[Hourglass of Zihaja] Chapter 3: The World of Najmah

[Zeta Kai]

Grave of Lords

On Dharaanala, between Agni & Padam, there is a thick patch of woods on the edge of a much larger forest. Within this dark woodland, there are hundreds if not thousands of engraved stone markers, overgrown by roots & vines. These headstones denote the tombs of dao nobles from Padam, dating back centuries, & perhaps even millennia. This place is the Grave of Lords, & the locals give it a wide berth.

As should be expected, the woods here are widely believed to be haunted by the spirits of the dao lords. They are said to roam the forest, wailing & moaning their lament, singing long-forgotten melodies of loss & regret. They are also reputed to call out to unwary travelers, urging them deeper into the woodland, until their prey becomes hopelessly lost; many of the curious (or foolish) souls who venture here never return.

One of the things that draw people to explore the Grave of Lords is the promise of knowledge or treasure. Some of the tombstones sit atop oddly-shaped mounds of earth, which are suspected of containing hidden crypts with ancient Padamai treasures inside. No amount of riches can entice the local villagers, however, as they have lost too many of their friends & family to the grave-spirits’ calls. The nearby settlements of Dah, Dukhanda, & Jvala have all been affected by their proximity to grave-woods, & everyone here has a story to tell.

[Zeta Kai]

Jagat-Nathas

In the very center of Prana, there is a great mountain, one that dwarfs all the other mighty Pranai peaks. This remarkable mountain, taller than any other on Najmah, is called Jagat-Nathas (JAH-gaht NAH-thass), the “Lord of the World.” Also known as the Ur-Mountain, the summit is approximately 31,165 feet (9,499 meters) above sea level.

Jagat-Nathas is sacred to the Sidarites, many of whom believe that the Questioner of Souls himself was born here, & that it is from here that he watches over the Plane of Night. They have built a small shrine on the Ur-Mountain’s summit, & legend has it that praying there will guarantee that one will live for another day & face death with serenity when it comes. Reaching the shrine requires climbing the perilous mountain, as the howling winds are too strong for most beings to fly there, so pilgrims must traverse heaps of snow & jagged spears of ice to ascend the treacherous route to the top.

Lately, those who have gone to the summit shrine have reported that the preferred “path” has been overrun with icy creatures, which attack anyone who gets too close to them. The way is now blocked by these frost-rimed beings, & it is unknown where they came from or what their purpose is. Attempts to combat them just seem to bring more snow-monsters, which makes climbing up or down a deadly proposition.

[Zeta Kai]

Karsha Temple

At the end of a narrow, cliff-lined bay of the Speckled Sea, in northern Atma, there is a quiet unassuming temple. Dedicated to Dakhiel, this plainly-decorated building doesn’t look like it is the most sacred site on Najmah to the Daqites, & that is how many would prefer to keep it. The church of Daq would rather maintain a low profile, so as not to bother the Waharim-worshipping djinn that live nearby, so they make sure that this place, known as Karsha (KAR-shah) Temple, is a simple, understated affair.

The temple itself is in the shape of a low three-sided pyramid, with a large ground floor, a small, middle floor, & a tiny upper floor. This upper floor is a single triangular chamber, in which only the most sacred of religious rites are held; most of the church’s functions & ceremonies are held on the bottom floor (while the middle floor is reserved for the clerics’ personal quarters). One side of the pyramid is the purest white marble, while another is the deepest black obsidian; the only entrance into the temple, though, is on the gray-faced side. This symbolizes that the only way to achieve enlightenment is by taking the Third Way.

Currently, there is a theological debate in the church that has devolved into a deep & bitter religious schism, threatening to tear the clergy apart. One side of the dispute, the Originists, argues that the site that Karsha Temple is built upon is where Dakhiel was first dispatched to Siraaj to combat injustice there. The other side, the Shrinists, believe that Dakhiel never came to this part of Atma, & that the site was chosen because there was already a minor Daqite shrine built here. The divide between the two sides has grown dramatically in recent times, & attempts to bridge the philosophical gap between the two have so far been unsuccessful.

[Zeta Kai]

Lightning Woods

The southern half of Atma, on Vaatavaari, is covered by an old coniferous forest. The entire woodland is constantly battered by thunderstorms & fierce winds; as such, few people travel through the area, & even fewer live here. Lightning strikes the trees thousands of times every day, & the clouds blot out the moons & stars, making the land as dark as pitch.

This formidable forest is known as the Lightning Woods, & this apt name engenders wary looks from anyone who knows the place well. Many people have lost their lives here over the years, blasted by bolt after bolt of relentless lightning. The bolts seem to be drawn to people, as if there were some force directing their supposedly-random strikes. If people are too far away, or are sufficiently protected from their wrath, the bolts will strike the trees instead, blasting the woods themselves.

Some of the trees here seem to have adapted to the constant lightning strikes, & are mostly immune to the damage wrought by them. Their barks are striped black & white, & they are even able to redirect the bolts of electricity to nearby objects, blasting them via proxy. This redirected lightning can sometime bounce between the trees over & over, in chains than can last for minutes & travel for miles. Many of the creatures here have adapted to the inexhaustible barrage of lightning, & most of them are immune to electricity, as well.

[Zeta Kai]

Moksha Temple

High atop the daunting peak of Mount Punarjanma, on Prana, not far from Jagat-Nathas, the Ur-Mountain, there is a grand temple, built as a great ziggurat. The walls of this pyramidal structure are made of bricks of solid ivory, which are engraved with intricate & beautiful friezes, & are protected by rows upon rows of carved runes. The impressive cathedral with black marble floors is dedicated to Sidaru, the Questioner of Souls, & is known as Moksha (MOCK-shah) Temple.

This ivory ziggurat is where most newborn houris arrive on Najmah. Confused & disoriented, the neophyte houris need guidance in order to adapt to the Plane of Night, & the Sidarites have made it their sacred duty to provide such assistance. In fact, the temple was originally built here on top of the intermittent portal from the Pit of Fate for just such a purpose. The clergy who operate & maintain this temple have been proudly aiding the houri novices for untold centuries, & hope to continue in their duties for many ages to come, the Peacemaker willing.

One thing that could hinder their efforts is the recent disappearance of a most sacred relic. The Helm of Acumen was a great tool for instructing the new houris, one that was relied upon more & more as the centuries past. The simple steel cap was able to impart a great deal of knowledge concerning the world of Najmah & its many peoples in a mere instant. The temple clerics used it regularly in an acclimation ceremony, but now it has turned up missing. Worse yet, evidence seems to point to it having been actually stolen, & the theft may have been assisted by one or more parties within the clergy itself. Fear, anxiety, & suspicion are running rampant within this normally-tranquil temple, & until the helm is found, the clerics will have to instruct the houris the old-fashioned way.

[Zeta Kai]

Rig Temple

In southern Kshaya, near the edge of civilization, there is a frontier temple dedicated to Bhishaj (known on Siraaj as Pashati). It rests upon the eastern coast, overlooking a large bay where the strange mists that pervade the world of Najmah ebb & flow, sometimes surrounding the area with a multihued fog. This place of worship is called Rig (REEG) Temple, & it was deliberately built in this rain-soaked region to better exalt the Mother of Rains.

The temple itself is a tapering circular tower, with many gargoyle-like waterspouts adorning the walls & rooftop. There are no doors in the open gateways, & the many windows lack glass panes. Instead, they are all decorated with curtains made from strings of crystal beads, which are every color of the rainbow, & always shaped like teardrops. The interior has a grand spiral staircase, which leads all the way to the uppermost floor (the tenth), & a magnificent cascading fountain in the center of the bottom floor. The vines that climb the outside wend their way through the open windows in some places, but the clerics & monks who live here are forbidden to cut them.

Rig Temple was once a serene place, where Bhishaj’s faithful came for untold centuries to sing the praises of the Riverqueen. But as of late, the clergy have barred the doors for the first time in the site’s history, turning away pilgrims & parishioners alike. Recently, a dreadful curse fell upon the temple, affecting all who enter it. The cause of the curse is unknown, but flora withers & dies near anyone who has acquired it. The followers of Bhishaj who have escaped the hex are seeking a means of curing it, or even determining its ultimate cause, but so far, they have not been successful.

[Zeta Kai]

Rishi Temple

Situated on the western coast of Dharaanala, on a high windswept hill overlooking the sea, is a lonely-looking temple, which is devoted to Waharim. This temple was once a great center for learning & enlightenment, a place where pilgrims flocked from across the ocean to visit, & scholars came to live in the thorp that sprung up around it. But disaster & hard times have taken their toll, & the beleaguered Rishi (REE-shee) Temple is now just a mere shadow of its former glory.

The temple has been burned down many times over its history, & each time it has been rebuilt, although never to the full extent of what it was before the destruction. Its gray halls once held a vast library, with ancient tomes & famous scrolls spilling off the shelves, but one of the fires long ago destroyed the library, taking almost every book with it. After that particular catastrophe, which was nearly thirty years ago, the scholars eventually left, the thorp dwindled to almost nothing, & the temple was nearly abandoned. The church of Waharim did decide to rebuild after that last tragedy, but Rishi has never fully recovered, & only a dozen or so monks & clerics remain to staff the now-quiet halls.

Across a narrow strait, which is made deadly by rocky shoals, is a small island name Dhyaana. The monks of Rishi Temple regularly go to the grassy isle to meditate, often for days at a time. The path to reach the island is a dangerous one, requiring one to climb down the steep slope of the hill to the beach, take a small boat or a canoe, navigate between the many large rocks that pierce the waves to reach the island cliffs, & ascend a narrow staircase cut into the cliff side. Few people other than the clergy even make the trip, but the monks here will swear that no other place on Najmah is as conducive to contemplating the Archivist’s divine wisdom, making any journey well worth it.

[Zeta Kai]

Sattva Temple

On the northern coast of Dharaanala, east of the Gaayati Peninsula, is a grandiose gilded temple dedicated to Udyama, the Lion God (known on Siraaj as Qirus). A gleaming beacon sitting atop a wooded hill, this place of worship was once a private palace retreat for one of the efreeti khans of the south, before the Agni khanates were emptied out by the Pactspell. Now the opulent fortress has been converted to praise the Stoic Watcher, & has been renamed as Sattva (SAHT-vah) Temple.

The temple is actually a tight complex of separate buildings, which were once surrounded by a mostly-decorative wall. There are four slender towers made of red & white stone, with golden accents & windows filled with thick panes of crystal-clear volcanic glass. The central keep is of the same style, but the uppermost floor is capped by an enormous golden statue of a watchful lion, its black eyes vigilant & inscrutable. This immense leonine figure replaced an equally-impressive sculpture of the khan who once owned the citadel.

The clergy of Sattva Temple are currently recovering from a recent earthquake, which has damaged the buildings down to their foundations. To compound the issue, since the quake, the local wells have become contaminated with sulfur & rust, becoming undrinkable. Before the quake, the temple was one of the most popular religious sites in the world, & the donations from worshippers has made this one of the wealthiest temples, but this current situation has chased away pilgrims, vexing the clerics just when they need help the most.

[Zeta Kai]

Sea of Golden Flames

To the south of Dharaanala, east of Vaatavaari, there is a great wide bay where the antarctic sea laps at cool, rocky shores. This vast inlet is filled with cold, crisp waters that are a deep green near the coast. Farther out to sea, the calm waters begin to glow brightly, taking on fiery hues of red & yellow, with wave crests looking like roaring, lapping blazes. This eerie flaming appearance gives the ocean its utterly-appropriate name, the Sea of Golden Flames.

The name of the sea has nothing to do with any actual fire; the waters here are perfectly normal, becoming clear & potable (if perhaps a bit saline) once pulled from the waves. The mists of Najmah are especially thick though, so nothing can be considered totally ordinary. These reality-bending mists are commonly cited to account for the sea’s bizarre coloration, although the radiant glow is not explained away so easily. The ultimate cause of the waters’ appearance isn’t known for sure, though, so many myths & legends have arisen as a result.

The sea’s flaming glow makes the rest of the world seem darker by comparison, & even reduces one’s ability to see the stars in the sky above, which makes navigation difficult. Fishermen have tried various methods to see the stars more easily, or to use other means to navigate, with mixed results. Most of them stay close to shore, where the waters are green & dim. Because of this, & the relatively low population of the southeast, very few people travel across this fascinating bay. This in turn leads to fantastic tales of monstrous creatures swimming in the strange waters, which deters travelers even more.

[Zeta Kai]

Shining Tower

In a great enclosed bay, between Atma & the Karshaka Peninsula, is a steep rocky island, ringed by dangerous reefs on all sides. Atop of the island’s highest hill is a magnificent spire, made of scintillating crystal. The tower’s myriad facets reflect the light of the stars & the moons, creating a dazzling display of sparkling wonder that can be seen for miles in all directions.

Known as the Shining Tower, this marvelous structure was built by the devas of Prana, as a grand gift to the genie-folk. For a long time, the tower was inhabited by djinni & marids (along with their half-genie & sabi kin), but after the Pactspell, the spire was abandoned, as it has remained to the current day. An air of mystery has settled over the area, & it is widely believed that the place is haunted.

Within the Shining Tower, every silent corridor & empty chamber is made of the same translucent crystal as the much-thicker outer walls. The inner surfaces are all as multifaceted as the outside, creating a severe prism effect that obscures most chambers from one another. From the outside, the tower appears to have no windows, but some of the outer facets have no refraction, allowing people inside to see clearly outward in some places.

Once every great while, the Shining Tower will blaze with a brilliant inner light, as bright as the strange & frightening sun of the Plane of Day. During those rare times, any creature entering the spire will emerge from a cavern on the coast of Zurim Bay, on Siraaj. No one knows when these shining times will happen, or how long they will last, but it is thought that the trigger is located within some hidden chamber of the tower.

[Zeta Kai]

Sindhu Valley

On the northern edge of the Bhangah Jungle, south of Atma, is the wide wooded basin known as Sindhu (SIN-doo) Valley. A beautiful, lush valley, filled with flora & fauna of nearly every conceivable variety, this place is a paradise, untouched by civilization. Unlike the Bhangah to the south, the vegetation in this valley can be easily navigated, & few trees grow as tall or as thick as the mighty vizaalas.

The valley is unusual in a number of respects. For one thing, even though it is a low-lying flat area, no river runs through here; in fact several nearby rivers actually seem to avoid this natural basin, which by all rights should be a sodden swamp. Also, none of the many creatures here are carnivorous; even animals that are normally meat-eaters elsewhere in the world act as docile vegetarians here. Lastly, creatures that are somehow killed within this valley quickly decompose, dissolving into a viscous liquid within minutes, even if measures are taken to preserve the body.

For reasons that are not fully understood, people tend to stay away from Sindhu Valley. The area has never been settled, even though it is a place that could easily support people in large numbers. Travelers report being overcome with a sense that they should hurry through the valley, & even the most determined explorers quickly find some reason to leave. No one ever claims that they were chased off or threatened, but the feeling that there is a force that is attempting to repel outsiders cannot be easily dismissed.

[Zeta Kai]

White Wastes

On Nidhanandha, in between the devil-lands of Hima & the demon-lands of Sergala, there is a flat, frigid plain of white salts. Here, the air is painfully dry, & the wind bears a choking white dust that scours the landscape as it rushes eastward in stinging gusts. The flat crystalline badland extends for thousands of miles, eventually merging with the tundra of the extreme arctic north to form a seemingly-endless field of lifelessness. This hostile no-man’s-land is known to both sides as the White Wastes.

The wastelands have been used for untold centuries as the site of many battles in the never-ending war between the devils & the demons. Minor skirmishes are fought here on an almost-weekly basis, & major clashes erupt every other month or so. Deep trenches, many of which stretch for hundreds of miles, have been dug into the parched ground on both sides, & the land in between is scorched & stained with previous explosions & carnage. The desiccated corpses of countless devils & demons litter this bleak landscape, & are practically the only thing that breaks up the unchanging white vista.

But there is opportunity to be found everywhere, as the merchants say; even here in this hellish land. The bodies of the many fallen warriors are mostly untouched, so their weapons, armor, & gear can still be gathered, if one is able to take them & escape the battlefields. The salts quickly corrode many items, including most ordinary metals & leathers, but some things are resistant to the caustic effects, especially magic items. The war-waging armies don’t look kindly upon looters of either side, however, so scavengers need to be quick, quiet, & above all careful.

[Zeta Kai]

We're all done with Najmah (for now), so feel free to discuss any part of the Realm of Night that you liked, disliked, or found interesting. Knock yourself out. Seriously, beat yourself unconscious. Please leave any comments or questions concerning Najmah here, & later today (meaning Thursday), we'll begin chapter 4.

[Violet Octopus]

To clarify, unlike Siraaj, where the terrain outside the focal area for the campaign setting is minimally described because they're dominated by NPC races, the terrain far beyond the Speckled Sea is undefined because the majority of inhabitants of Najmah (apart from the demons and the original houris, if any are still alive) are incarnated on Prana?

If Chitraka has dangerous mist currents that inhibit seafaring, how do new houris/outsiders get from Prana to particular places they'd like to settle in? Do they risk the trip anyway, do they teleport or is there some other way? Or am I missing something?

At first I thought that since Najmah had no sun there wouldn't be any latitudinal variation in climate (especially since the "snow" around Hima doesn't extend beyond the north pole). But it seems as though there is: Hima is frigid, the Sea of Golden Flames is cold and crisp, and there was a reference to polar icecaps somewhere. Is there some process driving this?

Because the Najmah map is bordered by land, I used the "Spinning Globe" tool in GIMP to get a sense of what it properly looked like. Siraaj and Najmah are much more oblate than I thought they would be - the ratio of the major and minor axes is about 3:2. Is this because GIMP is using a different projection to what you used (I have no idea if it uses Mercator or something else), or was there a reason?

I haven't done the math, but I suspect it would significantly affect military strategy: marching or sailing from the north or south could buy a little more time before your invasion forces are spotted.

I don't have questions pertaining to particular settlements or locations yet, hopefully I will think of some.

[afroakuma]

To clarify, unlike Siraaj, where the terrain outside the focal area for the campaign setting is minimally described because they're dominated by NPC races, the terrain far beyond the Speckled Sea is undefined because the majority of inhabitants of Najmah (apart from the demons and the original houris, if any are still alive) are incarnated on Prana?

Houris are. The rest pop up where their own kind rule.

If Chitraka has dangerous mist currents that inhibit seafaring, how do new houris/outsiders get from Prana to particular places they'd like to settle in?

They seafare regardless, or use portals.

At first I thought that since Najmah had no sun there wouldn't be any latitudinal variation in climate (especially since the "snow" around Hima doesn't extend beyond the north pole). But it seems as though there is: Hima is frigid, the Sea of Golden Flames is cold and crisp, and there was a reference to polar icecaps somewhere. Is there some process driving this?

Rifts, and also a property of the mists. Also a property of the land itself, frankly. It flourishes.

I haven't done the math, but I suspect it would significantly affect military strategy: marching or sailing from the north or south could buy a little more time before your invasion forces are spotted.

They don't sail.

[Zeta Kai]

To clarify, unlike Siraaj, where the terrain outside the focal area for the campaign setting is minimally described because they're dominated by NPC races, the terrain far beyond the Speckled Sea is undefined because the majority of inhabitants of Najmah (apart from the demons and the original houris, if any are still alive) are incarnated on Prana?

Kinda sorta. The area of Siraaj that the Build Team focused on (which we dubbed the Square of Focus (SoF) early on) is where the PC races all mesh together in interesting ways. There are humans/numari on the other continents, gnolls/shaghali on the Eastern Continent, & lizardfolk on the Western Continent, but the Central Continent is where the action is, so to speak.

As for Najmah, the SoF is where it is for two reasons:

1) That space corresponds exactly with the SoF on Siraaj. The two maps match up, spacially speaking, so a fade or an anchored portal at U11 on Siraaj (on the Runaraq Peninsula) would dump you out at U11 on Najmah (on the Karshaka Peninsula). This is not usually advisable, because in most cases, land on one plane corresponds with water on the other, & vice versa.

2) For some unknown reason, the lands that border the Speckled Sea are less affected by the Mists than other areas of the plane(t). As you can see on the full map of Najmah, the rest of the plane(t) is colored all crazy by the Mists, which means that they are a bit difficult to settle. That's not to say that those lands off-screen are uninhabited, but they are much more sparsely populated than the SoF.

If Chitraka has dangerous mist currents that inhibit seafaring, how do new houris/outsiders get from Prana to particular places they'd like to settle in? Do they risk the trip anyway, do they teleport or is there some other way? Or am I missing something?

They don't sail, but the do some limited shipping with oar-driven vessels. Also, don't forget that most devas have wings, which they use to fly hither & thither; this makes them the most widespread of the Najmai races. And because the people of the Plane of Night have no qualms with magic, they use spells to teleport around willy-nilly.

At first I thought that since Najmah had no sun there wouldn't be any latitudinal variation in climate (especially since the "snow" around Hima doesn't extend beyond the north pole). But it seems as though there is: Hima is frigid, the Sea of Golden Flames is cold and crisp, and there was a reference to polar icecaps somewhere. Is there some process driving this?

Elemental magic & divine fiat, mostly. You could say that a wizard Zihaja did it. While the world of Najmah defies certain expectations for what plane(t)s should be like, it still follows certain conventions: it's round, it turns on an axis, it has moons orbiting it, it has weather, & it has climates. While it lacks true seasons, its flora flourishes despite anything brighter than moonlight to illuminate it, & its climates are in unnatural places (the hottest place in the world is in Agni, whereas comparable latitudes elsewhere are much cooler), the place is still a world based on rules. Some can be bent, others broken. What is the Matrix Mist?

Because the Najmah map is bordered by land, I used the "Spinning Globe" tool in GIMP to get a sense of what it properly looked like. Siraaj and Najmah are much more oblate than I thought they would be - the ratio of the major and minor axes is about 3:2. Is this because GIMP is using a different projection to what you used (I have no idea if it uses Mercator or something else), or was there a reason?

GIMP is not an ideal tool in this instance, & even the full maps of the two plane(t)s cut off the extreme poles. That was done because my mapping skills for rendering Mercator projection fall apart when dealing with high latitudes. I have difficulties make the poles look stretched enough, & there's nothing there worth mapping anyway, so I cut them off at about 75°-80°. So, in short, I cheated, & you weren't meant to be able to tell. Congrats!

I haven't done the math, but I suspect it would significantly affect military strategy: marching or sailing from the north or south could buy a little more time before your invasion forces are spotted.

Don't bother. Siraaj & Najmah are meant to be perfect spheres with no oblation, so it's not a concern for anyone moving large distances.

I don't have questions pertaining to particular settlements or locations yet, hopefully I will think of some.

Please do; I would love to discuss the wonders & dangers of Najmah with the audience. I look forward to people's reactions, as well as their questions.

[afroakuma]

1) That space corresponds exactly with the SoF on Siraaj. The two maps match up, spacially speaking, so a fade or an anchored portal at U11 on Siraaj (on the Runaraq Peninsula) would dump you out at U11 on Najmah (on the Karshaka Peninsula). This is not usually advisable, because in most cases, land on one plane corresponds with water on the other, & vice versa.

Some fades/rifts dump at non-aligned points, but those are rare. One such is being exploited by a merchant on Siraaj to breed horses from nightmares.

They don't sail, but the do some limited shipping with oar-driven vessels. Also, don't forget that most devas have wings, which they use to fly hither & thither; this makes them the most widespread of the Najmai races. And because the people of the Plane of Night have no qualms with magic, they use spells to teleport around willy-nilly.

Inbound SLAs, more like. Most of them still can't *cast* teleport. The limitations on that form of travel mean it's used, but not always, and the powers of the Mists make it inadvisable to do recklessly. They get mileage out of those wings, I assure you.

[Zeta Kai]

Inbound SLAs, more like. Most of them still can't *cast* teleport. The limitations on that form of travel mean it's used, but not always, and the powers of the Mists make it inadvisable to do recklessly. They get mileage out of those wings, I assure you.

Which brings me to an interesting point. I've always fount it odd that the game has no rules for flight fatigue. Aerial combat is well-known to be bare-bones & largely ignored, but even how long a creature can remain aloft is not adequately addressed, which is strange, considering how many other odd cases have specific rules covering them. By RAW, any creature capable of flight is able to do so indefinitely, which is highly unrealistic. I always thought that a creature should only be able to fly for a limited time, something like {Con score * 30 minutes} or some such.

Of course, we don't have such a rule, so the devas are free to fly across the vast empty expanses of the Speckled Sea, carrying as much as they can thousands of miles to other continents. Oh well, I guess a wizard Zihaja did it.

[Shadow_Elf]

The issue with Overland Flight is that you have to take gliding into account, and air currents - things that don't really have analogues on the ground. I think in 4e, you assume a creature can fly as long in a day as it can walk, but for many things (like dragons), flight is much much faster in sheer speed than walking, without even taking into account the whole "terrain avoidance" issue.

However, our devas aren't going to be flying indefinitely if they're in their right minds, since you don't want to be airborne when a crippling mist effect comes into action .

[afroakuma]

However, our devas aren't going to be flying indefinitely if they're in their right minds, since you don't want to be airborne when a crippling mist effect comes into action .

Or when something worse drops out of the mists looking for small flying things...

[apocalypsePast2]

small relative to what?

[Juhn]

Suddenly: flying Dandan!

[Zeta Kai]

Suddenly: flying Dandan!

On Najmah, there are things worse than the Dandan. Unknown horrors that are said to live in the deepest Mist. Those who venture beyond the tried-&-true routes are sometimes never seen again...

[Lord_Gareth]

On Najmah, there are things worse than the Dandan. Unknown horrors that are said to live in the deepest Mist. Those who venture beyond the tried-&-true routes are sometimes never seen again...

I would like to note, however, that with minimal effort you can create Flying Dandan, and the easiest route involves, of all things, sorcerer levels.

Because you can never hate my playing group enough.

[apocalypsePast2]

Wrong, the easiest route involves wings, lungs, and a Dandan.

[Shadow_Elf]

Altenatively, Dandan just uses his force pulse to knock them out of the sky and then eats them. He doesn't even have to fly.

[Zeta Kai]

Altenatively, Dandan just uses his force pulse to knock them out of the sky and then eats them. He doesn't even have to fly.

Yeah, its Pulse Ray has a fairly long range; 360' I think, so it could hit something flying well above the surface. And considering the Big D's temperament, I wouldn't doubt for a moment that it would try.

[apocalypsePast2]

Burrowing Dandan. UNSTOPPABLE!

[Mercenary Pen]

Suddenly, Incorporeal Dandan.

[Zeta Kai]

Well, he has to have SOME limitations. Just not all the glaringly obvious ones that the Tarrasque has. I do like, though, the fact that the Dandan is quickly becoming the memetic-mutation version of the Big T for our setting. If this project were popular enough, I'd market some Dandan plushies for sale. That brings a smile to my face when I really need one.