these "darklords," and through cruelty or carelessness
trapped innocent mortals in these domains as well.
OPTIONAL RULE:
SHADOWFELL DESPAIRA melancholic atmosphere pervades the Shadowfell.
Extended forays to this plane can afflict characters with
despair, as reflected in this optional rule.
When you deem it appropriate, though usually not
more than once per day, you can require a character
not native to the Shadowfell to make a DC 10 Wisdom
saving throw. On a failure, the character is affected by
despair. Roll a d6 to determine the effects, using the
Shadowfell Despair table. You can substitute different
despair effects of your own creation.
SHADOWFELL DESPAIR
d6 Effect
l-3 Apathy. The character has disadvantage on
death saving throws and on Dexterity checks for
initiative, and gains the following flaw: "I don't
believe I can make a difference to anyone or
anything."
4-5 Dread. The character has disadvantage on all
saving throws and gains the following flaw: "I am
convinced that this place is going to kill me."
6 Madness. The character has disadvantage
on ability checks and saving throws that use
Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, and gains the
following flaw: "I can't tell what's real anymore."If a character is already suffering a despair effect and
fails the saving throw, the new despair effect replaces
the old one. After finishing a long rest, a character
can attempt to overcome the despair with a DC 15
Wisdom saving throw. (The DC is higher because it's
harder to shake off despair once it has taken hold.)
On a successful save, the despair effect ends for that
character.
A calm emotions spell removes despair, as does any
spell or other magical effect that removes a curse.
EVER NIGHT
The city of Neverwinter in the world of the Forgotten Realms
has a dark reflection on the Shadowfell: the city of Evernight.
Evernight is a city of cracked stone edifices and homes of
rotten wood. Its roads are made mostly of trampled grave
dust, and its few cobbled streets are missing enough stones
that they appear pockmarked. The sky is corpse gray, and the
breeze blows cold and humid, bringing a chill to the skin.
The city's living residents include mad necromancers,
corrupt purveyors of human flesh, worshipers of evil deities,
and others who are able to make themselves useful and crazy
enough to want to live here. But the living are a minority
in Evernight, for the bulk of the population consists of the
shambling dead. Zombies, wights, vampires, and other
undead make the city their home, all under the watchful eyes
of the ruling caste: intelligent, flesh-eating ghouls.
Rumors abound that this foul place mirrors one city on
every world.
....CHAPTER 2 I CREATING A MULTIVERSE
jill'INNER PLANES
He was lying on his back upon baked and smoldering stone.
staring up at a smoky gray sky lit from distant and unseen
fires. Around him, a sea of lava burped gouts of gas and jets
of flame. The Elemental Plane of Fire.
Thank the f ell ones, Vhok thought. I never thought I'd be
so happy to be here.
-Thomas M. Reid, The Gossamer PlainThe Inner Planes surround and enfold the Material
Plane and its echoes, providing the raw elemental
substance from which all worlds were made. The four
Elemental Planes- Air, Earth, Fire, and Water- form
a ring around the Material Plane, suspended within
a churning realm known as the Elemental Chaos.
These planes are all connected, and the border regions
between them are sometimes described as distinct
planes in their own right.
At their innermost edges, where they are closest
to the Material Plane (in a conceptual if not a literal
geographical sense), the four Elemental Planes
resemble places in the Material Plane. The four
elements mingle together as they do in the Material
Plane, forming land, sea, and sky. But the dominant
element exerts a strong influence on the environment,
refle cting its fundamental qualities.
The inhabitants of this inner ring include aarakocra,
azers, dragon turtles, gargoyles, genies, mephits,
salamanders, and xorn. Some originated on the
Material Plane, and all can travel to the Material
Plane (if they have access to the magic required) and
survive there.
As. they extend farther from the Material Plane,
the Elemental Planes become increasingly alien and
hostile. Here, in the outermost regions, the elements
exist in their purest form: great expanses of solid earth,
blazing fire, crystal-clear water, and unsullied air. Any
foreig-n substance is extremely rare; little air can be
found in the outermost reaches of the Plane of Earth,
and earth is all but impossible to find in the outermost
reaches of the Plane of Fire. These areas are much less
hospitable to travelers from the Material Plane than
the border regions are. Such regions are little known,
so when discussing the Plane of Fire, for example, a
speaker usually means the border region.
The outermost regions are largely the domains of
elemental spirits barely recognizable as creatures.
The creatures usually called elementals dwell here,
including the Elemental Princes of Evil (primordial
beings of pure elemental fury) and elemental spirits
that spellcasters can bind into galeb duhrs, golems,
invisible stalkers, magmin, and water weirds. These
elemental creatures don't need food or other sustenance
on their home planes, because they are sustained by the
elemental energies that saturate those planes.ELEMENTAL CHAOS
----
At the farthest extents of the Elemental Planes, the pure
elements dissolve and bleed together into an unending