The Astral Sea

A vast expanse of glittering planetoids in a gray sky, bobbing up and down between a hot darkness below and a cold light above.

Some large planetoids have been partially hollowed out to make towns, others lash together groups of smaller planetoids as flotilla-like villages. World Dragons are miles long, miles wide, vesitigial-limbed dragons, with small cities built under some of their scales. The largest stable community outside of World Dragons is the Pearl, a concealed city in a pockmarked, crystalline hunk of rock that is actually the skull of a dead god.

Home of Dragons, Hadozee, Psurlons, Githyanki, Githzerai, Starspawn, Aasimar and others.

Dragons in The Delta and The Feywild must decide at adulthood whether they would like to attempt to grow into a World Dragon, consigning themselves to the Astral Sea exclusively, or grow to be an Ancient Dragon, forsaking the chance to grow into a World Dragon, but able to traverse all the planes as they wish. The legs and wings of World Dragons shrink as they increase in overall size, like whales losing their legs.

I had the thought that there is too much psychic static/background noise for World Dragons to communicate with each other across vast distances. Their thoughts take a long time to coalesce, so interpreters and scribes take residence on the World Dragon to record these thoughts over the course of months or years. Outriders on smaller dragons or Styx Ships then carry these messages around The Astral Sea. With the exception of certain inorganic components, I feel like The Astral Sea's biggest export is knowledge. Indiana Jones types either come physically or astrally project. Factions are in conflict because some want to plunder the Astral Sea for material benefit and others wants to preserve and catalogue all they find. I imagine The Pearl (like Pearl of Wisdom) is the largest of these collections of knowledge.

Things do not age here, nor does anything need to eat, drink, or sleep.

Ancient Battleground

Gods will often decide to stage their more personal conflicts in The Astral Sea, rather than attack each other's domains or followers directly. In times past, the thinking was that the dragons would know to stay away, and neither God would have to worry about collateral damage. However, as The Planes become more connected and crowded and more people have made a home in The Astral Sea, it's not uncommon for Hopper Communities, Research Convoys, or even The Pearl to be caught in the Divine crossfire. The Pearl itself is likely a remnant of one of these battles.