Shadowstar Sea

Knightfall · Dec 20, 2012

Introduction
The Shadowstar Sea is a combination of the Plane of Shadow and the Astral Plane. I haven't worked out all the logistics yet but basically you have to cross into the Shadowstar Sea before being able to cross into the Upper Planes and Lower Planes.

It is the main transitive plane connecting to the Ethereal Plane, the Elemental and Paraelemental Planes and the Outer Planes, but not directly to the Material Plane. In order to get to the Shadowstar Sea from the Material Plane you have to first pass through the Ethereal into the Deep Ethereal or to one of the Elemental or Paraelemental Planes. Then you make the journey to the Shadowstar Sea.

Shadowstar Traits

Subjective Directional Gravity.
Flowing Time: 1 minute = 1 round. On the Shadowstar Sea, time moves at a slower pace. For every minute that passes on the Material Plane one round (6 seconds) passes on the Shadowstar Sea.
Infinite Size.
Alterable Morphic.
No Elemental or Energy Traits: Some regions and features of the Shadowstar Sea may have one or more of these traits, but the plane as a whole does not.
Mildly Neutral-Aligned.
Enhanced Magic: Spells with the darkness, light, pattern, or shadow descriptor are enhanced on the Shadowstar Sea. Such spells are cast as though they were prepared with the Enlarge Spell and Extend Spell feats; although, they don't require higher-level slots to cast. Spells that use positive or negative energy are enhanced on the Shadowstar Sea near [within 1,000 ft.] portals that lead to the Outer Planes (depending on where the portal leads). Such spells are cast as though they were prepared with the Maximize Spell feat; although, they don't require higher-level slots to cast.

Overview
The Shadowstar Sea is halfway between the Astral and Shadow planes in look and feel — not horribly dark and gloomy, like Shadow, yet not overtly radiant, like Astral, either. The closer you are to the portals leading to the Upper Planes the brighter and more wide open it feels, while the closer to the portals leading to the Lower Planes the gloomer and more closed off it feels. The Shadowstar Sea is also heavily influenced by both positive and negative planar traits depending on which region of the plane you are in. (There isn't a Positive Energy Plane or a Negative Energy Plane in the Mirrored Cosmology.)

Spells that would require the Astral Plane or Plane of Shadow work through the Shadowstar Sea. However, these spells, in reality, pass through the Ethereal, first. Thus, shadow walk doesn't take you all the way to the Shadowstar Sea but basically functions the same way. Astral and Shadow-based spells only ever take you as far as the Deep Ethereal unless your goal is to travel to the Shadowstar Sea (i.e. astral projection) or beyond.

DM's Note: One could say that shadow walk should actually be called "deepether walk" for this cosmology, but that sounds too clunky. Some of these Shadowstar spells might need to change in level in my campaign. Either that or I might need to create "greater" versions of certain spells. However, I'm not going to tinker with spells unless I have to.

Shadowstar Inhabitants
In the Mirrored Cosmology, the Shadowstar Sea is home to almost any creature of Shadow, and it is also the home of all creatures that would normally be found in the Astral plane. This includes such creatures as the astral dreadnaught and the githyanki as well as shadow mastiffs and and the shadar-kai. Note that the Shadowstar Sea is also influenced by both positive and negative energy, so creatures of both positive and negative energy can be found on the transitive plane as well. This includes many types of undead, the xeg-yi & the xag-ya, and ravids. Many creatures from the Elemental and Paraelemental Planes can also be found travelling the dusky sky of the Shadowstar Sea, especially genies and their kin. However, most of these elemental travelers aren't native to the plane; instead, they are simply passing through.

The shadestar races often find themselves in conflict over differences in ideology and society. This is especially true of the githyanki and the shadar-kai. Both of these races believe it is their race's destiny to conquer every landmass and fallen divine form. The two races are constantly at war with each other, and travelers are encouraged to not get between the two races when conflict breaks out (which is all the time). The xeg-yi and the xag-ya also attack each other on sight, but they don't go out of their way to seek each other out. Ravids despise the undead and hunt them throughout the plane. Ravids will also attack any creature that uses negative energy.

Movement and Combat
Unlike the Astral and Shadow planes, the Shadowstar Sea has subjective directional gravity like the Elemental Plane of Air. Thus, those suspended in midair decide which way to fly by deciding which way is down for them. When on one of the planes many landmasses whether they be earthbergs or floating remains of dead gods sent to oblivion, a traveler simply chooses "down" to be near his feet. If given the choice between flying and walking most natives of the Shadowstar prefer to fly. This preference also lends itself towards aerial combat throughout the dusky sky of the plane, and the inhabitants of the plane consider it bad form to fight while grounded. Since the plane is dominated by a flier's way-of-life, many of its inhabitants uses airships and spelljammers to travel from one place to the next. The plane doesn't have air currents, so spelljammers are more common than airships. The magical force of a spelljamming helm supersedes the magic of the plane for an unknown reason. Most of the shadestar races uses such vessels to trade with or make war against each other.

Features of the Shadowstar Sea
Since the Shadowstar Sea is filled with more life and landmasses then you would find on an Astral or Shadow plane, it is more crowded. The Shadowstar Sea is often referred to as the Crossroads of the Inner Planes. Some planar sages believe the plane is slowly becoming more of an Inner Plane than a transitive plane but such speculation is rarely taken seriously.

The plane is more hospitable than other transitive planes, however.

It has air. It has water and food in abundance; however, these two resources are usually guarded jealously by the shadestar races, so visitors should make sure to bring their own. The plane's constant dusky sky isn't true darkness, so finding one's way isn't as hard as on a Shadow plane. The perpetual twilight does tend to dampen the plane's flora and fauna, but the gloom doesn't have a far-reaching magical effect on travelers. Shadow magic is enhanced, but light magic isn't impeded. Light cuts through the plane just as it would on the Material Plane. Regardless, vision fades at about 500 feet.