Post by Stix on Jan 31, 2006 2:02:10 GMT -5
"The four-fold furnaces, the fires terrible..." The epic poet Ioleuf saw Gehenna when he wrote this line, a berk can be sure. Gehenna's a plane where volcanos float in a great void, belching their magma sprays onto barren, lava-crusted slopes. Sulfurous steam wheezes from fumaroles, and horrid gases drift in choking clouds through the air. Not the best place for a berk to take his favorite dollymop.
Gehenna's not a forgettable place. Where else is a cutter going to see mountains peaked at both top and bottom, floating in space - mountains that are nothing but greasy black slopes, bubbling rivers of steam, and spraying plumes of lava? Is there another place where the very rock provides the carmine glow that outlines all? These are mountains where nothing is flat, nothing is green, and nothing is easy. Gehenna's void is filled with volcanic mounts, each hovering in space, unmoving except for the occasional shudder of a particularly vicious eruption.
The suffering petitioners of this plane must cling to these slopes or risk tumbling to oblivion. So they cling as they try to make little lives for themselves, pretending that nothing has changed, that this is and always has been their home. The barren bitterness of their land makes the petitioners suspicious and greedy, so much so that no petitioner on this plane will do anything without some kind of payment. Guides must be paid, answers bought, even strangers offering aid must receive compensation. This is a plane without charity, without even a glimmer of what that means.
Layer: Khalas. The kindest of Gehenna's cruel layers, Khalas, the First Mount, connects to the Astral Plane. The air is crimson near the ground, quickly fading to black no more than a few dozen feet overhead. Chamada glows like a bloody moon in the darkness, brightened by sparkling fountains of lava and flame. Khalas's sides are streaked with waterfalls, cloaked in steam from the singing ground. The rivers here never reach the bottom, either evaporating or disappearing into black caverns. The Styx is the largest of these rivers, plunging over falls thousands of feet high and winding through the glowing caverns of Khalas's interior. Here is found the Teardrop Palace of Sung Chiang.
Layer: Chamada. The Second Mountain is the most savage of the four. The ground burns with the orange glare of magma so intense that it blots out the sky. Rivers of lava cascade down its slopes, continually hardening, forming dams, and then bursting forth in new directions. Vents unexpectedly split open and spew fresh ejecta, and volcanos swell on its surface like warts. The air is full of the smell of burning hair and sulfur-scorched flesh.
Layer: Mungoth. The Third Mountain is constantly assaulted by a rain of ash and acidic snow. The ground is cool, with only scattered volcanos that barely make enough light to show the way. Avalanches of cold mud threaten travelers at every turn.
Layer: Krangath. The Fourth Mountain is the dead realm. Here, all the fires are out and the mountain shudders no more. All is blackness and ice. Nothing dwells on the frozen surface. Deep underground is said to be the realm of Shargaas of the orcs, the Night Lord.
Special Physical Conditions. There are no level points on the surface of any mountain. Should a traveler lose his footing, he tumbles down the slope until stopped by something solid or until he can catch a passing outcropping.
Special Magical Conditions. Enchantment/charm magic is diminished on Gehenna, while invocation/evocation magic is enhanced.
Gehenna's not a forgettable place. Where else is a cutter going to see mountains peaked at both top and bottom, floating in space - mountains that are nothing but greasy black slopes, bubbling rivers of steam, and spraying plumes of lava? Is there another place where the very rock provides the carmine glow that outlines all? These are mountains where nothing is flat, nothing is green, and nothing is easy. Gehenna's void is filled with volcanic mounts, each hovering in space, unmoving except for the occasional shudder of a particularly vicious eruption.
The suffering petitioners of this plane must cling to these slopes or risk tumbling to oblivion. So they cling as they try to make little lives for themselves, pretending that nothing has changed, that this is and always has been their home. The barren bitterness of their land makes the petitioners suspicious and greedy, so much so that no petitioner on this plane will do anything without some kind of payment. Guides must be paid, answers bought, even strangers offering aid must receive compensation. This is a plane without charity, without even a glimmer of what that means.
Layer: Khalas. The kindest of Gehenna's cruel layers, Khalas, the First Mount, connects to the Astral Plane. The air is crimson near the ground, quickly fading to black no more than a few dozen feet overhead. Chamada glows like a bloody moon in the darkness, brightened by sparkling fountains of lava and flame. Khalas's sides are streaked with waterfalls, cloaked in steam from the singing ground. The rivers here never reach the bottom, either evaporating or disappearing into black caverns. The Styx is the largest of these rivers, plunging over falls thousands of feet high and winding through the glowing caverns of Khalas's interior. Here is found the Teardrop Palace of Sung Chiang.
Layer: Chamada. The Second Mountain is the most savage of the four. The ground burns with the orange glare of magma so intense that it blots out the sky. Rivers of lava cascade down its slopes, continually hardening, forming dams, and then bursting forth in new directions. Vents unexpectedly split open and spew fresh ejecta, and volcanos swell on its surface like warts. The air is full of the smell of burning hair and sulfur-scorched flesh.
Layer: Mungoth. The Third Mountain is constantly assaulted by a rain of ash and acidic snow. The ground is cool, with only scattered volcanos that barely make enough light to show the way. Avalanches of cold mud threaten travelers at every turn.
Layer: Krangath. The Fourth Mountain is the dead realm. Here, all the fires are out and the mountain shudders no more. All is blackness and ice. Nothing dwells on the frozen surface. Deep underground is said to be the realm of Shargaas of the orcs, the Night Lord.
Special Physical Conditions. There are no level points on the surface of any mountain. Should a traveler lose his footing, he tumbles down the slope until stopped by something solid or until he can catch a passing outcropping.
Special Magical Conditions. Enchantment/charm magic is diminished on Gehenna, while invocation/evocation magic is enhanced.