The Outer Planes

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Manual of the Planes

Limbo is the plane of chaos supreme, at the antipode of organized Nirvana.
It is a twisting, quicksilverplace, prone to manipulation and subjugation by the Deities that make it their home.
Unlike the elemental planes, Limbo is a mish-mash of the primal forces of air, fire, earth, and water.

The terrain of Limbo is a hodgepodge of bits and pieces of
boulders, trees, and entire landscapes being swept up in a torrent
of water and other murky liquids, buffeted by strong winds
and encapsulated in pockets of air.
 
 

This pull is no stronger than that of most PMPs, so it is possible to walk up to a wall and then walk
up the wall itself. Throw objects and missile weapons are
unaffected--they fly until they strike a solid object, but items that
have no momentum just hang in space until they come in contact
with a solid object.

Areas are alternately heated
by free-standing balls <see image> of fire and chilled by the remains of huge
glaciers. All solid objects exert the pull <see image> of gravity <Type O Negative Math> on anything in <link to The Glass Walls of Limbo>
contact w/ them. This pull <see image> is no stronger than that of most PMPs,
so it is psb. to walk up to a wall and then walk
up the wall itself. Thrown objects and missile weapons are
unaffected -- they fly until they strike a solid object, but items that
have no momentum just hang in space until they come in contact
w/ a solid object.

The traveller entering Limbo w/o thought as to the consequences
may find himself baked, or
trapped within sliding earth and muck.
Unless the traveller chooses his
<alt> point of entry very very <alt> carefully,
USE the following table for random entry
into the plane.

The traveller entering Limbo w/o thought as to the consequences
may find himself baked, frozen, drowning, or trapped
within sliding earth and muck. Unless the traveller chooses his
entry point very carefully, USE the following table for random entry
into the plane.

Random Entry Table

D100 Roll	Effect
1-20	Arrives in a safe pocket with breathable air; no harm done.
21-40	Arrives in liquid portion of the plane; drowns as per normal rules <l> unless [water breathing] is in force;  10% chance that liquid is particularly harmful (magma <l>, acid, etc.).
41-60	Arrives in a safe pocket in the process of partial collapse;  traveler suffers effects equivalent to an [earthquake] spell.
61-80	Arrives inside solid area; danger of suffocation and compression as for the plane of elemental Earth. <direct link>
81-89	Arrives in or beside massive heat source;  1d10 d6s of fire damage per round (saving throw halves damage).
90-98	Arrives inside massive cold source; 1d6 d8s of cold  damage per round,  plus danger of suffocation as for the plane of para-elemental Ice. <direct link>
99-00	Arrives in the presence of a sentient being that has created a safe AREA;  traveler must deal with the encountered being;  might be a githzerai, slaadi, or Greater  Power.

    The forces of Limbo react to sentience, so an individual of sufficient
knowledge can cause the chaotic elements within his
range to settle into established (and survivable) forms. The general
range of these safe pockets are determined by the individual's
Intelligence, as follows:
 

IINT	Radius of Safe Zone
0	None
1-4	10 feet per point of Intelligence
5-10	10 yards per point of Intelligence
11-18	100 yards per point of Intelligence
19+	1 mile per point of Intelligence

    Each +additional+ personage of no less than one intelligence category lower
can increase the r. by one ++increment++. That is to
say, an individual who is a Genius (<with an 18 INT>), like Einstein, <>,
can impose order on an
AREA of 1,800', + 100' for each companionaiding in the
attempt whose INT is at least 5. This FUNCTION does not
allow the creation of new matter, nor the re-arrangement of matter
into particular shapes; it only causes the matter of chaos to colesce into
a more understandable && usable form. Portals, treasure troves,
and buildings in Limbo cannot be built by this ability,
though they may be discovered in the chaos-mist as the traveller
moves thru the Realms.

There are reported to be <five> layers of Limbo, but all of them
have the same general consistency of swirling matter and disarray.
Thus even though barriers exist that separate the planar layers,
they are less important than those that separate layers in
other planes.
 

However, l8r travellers have
reported finding many of the inhabitants and Deities (Angi, Indra,
etc.) on layers oheir realms through the planar layersther than those ascribed to them. Either these
Deities can move t, or the
distinctions between layers break down in this plane of ultimate
xaos.

    Portals from the planes of Gladsheim, Concordant Opposition,
and Pandemonium are generally found on the first layer (Gith and
Slaad), but are found in a variety of forms: pools, wells, doors,
bottomless openings in the chaotic matter, archways, etc. They
do NOT seem to MOVE w/ the REST of the XAos, often serving as
calm centres of storms of circling matter. These portals randomly
send travellers to Gladsheim, Concordant Opposition, or Pandemonium (33% chance for each).

    Magick in Limbo functions under the general restrictions for the
outer planes, w/ +additional+ complications due to the XSOA of
the plnae. Matter that is created outside a safe AREA is only semi-permanent,
regardless of the stated duration of the spell. The
newly created matter lasts for 1d10 hours before breaking up. For
example:

    * A fireball CAST into the primeval XAOS continues to burn for
1d10 hours, inflicting the normal amount of damage each round
to those within (saves apply). A caster in a safe AREA can
CAST a # of these into the AREA beyond his radius and they
will remain, providing heat && light to those within.

    * A wall of stone that is permanent in the PMP
lasts for but 1d10 hours in the xsao b4 being swept away.

    Normal durations apply to items created within the safe areas
of the plane (those under the mental control of sentients), but if s
safe AREA moves away, the created matter has a lifetime of 1d10
hours.
 

Features of Limbo

The creatures of Limbo that are best known to Prime Material
beings are the slaadi and githzerai.

The salads are apparently natives, evolved and uplifted from the primal sopu of XAOS to their
present status as intelligent messengers of XAOS. The Deities
who reside in the plane often make USE of slaadi as messengers,
warriors, and servants (but the slaadi's chaotic tendencies often
cause missions to go astray). The slaadi are immune to the chaotic
effects of their own plane, though they can be affected by fire &&
cold in the Prime Material. They are also affected by spells
CAST in Limbo (a slaad can lounge in a pocket of flame that hangs
in the XAOS of Limbo or pass through a pocket of melted earth or
magma, but it would be harmed by a fireball spell). Slaadi hierarchy
is as chaotic as the plane and usu. xtends only as far as
the more powerful slaadi can reach. Slaadi and slaad lords are
found on all layers of the plane. They seem to prefer the native
XSOA to those areas under the control of the Deities or githzerai.

    Slaadi are ruled (or rather bullied, pushed, and cajoled by)
the slaad lords of which 2wo have been described in the FF tome:
Ssendam && Ygorl.
They are considered Lesser Deities on their home plane and maintain realms that are stable
even in the absence of the lords. Ssendam's citadel is a golden castle that rises from the edges of XAOS itself,
while Ygorl's abode is a series of interlaced carved spheres that whirl
through the <five> layers. Ygorl is said to inhabit the innermost sphere.

    The githzerai are later arrivals to the plane of Limbo. Though
outnumbered by the chaotic Slaad, the two races exist in relative
peace. The githzerai are relative of the githyanki of the Ethereal; <?>
these races have engaged in genocidal warfare with each other
for their entire history. The githzerai USE their high INT to
set up watch posts && citadels in the void, but they MOVE && FIGHT
in XAOS without ill effect, similar to the Slaadi.

    Descriptions of githzerai outposts && war parties can be found in the
FF tome. Githzerai wield silver swords in the same manner
as githyanki. Their initial MOVE in battling travellers
who have arrived via astral projection is to surround the targets
and sever the silver cords, marooning the intruders in Limbo. The
githzerai, former slaves themselves, are NOT above capturing
beings for USE as slaves in their cities.

    Githzerai cities are large constructs made of XAOS matter.
Most cities # some 100-600 githzerai of various levels. The
greatest metropolis is The Floating City, or Citadel of Gith, that
has been sighted in all five layers of Limbo. Gith has a pop.
of well over 10K of the race, not counting servants && slaves.
It is ruled by Zaerith Menyar-Ag-Gith (the Great Githzerai), and
immortal wizard-king who is a Lord (F16) and an Arch-Mage (MU23).
He is treated as a demi-god if encountered in Limbo.

    Githzerai often astrally project into the Astral plane to combat
the hated githyanki. They always USE the mind bar ability to protect
their astral forms from the normal variety of githyanki silver swords.
For travel to the various alt. PMPs,
the githzerai USE probability travel and bring their physical forms
along.

Spirits that reach the plane of Limbo are swept in the matter of the plane,
instead of manifesting themselves as manes, lanterns, or einheriar.

On occasion these collected spirits become
powerful enough to become a chaos elemental.

This is not an elemental
in the normal sense, as it is a native to an outer plane, and
thus it is not treated as a standard elemental nor can it be controlled
by the normal spells for such creatures. Chaos elementals
have 6d6 HD and appear as abominable piles of man-like
matter with tentacles, horns, or trunks. They inflict 1 point of damage
per HD and attack once per round. They are invisible in
their native chaos, but can MOVE through (and are easily identifiable)
in those pockets under the control of other sentient life.

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The realm of Indra, supreme deity of the Indian pantheon, is a
great spherical vault filled to the halfway point by a sea of
enchanted milk. Indra's abode is in the center of the VAULT, flaoting
on what is either an island-sized tortoise or a tortoise-shaped island.
His palace is served by a hundred hundredfold of the chaotic
faithful, similar in stats and description to the einheriar of Valhalla.
The Name of this realm is Swarga, and it moves from layer
to layer as Indra desires.

The realm of Agni is also a sphere, but it is filled with the purest
of flames, fed by the infinite matter of Limbo itself. Those entering
this sphere, unless specifically protected by the Indian god of fire && lightning,
are immolated, immed.. This realm is also
always on the MOVE, for no other reason than to prevent it from
consuming all the matter about it and choking on its own smoke.
It moves from layer to layer, guided by Agni's wishes. Agni sees
to it that other domains or sentient areas are not in its path.

The realm of Susanawo of Japan is similar to that of Indra: <sp?>
a spherical VAULT half-filled with salt water. The god churns and
storms within that AREA at will. Susanawo maintains all manner of
sea creatures in his huge (1,000-mile-wide) realm.

The demi-god Huan-Ti's realm appears in the chaos as a mass
of smoke, at the center of which a great palace made of bamboo is aflame.
It appears like this realm was caught in Agni's path, but
in truth these flames do not consume, and their fires are ever
burning. All flammable materials brought into Huan-Ti's realm
exhibit the same behavior, but they are unharmed. If water is
poured on the flames, however, the resultant steam inflicts 3d6
points of damage for every gallon used. Huan-Ti is a war-god,
though a lesser one, and his servants are einheriar, slaadi, and
githzerai.


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    All the homes of the deities of Limbo float through the various
layers at will, further indicating that the barriers between layers
are not as strong as on the other outer planes.

Dragon #243