Here is a brief listing of the known magical domains.
The searing domain of Burning Sky is home to the Glaudrim, who tolerate no higher powers. It is a void of flame and air, and there is no corresponding Realm. Instead, the Glaudrim travel the Lattice and subvert other Realms, turning them into seared landscapes that match the Burning Sky.
The powers of Burning Sky are difficult to master without the aid of the Glaudrim, who only teach those who are loyal to their chaotic cause. During the Great War, Kobold and Troll adepts fought for the Glaudrim.
The Clockwork Spire and its Realm, Apparatax, are home to bizarre living machines and magical constructs that have a life of their own. The Outsiders are native to Apparatax and have a natural affinity for machines and technology, an affinity that few other races share. The Outsiders zealously guard knowledge of their Domain. During their occupation of Mendia, death squads of Outsiders and machine assassins hunted those who pursued knowledge of the Clockwork Spire.
Sekah's greatest desire is to flood all surface Realms with the waters of the Endless Depth. Surface dwellers are, in its view, valueless, fodder fit only for death and consumption. While Sekah opposes the Glaudrim's efforts to turn the Realms into seared wastelands, It views the potential death of the Great Forest as an opportunity for expansion and dreams of a flooded Mendia ruled by its children, the Sahuagin.
The powers of the Endless Depth require commitments that most surface dwellers cannot make, but pacts made long ago open this path to a chosen few.
The Eye of the Tempest is a hurricane of lightning, wind, and rain that hangs above a plain of stone. There is no guiding force controlling this chaotic domain. Adepts who master its ways can control powerful blasting energies, alter the weather, and call on flying beasts for aid.
The Frozen Sea is an elemental realm ruled by whomever occupies the Glittering Throne of power atop the frozen spire of Blasted Peak. Those who pursue the Ice Touched path access the powers of the Domain directly, and those who draw the Throne's attention suffer icy fates. Those who successfully learn the ways of cold and ice can call forth bitter blasts that freeze foes, create barriers and weapons of ice, and travel the icy paths along the shores of the Frozen Sea.
The Gray Void is a sentient Domain, the unliving embodiment of necrotic energy. As such, it grants power to those who destroy escapees from its realm, the Walking Corpses. Eventually, every living thing that dies finds its way to the Gray Void, its Anima empowering the Domain. Its Realm, the Deadlands, is home to the shades and shadows left by the living when they surrender to the Gray Void.
In the conflicts between the Domains, the Gray Void is utterly neutral, content in the knowledge that even Ascendants and the Children of Singularity die eventually.
The Great Forest is a bastion of life and vitality and a powerful source of healing energy. It's ruler, the World Tree, was fatally wounded during the great war between the Outsiders and the Glaudrim on Mendia. It is dying and its Realm will fade or fall to another power when it does.
The Glaudrim believe the Forest is doomed, but it is not without allies. Vargris of the Plain of Wolves and his minions travel the forest paths, and hunt each other beneath its branches.
The amorphous ruler of Illfane is a mercurial Child of Singularity that grants its followers power over diseases and corruptions of the flesh. Those who cure also bring death, and few can predict when or why Doreet the Tainted will change its mind. Few have seen Illfane's Realm, Bloodmire, a dying forest half-flooded by ichorous lakes of blood and bile.
The ever-changing realm of Seven Eyes the Sightless is a source of illusionary magic and powers that alter perception for good or ill. The Sightless requires nothing of those that seek the Domain's power. Instead, it treats adepts who draw on the Kingdom as pawns in schemes and plots against Ascendants or Children of Singularity.
The Plain appears as a sea of grass surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Great wolves hunt any who dare the Plain. Those who swear loyalty to Vargris gain dominion over animals, and some can assume a bestial form. Vargris takes an active role in the conflicts between the Domains, opposing those who would damage or destroy living Realms.
Shadowed Crossing lies between Domains and constantly changes as relationships between the Children of Singularity wax and wane. Its powers are slippery and ephemeral, changing with the light.
The Nameless ruler of Shadowed Crossing rules from Gloomhaven, a mutable fortress that moves from Realm to Realm. Adepts who wish to draw upon this Realm may pursue knowledge on their own or form a pact with the Nameless. Those who pursue the path to power gain the ability to pass unseen, travel great distances along dark paths, and turn wispy shadow-stuff into short-lived constructs.
The bejeweled Domain of earth, which manifests Thorwalde and Erinas. The Queen of Jewels and King of Steel rule. Skystone is a massive obelisk-shaped world of solid stone and metal. Skystone is a massive obelisk-shaped world of solid stone and metal. Its indestructible walls are a bastion of order amid the conflicts between the Children of Singularity. Not even the Great Wyrm Magrimond was able to bend Skystone to its chaotic will.
A Domain that lies close to Singularity. A world of pure arcane energy controlled by the Living Key. The Outsiders believe that arcane power underlies everything in the universe and view it as the source of ultimate power. They created the Living Key to unlock the power of the Tower Arcanum, but the Key grew beyond their control and fused with the Tower itself, forever denying its power to the Outsiders.
This Domain represents the unleashed destructive potential of arcane energy trapped and channeled by the void. It is the ultimate expression of chaos and destruction. The powers of this Domain strip away conscious control and ordered thought. Only a great act of hubris can manage the raw energies they contain, and adepts who dare this path risk their sanity each time they draw upon this Domain.
There are many ways to gain power. Here are a few better known paths.
Devotees of the World Tree follow the Grovekeepers, who harness the Tree's powers to nurture growth and protect the natural world. They can heal the sick and weak, control some plants, and cast protective spells that dampen fire and guard against physical threats. When roused to anger, they draw power from the elements that nourish the Tree, earth and water.
The Ice Touched harness the power of the Frozen Sea to pursue their own goals, and many hope, eventually, to wrest the Glittering Throne from the current avatar of the Domain. Adepts that pursue knowledge of the Frozen Sea call forth bitterly cold winds, frozen precipitation, and bizarre constructs of ice.
There are very few formal organizations devoted to the study of the Domains on Mendia because most adepts seek power for themselves. However, at the end of the great war, some magicians saw the benefits of working together and founded the Order of the Eye. The group pursues scholarly understanding of many Domains, but members are best known for their mastery of the Kingdom of Mirrors and the Tower Arcanum.
Students of the Living Key gain great control over arcane energy, using it to alter reality or manipulate physical objects. In times of strife, they can transform arcane power into elemental forms, calling down bolts of lightning and blasting fires.
Those who seek the wisdom of Seven Eyes the Sightless gain subtle powers that change perception, twist the mind and bend space. Their mastery of the senses also lets them perceive the hidden and hear unspoken words.