Amechra
2011-08-14, 12:07 AM
The Betweens
Ya've heard of tha Betweens, haven't ya? Ya haven't?
Where have ya been, kiddo?
How ta explain... if tha Madness Place is a sea, the Betweens are waterways, paths of madness between tha 5 Safelands and tha Islands.
Or ya could call 'em hallways... some lie about what they are, that way.
They're the only ways between the worlds, kiddo, for us; the Ports being held by the Last Sane Ones. If ya wanna make an honest buck on trade, ya have to smuggle yer stuff through tha only places ya can walk between tha lands
Welcome to the Fivelands setting, the only place where Planehopping is most probably your job!
Where the Hell is This?
Glad you ask. Imagine the vast, maddening Cerebriotic Sea (Far Realm to you people who ain't in the know); that's the Madness Place.
Floating somewhere in there is an Archipelago of Order; this amounts to 5 small planes and thousands of titchy little things (I'm talking "this plane might be able to hold a whole HOUSE" size.)
The only way to get between these Islands is by either taking an Ordership from one of the rigidly controlled ports... or to go through the Betweens.
What are Betweens, really?
Think transitive planes. That you can enter non-magically, as long as you know how; the Labyrinth can be entered through any doorway at the stroke of Midnight, while the Stairs to No-where can only be accessed if you climb a staircase and turn left on the 13th step. Stuff like that.
Betweens are small, in and of themselves. They are also dangerous as HELL; they ARE fragments of the Madness Place used as bridges between planes of order, after all.
Alright, what Kinds of Factions can We Expect?
-The Last Sane Ones, who control the ports: A sort of merchant guild-***-religious order, they believe that everyone who lives in the Five Safelands is insane; and thus they work to insulate the Safelands and Islands from each-other through requirements of absolution before you set one FOOT on their ships. They see use of the Betweens as a deep sin, as it both deprives them business AND breaks their quarantine.
-[Help needed here: I need more Safeland-spanning organizations, as well as some ideas for the specific natures of each of the Five Safelands.]
What changes, you know, Class wise?
People who actually use spells are nigh nonexistent, as are Psionics; it is kinda hard to draw stuff from Planes that aren't anywhere near you, so to speak.
Instead, Shadowcasting (Drawing from the Betweens), Pact-Magic, and Xenotheurgy have taken their place as the dominant forms of magic in society; the hospitals in the Safelands have specially labeled wards for people who have hit 7th level on a Murmur, Binders and Cultists lead religious services, etc.
(Religion needs a little work, I admit.)
What precipitated this?
I had the idea for a story a LOOOONG time ago about a man who could travel places magically by walking into this shadowy world where the walls were made of light-drinking, blade-sharp mist, and where creatures which hated light would hunt him until he left. Also, did I mention the ever-changing nature of the walls? Suffice to say, that was inspiration for the Betweens.
Ya've heard of tha Betweens, haven't ya? Ya haven't?
Where have ya been, kiddo?
How ta explain... if tha Madness Place is a sea, the Betweens are waterways, paths of madness between tha 5 Safelands and tha Islands.
Or ya could call 'em hallways... some lie about what they are, that way.
They're the only ways between the worlds, kiddo, for us; the Ports being held by the Last Sane Ones. If ya wanna make an honest buck on trade, ya have to smuggle yer stuff through tha only places ya can walk between tha lands
Welcome to the Fivelands setting, the only place where Planehopping is most probably your job!
Where the Hell is This?
Glad you ask. Imagine the vast, maddening Cerebriotic Sea (Far Realm to you people who ain't in the know); that's the Madness Place.
Floating somewhere in there is an Archipelago of Order; this amounts to 5 small planes and thousands of titchy little things (I'm talking "this plane might be able to hold a whole HOUSE" size.)
The only way to get between these Islands is by either taking an Ordership from one of the rigidly controlled ports... or to go through the Betweens.
What are Betweens, really?
Think transitive planes. That you can enter non-magically, as long as you know how; the Labyrinth can be entered through any doorway at the stroke of Midnight, while the Stairs to No-where can only be accessed if you climb a staircase and turn left on the 13th step. Stuff like that.
Betweens are small, in and of themselves. They are also dangerous as HELL; they ARE fragments of the Madness Place used as bridges between planes of order, after all.
Alright, what Kinds of Factions can We Expect?
-The Last Sane Ones, who control the ports: A sort of merchant guild-***-religious order, they believe that everyone who lives in the Five Safelands is insane; and thus they work to insulate the Safelands and Islands from each-other through requirements of absolution before you set one FOOT on their ships. They see use of the Betweens as a deep sin, as it both deprives them business AND breaks their quarantine.
-[Help needed here: I need more Safeland-spanning organizations, as well as some ideas for the specific natures of each of the Five Safelands.]
What changes, you know, Class wise?
People who actually use spells are nigh nonexistent, as are Psionics; it is kinda hard to draw stuff from Planes that aren't anywhere near you, so to speak.
Instead, Shadowcasting (Drawing from the Betweens), Pact-Magic, and Xenotheurgy have taken their place as the dominant forms of magic in society; the hospitals in the Safelands have specially labeled wards for people who have hit 7th level on a Murmur, Binders and Cultists lead religious services, etc.
(Religion needs a little work, I admit.)
What precipitated this?
I had the idea for a story a LOOOONG time ago about a man who could travel places magically by walking into this shadowy world where the walls were made of light-drinking, blade-sharp mist, and where creatures which hated light would hunt him until he left. Also, did I mention the ever-changing nature of the walls? Suffice to say, that was inspiration for the Betweens.