Post by Stix on Apr 7, 2007 13:36:00 GMT -5
Oinos, Niflheim, and Pluton - these are the fabled "three glooms" of the Gray Waste that a cutter hears so much about. This land is evil solely, and them that's here don't care if they're in it alone or together. This is the great battlefield of the Blood War, called Hades by some primes, but anyone who's ever been here knows why "the Gray Waste" says it all.
The three glooms are just that, or so the chant goes - dull gray lands. The earth is gray, the sky is gray, even the petitioners here are gray. There's no color here; as soon as a sod steps onto the plane, everything he's got starts to turn gray. There's no sun, no moon, no stars - just gray.
The grayness reaches right into the hearts of the petitioners. They're a barmy folk without any feeling or emotion; they don't laugh, don't cry, and don't care. All they do is despair, their life and hope sucked right out of them. They make great liars, because a basher can never see a whit of emotion in their faces, but they're too lost to bother with even that most of the time. That despair eventually reaches into the heart of travelers who stay too long, sucking a little life from them, too. See a berk with a dead-looking stare and he's a gloom-bug of the Gray Waste, for sure.
Layer: Oinos. This is a layer of stunted trees, roving fiends, and virulent disease, ruled by an ultroloth prince. His citadel is the great fortress Khin-Oin, the Wasting Tower. From a distance it looks like the spinal cord of some flayed beast, soaring into the air. Closer up, it takes on the form of a great tower encased by lesser towers. It's said to stand 20 miles high and have dungeons beneath it as deep, but this is some barmy's exaggeration. The tower is a necessity, for the prince of this domain constantly finds himself under attack by his rival yugoloths. The only time they unite is when threatened with another invasion of tanar'ri or baatezu troops, who use this layer as the battleground for much of their endless Blood War.
Layer: Niflheim. The second layer is more alive than the first, being free of the wasting disease that holds the land. Though the trees - mostly pines - are more abundant, they sport no color but gray. Thick mists hang among the trunks, gray-white on the gray-black background. This is the realm of Hel, from the Norse pantheon. Her palace is a great hall of wood. Deadly poisons drip from the ceiling, and the floor writhes with serpents. Reaching into this layer is a root of Yggdrasil, the World Ash. Curled around this root is a great wingless dragon, Nidhogg, who forever gnaws at the root and will ultimately kill the tree. Nidhogg could be slain, but her place would be taken by one of her children, so what's the point?
Layer: Pluton. The third layer of the Gray Waste is connected to the Upper Planes by the tunnels of Mount Olympus. This layer holds willows, olives, and poplars, all black and slowly dying for want of care. This is the realm of Hades, Lord of the Dead. He lives within a palace of gray marble, protected by strong walls. The gates to his realm are beaten bronze, impossible for all but the greatest heroes to open. Just beyond is Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards the entrance to Hades' domain. Imprisoned here are many fallen tyrants and vain heroes.
Special Physical Conditions. The despair of this plane is more than symbolic. It physically settles over all who come here. Each week, travelers must successfully save vs. spell or be trapped on the Gray Waste, unable to muster the desire to leave. Once trapped, a body becomes a larva in 1d6 months. Despairing travelers must be rescued by others if they are to be saved.
Special Magic Conditions. Since all color is drained on this plane, color-based magic (prismatic sphere, for example) is ineffective here. Neither can the intense despair of this plane be overcome by magical means such as emotion spells.
The three glooms are just that, or so the chant goes - dull gray lands. The earth is gray, the sky is gray, even the petitioners here are gray. There's no color here; as soon as a sod steps onto the plane, everything he's got starts to turn gray. There's no sun, no moon, no stars - just gray.
The grayness reaches right into the hearts of the petitioners. They're a barmy folk without any feeling or emotion; they don't laugh, don't cry, and don't care. All they do is despair, their life and hope sucked right out of them. They make great liars, because a basher can never see a whit of emotion in their faces, but they're too lost to bother with even that most of the time. That despair eventually reaches into the heart of travelers who stay too long, sucking a little life from them, too. See a berk with a dead-looking stare and he's a gloom-bug of the Gray Waste, for sure.
Layer: Oinos. This is a layer of stunted trees, roving fiends, and virulent disease, ruled by an ultroloth prince. His citadel is the great fortress Khin-Oin, the Wasting Tower. From a distance it looks like the spinal cord of some flayed beast, soaring into the air. Closer up, it takes on the form of a great tower encased by lesser towers. It's said to stand 20 miles high and have dungeons beneath it as deep, but this is some barmy's exaggeration. The tower is a necessity, for the prince of this domain constantly finds himself under attack by his rival yugoloths. The only time they unite is when threatened with another invasion of tanar'ri or baatezu troops, who use this layer as the battleground for much of their endless Blood War.
Layer: Niflheim. The second layer is more alive than the first, being free of the wasting disease that holds the land. Though the trees - mostly pines - are more abundant, they sport no color but gray. Thick mists hang among the trunks, gray-white on the gray-black background. This is the realm of Hel, from the Norse pantheon. Her palace is a great hall of wood. Deadly poisons drip from the ceiling, and the floor writhes with serpents. Reaching into this layer is a root of Yggdrasil, the World Ash. Curled around this root is a great wingless dragon, Nidhogg, who forever gnaws at the root and will ultimately kill the tree. Nidhogg could be slain, but her place would be taken by one of her children, so what's the point?
Layer: Pluton. The third layer of the Gray Waste is connected to the Upper Planes by the tunnels of Mount Olympus. This layer holds willows, olives, and poplars, all black and slowly dying for want of care. This is the realm of Hades, Lord of the Dead. He lives within a palace of gray marble, protected by strong walls. The gates to his realm are beaten bronze, impossible for all but the greatest heroes to open. Just beyond is Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards the entrance to Hades' domain. Imprisoned here are many fallen tyrants and vain heroes.
Special Physical Conditions. The despair of this plane is more than symbolic. It physically settles over all who come here. Each week, travelers must successfully save vs. spell or be trapped on the Gray Waste, unable to muster the desire to leave. Once trapped, a body becomes a larva in 1d6 months. Despairing travelers must be rescued by others if they are to be saved.
Special Magic Conditions. Since all color is drained on this plane, color-based magic (prismatic sphere, for example) is ineffective here. Neither can the intense despair of this plane be overcome by magical means such as emotion spells.