The Demented One
2007-12-26, 09:42 PM
The Isle Perilous is, at first glance, a seemingly ordinary isle, but, as any seasoned adventurer knows, anything "seemingly ordinary" is most likely either packed full of the undead, the entrance to an ancient dungeon filled with gibbering horrors from beyond the world, or a secret temple to a dark god. The same principle holds true for the Isle. The Isle is an anomaly within the sea of reality, a place where the normal rules and natural laws of the Prime Material simply do not hold true. The Isle is the site of an almost infinite number of demiplanes, all nested within each other. Each demiplane is an alternate version of the Isle itself, possessing roughly the same geography, but with wildly different natures and inhabitants. One can travel from the Isle to one of the demiplanes by activating a portal - a seemingly mundane object or creature on the island that acts as a key to one of the demiplanes. Although the number of demiplanes linked together at the Isle is infinite, only a handful have an active portal on the island at a time, with five demiplanes having a permanently active portal. Portals can only be activated by performing a certain action, and most visitors perform it unknowingly - resting under the shade of a certain tree, casting a spell within eyesight of a certain lake, dancing on a certain beach, and so on. To return to the Isle Perilous, an adventurer must perform the same action on the portal's double within the demiplane he has been transported to. The five demiplanes with permanently active portals are described below, the rest, and their portals, are left to the DM's imagination.
The Isle of Gloaming
One of the more malevolent demiplanes linked to the isle, the Isle of Gloaming is a bleak demiplane, constantly in twilight, filled with mists, and utterly devoid of life. The portal to the Isle of Gloaming is a large, stone spire near the center of the isle, which bears faint etchings of runes in an uncertain language. Anyone who sleeps beneath the spire is transported to the Isle of Gloaming. The Isle is hostile to life, and drains 1d6 hit points from any living creature in it each round. Though lacking natural inhabitants, when creatures come to the Isle of Gloaming, it may respond by creating Gloamborn replicas of those creatures. Typically Gloamborn will only be spawned if a living creature remains in the Isle of Gloaming for over an hour, but the demiplane is malevolent, almost sentiently so, and capricious, and has been known to spawn them as a welcoming party for new arrivals on occasion.
The Isle of Gloaming
One of the more malevolent demiplanes linked to the isle, the Isle of Gloaming is a bleak demiplane, constantly in twilight, filled with mists, and utterly devoid of life. The portal to the Isle of Gloaming is a large, stone spire near the center of the isle, which bears faint etchings of runes in an uncertain language. Anyone who sleeps beneath the spire is transported to the Isle of Gloaming. The Isle is hostile to life, and drains 1d6 hit points from any living creature in it each round. Though lacking natural inhabitants, when creatures come to the Isle of Gloaming, it may respond by creating Gloamborn replicas of those creatures. Typically Gloamborn will only be spawned if a living creature remains in the Isle of Gloaming for over an hour, but the demiplane is malevolent, almost sentiently so, and capricious, and has been known to spawn them as a welcoming party for new arrivals on occasion.