Para-Elemental Planes

Para-Elemental Plane of Smoke

  The Great Conflagration, also known as the Para-Elemental Plane of Smoke and the Plane of Ash, was the Inner Plane at the intersection of the Planes of Air and Fire. It was a place of hot and noxious vapors and gases.
  Geography
  The plane was an endless firestorm of hot smoke and ash, fueled by the winds of the Plane of Air mixed with the fires and magma of the Plane of Fire. In some locations, the ashes coalesced into floating solid regions that could be used as shelters for fugitives and outlaws.
 

Para-Elemental Plane of Magma

  The Fountains of Creation, also known as the Para-Elemental Plane of Magma, or the Plane of Magma, was the Inner Plane at the intersection of the Planes of Fire and Earth. It was a place of boiling, molten earth and toxic fumes.
  Geography
  The plane was a vast mountain range of volcanoes that started at the border with the Plane of Earth and extended well into the Plane of Fire, forming an arc around the vast Cinder Wastes. There were also many floating islands of volcanic rock that had not yet fully liquified.
  Much of the air on this plane was acidic and poisonous. Its clouds were composed of burning acidic vapors and raw elemental fire. Temperatures were close to that of the Plane of Fire. Most unprotected fluids and water brought into the plane boiled away near instantly into superheated vapor.
  Cosmography
  Lava flowing from the Fountains of Creation into the Plane of Earth formed a region known as the Furnaces, where the dao inhabitants of the plane used the lava to power their forges.
  The Fountains of Creation were considered to have some of the most abundant elemental vortices of all the para-elemental planes, occurring in the heart of almost every active volcano on the Prime Material plane.
  Flora & Fauna
  Some of the more bestial elementals to be found on this plane included fire bats, thoqqua, a large number of animentals, and small animate burning rocks known as blazons.
  One of the few flora that could be found on this plane was the magical tandersol, a plant whose stem was pure fire and leaves were metallic gold. People often braved the hazards of this plane to obtain those leaves, as they could be used to make +3 scale armor that had resistance to heat and flame.
  Notable Locations
  Oolan's laboratory, the small workshop of an Oerthian lich named Oolan that was situated in the Scorched Wastes.
  Targath's tower, a tower constructed out of invisible, permanent walls of force by wizards commissioned by a thief named Targath Reniume.
  Thermax, a vast fire giant fortress-city situated at the nexus of a number of lava tubes.
  Boundary Regions
  Obsidian Forest, the reaches of this plane closest to the Plane of Minerals. Here lava cooled into a smooth plain of hard obsidian, with spires of geode-like crystal and volcanic glass. Creatures of elemental stone infested this area, having fled from their ruler Ogrémoch.
  Scorched Wastes, the reaches of this plane closest to the Plane of Earth. It was a largely uninhabited area of basalt cliffs and spires with lakes and rivers of lava.
  Inhabitants
  The Fountains of Creation were the birthplace of most of the lava children and magmin. The latter lived in small, hunter-gather tribes that were united, while the former dwelt in small underground communities and were frequently trying to avoid enslavement by the dao that came to the plane. The magmin often struck bargains with elementals and para-elementals, but had no love for mephits.
  This plane was also the native realm of magma para-elementals, who along with magma mephits were the most commonly encountered creature on this place. Magma para-elementals had no set leaders among them, no borders, and lacked internal conflicts. They also had good relations with the plane's magmin. The magma mephits that inhabited this plane were always feuding with fire mephits, while magma para-elementals waged war on both types. Though they generally tried to avoid conflict with magma mephits when they could, as they were undoubtedly the reigning race on that plane.
  Fire giants primarily lived within Thermax, but could be found in strongholds scattered throughout the plane. They and many other natives made their homes on floating islands of volcanic rock. Fire giants could also be found living inside the volcanoes of this plane, as could azers, red dragons, and native inhabitants of both the Plane of Earth and the Plane of Fire.
  Many inhabitants of the plane were known to engage in warfare with the dao, who sailed across the surface of the plane's magma on obsidian ships. The ones that did the most to keep them in check was a large force of efreet, though it was not always conflict between them, as sometimes dao and efreet met on this plane to do trade. When it came to enslavement, the dao primarily targeted magmin and mephits.
  Rumors & Legends
  Some rumors claimed that a race of black skinned humanoids that spoke sideways lived amid the steam that rose from this plane's magma.
  In addition, some regions of this plane's magma sea were rumored to contain schools of deadly fish that had been magically altered to thrive in the lava.
 

Para-Elemental Plane of Ooze

  The Swamp of Oblivion, also known as the Para-Elemental Plane of Ooze, was the Inner Plane at the intersection of the Planes of Earth and Water. It was a place of slime and mud.
  Geography The plane was a vast swamp populated by hags and twisted trees. Few settlements existed in the place, built atop high stilts that kept constructions above the mud. However, since there was no solid ground underneath, everything eventually sank into the swamp.
  Objects thrown into the swamp were rumored to disappear into the mud for at least a century. For that reason, powerful artifacts were occasionally thrown in the swamp by someone desperate to remove them from the multiverse for a time
  At the border with the Plane of Earth, a hill range known as the Mud Hills were constantly eroded by the Swamp of Oblivion and regenerated by the Plane of Earth. The border with the Plane of Water was known as the Silt Flats, a muddy and sludgy region that marked the boundary between the swamp and the endless sea.
  Flora & Fauna
  Some of the few animals known to be found on this plane included leeches and enormous swarms of mosquitoes.
 

Para-Elemental Plane of Ice

  The Frostfell, also known as the Para-Elemental Plane of Ice, was the Inner Plane at the intersection of the Planes of Air and Water. It was a place of utter cold.
  Description
  Much like the Plane of Earth, the Plane of Ice was primarily solid towards its center, though caverns and crevasses cut through the otherwise solid ice in places. Where the plane bordered the Plane of Water, scattered icebergs floated; where it bordered the Plane of Air, the ice ended in a jutting white wall.
  This solid ice wall was a surface upon which one could walk, a sheet of craggy ice extending in all directions as far as eye could see and where hazardous blizzards scoured. Icy mountain peaks erupted from the surface in places. The air was breathable on this surface, but the temperature was deathly cold. This region of the plane was called the Precipice, and many visitors foolishly thought it to represent the whole plane, though the majority of the plane existed below the Precipice.
  Gravity existed on this para-plane; up was towards the Plane of Air, while down was towards the Plane of Water. When one approached the "bottom" of the place, more and more water was present until the ice broke up into chunks atop the Plane of Water. This border region was called the Sea of Frozen Lives. Because of how it seemed like the icebergs of the Sea of Frozen Lives seemed to float upon the Plane of Water, some called the Plane of Ice itself the Floating Plane or the Bobbing Plane.
  In the lateral directions, once could travel along the endless ice to the borders of the Negative Energy Plane, the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Salt, the Positive Energy Plane, and the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Steam. These border regions were known as the Frigid Void, the Stinging Storm, the Shimmering Drifts, and the Fog of Unyielding Frost, respectively. The Frigid Void was free of snow and blizzards and a region of absolute darkness and cold. The Stinging Storm was an area of hailing salt storms. The Fog of Unyielding Frost was full of bitter cold vapors that could freeze one's lungs. The Shimmering Drifts was perhaps the oddest region, as the snow falling here was infused with an energy that could cause severe confusion to those it contacted.
  The majority of the plane, however, existed below the Precipice. About half of the caverns within this endless ice were elemental pockets of air; the others were essentially underwater lakes full of ice-cold waters. Some boulders were also deeply buried in the ice as well.
  Not all regions of this para-plane were the same temperature. Some areas could be survived with only mundane means of warmth, but other areas were so cold that only by means of magic could one survive. Some scholars insisted that the plane had some areas so cold that the very words one spoke would freeze solid. In Sigil some merchants sold bottles of distilled "chaos" and "sadness", prepared from such frozen ideas. Others said that even light itself would freeze here in this "true cold".
  To reach the Plane of Ice with the plane shift spell required a planar fork of pewter, an alloy of lead and tin. However, it was risky for travelers from other planes to shift to the Frostfell, for they might end up embedded in the ice. If damage from the cold did not slay them, they would be unable to move. Whether they lived or died, their bodies would be incredibly preserved. If they did not die from the cold, they were likely to be crushed by the extreme pressure of the ice.
  Travel within the plane was equally dangerous, whether walking atop the Precipice or tunneling deep within the Core Ice, for the entire para-plane was subject to constant shifting and buckling of the ice. There were avalanches and sinkholes and crushing fissures.
  Besides mundane travel from one of the other Inner Planes, the Para-Plane of Ice could be reached through portals, but few such permanent portals existed naturally. A portal to Cania was here, and some planewalkers claimed that one existed to Muspelheim in Ysgard as well. Two portals to the Abyss were rumored to exist, one of which was to the Soulfreeze, layer 566.
  Sometimes, elemental vortices would connect the Material Plane to the Frostfell, usually from arctic wastelands, terrible blizzards, or the coldest depths of the ocean.
  Government
  The Plane of Ice was unique among the Para-Elemental Planes in that it had a powerful archomental desiring to establish his realm with the full status of a major Elemental Plane. Lord Cryonax longed for ice to be considered the fifth element and wanted the borders of his realm to be the Para-Elemental Planes of Slush and Snow. His ambitions even stretched so far that he hoped to supplant the other Elemental Planes altogether!
  Locations
  Arcolantha
  Chiseled Estate, Cryonax's fortress in the very center of the plane. Mountain of Ultimate Winter
  Ytharior, otherwise known as the "Blood Mire." A frozen lake of blood that formed from an intense battle between frost giants, ice trolls, and snow trolls.
  Inhabitants
  Nearly three-quarters of the open caverns with the ice contained life. A little fewer than half of such living creatures found there would be beings of air, while the rest would be beings of ice. In the subterranean lakes, more than a quarter would be beings of water, with the rest being creatures of ice. In both cases, such lifeforms would be immune to the effects of the bitter cold of the water.
  Most fauna found here were icy, angular counterparts to creatures of the Prime, looking much like ice or snow sculptures. Such entities could move freely and unharmed through ice, water, and air in the other Inner Planes. It was also common to find yetis, remorhazes, and white dragons among the plane's inhabitants.
  Among the more intelligent planar creatures, ice mephits were native to the plane. Marids and djinn sometimes visited, but neither were native to the Frostfell. The marids often hunted here.
  Frost salamanders hunted across the Frostfell, and were in turn hunted by azers who ventured into the plane to slay the creatures.
  Also said to reside on this plane were frigidarchs, icelings, shiverbugs, and snowfuries.