D&D lore experts look here :)

[MonsterEnvy]

I'll probably use Negative Whatever Plane mainly because its not an inviting location to explore - the "stairs to nowhere" needs to be closed and that's it.

I don't think he got to keep his divine powers he got from Ubtao. In my mind necromancers utilize arcane power, from their own mind.

But ymmv

It's true he did not get to keep the divine powers he got from Ubtao. He got stripped of those powers after his attack failed. (However it did not make the army of undead go away.) It's why he has not made another massive undead army. Other then that he is still a powerful wizard and intelligent warlord, but he lacks the power to replicate his earlier feat.

He is a Necromancer but his status as a chosen gave him a power boost. That he lost this power is why he joined up with the Yuan Ti.

Out of curisoity what are you trying to do with Ras Nsi that you want to bring up an outside power boost.

 

[MoominT]

Make your own up, there is plenty of space for it and it will be exactly as you want, with no player being able to say this or that could or should happen. Rob other peoples ideas and form them
into your own. Your players will appreciate the efforts. CapnZapp you can do it.

 

[CapnZapp]

It's true he did not get to keep the divine powers he got from Ubtao. He got stripped of those powers after his attack failed. (However it did not make the army of undead go away.) It's why he has not made another massive undead army. Other then that he is still a powerful wizard and intelligent warlord, but he lacks the power to replicate his earlier feat.

He is a Necromancer but his status as a chosen gave him a power boost. That he lost this power is why he joined up with the Yuan Ti.

Out of curisoity what are you trying to do with Ras Nsi that you want to bring up an outside power boost.

Basically I need an explanation why this Necromancer has managed to fill an entire continent with undead, when other Necromancers (of similarly non-epic stature) has to make do with dozens, or a few hundred tops.

That it was Ubtao that gave him a huge army of undead does not work for me or my campaign.

In my campaign, based on Tomb of Annihilation, Ubtao is (was) the protector of Chult and am using the theory that it is precisely because of the undead blight on the land (together with the absence of Mezro) that he abandoned his land and his peoples, as suggested by a NPC in the "Lost City of Mezro" scenario "Risen Mists". Nothing about Ubtao or Mezro suggests they consort with the dead. In fact, everything about them suggests they venerate nature and life, and are staunch foes of everything undead.

(I haven't read the novel, and I don't like the idea. At any rate, it's too late to institute a profoundly major change like that)

So.

If we look at the Omu map, there's this set of stairs seemingly going nowhere (right into the Palace's outer wall), which I'm using as inspiration

Perhaps this was once a portal to the Feywild, or even a "maze plane" connected to Ubtao himself. But somehow Ras Nsi managed to warp it, and loads of people became undead, forming the army he marched on Mezro. Then when he escaped, he returned to Omu, and with his mastery of this gate, he could assume power over the snake people.

The snake people are refugees from Hisari. They were just inhuman enough to not become undead, as opposed to the degenerate humans of Omu. This made it relatively easy for them to conquer the city, as it was severely weakened by undeath (as well as the geographical catastrophy).

PS. If the heroes attempt to shut or block the stairs to nowhere, they will find that something is keeping the gate open. This something is (obviously) the Soul Monger...

 

[DEFCON 1]

If you're looking for a origination location for the undead that the party could actually perhaps go to (for instance after the Omu and Tomb are taken care of), there's an undead pocket plane described in the 4E adventure 'Demon Queen's Enclave' that could perhaps serve your purposes. Here's the introductory text to this pocket called Deadhold:

DEADHOLD
This strange realm of the walking dead exists within a splinter of the Shadowfell. Legends speak of dark realms within the plane that come into being under the influence of overwhelming evil or vast concentrations of magic. Deadhold is one of these, a desert land where an endless sea of zombies awaits the command of the demon lord Orcus to march upon his unsuspecting enemies. Deadhold was forged in eons past when Orcus seized an astral domain and slew its residents. The demon prince then raised the slain residents as the living dead and drew the realm into the Shadowfell where he could hide it and cultivate it for future use. Today, it serves as a staging ground for his once-great legion of zombies— the Shambling Horde. Thrullzon once commanded the Shambling Horde, but in the aftermath of the exarch’s defeat, Orcus has yet to raise up a replacement to take command of the zombies.

Environment
Deadhold is a great desert covering some 700 square miles. The realm is spherical, and thick cloud cover endlessly clogs its sky. The full day here is 24 hours long, but only 4 hours of twilight mark the night. The temperature is consistently as hot as a summer’s day, and the stench of decay and rot fills the air. Flies buzz across the sky in great clouds as they feast upon the flesh of the undead. Aside from the major sites noted below, Deadhold is a desert of ash and gray sand dotted with the skeletal remains of countless creatures.

The Sea of Rot
This 50-foot-deep, 3-mile-wide rift circumscribes Deadhold like an equator. The Sea of Rot is so named because it is filled with a seemingly endless legion of zombies. Mortal creatures offered as sacrifices to Orcus have their spirits reborn here as conscripts in the Shambling Horde. When Orcus has need of a zombie army, he creates a portal from this place to the battlefield. Luckily for his enemies, the process of opening these portals requires such levels of power that Orcus does so only infrequently.

Hordethrone Overview
The only known settlement in Deadhold, Hordethrone is a small outpost that sits within a plateau in the midst of the Sea of Rot. A narrow bridge connects it to nearby high ground. When Thrullzon commanded the Shambling Horde, he ruled from here.

*****

Now granted the actual description above does include some fluff parts you'd probably not necessarily want involved for your story (Orcus being one of them), but then again there's nothing within the actual description that makes it plain to travelers there that it *is* a staging ground for Orcus. All that really needs to be stated is that Ras Nzi has his portal that feeds into the Sea of Rot that gives him a virtually endless supply of zombies. The Orcus thing (if you even go in that direction) might not even come up unless your group actually traveled through the portal to Deadhold itself.

I found 'Demon Queen's Enclave' to actually be one of the better 4E modules WotC produced, as it was a wonderful smaller-scale drow political intrigue adventure. A really compact and interesting drow settlement with some really interesting NPCs. And it was much easier to use than trying to navigate the size of like the Menzoberanzan box set.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Basically I need an explanation why this Necromancer has managed to fill an entire continent with undead, when other Necromancers (of similarly non-epic stature) has to make do with dozens, or a few hundred tops.

That it was Ubtao that gave him a huge army of undead does not work for me or my campaign.

In my campaign, based on Tomb of Annihilation, Ubtao is (was) the protector of Chult and am using the theory that it is precisely because of the undead blight on the land (together with the absence of Mezro) that he abandoned his land and his peoples, as suggested by a NPC in the "Lost City of Mezro" scenario "Risen Mists". Nothing about Ubtao or Mezro suggests they consort with the dead. In fact, everything about them suggests they venerate nature and life, and are staunch foes of everything undead.

(I haven't read the novel, and I don't like the idea. At any rate, it's too late to institute a profoundly major change like that)

Ubtao does not like the Undead. Ras Nsi using Ubtao's power to create an army of undead and attack his most valuable city with them is why he was stripped of his power.

 

[CapnZapp]

Ubtao does not like the Undead. Ras Nsi using Ubtao's power to create an army of undead and attack his most valuable city with them is why he was stripped of his power.

Sure, and I didn't know that.

Since I don't like the idea that you can raise a whole army without your god knowing - but still using said god's power, I'm rewriting the history to make him use Necromancy (as in a Necromancer Wizard that doesn't rely on any god) - but that he needs an amplifier; that he finds and uses an alternative power source.

Makes Ubtao and the rest of the Mazroans look less stupid. And the idea that somehow so very many of his undead escaped the defeat to spread out across half of Chult and to remain there doesn't make sense to me - not even a army would be more than a drop in the ocean, when you consider how many natives and dinosaur live there. I think the zones (as marked on the ToA map) create new undead spontaneously, which explains why they're still around. And that means there needs to be a reason why these zones have persisted for generations.

Everything points to Ras Nsi having discovered a power source of legendary/artifact strength. Since none of it is in the actual hardcover, it can't matter much either way

If it wasn't for the focus on Acecerak all this screams for a quest to end Ras Nsi, and in that regard, they would surely come up with a key to his power if the authors weren't "sidetracked" by the Soulmonger business.

It can't just be "kill Ras Nsi and every undead continent-wide drops dead". No mortal necromancer has that kind of power. So the Stairs to (literally) Nowhere it is

Thanks for all suggestions!

 

[Imaculata]

In my 3.5 pirate campaign I have a realm called The Eternal Depths.

The Eternal Depths are a temporary plane for all those that died at sea, before the God of Death weighs their soul and sends them on their way. But because the God of Death decided to share his power with a newer lesser deity, an ancient evil from another universe managed to seize control of the realm, and banished the benign Lady of the Waves. This evil being, called Hydra, feeds on the souls of the dead. And now that there is no one to send the souls of the dead on their final journey, the dead have started piling up, forming an ocean. Plus the bitter cold of Hydra has transformed the entirety of the Eternal Depths into an icy abyss. Some believe the Eternal Depths exists at the bottom of the deepest ocean. Others believe it is a different dimension.

What the Eternal Depths look like, is an endless ocean of tormented souls inside an endless pitch black cavern. Imagine a cavern so high that it has clouds on its ceiling. And within these clouds, Hydra resides. Occasionally a gigantic black trunk descends from the sky, to feed on the ocean of souls beneath. Those souls that are consumed by Hydra, are destroyed forever. As one would expect, the shores of the Depths are littered with shipwrecks. The land is made of solid black rock, covered in snow and ice, and roamed by Hydra's undead minions. It looks like a bleak twisted mirror image of the mortal realm above.

Within this realm is a deathly bitter cold, and anyone venturing into this realm without the most extreme of cold weather protection, will suffer the possibly deadly effects of its extreme sub zero temperatures. And since the realm is shrouded in utter darkness, it is almost impossible to navigate the sea of the dead by ship. On top of this, there is the risk of becoming blinded by the snow, and the risk of being forgotten (which turns you to ice). The realm is also full of supernatural environmental hazards, such as cold fire fissures, and of course roaming undead.

On land the Eternal Depths seem to mirror the mortal realm to some extent. Some human structures from above are also seen as twisted versions in the Depths, but now serve as fortresses for Hydra's foul minions. And among them are these unholy towers with massive eyes on them, that are ever watchful for intruders (like stationary beholders, or the Eye of Sauron). There are also frozen elven palaces, its guardians now turned to icy statues. These were once places devoted to the Lady of the Waves, but are now corrupted and frozen.

There is only one known entrance to the Eternal Depths, the Watcher's Gate. This gate is often depicted as a massive stone gateway in the sea, adorned with creepy decorations of eyes, and surrounded by whirlpools. Legend has it that it can only be found by those that are not looking for it. When you find this gate, you can sail straight into and out of the Eternal Depths... if it even exists.

So, if you are looking for the most inhospitable plane filled with undead, this is probably it. And your players will probably die if they try to explore it.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Sure, and I didn't know that.

Since I don't like the idea that you can raise a whole army without your god knowing - but still using said god's power, I'm rewriting the history to make him use Necromancy (as in a Necromancer Wizard that doesn't rely on any god) - but that he needs an amplifier; that he finds and uses an alternative power source.

Makes Ubtao and the rest of the Mazroans look less stupid. And the idea that somehow so very many of his undead escaped the defeat to spread out across half of Chult and to remain there doesn't make sense to me - not even a army would be more than a drop in the ocean, when you consider how many natives and dinosaur live there. I think the zones (as marked on the ToA map) create new undead spontaneously, which explains why they're still around. And that means there needs to be a reason why these zones have persisted for generations.

Everything points to Ras Nsi having discovered a power source of legendary/artifact strength. Since none of it is in the actual hardcover, it can't matter much either way

If it wasn't for the focus on Acecerak all this screams for a quest to end Ras Nsi, and in that regard, they would surely come up with a key to his power if the authors weren't "sidetracked" by the Soulmonger business.

It can't just be "kill Ras Nsi and every undead continent-wide drops dead". No mortal necromancer has that kind of power. So the Stairs to (literally) Nowhere it is

Well yeah killing Ras Nsi won't make the undead go away. Ras Nsi no longer has any control over them. If Nsi still had control over the undead he would not be dying in a corner in a Yuan Ti temple.

Ubtao stripping Nsi of his power made all the undead go rogue and that is why the attack failed as well. But it resulted in the undead flooding chult some of the undead being able to create new ones which resulted in their numbers not going down over the years.

Nothing really points to Ras Nsi being the objective of the quest. As Ras Nsi no longer has any connection to the undead.

Still you are free to make any changes you want even if I don't agree with them.

 

[CapnZapp]

Well yeah killing Ras Nsi won't make the undead go away. Ras Nsi no longer has any control over them. If Nsi still had control over the undead he would not be dying in a corner in a Yuan Ti temple.

Ubtao stripping Nsi of his power made all the undead go rogue and that is why the attack failed as well. But it resulted in the undead flooding chult some of the undead being able to create new ones which resulted in their numbers not going down over the years.

Nothing really points to Ras Nsi being the objective of the quest. As Ras Nsi no longer has any connection to the undead.

Still you are free to make any changes you want even if I don't agree with them.

I guess my larger point is that ToA doesn't give out any details whatsoever.

So you can't break anything from answering these questions yourself.

 

[CapnZapp]

PS. When I asked for lore experts, I meant experts on planar lore, not experts on Chult history.

(Just saying so noone thinks I'm ignoring them)