Planescape Primalshard: other "echo" plane.

[LuisCarlos17f]

I was trying to imagine how would be my own version of Dark Sun, and it occured to me.

Miragewave.

Everybody knows about the mirages in the dessert, and some body tells legends about mirage showing fabulous palaces inhabited by genies. There are even stranger stories about being trapped within those mirages, and not seen again... or at least not in the same way. These stories tell about traders traveling across the dunes of the dessert when they are caught inside misterious sandstorms, and later when their travel ends... they realises something is changed. Some times are little details, like windows from the house in certain street, and others, the change is too radical, for example after returning their home he discovers his first wive is alive, having surviving that horrible accident years ago, but there aren't the children by the second marriage. In other tales the mayor of the town is a different person.

The truth beyond this is more complicated. Some sages theorize when a time dragon is living in a zone for a time, or there are action by chronomancers, then the reality itself is altered in some strange way. Some times planar portals to a "reflection domain" are created accidentaly, in the form of (sand)storm and mirages, and involutary victims are sent to the other side. The good new is with the right help they can return to their original home, and with a piece of luck, with some valious information or special reward.

Other theory is the miragewave is a reaction by the universe itself to try some possible time-paradoxes. When a zone start to suffer too many time paradoxes then a miragewave is created. Some sages compare this like a broken dress made by lots of different patchs, and usually a patch is being replaced with other. These tell when there are too many time-travelers altering the timeline, the zone can become a demiplane. If they are lucky, this will be next to the Feywild or some Heavenly plane, but some times the end is within the Shadowfell, next to an infernal plane, or suffering a planar invasion from the Far Realm.

Some oracles tells some "miragewave" domains are created by the gods to punish some sin with a timeloop to suffer the same fate time after time.

 

[dave2008]

I like how you have construed the transitive planes - I might do something similar. However,...

The first is a Transitive Plane between the Heavens and the Prime. I just have one plane with many regions for Heaven, and this Transitive Plane is a 'highway' and 'rest stop' that divine agents use to reach mortals.

...isn't this the Astral plane? If not, how does the Astral plane figure into your cosmology?

 

[jgsugden]

I like how you have construed the transitive planes - I might do something similar. However,...

...isn't this the Astral plane? If not, how does the Astral plane figure into your cosmology?

The Astral Plane covers the whole ball of wax. It connects all the planes, and it is accessible easily through many magics and portals. Highway is a better analogy for it.

The Heaven Transitive Plane is more of a direct route used for souls to navigate. When someone dies, they pass through this plane on the way to the Heavens. One might see it as a train rather than a highway system.

In terms of Lore for the Astral Plane, I have three 'Super Gods' - The Universe, the Positive Energy Plane, and the Negative Energy Plane. These beings created the Astral Plane to provide separation between the other planes that existed when a major event (the collision of the Far Realm with the Known Universe) introduced absolute chaos into the world. It was created to slow the spread of that chaos. Meanwhile, the Heaven Transitive Plane was forged during the moment when the Far Realm collided with the Known Universe - it essentially fractured off of the existing Prime and Heaven planes.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Demiplane of desolation.

When time-travelers can cause the end of a complete civilitation or lots of innocent lives could be saved, then the chronomancers and other powers created their own counter-measures...but sometimes these fail.

The original plan was to create a demiplane as copy of a world to work like a "backup" in the time-space continium, and like this to avoid possible time paradoxes.

The demiplane of the desolation is the product with that plain fails.

It is a solar system/wildspace with several planets aroung a central sun. And something horrible has happened in them, forcing isolation for safety. Everyway, they aren't the interplanetary traders wanted to visit.

One of the worlds is ruled by powerful sorcerer-kings with draconid traits who used the defiler magic to destroy the ecosystem, and now most of their domains are desertic zones.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Some of these domains within the demiplane of desolation are classic settings with a horrible end, for example the alternate Krynn where Raistlin become the one deity but he destroys the world, or other the one deity is the king-priest of Ishtar. Other is the Oerth, the world of Greyhawk, being conquered by the Scarlet Brotherhood.

Demiplane of Penance.

Some times the infernal forces or other tainted powers conquer a region, and this is added to one of the infernal planes.... for a time. In other times some zones from the infernal planes are conquered, or reconquered by no-evil factions. When this happens those regions are too tainted to return to the material plane, but too "clean" to keep in the hell. Then they are "sent" or places to a special zone, the demiplane of penance. It is a place of suffering, but also of hope. The survival may be hard, but also a great faith among the population. Some sincerely repentant criminals voluntarily go there with the hope of redemption. They are zones where the civilitations are rebuilding after some cataclysm. Of course it is a eternal fight against the "refalls".

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Demiplane of penance is "now suffer the apocalypse in easy installments" with some occasional relapse, and sometimes the suffering ends, opening the arrival of a new age.

Demiplane of the rebirth.

When a region suffers a "planar rapture" the restauration is not easy, and even less when there are implications by time paradoxes. The demiplane of the rebirth is a cluster of astral domains what suffered planar raptures and the nightmare are ended but the injuries aren't healed yet. The main theory is the demiplane was created with the intention to fix or heal distopian timelines, or the merger of these was the origin of a bizzare patchworld. Some domains where where ready could return to their original planes in the material plane. Some pantheons send here petitioners to help in the rebuild as penance for their sins. All help is wellcome, but most of visitors are too focused into explore the ancient ruins.

Some times waves of planar refugees escaping from some distopian zone arrival asking asylum. This forced inmigration can help in the repopulation, but any times the coexistence isn't too easy when the cultural traditions may be different, causing misunderstaing. And when the number of planar inmigrants is very high, then a new domain can be created, or discovered.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Runemesh.

This place is really strange, bizarra some times, and other it hides true wonders.

The first reports told about obsidian monolites used as planar gates. When arcane spellcasters could decode the entrace, they found a teletransportation portal toward a net of tunnels with lot of illuminated runes on the walls. A lot of spells were translated to can translate the runes. Some times a mysterious bright incorporeal being appeared offering help and advice. It was not an undead or spirit, but a construct, according to divinitory magic. This entity warned some zones were sealed by fault of a "gray goo", something like a "construct ooze" if this was possible. These entitied explained they were created by the same civilitation who used the runemesh, but this was tainted by a "hostile code". Several times wish and miracle spells were casted to "purify" the tainted zones. The entities thanked the help but they lamented that although now those areas were safe again, they were not exactly as before.

According to some studies certain areas were created as training camps, with quests to be explored, and traps and monsters, but without true lethal damage. The explorers who failed the quests only returned to the begining point.

The entities warned new runic portals appeared, and these were totally unkown for them. Someones were portals to zones destroyed by the sheens (hostile biomechanical horrors), or alternate wildshapes. One of the explorers told they were in Krynn for the war of the lance, and they met the famous heroes, but with some changed details. For example Tas the kender was a girl, or Raistlin showed runic tatoos on the face. Other report told about a second version of Krynn turn into a dessert by fault the defilers, a group of arcane spellcasters who killed the near plants when they casted their power. This Krynn was ruled by the sorcerer-kings. Other expedition talked about a variant version of Oerth conquered by an alliance of the Scarlet Brotherhood, remains of the Vodoni empire and giant constructs who could alter their body parts to transform into a second shape.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The endless watchtower.

The old lengends tell about misterious buildings appeared in the middle of the mists, but they can be only watched and explored by a little group of chosen ones. Within there is innumerable succession of rooms, and sometimes some couryards with sunlight roomy enough for urban gardening, and these could produce enough enough crops to feed entire villages. In fact archaeological expeditions have found a multitude of agricultural tools, and sometimes seeds of unknown species.

Most of the rooms or dungeons are totally dark, or illuminated by heatless lamps whose special light allow allows vegetation to flourish. In the hallways without light there are remains of plants, dark roots growing over walls and floors, hard as metal, but easy to get rid by sunlight, but being altered by special alchemy.

On certain occasions incorporeal sentients can appear. They aren't hostile at all, but if you try to destroy their gardens. They aren't ghosts, or ar least not undeads. They don't remember very well their past, but they suspect there were prison punished in some pocket universe. They don't suffer pain or sadness, only loneliness and boredom. For fun they take care the gardens of the couryards. They are willing to trade seeds of unknown flowers.

Some reports by explorers tell about families or clans living thanks the gardens in the numerous couryards. Their oral traditions tell about a lot of time ago their ancestors entered an underground vault to escape some cataclysm. Almost always the heavy doors of these vault are closed, but when they are opened to send outdoor exiled or some expedition. Almost never they return using the same gate, but finding a second watchtower in the outdoor, and exploring this finding a path to return their original home. These returned expeditions told they couldn't use the same gate because this was totally closed, or when this was opened, within they didn't found their clan or family, but different groups, usually hostile, for example kobolds and goblins. Fortunately other times were friendly and peaceful colonies, for example halflings and gnomes, and willing to trade and sharing information. Repors confirms in those outdoor zones stars can't be watched in the night, and explorers with means to fly detected there is an artificial dome on the top, but this allowing the sunlight. The outdoors are limited by urban zones (now in ruins) with an unknow architecture, with buildings of more hundred floors. Here there is a high risk by predators, and hostile tribes, for example gnolls, orcs, bugbears and hobgoblings.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Reflexaregnum.

The first time this uncanny place was mentioned in the files of an ancient library was within a compilation of weird stories by a bard or unconfirmed identity. The tale told about an innocent wife falsely accused of adultery and sent to the plane of the mirror as punishment, or a innocence test. Teorically she should be killed by the döpple/clone with oposite aligment. This lady had got a trick to survive. With a magic bag she could place a magic mirror in front of her nemesis, creating a second opposite-aligment clone. The "first" clone couldn't use magic mirrors. The tale was totally false, but the trick to defeat the clone.

For a time a group of feys who worked in a guild of magic mirrors created a secret base. Later this was used to hide when in the middle of noble fey houses the guild become the target of one of the factions. Trying the invasion of a zone within the plane of mirror was practically a suicide, but fey lords may be very famous thank their weird imagination to find solutions or loopholes. Even when the members of the mirror guild didn't need sleeping the influence from the plane of dreams within the plane of mirrors was possible. The strategy almost succeeded but at least the attempt allowed the creation or discovery of a new demiplane.

Baptized with the key name of "Reflaxeregnum", at least in the begining in the secret messages among the inteligence services this was a relatively safe space where to start the exploration of the plane of mirror and the plane of dreams.

The fate of the mirror artisan guild is totally unknown, but reports warns about a "lady mirror" as boss of a freelance spy-ring.

Later reports tell about this place like a planar bridge toward unknown places. These seem to be the ruins of ancient megalopolis ruled by forgotten fey noble houses, with the same artistic style but buildings with more metal and crystal elements. Sentient natives haven't been found, and spellcasters warns teletransportation powers can be work very wrongly and unpredictably.

A very common magic item is a magic mirror with runes of summoning planar allies. Some times the summoned creatures show really bizarre shapes. Maybe because they were created in the plane of the dreams. Other mirrors are used, teorically, to catch criminals and be these teletransportated to the cell of a prison. There are several mirror gates, and these can be used for teletransportation but there are some risks because in the middle of the way the travelers could suffer hallucinations about traumatic events of their past.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Fluviopolis.

When the explorers just arrive to this zone they may think this could be a wonderful place to live and build a settle, with the right balance between civilitation and nature, and it could be true in the past but now the truth is this premise is a naive illusion, or too dangerous to be believed.

Archaeological investigations have determined that the place could be the astral realm of Aoskar, the door of portals killed by the Lady of Pain. The most of found temples are dedicated to this. Some discoveries proved some islands where pieces of Sigil. Some theories claim that the realm is an astral domain created by Aoskar from an alternate timeline where he not only survived the wrath of the Lady of Pain, but also became ruler of Sigil. But something happened and the zone had to be evacuated in the best case. Ironically the zone created by the deity of the portals had to become so self-islacionist.

The (demi)plane seems a cluster of floating islands, united thanks drawbridges and extendable bridges in artificial satellites, with concavities with interior lights used as greenhouses.

Each floating island is politically independient. The creation of empire or bigger realms is not easy because some times the self-isolation is totally necessary by fault of planar invasions or plagues. The main menaces are the "Roots", a infestation of plant monsters, and the sheens, biomechanical monsters. One happens when a zone is too attuned to the nature, and the other when it is too atuned to cosmic Law or civilitation. Some times these outbreaks can be caused intentionally to terminate the monsters, and using these as raw material. Once a island had to be evacuated totally because it was to become the battlefield of a confontration between the Roots and the sheens.

Some times islands disappear totally, but if the travelers follow certain paths. More once when travels arrived from a direction or other the island changed radically, but if they were from an alternate timeline. For example if you arrived from the North the most of the population would be planetouched humanoids, but from the South the dragonborns were majority.