"The metaphorical plane?"
"No, the Metaphorical Plane. It's . . . hard to explain."
"Try me, Dr. Amber."
"Okay, you know those 'just-so' stories for kids? Like how the seasons are caused by war between the fire and the water elementals? Even though we know that they are caused by the axial tilt of Earth as it goes around the sun?"
I nod. Dr. Emile D'Amberville was the foremost authority in quasiplanar metaphysics at the University of Orlaine, and I wasn't about to disagree with anything he said.
"Well, it turns out those children's stories are also true. It's easier to describe using arcane math, but the axial tilt and the elemental war both cause the seasons!"
"You mean the axial tilt determines the tide of the war? Or does the war of the elementals cause the globe to tilt?"
"Yes." I must have looked confused, because he continued on, "That is, while it's natural to think one phenomenon must be more basic than the other, both actually have the same explanatory power as the other. Neither is prior to the other."
"Does that imply that the world is actually flat?"
"In a sense. It is definitely a sphere, but it is equally definitely a flat plane floating above the elemental chaos. This is all derivable from the Covellian equations, but Ferrier's work from just before the Second Demon War makes it clear. It's similar to how Faerie is an echo of what we call the Prime Material, but the Prime Material is also an echo of Faerie."
"So can we visit these locations, like we can visit Faerie?"
"It's difficult, but with the right sort of magic it's possible, similar to how some spells can transfer you to the plane of Fire."
"But didn't Fayon famously just walk into Hades, no magic required?"
"Well, I think you'll find that travel is its own sort of magic."
