Renduaz
2017-09-04, 08:28 AM
"to boldly go where no one has gone before....."
This is personally how I would envision the ragged, outermost regions of the Inner Planes briefly mentioned in the DMG, closest to the Elemental Chaos and farthest from the Prime Material, thus bearing the least resemblance to it, detailed for fun and in case other DM's want inspiration regarding these alien, hostile environments.
Plane of Air, Outermost Regions
Little of interest is to be found in this endless expanse of empty, colorless air with freezing temperatures at the absence of almost any warmth, only rarely broken by megalithic, planet-sized or much larger Anticyclonic storms raging with incomprehensible speeds driven by pressure or else infinite energies which slowly crept up from the bordering planes, although nobody knows for sure. Due to the generation of gravity and acoustic waves, these wandering terrors produce extremely high temperatures within their vicinity.
The only creatures to be seen are the infinite masses of pure Air Elementals drifting about, almost invisibly, throughout this elemental fabric, although legends sometimes speak of Noble Djinni banished to these regions as punishment, deprived of their ability to travel the planes, lost among the winds and longing for a chance to grant their Wishes to a mortal for a chance of possible redemption from their curse, or perhaps as a bargain for a means of escape. Sparse historical reports shrouded in mystery have also sometimes spoken of winged creatures larger than the largest ones seen on the Prime Material and beyond, which call these regions their home, for it is only here that they can roam freely unimpeded by solid obstacles or fame-seeking hunters driving them into extinction.
Plane of Earth, Outermost Regions
Congratulations on your arrival, I hope you aren't too attached to oxygen, and have the means of warming yourself up by a few dozens, or a hundred, Celsius degrees or so ( Or else, resist the effect ). If you're lucky, and haven't appeared too far, then you should only be burdened by the gravitational pull of 2 or 3 times higher than what you're used to, so travel light. If you're unlucky, then I hope you have the endurance of a Tarrasque, because you're currently being crushed by a Star-like pressure, as the plane continues on before breaking down to particles, and then bleeding into the Elemental Chaos like a black hole's event horizon. But you needn't worry about that, that's far beyond the outermost regions.
If you surfaced in a relatively porous area, and you could peer into the pitch black darkness which lingers around you, you'd quickly realize that there is nothing but "ground" here. An eerily magnificent, infinite "Mordor-like" badland of stone, rock and earth with jagged crags, ridges and mountains or bizarre formations thousands of times larger than a continent on the Prime Material stretch out before you, and around you, and above you. When the endless expanse meets the edges of your vision, it curves up slowly like an sphere of impossible depth and radius and then encloses in where would be the "sky", encapsulating everything around you, like a mirror image were it not for the difference. Although you can also see massive openings along these infinitely long and curving spherical "walls" and "ceilings" of rocky landscape.
You quickly realize the outermost regions of this plane are like an infinitely large block of Swiss cheese, with Terran elements making up the "cheese", while pockets of empty void fill up spaces in between, getting smaller and smaller the furthest one progresses, until vanishing entirely into a solid mass of astronomical pressure, where only burrowing creatures who meld with the rock at all times can even exist in. But, you aren't there yet.
What you'd expect to be silence is constantly broken by a harmony of infinite creaks and low rumbles, some from afar, some closer than you'd like. The landscape before you seems to shift and change with minor detail perpetually, and large "boulders" never seem to stay in one place from the last time you looked. Was that a mountain just moving? CRACK. The sound deafens you, you panic. If you could see the source, it would be hundreds of thousands, millions of miles away. An entire section has just quaked, sending off city-sized debris flying sky-high and a shockwave of dust spreading at enormous speed, like an asteroid impact. You aren't far enough for the earth to be completely solid yet, it seems. There seems to be a reason why people don't venture here often.
But amidst the chaos, you sometimes think you can see different colors? Brightness? Untamed and gigantic deposits of pure metals and crystals sometimes decorate the underground caverns and surfaces along the way, unguarded by any Dao, untouched by men, beckoning for the brave. Will you risk it? Lastly, according to myth, this region is often a favorite of the multiverse's most elusive persecuted, or reclusive, too much near the influence of the Gods in the upper planes, too crammed or even vulnerable in the Demiplanes, they make their warded, hidden abodes, potentially anywhere in this infinite expanse, somehow skirting the geological dangers. Who knows whom you'll find?
Plane of Fire, Outermost Regions
Scorching heat and a screen of deep red greets you, as you are engulfed in fires which somehow burn without air. Visibility is near zero, even if you were not immediately blinded in the absence of immunity. Silhouettes of odd flames sometimes show up from the corner of your eye, barely noticeable in this monotone, swirling pattern of red and orange. Is there anything to search for here at all, you wonder? The rumors spread by some gibbering madmen and the whispering of extra-planar entities point beyond this place, towards the Central Vortex, the infinite cyclone of Plasma siphoned down into Elemental Chaos. According to them, if one can reach it unscathed, he might be able to harness energies beyond his wildest dreams to fuel his magical devices or incantations.
Plane of Water, Outermost Regions
Much like in the Plane of Earth, I hope you are faring well in this depth which makes the Mariana Trench seem like a toddler's pool, or otherwise, my condolences on currently being crushed and smothered to death by a solid sheet of Ice VII following a slightly more distant, awry destination through your Plane Shift or portal of choice. Pitch black darkness, breathlessness ( If unprepared ) and extreme tightness welcome you into this lovely Oceania, along with radio silence save for some of the ripples or weird echoes you may come across, or even a few sources of light, which all seem to be on the move. A sky, ocean floor, or anything solid except for some freaky looking creatures, are nowhere to be seen.
Few living beings other than the various forms of pure water elementals call these regions home, but a number of arcane scholars have summarized that whenever the eldritch abominations known as the "Aboleths", ( whom by the mythology of Faerun have once ruled the world in some of it's earliest stages, still almost entirely covered by water, known as the "Blue Age" ) reform a new body whenever they perish elsewhere, their essence travels to the Water Elemental Plane. Due to the inaccessibility and general gloominess of the Outermost Regions, both of which cater to the Aboleths, their concentration here is estimated to be at it's highest. While some return though hidden portals known only to them almost immediately to continue their tasks, others remain to scheme and confer in relative safety, sometimes even for hundreds of years or more. At any rate, it is speculated that this region houses a Primeval Abolethic civilization which dwarfs the Blue Age on the Prime Material, with names such as the "Abolethic Sovereignty" on the Prime Material of Abeir-Toril being mere outposts. It is the Abolethic equivalent of "Evermeet" in the Feywild, if you will. A few even go as far as to say that some of their Deities themselves reside here.
Who knows what knowledge or powers these beings which originate in the Far Realm possess, possibly predating the oldest of deities? Or perhaps they have been working in secret, in the fathomless depths, to breach the gap between their ancestral origin and the known Multiverse for all this time? Nevertheless, an equal number of Krakens likewise dwell here, sometimes in conflict, or cooperation, since their creation and nature is vastly different, yet often have mutual goals.
This is personally how I would envision the ragged, outermost regions of the Inner Planes briefly mentioned in the DMG, closest to the Elemental Chaos and farthest from the Prime Material, thus bearing the least resemblance to it, detailed for fun and in case other DM's want inspiration regarding these alien, hostile environments.
Plane of Air, Outermost Regions
Little of interest is to be found in this endless expanse of empty, colorless air with freezing temperatures at the absence of almost any warmth, only rarely broken by megalithic, planet-sized or much larger Anticyclonic storms raging with incomprehensible speeds driven by pressure or else infinite energies which slowly crept up from the bordering planes, although nobody knows for sure. Due to the generation of gravity and acoustic waves, these wandering terrors produce extremely high temperatures within their vicinity.
The only creatures to be seen are the infinite masses of pure Air Elementals drifting about, almost invisibly, throughout this elemental fabric, although legends sometimes speak of Noble Djinni banished to these regions as punishment, deprived of their ability to travel the planes, lost among the winds and longing for a chance to grant their Wishes to a mortal for a chance of possible redemption from their curse, or perhaps as a bargain for a means of escape. Sparse historical reports shrouded in mystery have also sometimes spoken of winged creatures larger than the largest ones seen on the Prime Material and beyond, which call these regions their home, for it is only here that they can roam freely unimpeded by solid obstacles or fame-seeking hunters driving them into extinction.
Plane of Earth, Outermost Regions
Congratulations on your arrival, I hope you aren't too attached to oxygen, and have the means of warming yourself up by a few dozens, or a hundred, Celsius degrees or so ( Or else, resist the effect ). If you're lucky, and haven't appeared too far, then you should only be burdened by the gravitational pull of 2 or 3 times higher than what you're used to, so travel light. If you're unlucky, then I hope you have the endurance of a Tarrasque, because you're currently being crushed by a Star-like pressure, as the plane continues on before breaking down to particles, and then bleeding into the Elemental Chaos like a black hole's event horizon. But you needn't worry about that, that's far beyond the outermost regions.
If you surfaced in a relatively porous area, and you could peer into the pitch black darkness which lingers around you, you'd quickly realize that there is nothing but "ground" here. An eerily magnificent, infinite "Mordor-like" badland of stone, rock and earth with jagged crags, ridges and mountains or bizarre formations thousands of times larger than a continent on the Prime Material stretch out before you, and around you, and above you. When the endless expanse meets the edges of your vision, it curves up slowly like an sphere of impossible depth and radius and then encloses in where would be the "sky", encapsulating everything around you, like a mirror image were it not for the difference. Although you can also see massive openings along these infinitely long and curving spherical "walls" and "ceilings" of rocky landscape.
You quickly realize the outermost regions of this plane are like an infinitely large block of Swiss cheese, with Terran elements making up the "cheese", while pockets of empty void fill up spaces in between, getting smaller and smaller the furthest one progresses, until vanishing entirely into a solid mass of astronomical pressure, where only burrowing creatures who meld with the rock at all times can even exist in. But, you aren't there yet.
What you'd expect to be silence is constantly broken by a harmony of infinite creaks and low rumbles, some from afar, some closer than you'd like. The landscape before you seems to shift and change with minor detail perpetually, and large "boulders" never seem to stay in one place from the last time you looked. Was that a mountain just moving? CRACK. The sound deafens you, you panic. If you could see the source, it would be hundreds of thousands, millions of miles away. An entire section has just quaked, sending off city-sized debris flying sky-high and a shockwave of dust spreading at enormous speed, like an asteroid impact. You aren't far enough for the earth to be completely solid yet, it seems. There seems to be a reason why people don't venture here often.
But amidst the chaos, you sometimes think you can see different colors? Brightness? Untamed and gigantic deposits of pure metals and crystals sometimes decorate the underground caverns and surfaces along the way, unguarded by any Dao, untouched by men, beckoning for the brave. Will you risk it? Lastly, according to myth, this region is often a favorite of the multiverse's most elusive persecuted, or reclusive, too much near the influence of the Gods in the upper planes, too crammed or even vulnerable in the Demiplanes, they make their warded, hidden abodes, potentially anywhere in this infinite expanse, somehow skirting the geological dangers. Who knows whom you'll find?
Plane of Fire, Outermost Regions
Scorching heat and a screen of deep red greets you, as you are engulfed in fires which somehow burn without air. Visibility is near zero, even if you were not immediately blinded in the absence of immunity. Silhouettes of odd flames sometimes show up from the corner of your eye, barely noticeable in this monotone, swirling pattern of red and orange. Is there anything to search for here at all, you wonder? The rumors spread by some gibbering madmen and the whispering of extra-planar entities point beyond this place, towards the Central Vortex, the infinite cyclone of Plasma siphoned down into Elemental Chaos. According to them, if one can reach it unscathed, he might be able to harness energies beyond his wildest dreams to fuel his magical devices or incantations.
Plane of Water, Outermost Regions
Much like in the Plane of Earth, I hope you are faring well in this depth which makes the Mariana Trench seem like a toddler's pool, or otherwise, my condolences on currently being crushed and smothered to death by a solid sheet of Ice VII following a slightly more distant, awry destination through your Plane Shift or portal of choice. Pitch black darkness, breathlessness ( If unprepared ) and extreme tightness welcome you into this lovely Oceania, along with radio silence save for some of the ripples or weird echoes you may come across, or even a few sources of light, which all seem to be on the move. A sky, ocean floor, or anything solid except for some freaky looking creatures, are nowhere to be seen.
Few living beings other than the various forms of pure water elementals call these regions home, but a number of arcane scholars have summarized that whenever the eldritch abominations known as the "Aboleths", ( whom by the mythology of Faerun have once ruled the world in some of it's earliest stages, still almost entirely covered by water, known as the "Blue Age" ) reform a new body whenever they perish elsewhere, their essence travels to the Water Elemental Plane. Due to the inaccessibility and general gloominess of the Outermost Regions, both of which cater to the Aboleths, their concentration here is estimated to be at it's highest. While some return though hidden portals known only to them almost immediately to continue their tasks, others remain to scheme and confer in relative safety, sometimes even for hundreds of years or more. At any rate, it is speculated that this region houses a Primeval Abolethic civilization which dwarfs the Blue Age on the Prime Material, with names such as the "Abolethic Sovereignty" on the Prime Material of Abeir-Toril being mere outposts. It is the Abolethic equivalent of "Evermeet" in the Feywild, if you will. A few even go as far as to say that some of their Deities themselves reside here.
Who knows what knowledge or powers these beings which originate in the Far Realm possess, possibly predating the oldest of deities? Or perhaps they have been working in secret, in the fathomless depths, to breach the gap between their ancestral origin and the known Multiverse for all this time? Nevertheless, an equal number of Krakens likewise dwell here, sometimes in conflict, or cooperation, since their creation and nature is vastly different, yet often have mutual goals.