Hello,
I want to start the PCs in the World Serpent Inn. From here, they hear various rumors from various beings about the following:
The Eye of the Dreamheart Tempest (Region of Dreams)
The Citadel of Eternity
The Far Realm and Links
Xaxox (Stone Keep in the Far Realm)
Epic Spells (my first introductory information to the PCs)
Chronias (The Illuminated Heaven)
Malsheem (Asmodeus' Citadel and rumors about his large army)
and The Serpent's Coil (Rumors about Asmodeus' true form)
I was considering having Asmodeus' launch a large scale battle vs. various planes of existence (including the PCs homeplane). I would like to incorporate the Dreamheart, the Far Realm (Xaxox), and the Citadel of Eternity into my module, but I'm having trouble with cohesively writing the plot.
Anyone have any ideas?
Below are the rumors I have written out (LONG)
Thanks,
- Kae.
**********************************************
Rumor/Conversation 1: The Eye of the Dreamheart Tempest
“While perusing a few of my Great Uncle's tomes in his library, I came across an interesting journal entry in his latest book entitled, " Point of Origin". The book is actually a collection of tomes that spans well over 500 volumes in length, with each book containing hundreds of pages. Each book is bound in what appears to be exotic platinum dyed leather, perhaps dragon hide, but something far more obscure and more divine, something I've never seen before. Just looking at the intricate design covers of each tome captivated my intellectual attention for hours. I felt an overwhelming sense of tranquility, peace, and goodness while within the presence of these tomes. That feeling scared me. I didn't get a chance to read any of the tomes in detail, but what I did read was quite a revelation.
The Dreamheart is a roiling boil of dream-born landscapes that melt, burn, grow, and dissolve without any rhyme or reason. Balls of fire, pockets of air, chunks of earth, and waves of water battle against each other. Amid the chaos, half-melted dreamscapes drift—lakes, buildings, streets, strange creatures, and small islands. Some provide shelter against the tempest, but others are open to its deadly effects. These are dreamscapes that have been pulled into the Dreamheart, usually after their dreamers have awakened.
Like any storm, the tempest of the Dreamheart has an eye. If there is any mind, deity, or purpose in the Region of Dreams, it can be found in the Eye of the Dreamheart Tempest. But each dreamer who visits it comes away with a completely different understanding of what lives in the eye—some meet deities, others find long-dead loved ones, and others achieve unparalleled personal power or insight. No one account can accurately encompass the Dreamheart, much as no dreamer can completely understand all dreams.
Now imagine if I could find the Dreamheart just as my Great Uncle did.
Rumor/Conversation 2: The Citadel of Eternity
“A common legend states that all the winds of the Plane of Time orbit a single spot: the Citadel of Eternity. The nature of the citadel is unknown. Perhaps it contains the true secret of immortality, the fountain of ultimate youth, or the original creator of the cosmos. The Dungeon Master.
Other histories indicate that the Citadel of Eternity may actually be the physical incarnation of time’s end—or beginning. To pass into the citadel is to move beyond the bounds of time itself. It is difficult to imagine what might lie beyond time. Perhaps the way leads to ultimate dissolution, or, as some researchers suggest, the Citadel of Eternity is the doorway into a manifest madness called the Far Realm.
The area within a few hundred feet of the citadel is embedded in an extreme time wrinkle. It is rumored that for each minute that passes there, a year passes on the Material Plane.
Rumor/Conversation 3: Far Realm Links
“There are no known portals to the Far Realm, or at least none that are still viable. Ancient elves once pierced the boundary of eons with a vast portal to the Far Realm, but their civilization imploded in bloody terror and the portal’s location is long forgotten. However, other portals might exist.
Other methods of reaching the Far Realm are rumored to include traveling to time’s beginning or end or finding the true Dreamheart past the Portal of Sleep. Luckily, for the Material Plane, entities of the Far Realm have just as difficult a time finding passage out of their home plane, though rare spells allow them to be summoned.
- An illithilich conversing with a group of fellow illithids.”
Rumor/Conversation 4: Xaxox
Past the edge of reality is a relic from the Material Plane: a stone keep securely lashed to the trunk of a desiccated tree a mile in diameter. This was an outpost of wizards too intent on discovering forbidden knowledge to fear for their own sanity. Nor do they fear insanity now, for rational thought has departed those who still live.
Amid the wreckage of a laboratory, barracks, kitchen, small library, and specimen cells, some powerful wizards and their servants yet wander. Daruth Winterwood, an elven wizard, led the expedition, but now his brain is full of spiders. Literally.
Still, he seeks to return Xaxox to the Material Plane in one piece. Every now and then he coaxes open a small portal, allowing the essence of the Far Realm to seep onto some random plane, troubling the dreams of those who reside there. Should Daruth ever attract assistance from those on the far side of his portals, or manage to transfer Xaxox on his own, a permanent portal between the Far Realm and the Material Plane could open. Anticipation of the tidal wave of insanity that would follow is the delight that continues to inspire Daruth’s mania.
Rumor/Conversation 5: The Implementors (red herring rumor)
The Implementors are the subject of much religious and philosophical discussion. Ancient legends tell of the creation of the world by these Implementors, who directed the running of great engines, which produced this world and others strange and wondrous, as a test or puzzle for others of their kind. These legends go on to state that these beings stand ready to aid those entrapped within their creation. It is rumored that the Implementors are a race of minor deities who dwell somewhere on the Ethereal Plane – most likely a demiplane. Implementors do not discourage the legends that the world was created by them as a plaything, but the idea has been hotly criticized by the magician-philosopher Helfax, who says, "A creation of this kind is morally and logically indefensible, and the theory is colossal claptrap and kludgery."
Rumor/Conversation 6: Epic Spells
“You dream of power.
In shades of shrieking red, endless black, and brilliant yellow, the cosmic forces underlying the multiverse make themselves known to you. Inexplicable equations scribed in a thousand forgotten alphabets take up arcane orbit around your head…but you understand them. What’s more, something you suspected all along is now revealed to you in full: Reality is a fragile thing, composed of a host of forces beyond the ken of most, awaiting only the hand that knows and eyes that see. Power beckons. Are you ready?
You’ve heard about spells that transcend the commonly understood arts, scribed in the margins of ancient tomes, and whispered among the acolytes of mage guilds. In various times and places, epic spells have been personified as “the Serpent” and “the Phoenix”, codified as True Dweomers and Psionic Enchantments, scripted as the Elder Nymph or the Nimbraii, and encoded as part of an ancient lore called the Language Primeval. Whether epic spells really are straight from the Serpent’s or the Phoenix’s maddening whispers or are revealed to you over countless curious volumes of hidden lore, you are ready to grasp the ultimate level of mortal magic. For casting epic spells is nothing less than the direct manipulation of reality itself. Even deities fear mortal casters of epic spells.
Rumor/Conversation 7: Chronias
“The seventh layer of Celestia is also called the Illuminated Heaven. Chronias is a mystery, though some say it is the mystery. Those few who achieve the Illuminated Heaven never return so no account records Chronias’ true aspect. Tales say that those who enter have their inherent goodness magnified until their essence joins with Celestia itself. On the other hand, if they harbor evil, their souls are extinguished and their existence is permanently erased from the multiverse.
Rumor/Conversation 8: Malsheem
“You know. I not normally suppose to get involved in other worldly affairs, but this may interest you. A rift of incredible depth and width lies immediately below the layer boundary between Cania and Nessus (the Pit up in Cania leads to Malsheem in Nessus). Malsheem, the Citadel of Hell, rises in its dark, elegant, fiendish beauty from the trench. The stronghold is monstrously large, rising miles above the plain. However, like an iceberg above water, its visible spires and fortifications are small compared to the vast halls contained within the trench.
Malsheem is the largest known citadel in the Outer Planes. It is big enough to house millions of devils, an army larger than any fielded in the Blood War. Asmodeus, master of Malsheem, Lord of the Ninth, and undisputed King of the Nine Hells, holds these hordes in reserve for a cataclysmic battle he foresees that will dwarf the “petty” maneuverings of the Blood War. This battle is said to occur sometime after the multiverse splits into multiple facets.
Oh, and the citadel is so vast that it is nigh unmappable; Malsheem’s secrets are known only to Asmodeus himself.
Rumor/Conversation 9: Serpent’s Coil
“Brutally repressed rumors suggest that there is more to Asmodeus than he admits. The story goes that the true form of Asmodeus actually resides in the deepest rift of Nessus called the Serpent’s Coil. The shape seen by all the other devils of the Nine Hells in the fortress of Malsheem is actually a highly advanced use of the project image spell or an avatar of some sort.
The secret rift, formed by Asmodeus’ plummeting body when he first arrived in the Nine Hells, spirals inward over the course of hundreds of miles. His titanic, miles-long form still rests here—and his wounds have yet to heal. His acid-black blood pools in the hallows of the rift, a substance fouler than foul.
From where fell Asmodeus? Was he once a greater deity cast down from Elysium or Celestia, or is he older yet, as the rumor hints? Perhaps he represents some fundamental entity whose mere existence pulls the multiverse into its current configuration.
By the way, it is rumored that nobody who tells the story of Asmodeus’ “true” form lives more than 24 hours after repeating it aloud. Now that I’ve sealed my demise, I shall be returning to my room now. Farewell, fellow plane walkers.
I want to start the PCs in the World Serpent Inn. From here, they hear various rumors from various beings about the following:
The Eye of the Dreamheart Tempest (Region of Dreams)
The Citadel of Eternity
The Far Realm and Links
Xaxox (Stone Keep in the Far Realm)
Epic Spells (my first introductory information to the PCs)
Chronias (The Illuminated Heaven)
Malsheem (Asmodeus' Citadel and rumors about his large army)
and The Serpent's Coil (Rumors about Asmodeus' true form)
I was considering having Asmodeus' launch a large scale battle vs. various planes of existence (including the PCs homeplane). I would like to incorporate the Dreamheart, the Far Realm (Xaxox), and the Citadel of Eternity into my module, but I'm having trouble with cohesively writing the plot.
Anyone have any ideas?
Below are the rumors I have written out (LONG)
Thanks,
- Kae.
**********************************************
Rumor/Conversation 1: The Eye of the Dreamheart Tempest
“While perusing a few of my Great Uncle's tomes in his library, I came across an interesting journal entry in his latest book entitled, " Point of Origin". The book is actually a collection of tomes that spans well over 500 volumes in length, with each book containing hundreds of pages. Each book is bound in what appears to be exotic platinum dyed leather, perhaps dragon hide, but something far more obscure and more divine, something I've never seen before. Just looking at the intricate design covers of each tome captivated my intellectual attention for hours. I felt an overwhelming sense of tranquility, peace, and goodness while within the presence of these tomes. That feeling scared me. I didn't get a chance to read any of the tomes in detail, but what I did read was quite a revelation.
The Dreamheart is a roiling boil of dream-born landscapes that melt, burn, grow, and dissolve without any rhyme or reason. Balls of fire, pockets of air, chunks of earth, and waves of water battle against each other. Amid the chaos, half-melted dreamscapes drift—lakes, buildings, streets, strange creatures, and small islands. Some provide shelter against the tempest, but others are open to its deadly effects. These are dreamscapes that have been pulled into the Dreamheart, usually after their dreamers have awakened.
Like any storm, the tempest of the Dreamheart has an eye. If there is any mind, deity, or purpose in the Region of Dreams, it can be found in the Eye of the Dreamheart Tempest. But each dreamer who visits it comes away with a completely different understanding of what lives in the eye—some meet deities, others find long-dead loved ones, and others achieve unparalleled personal power or insight. No one account can accurately encompass the Dreamheart, much as no dreamer can completely understand all dreams.
Now imagine if I could find the Dreamheart just as my Great Uncle did.
Rumor/Conversation 2: The Citadel of Eternity
“A common legend states that all the winds of the Plane of Time orbit a single spot: the Citadel of Eternity. The nature of the citadel is unknown. Perhaps it contains the true secret of immortality, the fountain of ultimate youth, or the original creator of the cosmos. The Dungeon Master.
Other histories indicate that the Citadel of Eternity may actually be the physical incarnation of time’s end—or beginning. To pass into the citadel is to move beyond the bounds of time itself. It is difficult to imagine what might lie beyond time. Perhaps the way leads to ultimate dissolution, or, as some researchers suggest, the Citadel of Eternity is the doorway into a manifest madness called the Far Realm.
The area within a few hundred feet of the citadel is embedded in an extreme time wrinkle. It is rumored that for each minute that passes there, a year passes on the Material Plane.
Rumor/Conversation 3: Far Realm Links
“There are no known portals to the Far Realm, or at least none that are still viable. Ancient elves once pierced the boundary of eons with a vast portal to the Far Realm, but their civilization imploded in bloody terror and the portal’s location is long forgotten. However, other portals might exist.
Other methods of reaching the Far Realm are rumored to include traveling to time’s beginning or end or finding the true Dreamheart past the Portal of Sleep. Luckily, for the Material Plane, entities of the Far Realm have just as difficult a time finding passage out of their home plane, though rare spells allow them to be summoned.
- An illithilich conversing with a group of fellow illithids.”
Rumor/Conversation 4: Xaxox
Past the edge of reality is a relic from the Material Plane: a stone keep securely lashed to the trunk of a desiccated tree a mile in diameter. This was an outpost of wizards too intent on discovering forbidden knowledge to fear for their own sanity. Nor do they fear insanity now, for rational thought has departed those who still live.
Amid the wreckage of a laboratory, barracks, kitchen, small library, and specimen cells, some powerful wizards and their servants yet wander. Daruth Winterwood, an elven wizard, led the expedition, but now his brain is full of spiders. Literally.
Still, he seeks to return Xaxox to the Material Plane in one piece. Every now and then he coaxes open a small portal, allowing the essence of the Far Realm to seep onto some random plane, troubling the dreams of those who reside there. Should Daruth ever attract assistance from those on the far side of his portals, or manage to transfer Xaxox on his own, a permanent portal between the Far Realm and the Material Plane could open. Anticipation of the tidal wave of insanity that would follow is the delight that continues to inspire Daruth’s mania.
Rumor/Conversation 5: The Implementors (red herring rumor)
The Implementors are the subject of much religious and philosophical discussion. Ancient legends tell of the creation of the world by these Implementors, who directed the running of great engines, which produced this world and others strange and wondrous, as a test or puzzle for others of their kind. These legends go on to state that these beings stand ready to aid those entrapped within their creation. It is rumored that the Implementors are a race of minor deities who dwell somewhere on the Ethereal Plane – most likely a demiplane. Implementors do not discourage the legends that the world was created by them as a plaything, but the idea has been hotly criticized by the magician-philosopher Helfax, who says, "A creation of this kind is morally and logically indefensible, and the theory is colossal claptrap and kludgery."
Rumor/Conversation 6: Epic Spells
“You dream of power.
In shades of shrieking red, endless black, and brilliant yellow, the cosmic forces underlying the multiverse make themselves known to you. Inexplicable equations scribed in a thousand forgotten alphabets take up arcane orbit around your head…but you understand them. What’s more, something you suspected all along is now revealed to you in full: Reality is a fragile thing, composed of a host of forces beyond the ken of most, awaiting only the hand that knows and eyes that see. Power beckons. Are you ready?
You’ve heard about spells that transcend the commonly understood arts, scribed in the margins of ancient tomes, and whispered among the acolytes of mage guilds. In various times and places, epic spells have been personified as “the Serpent” and “the Phoenix”, codified as True Dweomers and Psionic Enchantments, scripted as the Elder Nymph or the Nimbraii, and encoded as part of an ancient lore called the Language Primeval. Whether epic spells really are straight from the Serpent’s or the Phoenix’s maddening whispers or are revealed to you over countless curious volumes of hidden lore, you are ready to grasp the ultimate level of mortal magic. For casting epic spells is nothing less than the direct manipulation of reality itself. Even deities fear mortal casters of epic spells.
Rumor/Conversation 7: Chronias
“The seventh layer of Celestia is also called the Illuminated Heaven. Chronias is a mystery, though some say it is the mystery. Those few who achieve the Illuminated Heaven never return so no account records Chronias’ true aspect. Tales say that those who enter have their inherent goodness magnified until their essence joins with Celestia itself. On the other hand, if they harbor evil, their souls are extinguished and their existence is permanently erased from the multiverse.
Rumor/Conversation 8: Malsheem
“You know. I not normally suppose to get involved in other worldly affairs, but this may interest you. A rift of incredible depth and width lies immediately below the layer boundary between Cania and Nessus (the Pit up in Cania leads to Malsheem in Nessus). Malsheem, the Citadel of Hell, rises in its dark, elegant, fiendish beauty from the trench. The stronghold is monstrously large, rising miles above the plain. However, like an iceberg above water, its visible spires and fortifications are small compared to the vast halls contained within the trench.
Malsheem is the largest known citadel in the Outer Planes. It is big enough to house millions of devils, an army larger than any fielded in the Blood War. Asmodeus, master of Malsheem, Lord of the Ninth, and undisputed King of the Nine Hells, holds these hordes in reserve for a cataclysmic battle he foresees that will dwarf the “petty” maneuverings of the Blood War. This battle is said to occur sometime after the multiverse splits into multiple facets.
Oh, and the citadel is so vast that it is nigh unmappable; Malsheem’s secrets are known only to Asmodeus himself.
Rumor/Conversation 9: Serpent’s Coil
“Brutally repressed rumors suggest that there is more to Asmodeus than he admits. The story goes that the true form of Asmodeus actually resides in the deepest rift of Nessus called the Serpent’s Coil. The shape seen by all the other devils of the Nine Hells in the fortress of Malsheem is actually a highly advanced use of the project image spell or an avatar of some sort.
The secret rift, formed by Asmodeus’ plummeting body when he first arrived in the Nine Hells, spirals inward over the course of hundreds of miles. His titanic, miles-long form still rests here—and his wounds have yet to heal. His acid-black blood pools in the hallows of the rift, a substance fouler than foul.
From where fell Asmodeus? Was he once a greater deity cast down from Elysium or Celestia, or is he older yet, as the rumor hints? Perhaps he represents some fundamental entity whose mere existence pulls the multiverse into its current configuration.
By the way, it is rumored that nobody who tells the story of Asmodeus’ “true” form lives more than 24 hours after repeating it aloud. Now that I’ve sealed my demise, I shall be returning to my room now. Farewell, fellow plane walkers.
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