afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)

[Menteith]

How powerful is the Fraternity of Order (In terms of both the institution's individual power and the strength of beings who would aid it), and how is it organized (Who leads it, how many would identify with the order, what strongholds does it have)?

[afroakuma]

Can you elaborate on this plane, please? I've seen it mentioned in a few source books, but never in a cosmology chart.

That would be because it's one of the optional planes from Manual of the Planes, like the Elemental Plane of Wood or the Plane of Mirrors.

Planar traits

Light gravity, infinite, alterable morphic, mildly neutral, enhanced arcane magic, flowing time (days here are weeks on the Prime).

location of the plane

Coexistent with the Material Plane; not at all connected to the Astral, Ethereal or Shadow Planes. Faerie occupies a strange metaphysical zone, and its various incarnations (the wandering realm of the Seelie Court, the Fading Lands that serve as the manors of individual fey lords just off the Material Plane, the supposed Demiplane of Faerie within the Ethereal Plane) all do likewise, interacting with other planes in what is certainly a most unlikely fashion.

power groups

The denizens of the Plane of Faerie are known as sidhe, and they are (rather lazily) modeled as elves with the half-fiend or half celestial template. Shows how much effort and detail went into this one.

Beyond the sidhe, Seelie and Unseelie versions of other fey creatures reside on the plane, as well as folkloric beasts such as nightmares and yeth hounds.

how the denizens move to and from the plane without planeshift SLAs

The plane naturally forms portals that intersect with attuned locations on the Material Plane. Faerie rings, standing stones, that sort of thing. Most often these aren't "always on" and only open during the new or full moon, or when struck by a drop of morning dew, or other such folkloric things.

interesting tidbits, and other other useful general information, specifically.

Go buy the darn book already.

Other useful material on the Seelie and Unseelie Courts has been compiled here.

How powerful is the Fraternity of Order (In terms of both the institution's individual power and the strength of beings who would aid it), and how is it organized (Who leads it, how many would identify with the order, what strongholds does it have)?

Well, right now it's pretty beaten-up. Prior to the Faction War (I'm going to regret this, I know it), they were fairly powerful, wielding the might of obscure law joined to allegiances with obtuse law enforcers. With their factol murdered during the war, their faction evicted from Sigil and the amount of damage they took during the war in terms of numbers, the Guvners have hit an all-time low.

The Guvners are led jointly by candidates Janis (a cleric of Oghma) and Lady Nancias Garabutos (a wizardess) from their outpost on Mechanus, the Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment. Their bureaucratic structure is currently undergoing a bit of a shakeup as administrative positions are filled and the faction is reorganized to contend with its new role (or lack thereof) in the multiverse. Bureau chiefs of all ranks have been demoted, pushed out or otherwise reassigned to cover the gaps while the co-factols work towards piecing together a new order that takes Sigil out of the equation. As they relied on other factions to do the enforcing, the Guvners now try to cultivate relationships with the inevitables (good luck with that) to cover enforcement of the laws as they have compiled them.

[123456789blaaa]

Nasty creatures. Big, vicious-looking mutes with power sets that vary depending on the number of tentacles they possess. All choles have 4, 7, 9 or 13 tentacles (only two of which they control) and a nasty breath of poisonous fumes that causes ability damage.

Any connection to the far realm?

You need some degree of experience to actually display the skills associated with class levels. Dretches don't tend to get much combat experience that doesn't result in one of death or promotion.

Is this true for all exemplars?

...uh, what else do you want to know?

Goals, personality's, minions, origins...everything really. I assume that there isn't much info on them?

Really though, you're looking at a shapeshifted angel of some sort getting all Discovery Channel about how exactly Friendship Is Magic.

Please don't ask questions like this.

C-can I sig this? It's just too beautiful ಠ_ರೃ.

[Gralamin]

If the Far Realm is likened to chaos despite not being truly of Chaos, then Tharizdun is its counterpart in relation to Evil. Even the most blackhearted gods and sinister fiends would be averse to working with the Chained God if they knew of his involvement in events. That this entity retains so much power within the Demiplane of Imprisonment, and yet can move and operate beyond it in many guises, is what sets him (or it) apart from other elder evils and inspires dread in the gods.

This comparison stood out to me. Are there any other beings / locations that can be said to be similar, but for Good / Law? One could theoretically say that the Lady was one for Neutrality. The only place I can think of might qualify for good would be Chronias...

[afroakuma]

Any connection to the far realm?

Nope. Just violently tentacular.

Is this true for all exemplars?

No. Mid-rankers often grow in skills (hound archons, for example, are canonically shown to take class levels) as mortals do, rather than growing in spiritual power/essence. High-rankers tend to grow in spiritual power because it outstrips whatever class levels they could take at that point (Clr1 is a bit pointless for a balor, as is Wiz1).

Goals, personality's, minions, origins...everything really. I assume that there isn't much info on them?

There is not. I'll give you what I have, though.

Dwiergus, the Chrysalis Prince, is old even among the obyriths. Driven by a particularly malignant form of chaos, his goal, which he pursues lazily, is to transform all life into demons. He's lazy, capricious, indolent and not particularly arrogant. Dwiergus has very few servants; even his latest creations tend to get swept deep into the oozing pits of his realm. His most able and trusted servants are sibriex.

Lamashtu was a onetime lover of Pazuzu who knew and abused his true name. For her treacheries, Pazuzu destroyed her eyes and imprisoned her deep within the Abyss, where she lies impaled on a spire. Her goals are release and revenge, and she has no known significant minions.

C-can I sig this? It's just too beautiful ಠ_ರೃ.

Sure, why not.

[Gralamin]

Are there any books with specific fluff information on Modrons?

Septons are, as I understand it, supposed to be in charge of Inspection. What do they inspect, and how do they get their job done while only commanding Octons?

[afroakuma]

This comparison stood out to me. Are there any other beings / locations that can be said to be similar, but for Good / Law? One could theoretically say that the Lady was one for Neutrality. The only place I can think of might qualify for good would be Chronias...

Chronias may indeed qualify for Good in that regard, and I'd say that in some ways the Lady herself qualifies for Law.

Are there any books with specific fluff information on Modrons?

Every monster source they appear in, as well as Planes of Law and The Great Modron March.

Septons are, as I understand it, supposed to be in charge of Inspection. What do they inspect, and how do they get their job done while only commanding Octons?

Septons inspect everything. Structures, layouts, work processes, records... you name it, they'll oversee it. Octons, as sector governors, can distribute inspection results down their own personal chain of command with great efficiency, distributing the findings of septons to where they are needed. Septons also report to the hextons, who oversee clusters (four sectors apiece), for inter-sector matters. Reports to hextons can also go up the line to the tertians or even the secundi; though the septons don't personally know that these beings exist or are modrons, it understands in its role that there is a higher authority concerned with judicial control and quadrant supervision.

[Lord_Gareth]

Do the forces of Mechanus invade the Prime Material plane? If so, why?

If a being wanted to take advantage of Mechanus' unparalleled ability to gather information, would it be possible to bargain with them for knowledge - say by offering to obliterate a demon lord or another significant source of Chaos?

[afroakuma]

Do the forces of Mechanus invade the Prime Material plane? If so, why?

Depends which forces you're talking about.

Inevitables go and bother Primes all the time. Formians sometimes invade Prime worlds to set up hives. The modrons would only go to repair something like a planar breach to Limbo or hunt down a rogue hierarch who had given the inevitables the slip. Modrons are occasionally called as planar allies by powerful societies of law - there is evidence that followers of the Pharaonic pantheon have been visited by modrons in this manner - but in general they are highly disinterested in the Prime.

If a being wanted to take advantage of Mechanus' unparalleled ability to gather information, would it be possible to bargain with them for knowledge - say by offering to obliterate a demon lord or another significant source of Chaos?

Depends who you're bargaining with. Modrons can make use of materials with powerful magical properties just like anyone else - gold is good everywhere, though they won't take kindly to a bribe, and modrons have a particular interest in diamonds. Lower hierarchs can negotiate contracts for the sale of information; elite hierarchs have a lot more at their disposal, but their time is valuable and you'll need a referral (one you haven't bribed someone for, either, or you'll come to the meeting and find an inevitable waiting there). The means for securing such a referral might spring from your deeds in the struggle against chaos.

As for Primus... Primus knows whether or not you need his help. He's Primus.

[Lord_Gareth]

So is any attempt to pay for such services a bribe, or does it only start becoming a bribe when they say 'no' and you offer to pay?

[Larkas]

So is any attempt to pay for such services a bribe, or does it only start becoming a bribe when they say 'no' and you offer to pay?

I think that it is perfectly reasonable for a lawful entity to set up an information brokering service, with clear rules and set prices. Obviously, it is only OK to sell a specific information if the entity has been given the green light by his superiors. If you try to force THAT issue by offering more money, then it is bribery, I guess.

[afroakuma]

So is any attempt to pay for such services a bribe, or does it only start becoming a bribe when they say 'no' and you offer to pay?

Ehh, much the same as in the real world; if they're selling you their own time, that's legit. If you're paying for the information itself (as in, it's not them working on something for you, it's them handing over privileged info), then it's a bribe. And if you're trying to buy their time plus their access... that is probably also a bribe.

Anyone have any more questions? Still open for business.

[Chilingsworth]

Ehh, much the same as in the real world; if they're selling you their own time, that's legit. If you're paying for the information itself (as in, it's not them working on something for you, it's them handing over privileged info), then it's a bribe. And if you're trying to buy their time plus their access... that is probably also a bribe.

Anyone have any more questions? Still open for business.

Ok, now I'm wondering if Afro is really a modron...

[afroakuma]

Ok, now I'm wondering if Afro is really a modron...

No no no. I'm on the other side. And down a bit.

[Arcanist]

No no no. I'm on the other side. And down a bit.

That is the most blunt confession for being a Demon, I've ever heard.

[123456789blaaa]

Could you list all of the monsters that come from the far realm or are related to it in some way? Or are there too many?

[Fable Wright]

Who/what is Chronius?

[afroakuma]

That is the most blunt confession for being a Demon, I've ever heard.

Brother, I am all the demons.

Could you list all of the monsters that come from the far realm or are related to it in some way? Or are there too many?

Oi... this will take a few.

Spoiler

Show

Monster Manual
• Aboleth (tenuous connection)
• Cloaker (origin)
• Gibbering Mouther
• Skum (via aboleth)

Monster Manual II
• Moonbeast (possible)
• Mooncalf (possible)
• Psurlon (reprinted in Lords of Madness)
• Rukanyr (via kaorti)
• Skybleeder (via kaorti)
• Windghost (possible)
• Wyste

Monster Manual III
• Mindshredder (possible)
• Runehound (possible)

Monster Manual IV
• Zern (possible)

Monster Manual V
• Mind Flayers of Thoon

Draconomicon
• Squamous Spewer

Dragon
• Aleku (Dragon 348)
• Amoebic Crawler (Dragon 330)
• Cranial Encyster (Dragon 330)
• Kaortic Hulk (Dragon 330)
• Kyra (Dragon 348)
• Nightseed (Dragon 330)
• Urquirsh (Dragon 358)

Dungeon
• The Thing From the Lake (Dungeon 134)

Elder Evils
• Brood Spawn template

Epic Level Handbook
• Neh-Thalggu
• Pseudonatural Creature template (reprinted in Lords of Madness)
• Uvuudaum

Fiend Folio
• Kaorti (reprinted in Dragon 358)

Frostburn
• Snowcloak (origin)

Lords of Madness
• Cloaker, Shadowcloak Elder (origin)
• Half-Farspawn template
• Shaboath (via aboleth)

Monsters of Faerun
• Cloaker Lord (origin)

Planar Handbook
• Dharculus

Possibly missed a few; weeding them out is tricky. Added in a few possibles (usually creatures not linked there, but mentioned as having a creepy otherworldly origin, or no mentioned origin).

Who/what is Chronius?

Chronias is the 7th layer of Mount Celestia, a layer that none have ever ascended to and returned from... none save Zaphkiel, the ruler of all archonkind. All that is known of Chronias is that it is a place of great and blinding light, and ostensibly a realm of pure and utter good. Lawfully speaking.

[Answerer]

OK, I've heard of Thoon, but what's the deal there? Illithid are from this reality's future, so they're not from the Far Realm, right?

[afroakuma]

OK, I've heard of Thoon, but what's the deal there? Illithid are from this reality's future, so they're not from the Far Realm, right?

Well, oddly enough, they still could be. There's theoretically a point when current mind flayers have all died off and their future predecessors (oh, time travel, you wacky girl you) have not yet appeared. That origin is unknown.

However, the link to Thoon and the Far Realm has nothing to do with their origins, and everything to do with them being invasive tyrannical nosey parkers. They sent ships into the far reaches of the Astral Plane (which is in and of itself a trick), and one nautiloid ran afoul of some nightmarish fold or flaw in the multiverse that expelled them into the Far Realm. They returned - or were sent back - and are now a very special kind of crazy (that is to say, even other flayers think there's something a bit peery about these ones).

[123456789blaaa]

Could you tell us more about Thoon?

Also, if clerics can get spells from non-gods because their power comes from their belief, than why can't clerics worshipping elder evils get spells?

[enderlord99]

Brother, I am all the demons.

Which brother are you talking to? Pandemonium or Carceri?

[afroakuma]

Could you tell us more about Thoon?

I'm thorry, you thaid you wanted to hear about thomething Thoon? What would you like to dithcuth right now?

Pause for mood change.

Thoon is a... something... that the mind flayers of the lost nautiloid hold to be their ideal, something that the multiverse had never heard of before the lost nautiloid returned. Thoon might be a philosophy; it might be an abomination of the Far Realm, or a vestige, or a god of the lost void between what is and what should never be. It might be no more than a manifestation of a collective insanity.

Whatever Thoon is, it is inarguable that it is somehow linked to quintessence, a magical material found randomly in living things. Those who are "of Thoon" are the only ones capable of discovering this quintessence, which appears to their searches as a dark nebula around the life-form containing it. When extracted, using means devised in that place of horror beyond reality, quintessence is a potent magical liquid, green in color, that is used by the illithids and the thrallcreatures they command to experiment on other life forms and with inchoate magics.

The nature of Thoon may never be known, for to those who returned and those who come after, Thoon is. No method yet attempted has been able to prompt any of the mind flayers of Thoon to speak more of their strange worship, and even under powerful compulsions and charms they react with genuine confusion to being asked to define Thoon.

It may be that "Thoon" is an attempt by the creatures before their strange metamorphosis to name what they experienced... although the illithid language is not spoken and rarely written, the terminal "hoon" indicates "an abomination, one who is an outsider," and the lemma "th" indicates action and power. If this is the case, "Thoon" may be a constructed term indicating "that which creates abomination" or "that which casts out."

Admit it, you just wanted me to be creepy again.

Also, if clerics can get spells from non-gods because their power comes from their belief, than why can't clerics worshipping elder evils get spells?

Can you get me a citation on that? It's not showing up in my book.

Off the cuff, I'd say it has to do with the malefic properties of elder evils; specifically as relate to casting off, abjuring and repudiating the divine. Belief does not touch them, and the qualities of belief will not manifest of them.

[Answerer]

Whatever Thoon is, it is inarguable that it is somehow linked to quintessence, a magical material found randomly in living things. Those who are "of Thoon" are the only ones capable of discovering this quintessence, which appears to their searches as a dark nebula around the life-form containing it. When extracted, using means devised in that place of horror beyond reality, quintessence is a potent magical liquid, green in color, that is used by the illithids and the thrallcreatures they command to experiment on other life forms and with inchoate magics.

I'm guessing that this is unrelated to the time-stopping substance created with the psionic power?

[afroakuma]

I'm guessing that this is unrelated to the time-stopping substance created with the psionic power?

Quite so. No relation at all.

[Fortuna]

If you were running a game, and wanted to evoke the following emotions, which planes would you use?

• Raw terror.
• Nausea.
• A looming discomfort, a sense of the eerie.
• Peace.
• The ultimate futility of one's existence.

EDIT: Throw sadness and anger into the mix, though I imagine they're more difficult to get from environments.

And yes, I am aware that good technique will do more than any setting for evoking feelings - I'm just curious.

[Chilingsworth]

If you were running a game, and wanted to evoke the following emotions, which planes would you use?

• Raw terror.
• Nausea.
• A looming discomfort, a sense of the eerie.
• Peace.
• The ultimate futility of one's existence.

And yes, I am aware that good technique will do more than any setting for evoking feelings - I'm just curious.

Well, I don't know if there's a best answer, but for me:

Terror: Baator
Nausea: Probably one of several layers of the Abyss
Discomfort: Shadow, maybe the Ethereal.
Peace: Elysium
Futility: Hades, maybe Mechanus

[Arcanist]

What more can you tell me about the Vasharan ranging from Culture, to average life, to belief structure, to common alignments. Pretty much anything you can possibly think of on the subject.

[Yomega]

Well I am sad that I cant seem to find the original post but someone commented on the method Io told the first dragons how to breed in exchange for there divinity.

Anyways the method was to sever a limb witch grew back and the limb itself grew into a aduld dragon to be there mate and the blood spilled is what made the kobolds.

Its in races of the dragon page 50.

[Kane0]

Why is Fell not Mazed, dead or both?