Devouring plane - plane fluff/logical setting

[HoboKnight]

Hey guys,

so, I have this idea, I did a bit of work upon so far, but I'd really appreciate some of your input. I have an idea for a small, migratory domain, that travels between all the others in the Forgotten Realms setting and picks off small pieces of these domains into herself.

A bit of a pre-story: Long ago, there was a conception of a God, a spark, something, that should become a fully-fledged diety, but, the local pantheon had other plans. This sentient "spark" with very constrained mental and emotional faculties, turned into a small plane, drifting off to wander the realms between planes, "touching" them on occasion and ripping parts of them and integrating them into itself.

"Pieces", torn from other planes, varied in size from a few square miles to several dozen square miles. Nothing larger. When brought into this new plane, most of the beings died there immediately, given no air was present there, just big ... nothingness. Some things have, however, survived. Undead, for example. Undead had little problems surviving the initial Ages. Then constructs. Elementals. And even some abominations, given they have a rather cancer-like essence.

Eventually, of course, enough material was integrated in order, for something to form. A continent is way too strong of a word here. Perhaps just some ... a semblance of firmness, populated by mentioned beings.

With this, I have two questions: First is, what would the landscape look like? As I initially started, I thought of a post-apocalyptic landscape, but with the mentioned past, this is way too orderly. What would this land look like?

The second is - what sort of societal structures could we find in such a realm? I was thinking along this line: All beings that are really powerful can return to their home planes, no problem. But creatures with resistance to once-airless plane and intelligence (vampires come to mind), might start building ... something. It would be sort of hell for them too, of course, with their manors, villages, and tasty villagers gone, but some interesting vestiges of societies might pop up.

Finally, I intend to go very much along the Domains of Dread route. Given its past, this plane is malicious. It will do no active evil deeds, but "the vibe of the place" should be ominous and sobering - not unlike Ravenloft. As far as DoD go, I was looking at Blutspurg realm a lot - but with its lightning storms, it was a bit too "boom-y"(things go boom) for me. As for works of art as inspiration - McCormacks' The Road is a source I intend to use for tone and vibe.

So ... this is what I got. I'd also LOVE some links to some art, you may think I might find useful. Visuals are an important part of setting-building.

thank you :)

[Millstone85]

This might not help much at all, but the 5e book Volo's Guide to Monsters has a similar concept.

It tells the story of a god of greed, who was slain by other deities. As is typical of dead gods, this one became adrift in the Astral as a giant petrified corpse. But then, a collision with a stream of positive energy shattered the corpse. From this event came numerous wandering extraplanar islands, each one imbued with covetous vitality.

The ruler of such an island, created along with it, is called a morkoth. A quick googling tells me that previous editions had morkoths, but that they had no such lore associated with them.

Anyhow, here is how the entry describes this environment.
A morkoth's island has the qualities of a dreamscape in which nature and predictability take a back seat to strangeness and chaos. Upon it is a jumble of objects and a mixture of creatures, some of which date from forgotten times. An island might have natural-looking illumination, but most are shrouded in twilight, and on any of them, mists and shadows can appear without notice. The environment is warm and wet, a subtropical or tropical climate that keeps the morkoth and its "guests" comfortable.

[OldTrees1]

This sounds similar to the Genius Loci creature. 3E had a description (and stats) for it in the epic level handbook.

It is also similar to other living planes like Neth. 3E Manual of the Planes pg 154-157

I also found stats for the entrance to a living demiplane https://5e.tools/bestiary/living-demiplane-idrotf.html



Hmm, there is no air because there was no consumed plant life that survived. Why did the plants die? Lack of a sun? Underground plants rely on rich soil rather than sunlight, but is that soil being replenished?

Many undead hunger. Some undead perish if not fed, others go insane. So that limits the undead survivors to those without a hunger. So I would skip vampires (they went insane and were put down by survivors) to focus more on ghosts.

I agree constructs and elementals would survive and make the bulk of the population. What are elemental civilizations like?

[GentlemanVoodoo]

OP, from what your describing I am picturing almost a wasteland. Not a full on desert but perhaps something like the badlands in South Dakota. Though your idea also reminds me of something like a purgatory as well.

Given your reference to the book and what you described about the sentient spark, you could almost treat this like a "prison" plane. "Prison" in the sense that what ever comes to the plane or was absorbed by those fracturing parts gets trapped in it. Only the most powerful of beings can escape. In this you could have the peoples of this place mostly form a tribal or gang like society where everyday is a competition to survive. The dread part is that the only way to escape is to get more power by taking power from others trapped in the plan, in some fashion. Once theirs reaches a point the can escape the planes grasp on them.

Constructs and elements do make sense but I have to also agree with OldTrees1 about only certain undead could live there.

[HoboKnight]

Splendid input, GentlemanVoodoo. I was seriously thinking about one thing, you mentioned - exit takes a price. Perhaps a portal, which is "fed" by murder? Or a portal, that can only be activated by three willing creatures dying near it?

Domains of Dread are definitely the right way to go here, only more ... patched together.