D&D 5E What D&D Product Can Be Seen In The Crystals?

WotC has posted an image of a pile of crystals through which distorted glimpses of what looks like a product can be seen. In the comments below, folks have been flipping, enhancing, and generally squinting at the image behind the crystals, and while it's hard to make out, guesses include 'Journey Through the Radiant Ocean' (although I personally think that first letter looks more like an X or K than a J). 'Citadel' is also a popular guess for that last word--'Journey(s) to/from the Radiant Citadel'? Take a look and see what you think (or check the comments for flipped and enhanced versions).

In Spelljammer lore, the phlogiston--the space between the crystal spheres in which the prime material worlds can be found--is also known as the 'Rainbow Ocean'. And crystal seem on-brand for crystals spheres.

Below the text, the image appears to be of some kind of marketplace. Above it, WotC wrote "Through the depths of the Ethereal Plane is a beacon of possibility and adventure... "

There was apparently a press event today, pending some kind of product announcement on Tuesday.

D&D 5E - Announcement Next Week--What Hints For Upcoming D&D Books?

WotC uses Unearthed Arcana to playtest D&D material which often ends up in a later hardcover book. Mages of Strixhaven was in Unearthed Arcana in June 2021, and Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos was published in December 2021. Draconic Options was in Unearthed Arcana in April 2021, and Fizban's...

www.enworld.org

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think the orientation really matters here. That still looks like a shop/stall to me with people standing around / behind it. Nothing really suggestive of a ship to me, although I suppose it could be a dockside market?

If you look to the right of this image.

There appears to be a wooden dock or walkway with a ladder going down from it. There are crystals on the dock.

 

[Lieslo]

Do you think those yellow circles are planescape faction symbols?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think this has been brought up yet:

I think Spelljammer will be more like Ravenloft then Strixhaven.

Here is why, they can break the setting up into Crystal Spheres the way Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft did with Domains, and that gives them a lot of room to explore very different settings.

Last year George, who did one of the major Domains for Ravenloft, said he was doing another South Asian thing for, D&D for WotC. I thought it was for FR as most other D&D settings don't have a fantasy India or Cambodia.

But it occurs to me what if it was for Spelljammer,, like what if they gave George his own Crystal Sphere to develop?

I mean the book could be broken up into Crystal Spheres like Ravenloft was for Domains. So there could be a Realmspace, Krynnspace, Greyspace, but also brand new Spheres exploring different themes, like a Fantasy India Spelljamming Crystal Sphere, or a fantasy Africa Crystal Sphere.

I don't think a huge part of it will be an adventure, unlike Strixhaven, only a minor part like VRGtR.

I think this is the product "George" is doing a "South Asian thing" for. But it's more like Ghosts of Saltmarsh than either Ravenloft, Stryxhaven or Spelljammer.

That illustration has Hong Kong waterfront market vibes. Combined with "Radiant" suggests radiant dragons*, drawing from the same well of South Asian mythology as Raya and the Last Dragon.


* => gem dragons => Sardior. Who is dead, hence the bone emoji. The crystals that are being mined on the ethereal plane and sold in Not-Kong are Sardior's bones. Or so Luis tells me.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Sardior's demesne was a huge floating castle named the Ruby Palace,[5][7][3] which orbited the world and always lay in the shadows from the sun. On the nights it was seen, viewers often mistook it for a small red moon (!!! - see Call of the Netherdeep).[1]

Periodically, Sardior moved his fortress through the planes

-FR Wiki

 

[Ibrandul]

Sardior’s demesne

We may have a winner here. Good work!

 

[EthanSental]

Fun thread with some great insights…..but will Amazon blow it and post something before the announcement like the recent few? Either way I’m looking forward to finding out what we have coming soon.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I guess after accidental "spoilers" by Amazon WotC will have worried about to avoid it happens again.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I guess after accidental "spoilers" by Amazon WotC will have worried about to avoid it happens again.

I don't think it really matters.

 

[Morrus]

I don't think it really matters.

No, I’ve never understood why they care. I don’t think a major competitor is going to swoop in and produce a viable competing product in the next 4 days.

 

[OB1]

I'm going with the idea that this is Spelljammer related. WoTC like's it's spring compilation adventure books, and Spelljammer makes for a great way to tie a bunch of different, smaller stories together in the style of Yawning, Ghostmarsh and Candlekeep. Throw in 30-40 pages on Spelljamming and a major port, then 7-12 smaller adventures to different spheres, with a wide variety of adventure types. Also gives an opportunity to preview a few different classic settings, I wouldn't be surprised to see Krynn, Altus and maybe even Sigil.

In the Summer, they like campaign settings, where I think we'll get a Ravenloft style take on the Manual of Planes/ Planescape.

Then in Fall, for the Adventure Path, it will be Dragonlance, which I think makes more sense to do as an adventure than as a campaign setting. Also wouldn't be surprised if this was a 2 part path going to level 20 and telling the complete story of the War.