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Post by Barath'Daubre on Jun 11, 2004 16:40:57 GMT -5
The Gray Wastes of Hades
It is where evil springs eternal. It is a plane of endless apathy and despair. It is the great battlefield of the Blood War.
Hades sits at the nadir of the lower planes, halfway between two races of fiends each bent on the other's annihilation. Thus, it often sees its gray plains darkened by vast armies of demons battling equally vast armies of devils who neither ask nor give quarter. If any plane defines the nature of true evil, it is the Gray Waste.
In the Gray Waste of Hades, pure undiluted evil acts as a powerful spiritual force that drags all creatures down. Here, even the consuming rage of the Abyss and the devious plotting of the Nine Hells are subjugated to hopelessness. Apathy and despair seep into everything at the pole of evil. Hades slowly kills a visitor's dreams and desires, leaving the withered husk of what used to be a fiery sprit. Spend enough time in Hades, and visitors give up on things that used to matter, eventually giving in to total apathy.
Hades has three layers called “glooms.” Uncaring malevolence that slowly crushes the spirit permeates each gloom.
Hades Traits: Normal Gravity Normal Time Infinite Size Divinely Morphic No Elemental or Energy Traits Strongly Evil Aligned Entrapping Normal Magic
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Post by Barath'Daubre on Jun 14, 2004 16:02:47 GMT -5
The Nine Hells of Baator
It is Hell, where sympathy withers and malice blooms. It is home to devils. It is the plane where the rule of law reveals evil's heart.
The Nine Hells of Baator, sometimes simply called Baator or even Hell, best satisfy the imagination of travelers, the greed of treasure-seekers, and the battle-fury of paladins. It is the ultimate plane of law and evil, the epitome of premeditated, crafted cruelty. The devils of the Nine Hells all obey a higher law than themselves, but all that really means is that they chafe and rebel in their caste. Most undertake any plot or action, no matter how foul, to advance themselves. At the very top of the hierarchy is Asmodeus, who has yet to be bested. That is the law of the Nine Hells.
The Nine Hells compete with any other lower plane for their sheer diversity of vileness. The devils are more cunning, more subtle, and more dangerous than other fiends—or so say the devils. A demon revels in slavering, insane, evil power, but a devil always has an agenda, a plan of attack, and a carefully conceived plot for retribution if necessary.
Baator consists of nine layers, each lower than the next, like ledges stepping down into an ever-deeper pit. Each layer descended gives a traveler a better view of the Nine Hells as a whole; the layers fit together like puzzle pieces, and each new descent allows a traveler greater understanding of how the puzzle comes together. It is an evil enticement.
The Nine Hells are home to minor, major, and noble devils, as well as true deities of evil (such as Kunulmak of the kobolds and Sekolah of the sahuagin). The Dark Eight are eight powerful pit fiends who control the primary devil armies engaged in the Blood War. Worse still are the Lords of the Nine: Each lord controls one layer of the Nine Hells, hovering in status somewhere between scion pit fiend and demideiry. Of course, all the lords ultimately answer to Asmodeus, the Lord of the Nine, who rules from Nessus, the bottom layer of the Nine Hells.
Nine Hells Traits Normal Gravity Normal Time Infinite Size Divinely Morphic No Elemental or Energy Traits Mildly Law-Aligned and Mildly Evil Aligned Normal Magic
The Bleak Eternity of Gehenna
It is a plane without charity, mercy, or pity. It is the Oven of Perdition, the Fourfold Furnaces. It is where yugoloths cavort on endless volcanic slopes.
Gehenna's top layer borders Hades and the Nine Hells, so it is not a pleasant place. Floating in an impenetrable, infinite void are volcanic mountains seemingly without base or peak. They are only finite in the strictest sense of the word, measuring hundreds of thousands of miles in each direction. A single volcanic mountain dominates each of the four layers of Gehenna, though lesser volcanic earthbergs drift and sometimes smash into the greater mountains. There is no naturally occurring level place in any of the layers; all the slopes are at least 45 degrees, and many are akin to sheer cliffs. Gehenna's fiendish inhabitants have carved artificial ledges, some large enough for entire cities, and switchback paths to connect them. But those edifices not carved by native yugoloths or deities have a tendency to break apart, sending their builders on a long, sliding fall down the mountain.
Gehenna's four layers are Khalas, Chamada, Mungoth, and Krangath. Each layer is differentiated from the other by its degree of volcanic activity.
Powerful entities that possess realms on Gehenna include many lords of the yugoloths, as well as Melif the Lich-Lord and Memnor, deity of evil cloud giants. The realm of Maanzicorian, an illithid deity, was once located here. But Maanzicorian was slain by Tenebrous, the name taken by the demon lord Orcus when he first returned from supposed annihilation. Accordingly, Maanzicorian's realm has started to crumble, its deity gone.
Gehenna Traits Normal Gravity Normal Time Infinite Size Divinely Morphic No Elemental or Energy Traits Mildly Evil Aligned Normal Magic
Eternal Battlefield of Acheron
It is where ignorant armies clash by night. It is the refuse-plane of a million failed rebellions. It is a plane of enforced order, where conformity is more important than good.
The hue and cry of battle is the first sound a soldier hears when arriving on Acheron and the last sound a refugee hears when leaving. That's all there is on Acheron: conflict, war, strife, and struggle. Many armies populate Acheron, but leaders are scarce. Truly, rebels without a cause are common on Acheron, whether they're petitioners, mortals, fiends, or celestials.
Acheron has four layers, each made of island- or even continent-sized iron cubes floating in an airy void. Sometimes the cubes collide, and echoes of past collisions linger throughout the plane, mingling with the ring of sword on sword as armies clash across the faces of the cubes.
Acheron hosts many deities, including Wee Jas, the deity of death and magic; Gruumsh, the god of orcs; Maglubiyet, the goblin deity; and Hextor, the deity of tyranny and self-proclaimed champion of evil
Archeron Traits Objective Directional Gravity Normal Time Infinite Size Divinely Morphic No Elemental or Energy Traits Mildly Law Aligned Normal Magic
Clockwork Nivana of Mechanus
It is the plane of ultimate law. It is where premeditated plans are born. It is the gear works for the multiverse.
Mechanus is where perfectly regimented order reigns supreme. It consists of equal measures of light and dark, and equal proportions of heat and cold. It is as predictable as the drip of a water clock and as obvious as a tree in a field. On Mechanus all law is reflected in a single infinite realm of clockwork gears, all interlocked, all turning according to their own measure. The cogs seem to be engaged in a calculation so vast that no deity knows its purpose, except that it is somehow a function of law.
At first glance Mechanus seems as straightforward as anything on the Outer Planes. However, subtleties lurk just below the surface. Every kind of law can be found in the Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus, from simple maxims to devilishly twisted rules of decorum. But for the most part, Mechanus contains no passion, illusion, or pain. When all consciousness is completely subsumed into the whole, perfection follows.
Mechanus Traits Objective Directional Gravity Normal Time Infinite Size Divinely Morphic No Elemental or Energy Traits Strongly Law-Aligned Normal Magic
Peacable Kingdoms of Arcadia
It is the land of perfection. It is where laws are made for the common good. It is the plane where harmony is born.
Arcadia thrives with orchards of perfectly lined trees, ruler-straight streams, orderly fields, and cities laid out in geometrically pleasing shapes. The mountains are unblemished by erosion. Everything on Arcadia works toward the common good and a flawless form of existence. Here, nothing intrudes on harmony.
It is said that everything on Arcadia is as perfect as it can be, neither as strictly regimented as Mechanus nor as devoted to the perfection of the individual as Celestia. But this is not entirely accurate. In fact, the inhabitants of Arcadia are often so convinced of their own righteousness that they are hard-pressed to recognize their own flaws. This likely contributed millennia ago to the loss of the bottommost layer of Arcadia, Menausus, which spiritually transmigrated to Mechanus, becoming one with the gearworks realm of ultimate law.
St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel, deity of goodly retribution, has his realm on Arcadia.
Arcadia Traits: Normal Gravity Normal Time Infinite Size Divinely Morphic No Elemental or Energy Traits Mildly Law Aligned Normal Magic
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Post by Barath'Daubre on Jun 14, 2004 16:52:56 GMT -5
The Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia
It is the land of splendor. It is where ultimate goodness is idealized. It is law and good, understanding and mercy.
The single sacred mountain of Celestia rises from an infinite sea of holy water to incomprehensible heights. Here, justice, kindness, order, celestial grace, and mercy are the rules. Here, watchful eyes hold the ramparts against evil in all its many forms. Here, all things are beautiful.
The Seven Mounting Heavens are the planar home for mortal souls of kindness and empathy for their fellow creatures. But it is a paradise that fiends of the lower planes would conquer if they could Mount Celestia is a promise of betterment and ultimate union with the powers of good and law for those worthy. So supplicants of every snipe ascend the layers, one after the other, to the ultimate height of the Heavenly City, and from thence into the Illuminated Heaven.
Bahamut, lord of kindly dragons, resides on Celestia, as well as Heironeous, the god of valor, Moradin, the lord of dwarves; and Yondalla, the goddess of halflings.
Celestia Traits Normal Gravity Normal time Infiniate Size Divinely Morphic No Elemental or Energy Traits Mildly Good Aligned and Mildly Law Aligned Normal Magic
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Post by Barath'Daubre on Jun 14, 2004 16:59:41 GMT -5
Twin Paradises of Bytopia
It is the plane that faces itself. It is the home of the gnomes. It is two sides of the same coin.
Bytopia is unique among the Outer Planes because the surfaces of its two layers face each other like the covers of a closed book. By looking up from Dothion, the “top” layer of the plane, the traveler can see Shurrock, its other layer. In a similar fashion, one may stand on Shurrock and see the towns and farms of Dothion overhead.
Each layer of the Bytopian plane is an idealized world. Dothion is a tamed, pastoral landscape, while Shurrock is an untamed wilderness. The philosophy of the plane— personal achievement working with social interdependence —infuses both its layers.
The distance between the two layers of the plane is about a mile, though sharp mountains rise from either side and sometimes meet in the middle. Travel between the two layers is common by flying as well as climbing the mountains.
Bytopia Traits Normal Time Infinite Size Objective Directional Gravity Divinely Morpic No Elemental or Energy Traits Mildly Good Aligned Normal Magic
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Post by Barath'Daubre on Jun 14, 2004 17:05:55 GMT -5
Blessed Fields of Elysium
It is the source of the River Ocean. It is a place of ultimate goodness. It is a land so pleasant you may never want to leave.
Elysium is the most strongly good-aligned plane of the Great Wheel, a place of good untrammeled by issues of law or chaos. On this plane doing well by others is more highly valued than any other ideal.
The first layer of the plane is a riot of color. Visitors marvel at brilliant green meadows dotted with starburst flowers, pools as deep blue as a jay's plumage, and silver clouds drifting against a perfect sky. The plane itself seems to vibrate with its own sense of life and intensity. It is usually a peaceful place, and tranquility seems to seep into the bones and souls of those that cross it.
Elysium consists of four layers strung together by the myriad courses of the River Oceanus. The first layer is most like the Material Plane, with sweet-smelling pines and flowering trees along its banks giving way to open meadows and rolling fields. The second layer is rougher and more mountainous, and rapids and falls are common along the channels of the river. The third layer is a great marsh awash with life. The deepest layer is the sea itself and the headwaters of the great river, dotted with islands where veteran heroes of good relax for eternity.
The size of the River Oceanus varies from a braid of smaller side channels to a mighty flow that tops its banks and floods the surrounding area. Along the river ate islands, low gravel bars, and rocky promontories, which are often the homes of petitioners and other more powerful denizens.
Elysium Traits Normal Gravity Normal Time Infinite Size Divinely Morphic No Elemental Traits Minor Positive Dominant Strongly Good Aligned Entrapping Normal Magic
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Post by The Dementist on Jun 16, 2004 16:22:36 GMT -5
Widerness of the Beastlands
It is a domain of natural savagery and plenty. It is the forest eternal. It is where the most loyal animal companions go when they die.
The Wilderness of the Beastlands is a plane of nature unbound. It is a plane of forests ranging from mangroves hung heavy with moss to snowfall-laden pines to acres of sequoias 50 thick that no light penetrates their canopy. Oak, birches, spruces, firs, and maples are common here, and explorers into the plane's distant corners find great forests of giant fungi and mushrooms. There are vast deserts as well, though they are hardly barren wastelands. Cactus, aloe, and other desert plants thrive in the arid parts of the Beastlands.
The air of the Beastlands is ideal for anything that grows. It is humid and warm in the swampy regions, calm and cool beneath the sequoias, breezy and clear among the beeches, and arid and hot in the more open lands.
The Beastlands consists of three layers, each layer frozen at part of the day. The top layer is a place of eternal daylight, its second layer a domain of perpetual twilight, and its third layer a land of night illuminated only by a pale moon.
The most important aspect of the Beastlands is how it favors animals of all kinds. Like Arcadia, it is a plane heavily populated by animals, beasts, and magical beasts. Traditional towns, cities, and strongholds are few and far between. Those who make their homes here seek to live with the trees, not against them.
Beastlands Traits Normal Gravity Normal Time Infinite Size Divinely Morphic No Elemental or Energy Traits Mildly Good Aligned Normal Magic
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Post by The Dementist on Jun 16, 2004 16:27:09 GMT -5
Olympian Glades of Arborea
It is a plane of passion and peace. It is abundant nature in its patchwork glory. It is the domain of the Elven Lords.
The Olympian Glades of Arborea are a crazy quilt of climates and environments, all of which thrive. Arborea contains great woods of towering maples, birch, and oak. These great deciduous trees strain skyward, leaving a forest floor relatively free of undergrowth and brush. The ground beneath the canopy itself is a rolling landscape of velvet moss and ferns. But the forestscape sometimes retreats before open glades of wildflowers, fields of swaying wheat and barley, and neat rows of fruit trees untended by any human hand. Here are trees that have never seen the woodsman's axe, fields rich with grain, and orchards heavy with fruit.
The very air of Arborea seems charged with anticipation and excitement. Sudden squalls brew up out of nowhere, beating the tree-lined paths with heavy winds. They pass within minutes and leave behind warm, sunny arcs of light filtering through the forest canopy. In the distance there always seems to be music; sometimes the elves and the fey are playing, but just as often the faint tune is merely the wind curling through the boles of the great trees.
Arborea is a place with flowers in bloom and trees bearing fruit simultaneously. There are uplands covered with snow, but even the snow shines beneath a crystalblue sky. Arborea is almost overwhelming in its beauty, and the land embodies both wilderness and loveliness in one package.
Yet only the top layer of Arborea has the great forest implied in the name of the plane. Arborea's second layer is an endless ocean, and its third layer a borderless desen of white dust. All three layers are places of mercurial weather, sudden attacks, and strong passions. Arborea is a plane of joy and sorrow.
Arborea Traits Normal Gravity Normal Time Divinely Morphic No elemental or Energy traits Mildly Good Aligned and Mildly Chaos Aligned Normal Magic
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Post by Barath'Daubre on Jun 16, 2004 16:44:13 GMT -5
Concordant Domains of the Outlands
It is the meeting place of opposed alignments. It is the fulcrum of the Outer Planes. It is the hub of the Great Wheel.
The Outlands is unique among the Outer Planes because it borders all other Outer Planes. As a result, it is the common ground for extraplanar creatures. Beings from infernal and celestial planes, as well as those of law and chaos, can be found here. In addition, deities of true neutrality or ideals such as scholarship or nature have their realms here.
The Outlands is an infinitely large wheel with a great spire rising from its center. Outlanders consider this towering cylindrical plinth as the heart of the Outer Planes and the axle around which the Great Wheel spins. This great plinth is clearly visible from anywhere in the plane, as it rises above the clouds themselves and ascends into unreachable heavens. The City of Doors, Sigil, floats at the top of the spire.
The Outlands itself is a broad region of varied terrain, with open prairies, towering mountains, and twisting, shallow rivers. There are settlements throughout the area, inhabited by petitioners and other natives of the plane. But they are small flecks against the greater wildness of the Outlands.
Outland Traits Normal Gravity Normal Time Infinite Size Divinely Morphic No Elemental or Energy Traits Mildly Neutral Aligned Normal Magic, Impeded Magic, and Limited Magic
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Post by Tarot da'Sabre on Jun 17, 2004 16:22:32 GMT -5
*falls back in exhaustion.* Finished. or now. *feels proud.* Oh, I'm opening this forum for anyone with plane suggestions or the like to post for Jing to see. When I start posting the Quasi and Para elemental planes (which Jing says he does want, eventually) I'll close it down for anyone else untill I finish again, so there's no mix ups. If you'll excuse me, I plan on soaking my wrists in hot water.
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