D&D General Let's make the upper planes playable!

[Shades of Eternity]

Plus you could make the equivalent of the Marquis that intend to cull the lower planes, while Mount celestia wrings their proverbial hands.

And the worst thing is they made head way. They have setup a plan to reduce the evil in the universe.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

I think it depends on how secure your Upper Planes are. If demon hordes show up every week, then your ground level plane will be one big fortress (LG), one big bar full of heavily armed, rowdy heroes (CG), or a pleasant forest where Guardinals are waiting behind every tree to punch/ram/claw/bite you (NG).

If not, then the first layers should be the postcard, touristy ones. The higher up you get, the little bit of evil in even the most good PC has in them becomes a problem. The challenge becomes what if the PC's don't see their moral weaknesses as failings.... High level PC's can probably force their way through for a while but get high enough on the mountain (Celestia or Olympus) and CR 20+ (with Legendary Action) types might be pretty common.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

It has to be the former and even have some internal struggles; otherwise, it isn't playable, which might as well not exist.

So far, I got
Mount Celestia (Trials)
Bytopia (Games)
Elysium (Heroics, including heroic disagreements)
Arcadia (Cyber Ape-Angel Order)
Beastlands (Animal morality tales turned into the hunt)

Edit: The theme I'm thinking of for Arborea is friendly feuding city-states that draw on Greek history and elves' inability to get along with each other (look at the Crown Wars) and other species (look at 2e complete Book of Elves).

Still not having a total vision yet.

How would an elf olympian feud go?

 

[Corinnguard]

Mechanus as a fantasy version of Cybertron?

 

[Corinnguard]

I ask because both Mechanus and Cybertron have one thing in common, a being known as Primus.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

I ask because both Mechanus and Cybertron have one thing in common, a being known as Primus.

You realize you might see a modron version of Unicron in Spelljammer, right?

 

[Corinnguard]

You realize you might see a modern version of Unicron in Spelljammer, right?

Now I do. Transformers fan here.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

okay I think I figured out Arborea

Arborea’s: The Eternal Games​

Olympus​

1. The Olympian-Elven Conflict

• The Olympians (Greek Pantheon and their followers) and the Elves (Corellon’s Seldarine and their kin) are in constant competition, but this isn’t an endless blood feud—it’s a high-stakes rivalry filled with dramatic gestures, larger-than-life personalities, and bursts of actual conflict that burn bright but often resolve in epic duels, contests, and challenges rather than prolonged battles.
• Combat is ceremonial in many cases. Rivalries are expressed through wars of honor, poetry, trickery, and magical duels just as often as with blades.

2. The War Season & Grand Competitions

• Every Great Cycle (perhaps a celestial year), the plane shifts into a “war season,” where conflicts resume between Olympians and Elves.
• However, during truce periods, both sides compete in grand games—think a divine, multiversal version of the Olympics, mixed with fey revelry and elven dueling.
• Events Include:
  • Athletic Feats – Javelin throwing, wrestling, races across floating islands, or marathons through forests that reshape themselves as you run.
  • Magic Duels – Wizards and sorcerers engage in spellcraft duels judged for style as much as effectiveness.
  • Hunting Contests – Both sides track mythical creatures that regenerate and return to the hunt the following season.
  • Bardic Competitions – Epic storytelling, theatrical performances, and musical showdowns.
  • Political Machinations—There’s also a game of alliances and betrayals, in which cities switch sides depending on the outcomes of various challenges.

3. City-States of Personality and Chaos

• Arborea’s chaotic good nature means no single government dominates. Instead, city-states and elven domains, each with their quirks and leaders, create a constantly shifting political landscape.
• Each city-state embodies a different philosophy or cultural ideal, meaning there’s never a universal “Olympian” or “Elven” faction—allegiances shift, people defect, and alliances form over strange bonds like shared artistic visions or rivalries over a particular wine.

4. Notable Locations

• Arvantheon (Elven-Olympian Neutral Zone) – A city that hosts grand competitions and festivals. Here, elven lords and Olympian gods mingle, scheme, and sometimes even fall in love.
• The Warring Twins – Two floating citadels, one Olympian and one Elven, that orbit each other like a celestial dance. One will conquer the other every cycle, but its people retreat, rebuild, and prepare for the next cycle.
• The Everchanging Grove – A vast, enchanted forest where warriors and philosophers meet for debates and duels under the watchful gaze of fey spirits. The terrain reshapes itself to test those who enter.

5. Themes of Cross-Pollination

• Olympians vs. Elves isn't just a rivalry—it’s a relationship. While they fight and compete, they exchange culture and philosophy and even intermarry. This isn’t a war of annihilation but a celebration of their differences and their need to challenge each other.
• There are half-elven demigods, art forms inspired by traditions and even warriors trained in Olympian and Elven styles. Some city-states reject the war entirely and serve as neutral zones where scholars, traders, and bards thrive.

Adventuring in Arborea’s First Layer

1. A grand theft or prank escalates into a full-scale war-season battle.
2. A rogue city-state declares independence, and both sides want to pull it into their orbit.
3. A love affair between an Olympian champion and an elven noble causes a diplomatic crisis.
4. A legendary artifact is the prize of the next Grand Game, but factions are trying to rig the competition.
5. A faction wants to turn the war from sport into actual destruction, and heroes must stop them.

The six city-states of Glory

While city-states rise and fall, the following have been prominent for some time and have left their mark on the conflict.

1. Arvantheon – The City of Champions

"A warrior’s worth is measured in the stories sung of them."

• Role: Neutral ground where both sides host grand competitions, feasts, and political negotiations.
• Description: A sprawling amphitheater city of shining marble and living wood, built upon a floating island that drifts above the Endless Games Arena. Statues of past champions stand beside eternal trees, and the city's streets are lined with markets selling enchanted weapons, golden laurels, and divine wines.
• Influence:
  • A powerful political hub where heroes, demigods, and elven lords compete to influence the war season.
  • The city's council shifts depending on the results of the latest competitions, meaning one season’s rulers may be gladiators, and the next may be playwrights.
  • Adventurers may be drawn into arena duels, bardic battles, or political maneuvering to sway the balance of power.

2. Erythalan – The Twilight City

"Here, both gods and fey learn to love—and to betray."

• Role: A city of philosophers, lovers, and spies, where Olympian demigods and Elven nobles engage in courtly games of influence.
• Description: A city bathed in perpetual twilight, where elven towers entwined with classical Olympian architecture. Gilded bridges and crystal fountains dot the landscape, while masquerade balls and salons host schemers with honeyed words and poisoned daggers.
• Influence:
  • A hotbed of romance, espionage, and intrigue, where alliances are made in whispered conversations.
  • The city holds a truce during the war season, serving as a refuge for defectors, runaway lovers, and secret negotiations.
  • Adventurers may be asked to retrieve a stolen love letter, break up an engagement that could unite two factions, or outmaneuver a rival spy.

3. Astrapoleis – The City of Storm and Song

"The voice of a poet, the strength of a warrior—only those who possess both can rule here."

• Role: A city of warrior-poets, tempest sorcerers, and stormcallers, where battles are fought both with steel and with words.
• Description: Built upon a chain of floating isles, the city crackles with divine and fey lightning. Storm-forges, gladiatorial pits, and bardic theaters dot the landscape, where combatants must prove themselves in physical and artistic battles to hold power. The sky above constantly shifts between sunlit clarity and raging storms, reflecting the passions of its people.
• Influence:
  • It is a home for gladiators, war singers, and oracles, all of whom sway over Arborea’s conflicts.
  • Many legendary warriors and duelists train here, seeking the favor of gods and fey alike.
  • Adventurers may be drawn into epic duels, poetic contests, or a coup where a poet-prophet challenges a warrior-king.

4. Nyxalyon – The Moonlit Hunting Grounds

"The hunt is eternal, the predator and prey ever-changing."

• Role: A wilderness city of sacred hunts, where elven rangers and Olympian hunters compete to track celestial beasts.
• Description: Less of a traditional city and more of a vast, enchanted wilderness, Nyxalyon exists within a shifting dreamlike forest where its people live as nomads, stalking divine game and fabled monsters. Mystical lodges are meeting places where hunters trade stories, trophies, and contracts.
• Influence:
  • A place where power is measured in the rarity of one’s prey—only those who have slain a celestial beast may participate in governance.
  • The city is deeply tied to the cycle of the war season, as rival hunting parties often fight not for territory but for the glory of the kill.
  • Adventurers may be hired to track a legendary beast, survive a trial-by-hunt, or investigate why the spirits of the hunt have turned against the city.

5. Myrrosia – The Isle of the Ever-Bacchanal

"Drink! Dance! Love! The gods and the fey alike demand celebration!"

• Role: A chaotic revel city, home to Dionysian cults and Elven revelers, where feasting, music, and excess shape the city’s ever-changing power.
• Description: A city that is reshaped with every festival and exists in perpetual celebration. Vine-covered marble ruins serve as drinking halls, and enchanted gardens bloom overnight to provide endless food and drink. Here, chaos and revelry serve as law, and those who resist the call of celebration are exiled or enchanted into joining the feast.
• Influence:
  • Despite its debauched nature, Myrrosia wields immense cultural and magical power. Its festivals serve as sacred rituals for gods and fey alike.
  • At the height of the war season, the city hosts the Rite of Truce, where even sworn enemies must drink and dance together under supernatural compulsion.
  • Adventurers may be pulled into uncovering a cursed festival, settling a divine feud threatening to destroy the city, or retrieving a lost artifact hidden in the depths of the ever-changing revels.

6. Pyrithos – The Shifting Battlefield

"Glory is earned in the crucible of ever-changing war."

• Role: A city-state built for battle, where champions, tacticians, and warriors refine the art of war—not for conquest, but as an eternal proving ground.
• Description: Pyrithos exists on the borderlands between Olympian and Elven territory, and its landscape reshapes itself every war season to create new battlefields. One day, it may be a colossal siege city, the next a labyrinthine maze of shifting walls and hidden tunnels. Here, generals study war as an art, and warriors fight in grand tactical exercises.
• Influence:
  • Pyrithos is the ultimate proving ground, where warriors, strategists, and war-mages train under Olympian and Elven masters.
  • It is never truly conquered, as its people embrace the perpetual conflict as a test of their worth.
  • Adventurers may be sent to sabotage an opposing force, participate in a legendary battle for a city that resets every season, or retrieve a lost relic buried in the ruins of past wars.

How Adventurers Use These Cities for Influence

• Arvantheon – Win games, forge alliances.
• Erythalan – Gain secrets and manipulate factions.
• Astrapoleis – Earn prestige through combat or art.
• Nyxalyon – Prove worth in sacred hunts.
• Myrrosia – Gain divine favor through revelry.
• Pyrithos – Influence war-season tactics.

Aquallor​

Aquallor, the second layer of Arborea, is a vast, rolling ocean of warm, endless waves and scattered islands. Unlike the structured civilizations of the first layer, Aquallor is a frontier where adventurers, exiles, explorers, and warriors from Olympian and Elven cultures stake their claims. Some seek glory and dominion, others freedom and self-rule, but all are drawn by the chaotic currents that define the layer.

Here are five key colony cities and outposts—each representing different aspects of the Olympian-Elven feud, placed across Aquallor’s unique landscape:

The Cities of the Waves​

1. Thalassion – The Duelist’s Archipelago

"All disputes are settled with the blade or the trident."

• Type: A collection of floating city-ships and coral-forged arenas.
• Influence: A neutral battleground where warriors, pirates, and exiled champions test their might.
• Location: The Shifting Isles—a massive, drifting coral reef that moves with the tides, impossible to map.

Key Features:

• Home to wandering warbands, dueling schools, and arena fighters, each carving out a piece of the reef.
• Elven swordmasters test their skills against Olympian gladiators in highly ritualized fights, where honor and wagers decide fates.
• Gladiatorial matches in coral-forged arenas determine control over trade, alliances, and local resources.
• Adventurers might seek A lost champion’s blade, fight a cursed warrior trapped in eternal combat, or secure an alliance through a high-stakes duel.

2. Nyssavir – The Verdant Tidehold

"The land may have sunk, but the forest still breathes."

• Type: An enchanted floating jungle city built atop a massive drifting island of petrified trees.
• Influence: A sanctuary for Elven explorers and druids, preserving the land even in an oceanic realm.
• Location: The Sinking Verdance—a drowned continent where ancient half-submerged temples still hold fey magic.

Key Features:

• The city is a living, shifting landmass where trees float upon tangled roots, forming a semi-solid surface.
• Elven magi cultivate semi-aquatic groves and use water-walking enchantments to sustain an island that shouldn’t exist.
• Olympian mariners see it as a prize, believing that conquering it would give them control over Aquallor’s strange tides.
• Adventurers might seek An artifact deep in the submerged ruins, help defend against Olympian raiders, or survive a wild hunt that spans both land and sea.

3. Halcyon’s Wake – The City of Living Ships

"Why build an empire when you can sail one?"

• Type: A nomadic flotilla, where entire Olympian city-states exist on the backs of divine whales and leviathans.
• Influence: A mobile, ever-moving fleet nation hosting pirates, traders, and seafaring demigods.
• Location: The Evercurrent, a supernatural ocean river pulling all ships toward unknown destinations.

Key Features:

• Entire Olympian colonies are built upon the backs of titanic sea creatures, kept placid by bardic magic and divine blessings.
• They constantly raid, trade, and explore, creating temporary alliances with Elven enclaves before betraying them for sport.
• Legends speak of a Leviathan-King, growing ever more prominent, with a city upon its back that might soon become a nation.
• Adventurers might seek to sabotage an enemy city-ship, secure safe passage through the Evercurrent, or negotiate with the Leviathan King before he swallows an entire island.

4. The Hollow Pearl – The Sunken Citadel

"The deep keeps its secrets and its kings."

• Type: A submerged ruin-turned-settlement where both Olympian and Elven exiles hide from their past.
• Influence: A black market, refuge, and lost temple, where the desperate gather.
• Location: The Trench of Acheron, a bottomless abyss where forgotten gods and drowned spirits whisper.

Key Features:

• Originally a sunken temple city of an unknown god, it is now an outlaw haven where exiles, fugitives, and wayward champions hide.
• Some seek enlightenment in its depths, while others plunder its relics.
• It is ruled by an ancient Kraken oracle, who demands tribute in riddles and blood.
• Adventurers might seek A sunken Olympian relic, a ship of ghostly warriors, or a way to outwit the Kraken’s growing demands.

5. Astrionis – The Moonlit Spiral

"Here, the war is played as a game of pieces and tides."

• Type: A marble citadel built atop a colossal whirlpool, serving as a war council and sanctuary.
• Influence: A neutral meeting ground where Olympian warlords and Elven lords strategize between war seasons.
• Location: The Heart of the Maelstrom, a supernatural vortex that never entirely consumes its center.

Key Features:

• The city is built upon enchanted rings, slowly spiraling downward, always on the verge of sinking.
• The council chambers only hold influence while they remain above water—decisions must be made before they drown.
• Divine and fey creatures secretly influence the politics here, ensuring no side thoroughly "wins."
• Adventurers might seek To sabotage a rival’s council seat, steal a prophecy hidden beneath the waves, or break the cycle of war before the city is lost forever.

How These Colonies Shape the Feud

Each of these chaotic colonies reflects different aspects of Olympian-Elven rivalry in Aquallor:

• Thalassion is about personal glory and honor through dueling.
• Nyssavir is about preserving lost lands in an ever-changing world.
• Halcyon’s Wake embraces nomadic, opportunistic power.
• The Hollow Pearl shows desperation, refuge, and dark knowledge.
• Astrionis is the ever-turning war council, where war is a game of shifting tides.

Since Aquallor lacks the stability of the first layer, these outposts constantly change—alliances shift, islands vanish, and new cities rise from the deep.

Other Features​

1. The Abyssal Lanterns – Floating Beacons of Forgotten Gods

Location: Scattered across the Trench of Acheron, near The Hollow Pearl

• Massive, bioluminescent orbs drift through the deep, illuminating the ocean with ever-changing colors.
• Some whisper prophecies, others sing in dead languages, while others attract eldritch beings that lurk just out of sight.
• It is said that each lantern is a fallen god’s last memory and those who listen too closely risk being rewritten by their divine will.

Adventurer Hooks:

• Follow a Lantern’s song to uncover a long-lost temple, but risk drawing the attention of sunken horrors.
• A mad oracle hires the party to steal the light from a Lantern, believing it will restore their lost past.
• A rival adventuring crew has vanished after chasing a Lantern’s glow—do you rescue them or claim their unguarded loot?

2. The Eternal Geyser – A Waterfall in Reverse

Location: Near Astrionis, at the Heart of the Maelstrom

• A miles-wide column of water surges upward from the sea, defying gravity and launching ships, creatures, and islands into the sky.
• Fragments of other planes are believed to wash up here, leading to floating ruins and impossible treasures.
• The geyser’s source is unknown, but some say it connects to the Plane of Air, or even Olympus itself.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A marooned Elven warlord clings to a floating island above the geyser—rescue him, or leave him to his exile?
• Rumors spread that the geyser ejected a Titan’s missing weapon and now drifts somewhere in the sky.
• The geyser may be unstable—a faction wants to seal it, but another seeks to harness its power for war.

3. The Silent Wave – A Tsunami Frozen in Time

Location: Near Halcyon’s Wake, moving through the Evercurrent

• A towering tidal wave, frozen mid-crash, spanning miles like an eerie glass wall of water.
• Within it are trapped sea creatures, ancient ships in mid-sink, and even entire city fragments caught in perpetual stillness.
• The wave’s magic shifts unpredictably—sometimes, it unfreezes for moments, unleashing whatever is inside.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A lost Olympian trireme, holding an artifact of a demigod, is stuck inside—do you dare retrieve it before the wave shifts?
• A pirate warband hides inside the frozen waters, waiting for the right moment to ambush passing ships.
• A prisoner of prophecy is trapped mid-fall—freeing them could change the fate of Aquallor.

4. The Sapphire Trench – A Gateway to the Deep Realms

Location: Beyond The Hollow Pearl, leading to the deepest ocean trenches of Arborea

• A deep underwater canyon filled with blue-glowing crystals pulses with an ancient rhythm.
• Strange dreamlike visions afflict those who dive too deeply—some say they see into the past or witness other realities.
• At the bottom, rumors claim a Primordial Leviathan slumbers, waiting for a war grand enough to wake it.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A Sapphire Trench vision reveals a city-state's future downfall—but can it be prevented?
• A scholar of Nyssavir hires the party to retrieve a crystal but doesn’t mention that it might attract something from below.
• An Olympian hero vanished here, last seen plunging into the abyss—finding him could unravel a great secret.

5. The Drifting Coliseum – An Arena Between Worlds

Location: Wandering between Thalassion and Nyssavir

• A colossal, floating stadium, constantly shifting through Aquallor’s tides and appearing in new locations.
• Arena combat is eternal here—legendary warriors fight in chaotic tournaments that never truly end.
• Some fighters are trapped, bound by ancient pacts to duel for eternity, while others seek ultimate glory.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A cursed champion needs a way out of the eternal duels, but breaking their contract could doom the arena.
• A lost artifact is the grand prize of the next arena battle royale—can you win it, or steal it?
• A demigod of war has issued a challenge—who dares face them in combat for a divine favor?

How These Features Shape Adventure in Aquallor

Each of these natural wonders provides:

• Unique exploration opportunities.
• Connections to the Olympian-Elven feud (disputes over ownership, challenges, or treasures).
• Weird, mystical phenomena that fit Aquallor’s chaotic and mythic nature.
• Potential adventure hooks for all types of parties, from treasure hunters to planar scholars.

Mithardir – The Shifting Sands of Forgotten Glory​

The Third Layer of Arborea

Mithardir, also known as the Shifting White Desert, is a vast, endless expanse of blindingly pale dunes, scattered with the ruins of forgotten civilizations. It is a place of mystery, lost knowledge, and powerful relics—but also of danger, deception, and the wrath of the past.

Neither the Olympians nor the Elves fully control Mithardir, but both use it differently, seeing it as a proving ground, a graveyard of ambition, and a source of power.

How The Olympians Use Mithardir

1. The Grand Proving Grounds – Where Heroes Are Made

• To the Olympians, Mithardir is a test of will—a place where only the strong survive.
• Young demigods and champions are sent here on heroic trials to retrieve lost relics or survive mythical creatures.
• Ares, Athena, and even Hermes favor hidden training grounds within the desert where warriors undergo brutal trials.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A hero of Olympus has disappeared into the desert—was he slain, or did he find something the gods wished forgotten?
• A warrior-champion rival challenges the party to a race across the sands, with an artifact as the prize.
• Ares himself sets a test: defeat an ancient warlord entombed beneath the dunes before they awaken.

2. The Arena of Echoes – Battles of the Past, Fought Again

• Some areas of Mithardir are haunted by spectral warriors, doomed to reenact their greatest battles endlessly.
• Olympians send favored warriors here to train against the legends of the past.
• The ghosts will only acknowledge true warriors—weak challengers fade from existence.

Adventurer Hooks:

• The spirit of a long-dead Olympian warlord offers his wisdom… for a price.
• A battle from the past is replaying, but something has gone wrong, and the warriors refuse to stop fighting.
• The ghost of an elven king has invaded the Arena, turning the battlefield into an uncontrollable war zone.

How the Elves Use Mithardir

3. The Lost Courts of Myth – Fey Palaces Buried Beneath the Sands

• The Elves whisper of grand fey cities lost beneath the dunes, filled with immortal knowledge and treasures of the past.
• Some claim that Mithardir is where the oldest fey once ruled before their domains vanished from time.
• Elven scholars and adventurers dig through the sands, hoping to reclaim their ancient birthright.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A hidden fey palace has emerged, but something inside has awakened—is it a treasure or a curse?
• A rival elven faction is looting an ancient ruin, and the party must get there first to prevent catastrophe.
• An ancient fey noble, long thought dead, walks the sands again and seeks an audience with the party.

4. The Oasis of Forgotten Names – Where Memory is the Price of Power

• Somewhere in Mithardir, there is an oasis where water is knowledge itself.
• Those who drink from its waters gain visions of lost wisdom—but each sip erases something from their memory.
• The Elves see this as a spiritual test, while the Olympians treat it as a gamble of the mind.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A wise seer has vanished after drinking from the Oasis, leaving only a book of cryptic visions behind.
• A forgotten elven warlord has re-emerged, but he has no memory of his past—should he be told the truth?
• The water is drained, and the source must be protected before it vanishes forever.

Shared Uses of Mithardir – The Battleground of the Feud

While the Elves and Olympians have different reasons for exploring Mithardir, it remains a contested land, leading to:

5. The Mirage Wars – When Dreams and Reality Collide

• The plane shifts—sometimes, cities appear in the distance, but when reached, they vanish like mirages.
• Some believe these are visions of the past; others say they are pocket realms that drift between existence and oblivion.
• Olympians and Elves seek to claim these mirages, believing they hold untold secrets and divine power.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A mirage city appears, and the party has only hours to explore it before it vanishes again.
• A chaotic battle erupts between Olympian champions and elven warriors, and the party must choose a side—or stop the fight.
• A mirage lord offers the party power, but only if they help him escape his cursed city.

Conclusion – Mithardir’s Role in the Feud

• It is a contested land, neither fully controlled by the Elves nor the Olympians.
• A proving ground for warriors, philosophers, and mystics.
• A treasure trove of forgotten knowledge and a lure for adventurers.
• A battleground where neither side can truly claim victory, but both seek to shape its fate.

The Cities of the Sands​

1. Altherys – The Gilded Ruin (Elven-Favored, but Contested)

A buried city at the heart of Mithardir, revealed by shifting sands.

• Once an elven metropolis of fey-touched beauty, it is now half-buried under dunes.
• Some say it was once a realm of the Seelie Court, lost due to betrayal or misused power.
• The Olympians want it for its untapped relics, while Elves seek to reclaim it as a holy site.
• Mirages plague the area, shifting streets and buildings, making navigation nearly impossible.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A team of Elven scholars needs protection while mapping its shifting architecture.
• A ghostly ruler from Altherys' past reveals a hidden treasure vault.
• Olympians and Elves have set up camps, and the party must mediate (or manipulate) the conflict.

2. The Argent Colossus – The Fallen Champion (Olympian-Favored, but Contested)

A colossal, fallen automaton sprawled across miles of desert, its body forming a makeshift fortress.

• A massive silver automaton, supposedly built by Hephaestus himself, lies broken in the sands.
• Olympians see it as a sacred relic, and some seek to repair it.
• Elves claim it was an abomination, used to destroy a fey city now lost beneath the dunes.
• Underground tunnels formed within its hollow limbs and shattered chest house thieves, scavengers, and refugees.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A rogue cult believes the Colossus is waking, and someone must stop it.
• The automaton’s heart is missing, and finding it could change the balance of power.
• An elven assassin sneaks through the ruins, targeting a key Olympian leader.

3. The Bleeding Spire – The Duelist’s Sanctuary (Olympian & Elven Duelsite, Neutral Ground)

A massive obelisk of red stone, sacred to both Elves and Olympians.

• Duelists, champions, and warriors from both sides come here to settle grudges in single combat.
• When an honorable duel is fought, the stone “bleeds” a crimson mist.
• No armies may march here—only individual combatants may seek glory or resolve disputes.
• Mysterious judges, possibly remnants of an ancient order, enforce the laws of the Spire.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A legendary sword is embedded in the Spire, waiting for a worthy champion.
• A dishonorable duel threatens to break the sacred truce—will the party intervene?
• A mysterious warrior issues a challenge, but no one knows their true identity.

4. The Dream-Tombs of Kaelis’Shai – The City That Forgets (Elven-Favored, Hidden from Olympians)

A hidden city where visitors slowly lose their memories—yet gain wisdom.

• A city within a city, where streets seem to flow like liquid silver under moonlight.
• Memories are the currency, and knowledge fades from visitors as they remain.
• The Elves see it as a place of enlightenment, but Olympians suspect it hides terrible secrets.
• The only way to escape is to leave behind something of yourself—a memory, a skill, or even a soul.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A renowned Oracle vanished within the city—is she lost, or does she not wish to be found?
• A powerful warlord seeks to conquer Kaelis’Shai, but the city’s defenses are not of this world.
• The party awakens inside the city with no memory of how they arrived—only that something is chasing them.

5. The Sunken Forum – The Oracle’s Maw (Olympian-Favored, Guarded by Sphinxes)

A half-buried amphitheater where an ancient Oracle still speaks.

• Legends say a god’s voice still echoes here, giving cryptic prophecies.
• The sands’ part at sunrise reveals ancient rulers' forgotten debates.
• Sphinxes guard the ruins, testing visitors with riddles, trials, and visions.
• Both Olympians and Elves seek the knowledge buried within the shifting sands.

Adventurer Hooks:

• A lost prophecy about an impending catastrophe is waiting to be uncovered.
• The sphinxes have begun acting strangely, and something unnatural stirs beneath the forum.
• A rival faction tries to rig an upcoming Oracle prophecy for their gain.

6. The Glass Labyrinth of Xyphoros – The Shattered Path (True Neutral, Dangerous to All)

A massive crystal maze where time and space fracture unpredictably.

• Said to be the remains of a divine experiment gone wrong.
• Reflections whisper to travelers, offering false advice or terrible truths.
• The Elves believe it holds a lost fey artifact, while the Olympians think it’s a prison for a forgotten titan.
• Only those who navigate it correctly can escape unchanged; others will be lost forever.

Adventurer Hooks:

• For centuries, a warrior trapped in the Labyrinth offers the party a way out… for a price.
• A mirror-image doppelgänger of a party member steps out of the maze, claiming to be the real one.
• Something is hunting within the maze, but its reflection appears before it does.

Conclusion – Why These Locations Matter

Mithardir is a contested battleground, proving ground, and hidden treasure trove. The Olympians and Elves clash here over honor, ancient legacies, and forgotten power.

• Some locations are contested battlegrounds. ( Altherys, The Argent Colossus)
• Some serve as sacred neutral ground. ( The Bleeding Spire, The Sunken Forum)
• Others are deadly mysteries waiting to be unraveled. ( The Dream-Tombs, The Glass Labyrinth)

 

[Micah Sweet]

I ask because both Mechanus and Cybertron have one thing in common, a being known as Primus.

It even has an Allspark, in the form of Primus' energy pool.

 

[NotAYakk]

The upper planes are currently useless for gaming potential beyond "paradise invaded."

Mount Celestia and Aboria, might be helpful if you squint, but has anybody ever used Bytopia?

So my challenge is as follows.

Let's make the upper planes somewhere enjoyable to run an adventure with a definite theme and opponents.

Stipulations.

1. Every outer plane needs its locals. Part of the problem is that they use Angels as a grab bag to fill in the whole upper planes, thus making them generic.
2. Every plane needs one unique thing that can be built on.
3. It cannot be just because it was invaded by bad guys, and you are bad enough, dude, to save the planes.
4. It still has to be built on the same overall themes. You cannot turn Bytopia into a plane of the Abyss or anything like that.

So what can be done?

First, I'd be willing to shred cannon.

Second, make them less paragons of their virtue, and more like how the shadowfel/feywilde is an echo of reality with glasses on?

So Mount Celestia could be a greek philosopher ideal world, but still has the chaotic wilds; for what is law and good without something to exclude? The powerful beings still inhabit it, but "street level" still exists. The place can even be full of wonders, like an entire city where the population are marble statues that only move when you aren't looking at them, and are always posed beautifully.

The chaos in the wilds outside of the white-marble cities exists as a way to enhance the artistic contrast of the order and light of the cities... which aren't pure order and light either, as with all cities things get dingy and there are refugees and homeless. They are just really good at hiding it.

For the upper classes, the place is order and light. There are the middle classes, the guards and the like, whose job is to keep the lower classes problems out of the upper classes eyesight. In a benevolent and just way, of course.

The poor are fed in soup kitchens, but the soup kitchens (a wonder of goodness and law) need the poor to exist, and they are shuffled off when not needed.

...

Part of this is that the upper class citizens of each plane need entertainment, and entertainment for many "good" aligned and "lawful" people is fighting "evil" and "chaos", especially when (forever) death is no longer on the table. Even duels - or, simulated war - is on the table, with two different philosophies being decided on in a grand strategy game.

Mount Celestia has wars being fought all of the time, often over some philosophical issue (what is the greater good?) or tactical argument (should pike squares be 3 deep or 4 deep? Should pikes be 8 feet long or 9 feet long?) As death is a temporary problem, the suffering that occurs ends up being basically part of the game rules.

...

For Bytopia, for some reason I keep on thinking of the Hundred Acre Woods. There are a myriad of problems that are taken extremely seriously by the inhabitants of Bytopia that have to be solved in-frame. Violation of the frame is poor sportsmanship. This can include completely pretend enemies which must be taken seriously.

Arguments between settlements are Serious Business. Often challenges or games are invented to determine who wins - someone makes a scavenger hunt, for example, with the winner of the scavenger hunt deciding who wins the conflict, or who wins a specific concession in the conflict. These scavenger hunts can involve deadly danger.