planes, but it seems to follow a course that begins in Thalasia, the third layer of Elysium, flows through the second and first layers of that plane, then across the topmost layer of the Happy Hunting Grounds, then into the topmost layer of Olympus to its final rest in the second later of that plane, Ossa. The Oceanus is a more natural river than the Styx, and ho harm comes to those who drink of it. The Oceanus does still pose all the normal dangers of a large river, and does not have the supernatural boatmen of the Styx. The book goes on to describe how Oceanus appears on specific Outer Planes. The first four layers of the plane of Elysium "are dominated by the River Oceanus, which beings in the fourth (outermost) layer of this plane and flows down to the innermost layer (the layer nearest the Astral). From there Oceanus meanders into the Happy Hunting Grounds and then into the innermost layer of Olympus." These three good planes are linked by the Oceanus in the same manner as the lower planes are linked by the River Styx. By contrast, the Oceanus is a slow, peaceful flow, navigable by mere mortals (though its peaceful flow is often broken by rapids, cascades, waterfalls, and occasional fallen trees). The river separates and recombines many times in its passage, so travelers often find themselves journeying down side channels that soon rejoin the main stream. There are creatures that live in the Oceanus, including nymphs. The lands of Elysium are fertile along the banks of the Oceanus, filled with pines and sweet-smelling flowering trees. Most of the realms of Elysium are found along the banks of the Oceanus. A traveler on the Oceanus can usually reach another layer by traveling downstream (or upstream, for the flow doubles back several times). Portals to the other planes on Amoria, the first layer of Elysium, appear as dark caverns, with no clues as to what plane they lead to; those caverns that swallow the flow of the Oceanus always lead to the Happy Hunting Grounds after an underground passage, though there is no guarantee that the passage is navigable by boat. The second layer, Eronia, is a mountainous region where the Oceanus is often broken by falls and cascades; the banks of the Oceanus here are sheer and of grey rock, though the life around the banks is as profuse as in Amoria. On the third layer, Bellerin, many of the large islands in the Oceanus contain huge nations of extraplanar beings. Thalasia, the fourth layer, is the great sea from which the Oceanus flows and eventually returns to after it reaches its destination in the realm of Poseidon in Olympus. The Egyptian goddess Isis holds sway over a large realm of the layer of Amoria, including several paths of the Oceanus. The god Seker and his moveable realm Ro Stau spend most of their times adjacent to Isis's realm on the Oceanus. The Sumerian moon god Nanna-Sin travels the Oceanus in a great barque that is shaped like a crescent moon; in passing he provides a moon-like radiance to all on the banks of the river. Krigala is the first layer of the plane of the Happy Hunting Grounds, closest to the Astral, and through it the Oceanus flows in a relatively straight course (compared to its winding through Elysium) into Olympus. Ossa, the second layer of the plane of Olympus, is the outflow of the river Oceanus. There are often reports of huge, funnel-like maelstroms that lead directly back to Thalasia in an unending circle.

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