Elemental
Elemental Plane of Air¶
The Plane of Air is home to constant winds of varying strength. Here and there, chunks of earth drift in the openness, many covered with lush vegetation. These earth motes serve as homes for djinn and other natives of the plane. Other creatures live on cloud banks infused with magic to become solid surfaces, supporting towns and castles.
Drifting clouds can obscure visibility in any direction in the plane. Storms are frequent, ranging from strong thunderstorms to fierce tornadoes or mighty hurricanes. The air is mild, except near the Para-elemental Planes at either end of the plane, where the temperature is more extreme. Rain and snow fall only in the part of the plane nearest to the Para-elemental Plane of Ice.
Although few landmarks distinguish one area of the Plane of Air from any other, the following are notable features of the plane:
Aaqa¶
Here and there are hidden realms reachable only by following a particular sequence of flowing winds. Fabled Aaqa is one such realm, a shining domain of silver spires and verdant gardens atop a fertile earth mote. The Wind Dukes of Aaqa are dedicated to law and good, and they maintain a vigilant watch against the depredations of Elemental Evil. They are served by aarakocra.
Labyrinth Winds¶
Much of the Plane of Air is a complex web of air streams, currents, and winds called the Labyrinth Winds. These range from stiff breezes to howling gales that can rip a creature apart. Even the most skilled flying creatures must navigate these currents carefully, flying with the winds, not against them.
Mistral Reach¶
Located near the Para-elemental Plane of Ice, the Mistral Reach is a region of frigid winds and driving snowstorms. Earth motes in the reach are covered with snow and ice.
Sirocco Straits¶
The Sirocco Straits is the region of the plane nearest to the Para-elemental Plane of Ash, where hot, dry winds scour earth motes into barren chunks of rock.
Plane of Air Adventures¶
The essential nature of air is movement, animation, and inspiration. Air is the breath of life, the winds of change, the fresh breeze that clears away the fog of ignorance and the stuffiness of old ideas.
When turned toward wicked ideals by cultists of Elemental Evil, elemental air represents destructive power turned to vengeful ends. Cultists of Evil Air wield howling storms to forcefully express their personal freedom or lay claim to things they feel they have been wrongfully denied.
Elemental Plane of Earth¶
The Plane of Earth is a chain of mountains rising higher than any mountain range on the Material Plane. It has no sun of its own, and no air surrounds the peaks of its highest mountains. Most visitors to the plane arrive by way of vast caverns that honeycomb the mountains.
Important features of the Plane of Earth include the following:
City of Jewels¶
The plane's largest cavern, called the Great Dismal Delve or the Sevenfold Mazework, is home to the City of Jewels—the capital city of the dao. The dao take great pride in their wealth and send teams across the plane in search of new veins of ore and gemstones. Thanks to these expeditions, every building and significant object in the city is made from precious stones and metals, including the slender gemstone-inlaid spires that top most buildings. The city is protected by a powerful spell that alerts the entire population if a visitor steals even a single stone.
Furnaces¶
The Furnaces are the mountains nearest the Para-elemental Plane of Magma. Lava seeps through their caverns, and the air reeks of sulfur. The dao have great forges and smelting furnaces here to process ores and shape precious metals.
Mud Hills¶
The Mud Hills abut the swampy Para-elemental Plane of Ooze. Landslides wear away the slopes of the hills, sending cascades of earth and stone into the bottomless swamp. The Plane of Earth constantly regenerates the land, pushing new hills up as the old ones erode to nothing.
Plane of Earth Adventures¶
Earth symbolizes stability, rigidity, stern resolve, and tradition. The plane's position opposite the Plane of Air in the ring of the Elemental Planes reflects its opposition to almost everything air represents.
Elemental Evil views earth instead as an implacable force of destruction, perfectly willing to crush venerable institutions and respected traditions in its advance. Cultists of Evil Earth crave the power to destroy the works of civilization with landslides, sinkholes, or mighty earthquakes, and they believe the earth thirsts for the blood of those who don't venerate it properly.
Elemental Plane of Fire¶
A blazing sun hangs at the zenith of a golden sky above the Plane of Fire, waxing and waning on a 24-hour cycle. It ranges from white hot at noon to deep red at midnight, so the darkest hours of the plane display a deep-red twilight. At noon, the light is intense. Most business in the City of Brass (see below) takes place during the darker hours.
The weather on the plane is marked by fierce winds and thick ash. Although the air is breathable, creatures not native to the plane must cover their mouths and eyes to avoid stinging cinders. The efreet use magic to keep the cinder storms away from the City of Brass, but elsewhere in the plane, the wind always blows, sometimes rising to hurricane force during the worst storms.
"The heat" on the Plane of Fire is comparable to a hot desert on the Material Plane and poses a similar threat to travelers (see ""Environmental Effects"" in "chapter 3"). Sources of water are rare, so travelers must carry their own supplies or produce water by magic.
Important features of the Plane of Fire include the following:
Cinder Wastes¶
The Plane of Fire is dominated by a great expanse of black cinders and embers crossed by rivers of lava. Roving bands of salamanders battle each other, raid azer outposts, and avoid patrols from the City of Brass. Obsidian ruins dot the desert—remnants of forgotten civilizations.
City of Brass¶
Perhaps the best-known location on the Inner Planes is the City of Brass, which stands on the shores of the Sea of Fire. This is the fabled city of the efreet, and its ornate spires and spiked walls reflect the efreet's grandiose and cruel nature. True to the nature of the Plane of Fire, everything in the city seems alive with dancing flames, reflecting the vibrant energy of the place. The heart of the city is the formidable Charcoal Palace, where the tyrannical emperor of the efreet reigns supreme, surrounded by nobles and a host of servants, guardians, and sycophants.
Sea of Fire¶
Lava flows through the Fountains of Creation toward the Para-elemental Plane of Ash and pools into a great expanse of lava called the Sea of Fire, traversed by efreeti and azer sailors in great brass ships. Islands of obsidian and basalt jut up from the sea, dotted with ancient ruins and the lairs of powerful red dragons.
Torchy's¶
Built atop a tall basalt crag in the middle of a lava river is an iron-walled tavern that is most easily reached by hot-air balloon. The proprietor is a sentient Flame Tongue (Mace) named Torchy, who sells a fine ale and seems to have a new wielder every few months. Torchy's is a popular hangout for ballooning enthusiasts.
Elemental Fire Adventures¶
Fire represents vibrancy, passion, and change. At its best, fire reflects the light of inspiration, the warmth of compassion, and the flame of desire.
The cults of Elemental Evil represent fire at its worst: cruel and wantonly destructive. Cultists of Evil Fire seek the power to burn away the impurities of the world with volcanic eruptions, uncontrolled wildfires, heat waves, and droughts, transforming the Material Plane into a mirror of the Cinder Wastes.
Adventurers frequently come to the City of Brass on quests for legendary magic. If it's possible to buy magic items in your campaign, the City of Brass is the most likely place to find any item for sale. The efreet are fond of trading in favors, especially when they have the upper hand in negotiations. Perhaps a magical contagion or poison can be cured only with something that must be purchased in the markets of the city.
Elemental Plane of Water¶
The Plane of Water is an endless sea, called the Sea of Worlds, dotted with atolls and islands that rise up from enormous coral reefs that seem to stretch forever into the depths. The storms that move across the sea sometimes create temporary portals to the Material Plane and draw ships into the Plane of Water. Surviving vessels from countless worlds and navies ply these waters with little hope of ever returning home.
A warm sun arcs across the sky of the Plane of Water, seeming to rise and set from within the water at the horizon. Several times a day, the sky clouds over and releases a deluge of rain, often accompanied by spectacular shows of lightning, before clearing up again. At night, a glittering array of stars and auroras bedecks the sky.
The weather on the plane is a lesson in extremes. If the sea isn't calm, it is battered by storms. On rare occasions, a tremor in the planar firmament sends a rogue wave sweeping across the plane, swamping entire islands and driving ships down to the reefs.
Any land that rises above the surface of the sea is hotly contested by the few air breathers that live on the plane. Fleets of rafts and ships lashed together serve as solid ground where nothing else is available, although most natives of the plane never break the surface of the sea and thus ignore these habitations.
The following are among the most important features of the Plane of Water:
Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls¶
The nominal emperor of the marids dwells in the Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls, an opulent palace made of coral and studded with pearls. The palace is the glittering centerpiece of the Sea of Light (see below). Visitors are welcome to ask favors of the emperor, whose mood is as changeable as the sea.
Darkened Depths¶
The deeper extents of the plane, where no sunlight reaches, are called the Darkened Depths. Horrid creatures dwell here, and the absolute cold and crushing pressure mean a swift end to creatures accustomed to the surface or the Sea of Light. Krakens and other mighty leviathans claim this realm.
Isle of Dread¶
One of the few islands on the plane is the Isle of Dread, which is connected to the Material Plane by means of a storm that regularly sweeps over the island. Ships from different worlds of the Material Plane end up wrecked on the rocks and reefs around the island, and settlements across the island are populated by the descendants of sailors who never found a way home. Theoretically, travelers who understand the workings of the storm could use it to travel to a desired Material Plane world.
Sea of Ice¶
Bordering the Para-elemental Plane of Ice is the Sea of Ice. The frigid water is choked with icebergs and sheet ice, which are inhabited by cold-loving creatures from the Plane of Ice. Drifting icebergs can carry these creatures farther into the Plane of Water to threaten ships and islands in warmer seas.
Sea of Light¶
Life flourishes in the sunlit waters of the Sea of Light, located in the upper reaches of the Sea of Worlds. Aquatic peoples craft castles and fortresses in the coral reefs here.
Silt Flats¶
The region of the Plane of Water nearest to the Para-elemental Plane of Ooze is called the Silt Flats. The water is thick with soil and sludge, turning into muddy ground before giving way to the great swamp that is the Para-elemental Plane.
Elemental Water Adventures¶
The nature of water is to flow, not like the gusting wind or the leaping flame, but smoothly and steadily. It is the rhythm of the tide, the nectar of life, the bitter tears of mourning, and the balm of sympathy and healing. Given time, it can erode all in its path.
Elemental Evil emphasizes the erosive power of water, as well as the destruction wrought by surging tides, deadly maelstroms, and raging torrents. Cultists of Evil Water believe the seas and deep waters are eager to reclaim the water trapped in the bodies of living creatures, and think it's their duty to return others to the primal waters by drowning them or shedding their blood.