Beyond Countless Doorways and the Great Wheel

Whizbang Dustyboots

Gnometown Hero
Has anyone combined the Great Wheel with the Countless Worlds cosmology? I like both systems (Countless Worlds more than Great Wheel) and don't want to toss out the stuff I like from the Great Wheel to use the Countless Worlds cosmology.
 

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Sure. I just add the planes from Countless doorways to the plans in the Great Wheel I think they fit best. A number of them can be like alternate primes as well.
 

Yeah, but I don't know if it's in a way you would necessarily find satisfying, as I don't neatly tuck them into layers of the outer planes or anything like that.

Most of the chapters in Beyond Countless Doorways are more properly alternate prime worlds, and don't need much working in anyways. Curnorost... I'm not too sure where it fits. I saw it as a demiplane connected to Mt. Celestia, or multiple upper planes.

The Ten Courts of Hell I ran as a separate plane, but Riperazi worked them in as layers of various lower planes connected through portals... but I think that was before the RoE boards crashed. Perhaps Rip might drop by and regurgitate what he came up with.
 

I usually just scrap it all and build around whatever my homebrew needs. Then again, I notice that I am in the minority as I very rarely use outsiders and appearantly that seems to be a favorite adversery around here. Meh?
 

The only tricky parts are the places that would have to be in the Outer Planes, particularly Curnorost (the realm of dead aasimon) and the Ten Courts of Hell. Curnorost, a realm of misery and despair only accessible from the celestial planes, would probably be part of the Gray Waste, or possibly Pelion - isolated parts of those planes whose only known portals are within the Upper Planes. Another, more radical and subversive, option would be to make Curnorost the mysterious seventh heaven of Celestia.

I would tie the Ten Courts of Hell with the Court of Judgment in the Outlands. They would have to be the main way in, and the main source of the Ten Courts' prisoners. On the other hand, I would open up the various other courts a bit, so they could interact more with the rest of Baator's population. That's the main benefit of having seventeen big outer planes with lots of little realms in them, instead of having a separate plane for each god, planar species, or pantheon. - you get more interesting interactions.

The First Court probably actually exists within the Outlands' Court of Judgment - it's just the part where sinners are sent before being shipped off plane.

The Second Court, the court of slave breakers, exists somewhere on the River Styx, probably in Avernus or on a cube in Avalas. The fact that its ruler is half slaad would make Avalas more likely - Avernus is a more lawful plane than Baator, but it's also more accepting of foreign mercenaries.

The Third Court would be in Avernus, probably also on the Styx, where the baatezu come to buy agricultural products from it. It could also be in Stygia, since it fits in some ways with Set's realm.

The Fourth Court, known for its academies of sorcery, I'd put in the City of Dis so that many fiendish creatures could benefit from it. The Fourth Court is also the home of many rakshasas, so there is probably a lot of traffic from the rakshasa cubes of Acheron.

The fifth through ninth courts are noted as constantly plotting to undermine one another and depose their respective rulers and steal their prisoners. As such, their location is somewhat in flux: they could slide to other layers or planes depending on whose plans are successful.

A place of fire and torture, the Fifth Court is probably in Phlegethos.

The Sixth Court, filled with serpents and yuan-ti, might actually be in the Abyss, perhaps in Merrshaulk's layer of Smaragd. It could be in Minauros, but its weather wouldn't be as sunny and pleasant as it's made out to be. Conceivably, it shifts between the two over the eons.

The Seventh Court I would put in Baator's seventh layer, which also has a fallen celestial ruler obsessed with perfection. In fact, Triel and the Bronze Bell King might even be one and the same. If they're not the same, Triel would still appreciate having the Bronze Bell King within his domain. One adventure hook that occured to me was having Autochon the Bellringer hire the PCs to venture to the Seventh Court of Hell to find a way to end his curse, since the Bronze Bell King is constantly experimenting with a magical bell, attempting to make perfect tones. If anyone can heal the curse of Sigil's Demon of the Bells, it's him. The tsnng might also be interested in the layer, volunteering to help the Bronze Bell King with his project or being kidnapped by him for that reason.

The Eighth Court, a realm of utter cold, closely resembles Baator's eighth layer of Caina. That's where it belongs, and the rivalry between the Bronze Bell King and the Snow King might closely resemble the rivalry between Triel and Mephistopheles.

The Ninth Court, a realm of utter darkness, would fit in one of Nessus' trenches.

The Tenth Court is a mysterious place where no one has entered and returned, so it isn't really important where it is - probably in a deeper pit of Nessus, though, or in a completely unexpected place like Mechanus, near Shang-Ti's realm. The Eleventh Court is just a rumor, but it's likely in one of the upper planes, particularly Mount Celestia, probably near or in Kuan-Yin's realm.

The Crystal Roads of Deleur are also somewhat tricky. They're either part of the Plane of Mineral, or a demiplane. I'd put them in one of Mineral's border regions.

The planar trade city of Carrigmoor I've been thinking about a lot. I've decided to blame the plague that largely destroyed it on the mercane, so they could bring its most valuable citizens to their newly created city of Union. The plague could also be related to the one the Lady of Pain used to destroy much of the Free League, or to the Iron Shadow from Tales From the Infinite Staircase. I've tied Carrigmoor's creation to Sigil's Great Upheaval - it's where most of the guilds and exiled factions went after Sigil's factions were reduced to fifteen.

After the Great Upheaval, the guilds who had run Sigil for centuries saw the new factions as a terrible threat to their power. Already they had seized control of many of the Cage's most crucial centers of power. The common histories don't say how ruthless the Fated were in taking over the office of taxation, or how uncompromising the Godsman takeover of the Great Foundry was. When the Hall of Speakers passed a law declaring dual membership in both a guild and a faction illegal, the guilds were sure it was their death sentence.

A little-known but ambitious gate-city called Carrigmoor was their salvation. Although founded by wizards - refugees from the destruction of an entire world - almost a century before, Carrigmoor had not had much luck persuading planar merchants to use its newly minted portals. Eager for planar-savvy contacts, the masters of the city gave the guilds generous offers of power and influence if they would relocate to Carrigmoor.

The Planewalker's Guild moved to the Infinite Staircase instead, while others settled for a lesser role in Sigil, but enough of the guilds accepted Carrigmoor's offer that it was suddenly elevated from Obscure Clueless Hole to Exciting New Place to Be. With the knowledge and experience of the exiled guilds, soon trade and skilled professionals were coming to Carrigmoor from all across the planes. For a time, it seemed as if Carrigmoor would rival the City of Doors itself.

Then, about forty years ago, Carrigmoor suffered a terrible plague. Reports of the exact nature of this disease are mixed. Some of the oldest guilders insist they symptoms were identical to the plague that decimated most of the Free League soon after Sigil's Great Upheaval. Others said it was more of a drain on creativity and spirit taken to extremes, a more immediately fatal strain of what would later be known as the Iron Shadow. Still others compared the malady to devil chills or other feared lower planar diseases.

Members of the enigmatic race known as the Merchants Arcane, or simply the mercane, came to the decimated, terrified population of Carrigmoor and told them that they had recently created a city of their own, and that they were offering space for merchants and artisans at very reasonable rates. Desperate for escape, much of the remaining citizenry of Carrigmoor accepted. Only those too poor to leave or too proud to give up their power remained. A few even blamed the mercane for starting the plague, but most dismissed this idea as pure paranoia.
 

Expanded encounter lists:

- Demiplane of Faraenyl

Ahuizotl (FF)
Athach (MM)
Banshee (MMII)
Boggle (MMII)
Chaneque (Dragon #317)
Changeling (Dragon # 304)
Crystalline Cat (Dragon #304)
Deepling (Dragon #281)
Domovoi (Dragon #290, Frostburn)
Dryad (MM)
Dwarf (MM)
Dwarf, Frost (Planar Handbook)
Elf, Aquatic (MM)
Elf, Dark (MM)
Elf, Gray (MM)
Elf, High (MM)
Elf, Wood (MM)
Feytouched (FF)
Fighting Machine (BCD)
Firbolg (MMII)
Fomorian (MMII)
Force of Nature (Dragon #304)
Fossergrim (FF)
Ghost (MM)
Glaistig (MMIII)
Giant, Bog (FF)
Giant, Cloud (MM)
Giant, Forest (MMII)
Giant, Frost (MM)
Giant, Hill (MM)
Giant, Mountain (MMII)
Giant, Stone (MM)
Gloura (Underdark)
Gnome (MM)
Green Guardian (Dragon #304)
Griffon (MM)
Grig (MM)
Gruwaar (Dragon #317)
Hag, Annis (MM)
Hag, Green (MM)
Hag, Sea (MM)
Half-fey (FF)
Hoary Hunter (ELH)
Jermlaine (MMII)
Joystealer (MMIV)
Kelpie (FF)
LeShay (ELH)
Leshii (Dragon #290)
Lion (MM)
Lunar ravager (MMIV)
Marzanna (Frostburn)
Nature Spirit (OA)
Nereid (Stormwrack)
Nixie (MM)
Nymph (MM)
Oaken Defender (MMIV)
Ocean Strider (MMII)
Oread (FF)
Organ Thief (AGttPt)
Petal (MMIII)
Pixie (MM)
Quinametin (Dragon #317)
Ragewalker (MMIII)
Redcap (MMIII)
Roc (MM)
Rusalka (Dragon #290, Frostburn)
Satyr (MM)
Seelie Court Fey (Dragon #304)
Selkie (FF)
Shadar-kai (FF)
Shadowvig (Dragon #299)
Shimmerling Swarm (MMIII)
Sirine (MMII)
Spark (Dragon #304)
Sphinx (MM)
Spirit of the Air (FF)
Spirit of the Land (MMII)
Splinterwaif (MMIII)
Spriggan (FF)
Sylph (MMII)
Thunder (Dragon #317)
Thorn (MMIII)
Tiger (MM)
Treant (MM)
Treant, Elder (ELH)
Tree Troll (Dragon #299)
Twig Blight (MMII)
Twilight Guardian (Dragon Magic)
Uldra (Frostburn)
Unicorn (MM)
Unseelie Fey (Dragon #304)
Vampire (MM)
Verdant Prince (MMIV)
Vila (Dragon #290)
Vodyanoi (Dragon #290, Frostburn)
Wendigo (FF)
Wolf (MM)
Winter Wolf (MM)
Winterling (Dragon #324)
Wizened Elder (MMIV)
Wood Element Creature (MotP)
Wood Woad (MMIII)
Woodling (MMIII)
Wraith (MM)
Xilob (Dragon #317)
Xtabay (Dragon #317)
Yeth Hound (MM)

- The Ten Courts of Hell

Any
Axiomatic Monkey (MotP/Planar Handbook/MM)
Bakemono (OA)
Barghest (MM)
Common Oni (OA)
Faceless (LoH)
Fiendish Baboon (MM)
Fiendish Monkey (MM)
Go-Zu Oni (OA)
Jiki-Ketsu-Gaki (OA)
Tengu (OA)
Ogre Mage (MM)
Oni no Ugulu (OA)
Oubliette (LoH)
Ox Demon (BCD)
Shikki-Gaki (OA)
Soulsniffer (LoH)
Spinder (LoH)
Spirit Centipede (OA)
Nature Spirit (OA)
Wang-Liang (OA)

1st Court of Hell
Cornugon (MM)
Hobgoblin (MM)
Red Minister (BCD)
Shinen-Gaki (OA)
Spirit of the Air (FF)
Yamado (BCD)

2nd Court of Hell
Achaierai (MM)
Bog Hag (OA)
Herlekin (LoH)
Hobgoblin (MM)
Nezumi (OA)
Ogre (MM)
Oni no Gekido (OA)
Yamado (BCD)

3rd Court of Hell
Bajang (OA)
Bisan (OA)
Bulugon (LoH)
Distender (LoH)
Gathra (FF)
Herlekin (LoH)
Hobgoblin (MM)
Li Lung (OA)
Monstrous Spider (MM)
Ogre (MM)
P'oh (OA)
P'oh, Gohei (OA)
Skeleton (MM)
Swamp Goblin (OA)
Zombie (MM)
Wererat (MM)
Yamado (BCD)

4th Court of Hell
Amnizu (MMII)
Cornugon (MM)
Enforcer of Dis (LoH)
Erinyes (MM)
Gelugon (MM)
Half-Fiend (MM)
Hobgoblin (MM)
Kocrachon (BoVD)
Osuluth (MM)
Pit Fiend (MM)
Protean Scourge (MMIII)
Rakshasa (MM)
Rakshasa, Ak-Chazar (MMIII)
Vampire Demon (BCD)
Vierhaander (LoH)
Yamado (BCD)

5th Court of Hell
Cornugon (MM)
Elemental, Fire (MM)
Giant, Fire (MM)
Hamatula (MM)
Kyton (MM)
Oni no Ashi (OA)
Oni no Byoki (OA)
Oni no Yattoko (OA)
Shinen-Gaki (OA)
Toad (Giant- Fire) (OA)

6th Court of Hell
Bajang (OA)
Bar-lgura (MM)
Dark Naga (MM)
Hannya (OA)
Blackstone Gigant (FF)
Bog Hag (OA)
Bone Naga (MMII)
Bronze Serpent (MMII)
Genocid (Dragon #281)
Hannya (Oriental Adventures)
Marilith (MM)
Monstrous Spider (MM)
Naga (Shinomen- Asp) ( OA)
Naga (Shinomen- Chameleon) (OA)
Naga (Shinomen- Cobra) (OA)
Naga (Shinomen- Constrictor) (OA)
Naga (Shinomen- Greensnake) (OA)
Necrophidius (FF)
Snake (MM)
Spirit Naga (MM)
Tako (OA)
Tasloi (OA)
Toad, giant (OA)
Toad, giant, poisonous (OA)
Yuan-ti (MM)

7th Court of Hell
Astral Deva, Fallen (MM/LoH)
Azer (MM)
Knocker (LoH)
Magugon (LoH)
Monadic Deva, Fallen (FF)
Movanic Deva, Fallen (FF)
Trumpet Archon, Fallen (MM)
Vierhaander (LoH)

8th Court of Hell
Chraal (MMIII)
Demon, Ice (Dragon #306)
Frost Worm (MM)
Gelugon (MM)
Giant, Frost (MM)
Ice Stalker (LoH)
Immoth (MMII)
Rejkar (MMIII)
Spirit of the Air (FF)
Toad (Giant- Ice) (OA)
Xor-Yost (Planar Handbook)
Yeti (OA)
Yuki-On-Na (OA, Frostburn)

9th Court of Hell
Demon, Blood Fiend (FF)
Hopping Vampire (OA)
Oni no Ashi (OA)
Vampire Demon (BCD)

10th Court of Hell
Balor (MM)
Oni no Akuma (OA)
Oni no Kyoso (OA)
Oni no Shikibu (OA)
Oni no Tsuburu (OA)
Pit Fiend (MM)

The Lizard Kingdoms

Abeil (MMII)
Amphisbaena (Serpent Kingdoms)
Barker Lizard (Dog, Riding; MM)
Basilisk (MM)
Behir (MM)
Brood Keeper (MMIII)
Cobrafolk (Doppleganger; MM)
Couatl (MM)
Crocodile (MM)
Deathcoils (Serpent Kingdoms)
Devastation Vermin (ELH)
Digester (MMII)
Dinosaur, Allosaurus (MMII)
Dinosaur, Ankylosaurus (MMII)
Dinosaur, Archelon (MMIV)
Dinosaur, Battletitan (MMIII)
Dinosaur, Bloodstriker (MMIII)
Dinosaur, Ceratosaur (Serpent Kingdoms)
Dinosaur, Cryptoclidus (MMII)
Dinosaur, Deinonychus (MM)
Dinosaur, Diprotodon (Sandstorm)
Dinosaur, Elasmosaurus (MM)
Dinosaur, Fleshraker (MMIII)
Dinosaur, Ichthyosaur (MMIV)
Dinosaur, Megaraptor (MM)
Dinosaur, Mosasaur (MMIV)
Dinosaur, Plesiosaur (Menace Manual, Stormwrack)
Dinosaur, Protoceratops (Sandstorm)
Dinosaur, Pteradon (Menace Manual)
Dinsaour, Pteranadon (Serpent Kingdoms)
Dinosaur, Quetzalcoatlus (MMII)
Dinosaur, Riding Pteranodon (BCD)
Dinosaur, Seismosaurs (MMII)
Dinosaur, Spinosaurus (MMII)
Dinosaur, Stegosaur (Serpent Kingdoms)
Dinosaur, Swindlespitter (MMIII)
Dinosaur, Triceratops (MM)
Dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus (MM)
Dinosaur, Velociraptor (BCD)
Dire Kobold (BCD)
Dracotaur (MMIII)
Dragon Turtle (MM)
Dragonborn of Bahamut (MMIV)
Dromite (Psi)
Dwarf (MM)
Egg Eater (Owl, Giant; MM)
Formian (MM)
Fire Lizards (Harrasf; MMIII)
Forest Abomination (Girallon; MM)
Frost Salamander (MMII)
Ghost Lizard (Spectre; MM)
Giant Crocodile (MM)
Giant Sundew (MMII)
Gibbering Mouther (MM)
Goblin (MM)
Golem, Serpentflesh (Serpent Kingdoms)
Grippli (Dragon #324)
Gorgon (MM)
Greenvise (MMII)
Huitzil (Dragon Magic)
Human (DMG)
Hydra (MM)
Jaculi (Serpent Kingdoms)
Khaasta (FF)
Kraken (MM)
Lisaur (Centaur; MM)
Lizard (MM)
Lizard, Giant (MM)
Lizard King (Serpent Kingdoms)
Lizardfolk (MM)
Lizardfolk, Blackscale (MMIII)
Lizardfolk, Giant (BCD)
Lizardfolk, Poison Dusk (MMIII)
Lycanthrope, Wereserpent (Serpent Kingdoms)
Mlarraun (Serpent Kingdoms)
Monitor Lizard (MM)
Muckdweller (Serpent Kingdoms)
Myconid (MMII)
Naga, Banelar (Serpent Kingdoms)
Naga, Bone (Serpent Kingdoms)
Naga, Dark (MM)
Naga, Faerunian Ha-Naga (Serpent Kingdoms)
Naga, Guardian (MM)
Naga, Ha-Naga (Epic Handbook)
Naga, Iridescent (Serpent Kingdoms)
Naga (Shinomen- Asp) ( OA)
Naga (Shinomen- Chameleon) (OA)
Naga (Shinomen- Cobra) (OA)
Naga (Shinomen- Constrictor) (OA)
Naga (Shinomen- Greensnake) (OA)
Naga, Spirit (MM)
Nagahydra (Serpent Kingdoms)
Nagatha (MMIV)
Needletooth Swarm (MMIII)
Nifern (Serpent Kingdoms)
Octopus Tree (FF)
Ophidian (FF)
Orcwort (MMII)
Phase Spider (MM)
Phynxkin (Dragon Magic)
Prismasaurus (ELH)
Protean Scourge (MMIII)
Quanlos (MMIV)
Rat, Giant (MM)
Ruin Swarm (ELH)
Sahuagin (MM)
Sailsnake (MMIV)
Salamander (MM)
Sarkrith (FF)
Sarrukh (Serpent Kingdoms)
Saurial, Bladeback (Dragon #292)
Saurial, Finhead (Dragon #292)
Saurial, Flyer (Dragon #292)
Scorpionfolk (MMII)
Saurial, Hornhead (Dragon #292)
Shadow (MM)
Shambling Mound (MM)
Shark (MM)
Shocker Lizard (MM)
Snake (MM)
Snake, Dung (Serpent Kingdoms)
Snake, Glacier (Serpent Kingdoms)
Snake, Reed (Serpent Kingdoms)
Snake, Sewerm (Serpent Kingdoms)
Snake, Tree Python (Serpent Kingdoms)
Snake, Whipsnake (Serpent Kingdoms)
Spawn of Tiamat (MMIV)
Spider Eater (MM)
Ssvaklor (MMIII)
Striding Lizard (Zezir; MMIII)
Swarm, Locust, Rapture (FF)
Swarm, Plague Ant (FF)
Swarm, Viper (FF)
Swarm, Wasp (FF)
Tarrasque (MM)
Tendriculos (MM)
Tree Spirit (Dryad; MM) - snakelike form
Thri-Kreen (MMII)
Ti-Khana Deinonychus (FF)
Triceratops Topiary Guardian (MMIII)
Tren (Serpent Kingdoms)
Troglodyte (MM)
Vermin (all; MM)
Vermin Lord (MMIII)
Verminurge (ELH)
Yellow Musk Creeper (FF)
Yuan-ti Abomination (MM)
Yuan-ti Anathema (FF)
Yuan-Ti Broodguard (Ghostwalk)
Yuan-ti Halfblood (MM)
Yuan-Ti Holy Guardian (Serpent Kingdoms)
Yuan-ti Ignan (MMIV)
Yuan-Ti Mageslayer (Serpent Kingdoms)
Yuan-Ti Mumia (Ghostwalk)
Yuan-ti Pureblood (MM)
Yuan-Ti Tainted One (Ghostwalk)
Yurian (FF)
 

On the Origin of the Nexus

In the beginning there was the Rose; her buds and thorns made up the whole of the multiverse. Her blossoms were the blossomings of worlds; her roots and stems transversed all boundaries.

From the Rose was born Aoskar, the Opener of Doors. The Rose was Aoskar's teacher, parent, and friend.

"Rose," said Aoskar sadly. "The time has come that I must leave. I must seek the new places you have told me about, that the inhabitants there may find their way to you."

"Yes," said the Rose. "It is time. Good journey, beloved Aoskar." Before he left, though, the Rose gave him a gift: a tiny, flowering vine that she named Folly.

During Aoskar's long wanderings, before he found his throne in Sigil, he sought an oracle to show him the path he must take. He consulted the Norns, and the Gray Sisters, and the Sibyls of Elysia, but none would say what the destiny of the god might be. "Your future is forbidden," hissed Skuld. "It is guarded by Pain."

Shekinester, triple-goddess and World Serpent, divined something of Aoskar's fate, and harried him and his servants with her ha-naga proxies. "Is it war she wants?" mused Aoskar. "I can give it to her."

"I would be careful," cautioned Folly. "She is strong, and old. Better to attempt to bargain."

Aoskar followed Folly's advice. Calling in a favor from a being called the Wandering Architect, he had a sumptuous meeting-hall built. In it, he opened a number of doors that would allow him access to all the powers that he had within the Rose itself. Sending a two-headed hound to Shekinester's Court of Light, he invited the Three-Faced Queen to complete the hall with her own powers, and meet him on what would be neutral ground.

Intrigued, Shekinester did so. The meeting-hall became a place of seemingly endless maze-paths reminiscent of her own Loom of the Weaver. The goddess herself appeared within its heart. A young girl with reptilian features floated to the entrance and bade Aoskar walk in.

Venturing through the maze, half familiar and half new and strange, Aoskar felt his own doors change and twist. He felt as if the Rose was calling him somewhere, or warning him, but her words seemed jumbled, reduced to incomprehensible symbols that floated through the streets of an alien city, building and rebuilding its walls and doors. And in the center of it all, a circle of blades. Something about them filled him with terror.

"You should go back," said Folly. "The Rose wants you out of this terrible place."

"I can't," said Aoskar. "This is my destiny. If I leave now, I'll never understand it."

And so he passed the tests of the Empowerer, and passed into the presence of Shekinester herself.

"You have great courage," whispered the goddess, her human face shifting from young to old and in-between. "You will need it, where you are going."

"Is this why your minions have been harrying me?" Aoskar asked. "So you could warn me?"

"Not warn, merely test. I wondered what kind of god would go to dwell in the City of Doors. None have done so since the Phoenix's last death."

"Were your questions answered?"

"Almost," said Shekinester. "Before we are finished, you must face the Arching Flame."

As if struck by the same impulse, Aoskar and the serpent-goddess embraced, his limbs circling her coils, her coils circling his limbs. Aoskar's two faces looked into Shekinester's three faces: maiden, mother, crone. Then she was a pillar of light, and he and she were one.

After an infinity of union, the light faded, and Shekinester was once again a three-faced naga. Aoskar was once again a dual-faced man.

"I feel cleansed, healed," said Aoskar. "I wish we could merge forever."

The Empowerer laughed; the Preserver smiled gently; the Weaver sneered. "We each have our destinies to fulfill," they said. "But this place we have made will remain. As will one other."

The girl who had met Aoskar at the first door reappeared. "Farewell, Father," she told him.

"A child has been birthed from our unity," Shekinester explained. "Dislocated slightly in the warp and weft of history. Meet Aoska-Shek, for the second time."

Aoskar awkwardly patted his daughter's head. Something about her made him uncomfortable; probably it was the way her feet never touched the ground.

He turned to look at Shekinester, but she was already gone. Shrugging, he left the Nexus they had made and went to meet his destiny.
 

Another possible tie-in between Planescape and Beyond Countless Doorways is to say that the demiplane of Faraenyl was created with the aid of Logicus from the adventure Doors to the Unknown. The two make a good pair - in Logicus technology works but magic does not (except for within the World Mind that holds the planet together); in Faraenyl magic works but technology does not (except for within the Grand Cycle that holds the demiplane together). Perhaps the natives of Faraenyl originated in Logicus, but fled to an artificial demiplane as the world was dying, needing technology as well as magic to create a demiplane large enough to suit their needs.
 


The planar movements and conjunctions described at the beginning of the book work fine within the Great Wheel cosmology. They should be applied to every plane - for example, the Outlands are usually in conjuction with the first layer of the Abyss, but periodically either come into true conjunction or severance. The planar cycles of the Outlands are described on the Mimir.

Worlds on the Material Plane may only be connected to a few specific outer planes or planar realms. Eberron is a good example of this.

Underland might be a world on the Material Plane; it might be, for example, Oerth's moon of Luna, which has an extensive Underdark.

The Ethereal Sea is simply the Ethereal Plane.

Celestial River is a planar path similar to the Styx, Oceanus, or Yggdrasil, but separate from those. Mostly it flows through the Outer Planes.

Avidarel is a solar system on the Material Plane.

Carigmoor is built on a ruined Material Planar world. See above for my ideas on connecting it to the mercane, Union, and Sigil.

Curnorost is a hidden realm somewhere in the Outer Planes. As above, I suggest either Pelion in Arborea, Niflheim in Hades, Belieren in Elysium, or (as a devastating secret) Chronias in Celestia. It could be in the Outlands, too, in the hinterlands beyond the gate-towns.

Deleur I'd make an unusual realm within the Quasielemental Plane of Mineral, perhaps created by a mineral race like the tsnng before being driven away by an alliance of celestials.

Dendri is a moon on the Material Plane.

Faraenyl is an artificial demiplane created in the Ethereal Plane. As above, I suggest it was made by refugees from the world of Logicus.

Kin-Li'in is a layer of the Abyss. I numbered it the 473rd.

The Lizard Kingdoms are a world on the Material Plane, quite possibly the source of the saurials known to the Forgotten Realms.

The Maze is a demiplane built in the Ethereal Plane using the raw material of the dreams of the imprisoned angel Sophiel.

The Mountains of the Five Winds are a Material world in serious contention by the forces of Limbo and Mechanus.

Ouno is a world on the Material Plane, a crystal sphere half filled with a living ocean.

Palpatur is a world in another part of the Material Plane, devastated by a Blood War incursion.

I'd classify the Sleeping God's Soul as a demiplane, though it could also work as a Material Planar world or even an Outer Planar realm.

I wrote the essay on the Ten Courts of Hell, above, a long time ago and I've since reconsidered. There should definitely be a portal to the First Hell Court in the Palace of Judgment in the Outlands, but I think they're different enough that they can be considered separate places. I'd put the First Court in Avernus instead; the Second Court could be in another part of the same layer, though my suggestion of putting it in Acheron makes sense given the marauding achererai. The Third Court might go in yet another part of Avernus or even in Malbolge. The Fourth Court, as I said, would be an excellent school to exist in metropolitan Dis; General Yao could teach rakshasas and baatezu alike. The Fifth Court feels like Phlegethos, the Sixth Court feels like Minauros or the Abyss (the Clockwork Serpent Queen could be another aspect of Mammon, actually); the Seventh Court is Maladomini (and the Bronze Bell King could be an aspect of Baalzebul); the Eight Court is Cania (probably an independent realm far from Mephistar); the Ninth Court is an independent realm in Nessus, and the Tenth and Eleventh Courts are so mysterious that there's no grounds for placing them anywhere in particular. The Tenth Court could be a deeper part of Nessus, while the Eleventh Court might be in Elysium or Celestia.

Tevaeral is a world on the Material Plane, and probably the origin of the Order of the Book from the Epic Level Handbook.

Venomheart is on an otherwise uninhabited world on the Material Plane. The "frequented ports" Daxis and the Obsidian Fens are Material Planar worlds, but Ungaral is a city in Pandemonium and Whitetongue is part of the Elemental Plane of Fire.

The Violet is an ancient, naturally-occuring demiplane.

Yragon is another Material world.

The "looking glass worlds" are usually alternate Material Planes, although the idea of alternate Outer Planes is an intriguing one - perhaps the Outlands has another face, like the other side of a coin, leading to an alternate set of Outer Planes.
 

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