The_Werebear
2007-07-17, 02:04 AM
The Mad Sands
Serinai stared into the bleak wasteland spreading out before her as the last disorientation of the teleportation spell wore off. Already, the halfling was beginning to hate the place. Behind her, Gartuk the half orc barbarian was still vomiting onto the black, crystalline sand that he was sunk to his knees in. He couldn't stand teleportation. Turning around with her hands on her diminutive waist, she frowned at her henchman and shouted, "Get up you slob. I hired you to fight, not puke." With a grunt, he pushed himself to and upright position, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and from behind it muttered "Screw you. What's gotten a worm into your apple." Normally, the halfling was more understanding of his teleportation sickness. Serinai sighed, half impatiently, half apologetically.
"I'm just on edge, that's all."
Planar Description
The Mad Sands are layer 193 of the Abyss, and are a wasteland of of knee deep black sand that blows about the area in a never ending whirl of crystalline grit. No natural waterways run through the area, and few creatures can survive the harsh extremes in temperature that swing violently and randomly. No geographic structure lasts for more than a few days, the most common being massive dunes that occasionally form. Castles of the sand dot the landscape, occasionally collapsing in a cloud of dust.
This is the dominion of Linanah, a Demoness of madness who specifically targets Arcane casters. The black sand is part of her trap. While on the plane, arcane spells are magnified in power, and even a vial of the sand can enhance a spellcaster's power to dangerous levels. The plane itself can be manipulated by anyone skilled in the arcane as well, forming whatever they desire. Like the sand, this is bait. Anyone posessing arcane knowledge on the plane will slowly lose the will to leave, then memories, then personality. Before long, he or she will be just another Sandwraith, a faded image of a person, battling the other victims of the plane while trying to hold together a crumbling castle in the sand.
Planar Traits
-Normal Gravity
-Normal Time
-Circular- If you go far enough in one direction in the Mad Sands, you will end up back where you started.
-Highly Morphic, Divinely Morphic- Anyone with the ability to cast Arcane spells greater than Fifth level can create any nonmagical, inanimate object out of the black sand that covers the plane. It will behave just like a normal object of that type, save it will appear matte black and have a shimmer effect. However, as soon as they cease to concentrate on the object, it returns to simply being a pile of sand. Many creatures of the plane use it to create elaborate castles, which fall apart the second they stop focusing on them. Any Lesser Deity can alter the plane at will, and in a more permanent fashion.
-Entrapping- This is similar to the Entrapping trait from Hades and Elysium. Any arcane spellcaster on the plane becomes more and more delusional and detached from reality. Their powers seem more interesting, and their companions more foolish and ignorant. At the conclusion of every day spent in the Mad Sands, any nonoutsider Arcane spellcaster must make a Will Save(DC 10+ their Arcane Caster level). On a successful save, victim takes 1d2 points of Wisdom Damage. Failure indicates they have become a Madsand mage, falling under the control of Linanah and losing all memories. Only a Wish or Miracle can restore the victim to their former state.
-Enhanced Magic- All Arcane spells take effect as if the caster was two levels higher. This does not affect the level of the spell. For example, a Fireball cast by a 7th level wizard in the Mad Sands would deal 9d6 damage instead of 7d6.
Mildly Chaos and Evil aligned
-Madsand- This is an item related to the plane, and the reason many mages would risk an expedition to retrieve some. A cubic foot of it will act, on the material plane, like it does in the plane itself, increasing the caster level of any Arcane spellcaster holding it by 2, and being able to be shifted into any mundane object that has the same mass as the sand. However, it also brings the entrapment trait. Any Spellcaster in contact with it for more than a day will have to make saves as if they were on the plane, with the same consequences for failure.
Serinai stared into the bleak wasteland spreading out before her as the last disorientation of the teleportation spell wore off. Already, the halfling was beginning to hate the place. Behind her, Gartuk the half orc barbarian was still vomiting onto the black, crystalline sand that he was sunk to his knees in. He couldn't stand teleportation. Turning around with her hands on her diminutive waist, she frowned at her henchman and shouted, "Get up you slob. I hired you to fight, not puke." With a grunt, he pushed himself to and upright position, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and from behind it muttered "Screw you. What's gotten a worm into your apple." Normally, the halfling was more understanding of his teleportation sickness. Serinai sighed, half impatiently, half apologetically.
"I'm just on edge, that's all."
Planar Description
The Mad Sands are layer 193 of the Abyss, and are a wasteland of of knee deep black sand that blows about the area in a never ending whirl of crystalline grit. No natural waterways run through the area, and few creatures can survive the harsh extremes in temperature that swing violently and randomly. No geographic structure lasts for more than a few days, the most common being massive dunes that occasionally form. Castles of the sand dot the landscape, occasionally collapsing in a cloud of dust.
This is the dominion of Linanah, a Demoness of madness who specifically targets Arcane casters. The black sand is part of her trap. While on the plane, arcane spells are magnified in power, and even a vial of the sand can enhance a spellcaster's power to dangerous levels. The plane itself can be manipulated by anyone skilled in the arcane as well, forming whatever they desire. Like the sand, this is bait. Anyone posessing arcane knowledge on the plane will slowly lose the will to leave, then memories, then personality. Before long, he or she will be just another Sandwraith, a faded image of a person, battling the other victims of the plane while trying to hold together a crumbling castle in the sand.
Planar Traits
-Normal Gravity
-Normal Time
-Circular- If you go far enough in one direction in the Mad Sands, you will end up back where you started.
-Highly Morphic, Divinely Morphic- Anyone with the ability to cast Arcane spells greater than Fifth level can create any nonmagical, inanimate object out of the black sand that covers the plane. It will behave just like a normal object of that type, save it will appear matte black and have a shimmer effect. However, as soon as they cease to concentrate on the object, it returns to simply being a pile of sand. Many creatures of the plane use it to create elaborate castles, which fall apart the second they stop focusing on them. Any Lesser Deity can alter the plane at will, and in a more permanent fashion.
-Entrapping- This is similar to the Entrapping trait from Hades and Elysium. Any arcane spellcaster on the plane becomes more and more delusional and detached from reality. Their powers seem more interesting, and their companions more foolish and ignorant. At the conclusion of every day spent in the Mad Sands, any nonoutsider Arcane spellcaster must make a Will Save(DC 10+ their Arcane Caster level). On a successful save, victim takes 1d2 points of Wisdom Damage. Failure indicates they have become a Madsand mage, falling under the control of Linanah and losing all memories. Only a Wish or Miracle can restore the victim to their former state.
-Enhanced Magic- All Arcane spells take effect as if the caster was two levels higher. This does not affect the level of the spell. For example, a Fireball cast by a 7th level wizard in the Mad Sands would deal 9d6 damage instead of 7d6.
Mildly Chaos and Evil aligned
-Madsand- This is an item related to the plane, and the reason many mages would risk an expedition to retrieve some. A cubic foot of it will act, on the material plane, like it does in the plane itself, increasing the caster level of any Arcane spellcaster holding it by 2, and being able to be shifted into any mundane object that has the same mass as the sand. However, it also brings the entrapment trait. Any Spellcaster in contact with it for more than a day will have to make saves as if they were on the plane, with the same consequences for failure.