The Plane of Elemental Water
The Plane of Elemental Water
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The plane of elemental Water is an ocean without
a surface, a
vast expanse that xtends in all directions without reaching air
above or solid bottom below. The pressure of the water is uniform
in all directions and equivalent to that several feet beneath the
surface of a Prime planar ocean. The entire region is illuminated
by soft light: glowing blues and greens that seem to radiate from
the water itself. Elemental Water is less harsh than the planes of
Fire and Earth, though not as accessible as the plane of Air. The
plane of Water is the home of elemental creatures such as the
water weird, the nereid, the triton, and the realm of the marid.
While not a popular location for deities, the plane of Water is the
base for such as Tefnut of the Egyptians, Ahto of the Finns, and
Blipdoolpoolp of the kuo-toans.
The traveller entering the plane of Water feels surrounded
by
the softly resilient element. Sights are muffled by the surrounding
liquid, though sounds carry even greater distances. Bubbles of air,
floating chunks of rock, and even an occasional free-standing
ball of fire survive in this cool plane. Unless the traveller has some
method of breathing in this plane, however, these sensations
may be the traveller's last.
At its heart, the plane of Water is clear water,
brilliantly green
and fresh. As the traveller moves away from that center, the nature
of the plane changes. Toward the plane of Earth, the amount
of debris and sea-borne much increases until movement is hampered
by wading through the much, and the plane of para-elemental
Ooze is reached. In another direction, toward the plane of
Air, the water grows chillier and fragments of ice appear and grow
until the entire horizon is filled with the wintery white solid mass
of
the plane of para-elemental ice. Toward the Postive Material
plane, the water becomes warmer and more agitated until the
cohesiveness between water molecules breaks down and the
plane of quasi-elemental Steam is reached. Finally, as the traveller
moves toward the Negative Material plane, the water begins
to evaporate, leaving a saltier and saltier mixture until the traveller
finds himself in the plane of quasi-elemental Salt.
Travelling through the plane of Water is best done
with an elemental
guide of Water or one of its associated para- or quasi-planes.
A traveller seeking to find his way without a guide courts
disaster among the changing currents and murky depths of the
plane of Water.
Survival in the Plane of Water
Breathing: The
greatest hazard this plane presents to the
Prime planar traveller is drowning in
the elemental liquid. An
unprotected character can hold his breath
for 1/3 his CON
score (rounded up) in rounds, with the
following modifications:
* The time is halved
if the character is performing strenuous
activities or is heavily encumbered.
* The time is halved
if the character did not get to TAKE a full
breath.
For every round beyond
the limit for holding breath, the character
must roll a CON Check each round, with
penalty that
increases by -2 for each round after the
first. Failure in any
check results in death by drowning.
Fortunately, there are
a number of items and spells that can
help the traveller to survive in this
plane, incl. potions of water breathing
and spells such as airy water and
water
breathing.
The most useful item of a permanent nature
for the traveller in
this plane is the ring of water breathing,
or a similar device that
does not have a time limit to it. Failing
this, the ability to polymorph
|| shape change into a fish or
other water-breathing ||
nonbreathing creature is of great {aid}.
Vision and Senses:
The clearest of water reduces sighting
distances to 60 feet max.. Further, the
varying temperature
of the water inhibits the USE of infravision,
so that it is no more
useful than normal vision on this plane.
Movement in the Plane of Water
Movement in the plane
of Water is similar to that in the other
elemental planes. The traveller can MOVE
normally (walking, flying,
etc.) at his usual rate of SPEED. The
character can also
choose a down direction and fall (sink,
really) in that direction.
Sinking is a pretty safe mode of locomotion,
as the max. rate
is 200' per round. Damage for hitting
a solid object while sinking
is 1d6 per 10' travelled, to a max. of
6d6.
Just as it is psb. to
sink downward, it is also psb. to rise
by touching an object that is significantly
lighter than water (a
chunk of elemental ice, or a waxed canvas
sack filled with air).
Rising objects MOVE at a max. rate of
400' per round.
(Recall that without sentience in the
AREA, chunks of ice simply
hang motionless in the elemental ocean.)
Once an intelligent or
magical aura is near it and that aura
determines a downward
direction, the ice rises in the opposite
direction.
Finally, those individuals
with swimming movement MOVE at
twice their normal rate in the plane of
elemental Water.
Encounters in the Plane of Water
Travellers in the plane
of elemental Water have a 1 in 10 chance
of an encounter every <four> hours.
The type of encounter is determined
from the following table:
| 1-10 | Elemental Phenomena |
| 11-25 | Elemental Pocket |
| 26-00 | Creature Encounter |
Elemental Phenomena
Determine type of elemental
phenomena from the following table:
| D12 Roll | Effect |
| 1-2 | Steam Current |
| 4-5 | Whirlpool |
| 6-8 | Ice Floe |
| 9 | Tidal Bore |
| 10 | Silt Flow |
| 11 | Airy Water Pocket |
| 12 | Vortex to a PMP |
Steam Current:
This is a wave of hot, bubbling water coming
off the borders with the plane of Steam.
It is undetectable and
invisible until it is on top of the travellers.
The heat of a steam current
varies in damage from <one> to <eight>
<six-sided> dice (1d8 of
d6s). Any individuals with prot. from
fire
or heat are safe from
the effects of the steam.
Whirlpool: Easily
recognized and best avoided, a whirlpool is
a free-standing disk of spinning water
that often leads to another
part of the plane. Those entering a whirlpool
must begin their
journeys anew, but if they employ an elemental
guide, the time is
halved. Unfortunately, a good deal of
debris from other planes
gathers in a whirlpool, so each character
must roll a successful
DEX Check or suffer 1d10 points of damage
from being jostled
about.
Ice Floe: An
ice floe is easily spotted and becomes more common
as the traveller approaches the plane
of ice (treat steam current
encounters as ice floes if the plane of
ice is the destination
and the travellers are at least halfway
to their goal). An ice floe
chills the water so that unprotected individuals
suffer 1d4 points of
damage per round. An ice floe can be used
as a FAST means of
transportation in the plane of Water.
Tidal Bore: Like
a steam current, this is an AREA of fast-moving
water that is invisible and impossible
to AVOID. A bore lasts for
2d10 turns. Those caught in a bore must
roll a successful DEX
Check or suffer 1d10 points of damage.
Worse still, a tidal bore
encounter can cause an elemental guide
of average INT
or less to become separated and wander
off. In any event, the
travellers must begin their journey again.
Make another encounter
roll when the storm diminishes.
Silt Flow: This
is easily-noticed muddy current of water,
either brine from the borders of the plane
of Salt, mud from the
edges of the plane of Ooze, or merely
elemental dirt and earth
that have long since eroded off a long-gone
island. The flow
moves slowly and is easily avoided, but
sometimes (40%)
masks the presence of a water elemental.
Within the flow, sight is
reduced to 20'.
Airy Water Pocket:
This rare phenomena is greatly appreciated
by travellers facing death by drowning.
It is a naturally occuring
sphere of water that has the effects of
an airy water spell
within it's confines. Unlike the spell,
however, those within have
no control over the movement of the globe.
Vortex to a Prime
Material plane: This resembles a whirlpool
as it is a flattened disk of moving water.
At the center of this disk is
a darkened sphere, the vortex itself,
that leads to a PMP.
The vortex usu. emerges as a free-standing
maelstrom
in the ocean, in a lake deep beneath the
earth, or along the
deepest trenches of the sea bottom. While
a heavily armored
traveller suffers no movement problems
in the plane of Water,
normal restrictions apply in Prime Material
water. The DM must
also determine whether the vortex leads
to the traveller's PMP
|| an alternate Prime Material.
Elemental Pockets
Most pockets of other
elemental material can be found in the
plane of Water. Those of hostile elements,
such as fire and magma,
are very rare.
| D20 Roll | Type of Pocket |
| 1-3 | Air Pocket |
| 4-6 | Earth Pocket |
| 7-9 | Ice Pocket |
| 10-12 | Ooze Pocket |
| 13-14 | Salt Pocket |
| 15-16 | Steam Pocket |
| 17 | Vacuum or Lightning Pocket |
| 18 | Dust or Mineral Pocket |
| 19 | Radiance or Ash Pocket |
| 20 | Smoke or Fire or Magma Pocket |
Air
Pocket: A pocket elemental air resembles silvery bubbles
in the plane of
Water. There is a 40% chance that it is occupied,
but this can not
be seen until the traveller is within <five> feet of
the bubble. There
is a 40% chance of an air pocket being occupied.
The inhabitant is
either an air-breathing traveller (20%) or a
creature from the
plane of Air (80%).
Earth
Pocket: This is a rough island of elemental rock submerged
in the borderless
sea of the plane of Water. It is a base for
cretures from the
plane of Water 80% of the time. <Twenty percent>
of the time, the
rock is hollowed and serves as the lari of
either air-breathing
(30%) cretures or natives of the plane of elemental
Earth (70%).
Ice
Pocket: An ice pocket is the plane of Ice's equivalent of an
earth pocket. The
inhabitants must be resistant to the cold, since
an ice pocket radiates
1d6 points of cold damage per TURN to all
within 30 yards
of the surface. There is a 20% chance that any ice
pocket encountered
in inhabited, either by natives of the plane of
Ice (60%), air-breathing
creatures (20%), or by creatures of
Water (20%).
Ooze Pocket:
This can come in a wide range of shapes, from
spherical mudballs to irregular-shaped
pillars of silt. Those who
enter a pocket of ooze suffer as if entering
that plane. There is a
40% chance that the pocket is occupied
by creatures from that
para-elemental plane.
Salt
Pocket: A salt pocket resembles an air pocket, but is filled
either with highly
acidic brine or stinging salts. In either event,
entering this type
of bubble delivers 2d12 points of damage per
round to creatures
of the plane of elemental Water and half that to
creatures with water
in their systems (incl. most Prime Material
travellers). These
pockets are always unoccupied.
Steam
Pocket: A pocket of super-heated steam resembles a
salt pocket or an
air pocket. The water surrounding such a pocket
is significantly
warmer than normal for the plane. Those entering
this pocket suffer
the effects of entering the plane of quasi-elemental
Steam.
Vacuum
Pocket: This type of pocket is always unoccupied. It
resembles an air
pocket, but contains no air.
Lightning
Pocket: This rare type of pocket is dangerous and
the traveller does
not need to enter to feel its effects. A silvery
sphere 10d10 yards
in circumference, it appears similar to an
air pocket. The
lightning pocket has a 1 in 6 chance per TURN of electrifying
the AREA around
it up to twice its radius away. This charge
inflicts 1d10 of
<six-sided dice> of damage. Entering the sphere has
the same effects
as entering the plane of quasi-elemental Lightning.
Dust Pocket:
Dust in the elemental plane of Water resembles
a silt flow (see elemental
phemonena). Vision is reduced as listed <>
for that flow. In +addition+, there is
a 40% chance that some creature
of the plane of Water (20%) or Earth (80%)
is lurking within
that pocket of silt-like dust.
Mineral Pocket:
A pocket of quasi-elemental minerals contains
several small, spherical stone balls that
are stuck together.
Each ball has a 50% chance of retaining
some momentum, so
that touching it inflicts 1d6 points of
damage. Within each sphere
(there are 2d6 of them to a pocket) there
can be any variety of
materials:
| D12 Roll | Material |
| 1-5 | Calcium or other mineral salt (no value) |
| 6-8 | Metal crystals of copper, iron, or gold; worth 100 gp per sphere |
| 9-11 | 1d10 gems worth 100 gp each |
| 12 | 1d6 gems worth 1,000 gp each |
Radiance Pocket: A pocket
of radiance in the plane of Water
resembles a uniform shape, often a sphere,
but sometimes a
disk, hemisphere, or cube. Its sides are
akin to a wall of force and
cannot been seen through. Entering such
a pocket affects the <>
intruder as if entering the plane of quasi-elemental
Radiance.
Stories are told of powerful marids hiding
treasures (and old
enemies) in such pockets, but who knows
how much truth there may
be to these tales.
Ash Pocket: This resembles
a silt flow (see elemental phenomena),
but it inflicts 1d6 points of heat loss
damage to living beings
that enter the pocket. Creatures do not
normally reside in
this type of pocket.
Smoke Pocket: Though
it looks like an air pocket, the material
within a smoke pocket is a thick fog that
affects the intruder as
would the para-elemental plane of Smoke.
Only very rarely (5%
chance) are creatures of the para-elemental
plane of Smoke
present.
Fire Pocket: This type of pocket is rare in the plane of Water,
since it can only
survive in an area of airy water (see elemental
phenomena). <>
Those beings in
the airy water borders are unaffected
by the fire, while
those that enter the fire pocket suffer the
full effects of
being placed in the plane of elemental Fire. There is a
40% chance that
the pocket is home to fire-dwelling creatures
(fire pockets are
often used by efreet when they find it absolutely
necessary to visit
their marid cousins).
Magma Pocket: Like the fire pocket, a magma pocket is a rare
occurence here and
can exist only inside areas of airy water.
The pocket can appear
as a single large sphere, or a conglomeration
of head-sized, red-hot
globules. Touching or entering these
spheres has the
effect of entering the plane of para-elemental
Magma. If any globules
of magma are somehow forced or thrown
out of the area
of the airy water,
the rapid cooling causes them to
explode, so that
anyone within 6" suffers 3d6 points of damage
from the fire attack.
Creature Encounters
Creatures from the plane
of Water are usu. made of elemental
water. As creatures of water, they tend
to blend into the surroundings
as a robe of blending, though creatures
native to the
plane can always see other natives. Water
elemental creatures
have the ability to breathe water and
are unaffected in their home
plane by spells that affect water (the
water weird cannot be slain
by a purify water in its home plane).
Water creatures are not more
susceptible to cold, earth-based, or air-based
attacks than Prime
Material creatures, but they are vulnerable
to fire. All fire attacks
on water elemental creatures inflict double
damage and the creatures
saving throws suffer a -4 penalty (remember,
however,
the limitations on the plane of Water).
Water animentals and
elemental monsters resemble their
Prime Material counterparts, but their
forms are indistinct and
blurred by the passage of internal currents.
Water Encounter Chart
| D8 +
D12 Roll |
Number | Creatures Encountered | Notes |
| 2 | 1 | Charonadaemon | MM2 |
| 3 | 1d8 | Giant Elemental Weasels | MM* |
| 4 | 4d4 | Giant Elemental Leeches | MM* |
| 5 | 3d6 | Jann | MM2 |
| 6 | 3d4 | Water Weirds
|
MM |
| 7 | 1d6 | Ooze Para-Elementals | MM2 |
| 8 | 1d6 | Ice Para-Elementals | MM2 |
| 9 | 4d3 | Water Elementals + |
MM |
| 10 | 4d6 | Marids
|
MM2 |
| 11 | 4d10 | Tritons
|
MM |
| 12 | 1d8 | Elemental Whales | MM* |
| 13 | 1d4+1 | Varrdig (Elemental Grue) | MM2 |
| 14 | 2d6 | Nereids | MM2 |
| 15 | 1d10 | Human Party | V |
| 16 | 1d20 | Elemental Elephants (Asian) | MM* |
| 17 | 2d6 | Mud-men | MM2 |
| 18 | 1d3 | Elemental Will-o-the-Wisps | MM* |
| 19 | 1d4+1 | Elemental Displacer Beasts | MM* |
| 20 | 1 | Eye of the Deep | MM |
Notes:
MM = Creatures from
the Monster Manual
MM2 = Creatures from
the Monster Manual II
MM* = Elemental water
creatures with the same stats and abilities as existing creatures in the
Monster
Manual
V = Visitors--require
protection from the plane.
Limitations for combat
in the plane of elemental Water are the
same as for all the inner planes, with
the additional limitations placed
on underwater
combat in the DMG (page 56). Nets entangle but <>
do not drag opponents to the sea floor
(as there is no bottom in
the endless sea of elemental water). The
specialty required
crossbows function only if they fire magickal
bolts (otherwise the
bolt hangs motionless once it leaves the
bow).
Magick functions in
the plane of Water under the limitations for
all inner planes. Spells are affected
in the plane of Water as they
are in the seas of the PMP (see pages
57 of the DMG and 81 of UA), <>
so that a fireball is useless due
to the nature <>
of water, rather than the effects of the
plane. A fireball works normally
in a pocket of air in the plane of Water.
A contact other plane spell directed into the plane of Water
appears as a
large silvery ball, about the size of a ripe cabbage.
Each ball contains
a question or series of questions from the
plane. The effects
of touching and breaking such a ball are the
same as in the plane
of elemental Air. <>
Summoning/conjuration
spells appear as shiny sphere, similar
in size to elemental pockets, but these
radiate golden, greenish,
or bluish
auras. Elemental creatures are affected as by a
charm spell and attracted to the
spheres. Marids, as noted,
are generally immune to this type of request,
though on occasion one
pops through looking for deeds of glory.
Should an elemental
traveller step through such a border,
he finds himself on a PMP
(not necessarily his own). He is treated
as a summoned
creature for purposes of duration of the
spell, his actions,
and the effects of magick upon him.
| Elementals | Archomentals | Istishia | The Marids |
Elementals:
Creatures of the plane of water seem to be made
up of currents of watery forces, making
them hard to detect in
their native element and obvisou in shape
only when they are
placed in a pocket of air or similar medium
that confines them to a
specific shape. In +addition+, the appearance
of a type of elemental
creature (such as the elemental elephant
in the preceding table)
can very from one encounter to the next,
though it has the same
stats. For help in determining random
looks for elemental creatures
(as opposed to "you see a watery elephant"),
the DM is
directed to page 120 (Appendix
II). <>
Most elemental creatures
of Water prefer the deep areas of the
plane that are unsilted by debris and
far from vortices. Elemental
creatures are easily drawn into such vortices
and cannot easily
escape, so they avoid these traps if at
all possible. One group of
water elementals, the tritons, have made
excellent progress in
settling large areas
of the Prime plane oceans.
Archomentals:
There is a number of powerful elementals
who are given ranks such as barons, masters,
and grandmasters
by those who study such things. In physical
stats most are similar
to the "Princess of Elemental Evil," Olhydra
(described in the FIEND FOLIO tome), <>
though all archomentals have their own
desires and motives.
Olhydra makes her home
in the ruins of a great undersea citadel
of black coral
that was once the capital of a world-spanning
empire long ago destroyed by Olhydra.
This might be exaggeration
laid upon by the passage of years, but
the fact remains that
the lair of Olhydra is richly lardered.
Would-be robbers are
warned that a dozen water elementals of
max. HP and
magickal abilities serve as her bodyguard
in court. Like all archomentals,
Olhydra has the powers afforded a Demi-Deity.
Istishia:
The most powerful and pure of the water elementals
has many names in many planes, yet they
all sound like the slap
of waves on the beach. Istishia is said
to be as large as a small sea
on the PMP, though to deal with supplicants
he
may form a smaller, more reasonable form.
In that form he sometimes
crosses through a vortex into the Prime
(whenever floods
plague a nation, Istishia is said to walk
among them).
Istishia has great and
powerful mystic powers in addition to
those of a Greater God (see Appendix
IV, page 124). All spells
involving the elements are known to Istishia,
who may USE them
and their modified forms at will. Istishia
sees himself, and elemental
water, as the great leveller and equalizer,
the element
that eventually overwhelms air,
erodes stone, and extinguishes
fire. The
task is long, but Istishia has the patience of millenia
behind him. The concerns of insignificant
mortals are not his and,
unless he is offered a great boon, his
attentions are better spent
observing the flow of the oceans and the
rhythm of the tides.
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