The Ethereal Plane
The Ethereal Wall, as the ethereal plane is called, is the medium through which the dead pass prior to their arrival in the Realms of the Dead. It is also the barrier that keeps beings from traveling from the outer planes into the Prime Material plane. Scholars often begin their studies of the outer planes first by studying the ethereal plane. The Ethereal plane is home to all sorts of creatures, from living creatures with the ability to pass from the ethereal realm to the physical realm, to the undead. The spirits of those that worship no deity also reside in the ethereal – they are disempowered and unable to affect the physical realm, but can stand by and watch the physical world as though through a misty looking glass as time marches on. Many scholars use their magic to travel into the ethereal realm in search of the Unbound (as these souls are called) to glean from them the wisdom of the ages. Most ethereal bound souls though, are bitter towards mortal men, and afraid (after all, mortal men have the ability to vanquish them eternally).
The Plane of Shadow
A vague and twisted mockery of the physical realm, the plane of shadow is a distorted and contorted copy of the material plane. In the physical realm there may lay a ruin, but on the plane of shadow could sit a dark and foreboding citadel. In the physical realm a great city could be a twisted, dark, and dangerous opposite to the grand and righteous stronghold with which it resides. Generally, the shadow realm is a very dangerous place, with the most dangerous places being located near locales in the physical realm where the most suffering has taken place (this is why that grand city would have a dark and evil co-located city in the realm of shadow – even though the people weather trials and tribulation well, it creates power on the realm of shadow in the form of dark, evil or vile creations. The Plane of shadow, it is said, can also be the fastest method of travel between two places in the Prime Material plane, conversely it can also be the slowest method of travel (it is highly unpredictable).
The Astral Plane
The Astral plane is the physical space between the prime material and the outer planes. It is a vast inky blackness through which both mortal and immortal may travel. The astral plane is typically traveled through by mortals through means of astral projection. This is the only method by which a mortal being may allow his soul to travel to the planes while his mortal body remains alive and ready for his return should he be slain either in the astral plane, or the outer planes. There is a risk though, that a mortal’s silver strand of life that connects his soul to his mortal body while projecting would become lost, thus trapping the soul of the mortal in the astral plane forever (unable to die, unable to act, comatose both in the astral plane and in the mortal plane). It is said the souls of immortals are actually sent to the astral plane, set to drift in the astral plane for all eternity, devoid of thought and comatose. Many souls refer to the Astral Plane as the resting place for immortals slain by mortals. The astral plane can be physically entered by mortals and immortals alike by penetrating through the crystal sphere that binds the material world in it’s place among the astral void, those that claim to have penetrated the crystal sphere returned with stories of great vessels built to travel among the starry void of the astral plane, and creatures the size of planets.
Negative Energy Plane
This plane exists concurrently with all other planes, and is the source of power from which undead creatures draw their life. Its properties suck the life from any living creatures, and empower any undead or negative energy creatures. For specifics regarding this plane, refer to the Manual of the Planes, as published by Wizards of the Coast.
Positive Energy Plane
Like the Negative Energy Plane, this plane also exists concurrently with all other planes. It is the realm from which all healing magic comes, as well as being the raw stuff from which the Unnamed God created all souls prior to giving them bodies. It too follows the more specific rules and attributes described in the Manual of the Planes.
The Inner Planes
The inner planes, each consisting of pure creative elements, are the realms from which the physical matter of the universe came. It is said that through the elemental inner planes, if a traveler knows where to look, can be found doorways from the material plane to the inner plane, and from the inner plane to the outer planes. Though it is a path traveled by the least number of planes walkers, this connection has been proven by scholars on various occasions. There are four divisive portions to the inner plane, each representative of the four basic elements: Earth, Water, Air and Fire. If you were to travel from one realm to another, you would eventually return to the portion of the inner planes from which you started, from Air to fire, fire to earth, earth to water, and water back again to air. The plane of fire is a land of molten rock and magma, great cyclones of fire and boiling oceans of acid. The Plane of earth is more a series of caverns, some filled with poison gasses, others with breathable air. The plane of water is a vast ocean with floating coral masses and gargantuan sea creatures. The plane of air is a vast open expanse of whirlwinds, floating cities of glass, and great stone citadels platforms of stone, forever falling (or staying in one place, who can tell which?) in the cloudy void. The most common denizen of any of the given planes would be the elemental being. These creatures are composed of their element (fire, air, water, earth) and have mastery over the same. Some have gained true sentience through the ages, while others are content to merely seek out its opposition, and eliminate it.
Elemental Planes of Emotion
The Plane of Love, the Plane of Hate, the Plane of Courage and the Plane of Fear are planes of existence in which nothing exists but pure emotion. No magical means has ever been found to travel there and survive for sentient creatures, as the emotion completely obliterates conscious thought and absorbs the mind of the visitor in the gratification of that emotion. It is possible to rehabilitate, but in most cases it takes years for the effects of a few hours on an emotional plane to subside to the point where a character can once again think. There are countless other planes of emotion, but the four given above are considered the Prime Emotional Planes of existence. Each plane epitomizes the emotion to which they ascribe.
The Plane of Love is a place where love flows so strongly that it overwhelms those that visit the place; they will never want to leave, and they will never tire of it. Each minute the character remains there, they gain a +1 emotional bonus on social skills, with no limit to how high the bonus can go. On the 11th minute (upon reaching +11 on social skills), the character is consumed with love and can no longer act, just sitting there absorbed in the love of all things. Once removed from the plane, a character reduces the bonus by one per day, remaining comatose until the bonus returns to +10.
The Plane of Hate is the antithesis of the Plane of Love. Hatred is so rampant there, that its inhabitants sit around and stew about how much they hate all around them. Each minute a character remains there he gains a favored enemy. On the 11th minute there, he may continue to gain favored enemies every minute, but his hatred of those creatures is so great that he can think of nothing better than to sit and hate those creatures forever. Favored enemies fade from the mind at a rate of one per day after leaving the plane of Hatred, the character returning to normal function when the number of favored enemies lowers to ten or less emotionally granted favored enemies (other class or racial gained favored enemies do not count towards this total).
The Plane of Courage grants heroic bonuses to its visitors, though it too can consume them until they stand around doing nothing but spouting how brave they are. Each minute they visit the plane, they gain a +1 bonus to attack, damage, and willpower saving throws, with no limit on how high this number can go. Once the bonus exceeds a +10 emotional bonus, the emotion has consumed that character’s mind, and they can think of nothing more than how brave they are – to the point that they will never willingly leave. The character will remain comatose until the bonus drops to +10 or lower (dropping by one +1 per day outside that plane).
The Plane of Fear is a dismal place. Each minute a character remains there, they suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls, damage rolls, and willpower saving throws. Once this penalty reaches -11, the character is consumed in fear, and unable to do anything for fear of fear itself. Once removed from the Plane of Fear, the character decreases the penalty by one per day, until the penalty is -10 and the character can once again think for himself and return to normal activities.
Emotional Element Manifestations
One unique aspect of Korentil is the idea of elemental emotion. These elements run pervasively through all the planes of existence. They are the tangible manifestations of the emotion to which they belong, bits of their native plane that have leaked through to the other planes. Love, Hate, Fear, Courage are the four prime elemental emotions, and they generally are un-noticed by both mortal and immortal alike. Occasionally, an emotional element will become so concentrated that a manifestation will occur. These manifestations are not physically seen, but rather felt. Whenever someone enters an area of emotional manifestation, regardless of their thoughts or preoccupation, they are bombarded by the emotion which is manifest in that area. Most manifestations of emotion are localized; Courage may be manifest on the site of an ancient battle – such as at the site of Thordbain’s defeat. Typically the area affected by a manifested emotion is restricted to small areas; no manifestation larger than a few hundred feet radius has ever been encountered. Each manifestation affects reaction checks, saving throws, attack rolls, damage rolls, skill checks, and ability scores as appropriate to the chart provided with what is called an emotional bonus/penalty. If a manifestation is particularly potent, the DM may increase the bonuses or penalties of the area as appropriate. The DM may also create non-prime elemental emotions, such as anger, greed, peace, etc… Some creatures are created by elemental emotions, and can be a bane or blessing to those they meet.
• Love – all reaction checks get a +1 bonus, racial penalties to reaction checks ignored
• Hate – all reaction checks get a -1 penalty, racial penalties to reaction checks doubled
• Fear – all willpower saving throws, attack rolls, and skill checks suffer a -1 penalty
• Courage – all willpower saving throws, attack rolls, and damage rolls gain a +1 bonus |
