The Plane of Air

The Plane of Air is the most hospitable of all the Inner Planes, and because of that sees the most traveler traffic from across the multiverse. All manner of creatures visit, sometimes without even realizing it – perhaps as a result of the increased traffic, more natural portals and vortexes exist to the Plane of Air than almost any other plane. Flying creatures of all variety seek out the endless azure skies of this realm, but that doesn’t mean it’s without its dangers.

Navigating the plane requires the power of flight, but contrary to most rumors falling is not really a problem. Where is there to fall to? If a creature or object in flight loses its ability to fly while in the air, it simply hovers or is picked up by one of the strong wind gusts that permeate the never-ending sky. Larger objects, such as the various earth motes that dot the azure landscape or even a sailing ship, generate their own gravity, but escaping those bounds can be deceptively easy. Being stranded and caught in one of the dangerous storms that pepper the plane in regular intervals is the real danger.

Because of its relative safeness, the Plane of Air is home to a large variety of creatures. Many Material Plane natives with the ability to fly can be found around, but the true masters of the realm are the djinn. They keep magnificent castles built upon solid clouds, and most can be depended upon to do the right thing when pressed – but not all. Navigating the Labyrinth Winds without a guide can be frustrating for travelers, but only by doing so can such wondrous sites be visited, such as the cloud city of Calypso, the Citadel of Ice and Steel that serves as the home to the Great Caliph of the Djinn, the realm of Aaqa and its aarakocra guardians, the massive Storm of Chaos, or the mysterious Borealis Radiance.

Lay of the Land

The Plane of Air is an endless boundless sky, but it does have broadly defined regions defined largely by their proximity to neighboring Inner Planes.

Labyrinth Winds

The vast majority of the Plane of Air is comprised of a complex maze of wind gusts and air streams known as the Labyrinth Winds. This creates invisible paths that push and pull travelers and natives alike along certain courses, and the canny flyer knows to use the currents as a propellant rather than trying to move against them. Finding the right channel and then following its gale is a difficult skill for non-native creatures to master, but with a combination of magic, training, and luck, the Labyrinth Winds can be navigated.

The Labyrinth Winds holds various independent realms, such as Aaqa, the Confederation of Calypso, and various djinn citadels and strongholds. Many of these realms are hidden away from view by magic and the natural properties of the plane, requiring specific actions or magic to reach. Great clouds of all color, from blue to purple to red and orange, dot the never-ending landscape of boundless blue, and behind some of them lurk treasures and dangers of all sorts.

Mistral Reach

Where the Plane of Air nears the Plane of Water, the azure sky grows colder and the earth motes are joined by large ice chunks. This region is known as the Mistral Reach and is infrequently traveled – the snowstorms and blizzards that occur with only a moment’s notice are dangerous for flying creatures and vessels to handle. Beyond the Mistral Reach a traveler can eventually arrive at the border between the planes of Air and Water known as the Place of Ice.

Sirocco Straits

At the opposite end of the endless plane, the Plane of Fire heats up the air and creates an area known as the Sirocco Straits. Hot gusts whip sand and grit around, polishing the earth motes that dot the region, but it is a favorite staging ground for gargoyles and the Elemental Lords of Earth to mount attacks on their sworn flying enemies. The Grand Sultan of the Efreet is known to have a remote palace in the Sirocco Straits. The Plane of Ash, with its continual lightning storms and ash-choked sky, rests beyond the Sirocco Straits, and native creatures avoid getting to close to it.

Cycle of Time

The Plane of Air has no cycles of day and night, which can be unnerving for travelers that are used to the regular setting and rising of a sun. Some natural aspect of the plane keeps the skies deep blue at all times and all around as well – up, down, left, right, in all directions an endless azure sky. Clouds billow up and blow around at random, and some can reach hundreds of miles in size. These clouds can drift into an earth mote or harden into cloudstone to darken the view of the azure sky for a period, but they’re not an accurate form of time measurement.

The djinn and most realms such as the Confederation of Calypso are less interested in the telling of time, living in the moment and taking things as they come, so the need has not come up for them to accurately tell if it’s been 12 hours since they last slept or only 11. If they are sleepy, they sleep. If they are hungry, they eat. The major exception to this is Aaqa, home to the vaati, a powerful race of elementals dedicated to law and order. They have developed complex wind-up devices to track the passage of time and they meticulously synchronize these devices with a large clock in the center of their realm.

Surviving

While the Plane of Fire can burn, and the Plane of Water can drown, and the Plane of Earth can suffocate, the Plane of Air simply allows creatures to breathe and live without too much interference. There are still the dangers of the elemental storms, angry natives, and powerful winds, so it’s not quite all safe, but the basic properties of the plane are not directly harmful to travelers.

Getting There

More portals exist to the Plane of Air than any of the other Inner Planes, and this is likely due to the abundance of air and sky in the Material Plane and nearly every other plane in the multiverse. Natural portals on the Material Plane are known to spontaneously appear near the tops of tall mountain, but sudden and intense storms can also contain a vortex to the Plane of Air. Some vortices are permanent and travel around the Material Plane in the center of normal-seeming clouds.

The djinn maintain a number of portals to the Material Plane and other regions that they use to experience the wonders of the multiverse first hand. In the Citadel of Ice and Steel, the Great Caliph is said to have an entire citadel level dedicated to portals to his favorite realms. The caliph’s personal bodyguards keep these portals a secret and guard them with their life, so travelers are warned about their use.

The cloud city of Calypso boasts a guild of wizards that specialize in creating and controlling portals, a skill that they use to keep intruders from invading the city whenever they want. As the cloud captains have a tendency to raid and pillage from all they can, including the djinn, the Guild of Portals is kept very busy maintaining the city’s defenses by preventing unwanted portals from opening.

Traveling Around

For creatures with a flying speed, movement in the Plane of Air is as simple as taking off and flying in a direction, navigating the winds in a similar manner as the Material Plane. Creatures without a flying speed are usually stuck on an earth mote or cloudstone island, but it should be noted that gravity does not behave normally on the Plane of Air. Outside the gravitational bounds of a large object (generally about 50 feet), an object or creature simply hovers to be picked up by the winds that push and pull everything.

The sailing ships of the Calypsian cloud captains are large enough to hold gravity, and most earth motes and cloudstone islands are as well. The winds of the plane push these objects around as well, but since there’s no permanent reference point on the Plane of Air few creatures notice or care when this happens. For the cloud captains, sometimes it takes longer to reach an earth mote than it did before, and sometimes you never find the same one again. Such are the mysteries of the Plane of Air.

Clouds are a regular feature of the plane and they come in all shapes and colors. Many produce storms, some incredibly violent, and there are some storms that have been raging for decades – others last only a few minutes before they exhaust themselves of their energy. Passing through or hiding in a cloud can be an effective strategy, but it can also be the home of any number of native creatures, such as hostile air elementals, great swarms of cloudworms or skymites, or even a sky ship from Calypso looking to ambush an unsuspecting target.

Powerful & Mighty

As wild and free as it presents itself, the Plane of Air does have its fair share of powerful entities and organizations that seek to impose its own sense of order upon the realms. Some are more deliberate in this endeavor than others, but all could use the services of a party of skilled adventurers from time to time.

Confederation of Calypso

There are only a few permanent settlements in the Plane of Air, and the cloud city of Calypso prides itself on being the most mysterious, at least to the outside. It is a city that sits in a permanent blue cloud built upon cloudstone that serves as the central base of power for the Confederation of Calypso. The Confederation is a loose alliance of pirate captains, each with their own sky ship, that call the city of Calypso their neutral home. Whatever blood feuds and ancient enmities exist outside, inside the bounds of the city there is a peace truce.

At least, that’s the idea. The Confederation does meet irregularly, usually only when the city is threatened by some force, and then its only the sky ship captains that happen to be close to Calypso at the moment that are invited. Each captain registered with the Guild of Ships in Calypso is entitled to a seat on the confederation council, which allows them to vote and pass laws as necessary. As the council is made up of murdering, thieving pirates who ply the air currents of the plane seeking treasure and plunder, little actual governing is done and the council has thus far only enacted one law. Known as the First Law, it is what keeps Calypso as neutral ground for all confederation members.

The cloud captains of the Confederation of Calypso range far and wide from their home, and encountering one in the wilds of the Plane of Air usually has no lasting consequences beyond dealing with the single pirate sky ship. Theoretically, the council could take some large-scale action against a force that attacked one of their members, but thus far no such concerted effort has even been brought forth as a proposal. The pirates seem content to raid on their own and return to Calypso, happy in the knowledge that the First Law protects their ship from deliberate harm.

Several members of the Confederation of Calypso have hired themselves out as mercenaries to other powers in the plane, such as Yan-C-Bin or the Prismatic Order. The Wind Dukes of Aaqa want nothing to do with the pirates, however, and Memnor the cloud giant god pays them no heed, though at least one cloud captain is a cloud giant scoundrel of dark reputation. Other captains include an aarakocra sorcerer, an air genasi bravado, a gnome priestess, a grim tiefling thug, and a charming half-elf bard with a legion of loyal pirate followers.

Elemental Lords of Air

The Elemental Lords of Air are the princes and princesses of the elementals, owing allegiance to none but themselves and working towards their own ends. The most famous is Yan-C-Bin, the Prince of Evil Air Elementals, who dwells in his massive Cyclone Palace in a remote section of the Labyrinth Winds. Yan-C-Bin is a wise and malicious creature with patience to spare and a simple desire to destroy the Material Plane in a whirlwind of total chaos. While he is worshipped by cultists across the multiverse, Yan-C-Bin pays them no heed – he has no allies beyond the air elementals he commands and that suits him just fine.

Yan-C-Bin’s seat of power is his Cyclone Palace, but he has built up quite a collection of destroyed Material Plane chunks in a region called the Hurricane Boneyard. There his “good” works across the multiverse are catalogued, haphazardly and without apparent order, and he keeps a force of elite air elemental guardians around the site to keep travelers from stealing from him.

At the other end of the spectrum, Chan is the Princess of Good Air Elementals, but she takes a more hands-off approach to the multiverse. Within her glass-walled Palace of Unseen Contemplation, Chan observes and monitors a great many things. She is engaged with a secret war with Yan-C-Bin, and the two make subtle moves against each other that are nearly invisible to comprehend for nonelementals. Chan is on good terms with the Great Caliph of the Djinn and the two meet for tea on a regular basis to discuss the state of affairs in the Plane of Air and beyond.

Great Caliph of the Djinn

The wild and free-willed djinn recognize few leaders and no formal hierarchy, but the power and influence of the Great Caliph is without question. Great Caliph Husam al-Balil ben Nafhat al-Yugayyim, Master of the Clouds, Son of the Breezes, Secret Keeper of the Four Winds, Prince of Birds, Storm of the Heavens, Defender of the Righteous, Emperor of Gales, Commander of Monsoons, and Master of the Air, keeps court in the fabulously appointed Citadel of Ice and Steel, the largest djinn stronghold and one of the greatest seats in the Plane of Air. From his icy palace, the Great Caliph receives visitors and news from across the realm, which he sees as under his protection. Like most djinn, the Great Caliph takes a pragmatic view towards possessions – if something can be used, it should be used, and the ownership is determined by the best suited person.

Though arrogant like the rest of his kind, the Great Caliph can be kind, especially when something threatens the freedom of an individual or group. He hates the efreet and dao for their slave-taking policies, and believes that all creatures great and small should have the opportunity to perform great deeds and have them recognized. The Great Caliph and the rest of the djinn do hold a great number of servants, but these beings are treated well and paid for their time. A servant of the Great Caliph in the Citadel of Ice and Steel is a great privilege fought over by many.

The Great Caliph rarely keeps to a schedule, and even with important emissaries awaiting introduction in his court he has been known to take leave on a whim to deal with some manner or event. He enjoys tea and keeps a heated fountain that pulls pure liquid from the Plane of Water in his private chambers, and he has treated kindly with the Great Padishah of the Marid from time to time.

Memnor, God of Evil Cloud Giants

Unlike most other giant races, cloud giants have a philosophical split that pulls them in two separate directions, good and evil. This split is represented in their deities by the blood feud between Memnor and Stronmaus, two of the siblings of Annam, greatest of giant gods. While Stronmaus keeps his fabulous palace in the Beastlands and counts storm and cloud giants as among his worshippers, Memnor sees himself as the true heir to their father’s legacy. He is cruel, charming, and wicked to the core, and only counts the evil cloud giants as his worshippers and followers.

Memnor’s realm in the Plane of Air is the Scarlet Sky, a collection of red- and white-hued clouds peppered with fierce rainless lightning storms that continually arc between them. Here he has built grand palaces for himself and his most loyal followers, but due to some curse the lightning strikes continually destroy the buildings. Never deterred, Memnor simply rebuilds with renewed effort and views the entire affair as a symbol for his struggle to see his chosen cloud giants ascend in the Ordning to become the greatest giants across the multiverse.

Prismatic Order

Wizards have always been drawn to the Plane of Air, whether to remove themselves from the multiverse’s troubles or to study the unique elemental effects found only in this realm, but these are usually loners that setup isolated towers and castles away from the eyes of others. For the Prismatic Order, however, hiding is something they cannot do – they use the seven colors of the prism to harness magical energy for their own purposes.

The wizards, sorcerers, and librarians of the Prismatic Order are dedicated to magical research of all kinds, but membership is only awarded to a handful of apprentices in any annual cycle so their numbers are not great. Nonetheless, they wield considerable influence on the Plane of Air, and the Great Caliph of the Djinn is known to consult with them on magical matters from time to time. The Prismatic Order tries to keep itself neutral in terms of the maneuverings of the planar powers, and they keep to their eight citadels and castles spread across the Labyrinth Winds. Each citadel is dedicated to a color of the prismatic spectrum, in ascending order of importance and power – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Each citadel is governed by a master mage (Red Master Mage, Orange Master Mage, etc.), and the order’s central headquarters is the fabulous Prismatic Fortress. There, the Prismatic Master keeps their work, which is usually focused on greater applications of the magical color spectrum.

Though it is referred to as a single organization, the individual master mages of the Prismatic Order vary wildly in their goals and views. The current Yellow Master Mage is a dragonborn wizard dedicated to experimenting on djinni blood, which has put him in poor graces with the Great Caliph and his kin. The Indigo Master Mage is a female drow wizard focused on ways to blanket the Plane of Air in eternal darkness, and the Red Master Mage is a human wizard seeking to map all of the portals of the multiverse for archival purposes.

As long as each master mage is working to advance magical prowess in the Plane of Air and beyond, the Prismatic Master allows all such work to continue. The current Prismatic Master is an enigmatic human of considerable old age, considered by many in his own ranks to be feebleminded and frail but capable still of fending off various coups in the Prismatic Fortress.

Wind Dukes of Aaqa

While most of the Plane of Air is a wild, chaotic mess of wind currents, air streams, and storms of indeterminate length and power, such unfettered chaos has no place in the rigid realm of Aaqa. Home to the Wind Dukes, an ancient race of elementals known as vaati, Aaqa is a bastion of order and law in the Plane of Air that offers tranquility and serenity at the price of personal freedom. A fair trade off for the Wind Dukes, who have dedicated their existence to standing against the forces of pure, unfettered chaos.

Within the bounds of Aaqa in the Labyrinth Winds, a simple cool breeze flows at all times, and the earth motes hold beautifully simple structures of organized architecture rarely seen outside the plane of Mechanus. Gardens are neatly groomed and meticulously tended to by lesser vaati, who are organized in a rigid caste system based on age and duty. The central earth mote is known as the Valley of Aaqa, and it is there that the Wind Dukes themselves discuss the laws of the multiverse and their eternal conflict against chaos.

The Wind Dukes are a noble and powerful race, but they are dwindling in number. They once numbered in the thousands long ago, but their war against the forces of the Queen of Chaos and her champion, Miska the Wolf-Spider, drained Aaqa of its inhabitants. The vaati number much less now, but they believe their efforts have not been in vain. With the creation and use of a powerful artifact, they have managed to keep the Queen of Chaos at bay – though in doing so, the relic was sundered and scattered, creating what is now known as the Rod of Seven Parts.

The vaati count the aarakocra as their staunchest allies, and the winged birdfolk are the rank-and-file warriors and soldiers of Aaqa that keep the various forces of chaos from invading the idyllic realm. Across the Plane of Air, the aarakocra maintain Aeries of Vigilance, each attuned to another so that threats can be assessed quickly and dealt with appropriately by the Wind Dukes.

Creatures & Denizens

The Plane of Air is home to all manner of creatures, including many from the Material Plane. From air elementals to arrowhawks, vaati to wind walkers, the denizens of the Plane of Air can be dangerous, helpful, or simply mysterious – or all three, depending on the circumstances!

Elementals

The original inhabitants and native creatures of the Plane of Air are the air elementals. They are formed of the primal material found naturally in the plane itself, and most planar scholars believe them to be a natural manifestation of the plane’s power. Air elementals are common encounters, and many display animalistic tendencies that make them dangerous if provoked. A rare few exhibit intelligence and cunning, and some have been documented with the ability to speak in their own wispy, airy language.

Birds are common encounters across the Plane of Air, including eagles, owls, hawks, and ravens, but as part of their evolution they have been transformed into elementals. Many of these creatures have blue or white colorations, allowing them to blend in with the endless azure skies of the plane. The birds usually dine upon the swarms of insects that buzz about the cloudstones, mainly stormworms, so most sailors and natives view the birds as helpful more than harmful. It isn’t uncommon for djinn to have menageries in their homes filled with all manner of exotic birds from across the plane.

Arrowhawks are also native elemental creature with an aggressive attitude and dangerous lightning strikes, but they are little more than large monstrous birds. Nyth are intelligent, cruel glowing balls of light that feed on energy; they seem drawn to places close to the Positive Energy Plane. Sylphs are gentle female spirits of the Plane of Air, often mistaken for faeries, with an adventurous spirit and a naïve attitude that gets them into trouble in most places.

Elder tempests are incredibly powerful beings formed from the raw core of the Plane of Air. They are living windstorms always on the move, and the Elemental Lords of Air and the djinni both fear the wrath of these tempestuous elementals.

Djinn

The elemental genies of the Plane of Air are the noble djinn. They consider themselves the true masters of the plane, exhibiting a level of arrogance that defines their relationship with “lesser” creatures. Djinni citadels and castles are found throughout the layers, often setup to be as conspicuous and obvious as possible, with dazzling diamond exteriors that reflect the endless blue. These grand structures are filled with servants, though they are not slaves – djinni masters pay their staff well, though in unconventional ways. Favors, trinkets, and personal items are common forms of payment.

Vaati

There’s a wild, unpredictable nature to the Plane of Air that infuses the attitudes of the residents. The exact opposite is true of the vaati, also known as the Wind Dukes, who have developed a rigid outlook based around absolute law and order. At one point they commanded numerous fortresses across the Labyrinth Winds, but time has worn down their legions and reduced their strongholds to just Aaqa, their ancestral home.

Humanoids

Entire communities of humanoids from across the multiverse can be found among the cloudstone islands of the Plane of Air. Most are pirates and sailors that have learned to navigate the invisible currents of the Labyrinth Winds in order to travel around, as little natural food can be grown on the cloudstone islands.

Aarakocra

Aarakocra are an avian race of bird-like humanoids. They trace their origin to the Plane of Air, where many clans still serve the Wind Dukes of Aaqa as loyal soldiers. As the legendary vaati have had their influence reduced over the centuries, mainly from attrition in the eternal war against chaos, the aarakocra have spread out across the planes. Some of them have gone out in search of sources tainted with Elemental Evil, a primordial power of ultimate chaos that has opposed Aaqa since the beginning of time. Those aarakocra remaining on the Plane of Air are usually advance scouts and soldiers for the Wind Dukes.

Genasi

Genasi are descendants of genies, and the air genasi trace their lineage back to the noble djinn of the Plane of Air. They are welcome offspring of their genie parents, and many air genasi form enclaves within the larger djinni citadels that can become just as influential and powerful as any court noble. Many take to adventuring outside their palatial homes, however, and air genasi are common crew members aboard the pirating vessels that sail out of Calypso.

Monstrosities

Great winged monsters such as the mighty roc, proud griffons, and voracious hippogriffs are frequently found in the Plane of Air. They make nests or lairs in cloudstone islands, jealously guarding them from intruders, and enjoy the freedom of life in the endless azure skies. More dangerous are the cruel perytons that plague the frequently traveled travel routes in the Labyrinth Winds, picking off pirates and sailors from the decks of their ships.

Perhaps the rarest creature to swim through the skies is the aptly named skyswimmer. These monstrous leviathans feed on rocs and griffons, along with anything else they can get a hold of, and are known to take on well-armed galleons in fights to the death. The sky pirates of Calypso watch out for signs of skyswimmers, who are so large as to cast shadows from miles away.

Horuth

Horuth are believed to be an offshoot of the aarakocra race. They are large, owl-like beings that have resided on the Plane of Air for as long as the vaati. They prize knowledge above all other things and rarely take action lest they interfere with the flow of history; their wondrous libraries are well-hidden but filled with lore from across the multiverse.

Hazards & Phenomena

While falling isn’t as big of a threat as many think, the Plane of Air still holds its share of dangers and threats. And sometimes, in a plane where vision can extend for miles, these dangers can appear suddenly and without warning.

Unusual Clouds

Most travelers don’t think of clouds as dangerous, and most of them are not, but a cloud on the Plane of Air is defined as a collection of gases separate from the rest of the plane. Most of the time, these gases are simply water vapors, harmless and easily breathed, but other times they can be distracting or lethal.

Cloudstones and Earth Motes

Sometimes, clouds that float through the Plane of Air become supercharged with enough elemental energy that they actually stiffen and become hard surfaces. They continue to float and be pushed around by the winds of the plane, but they cease becoming storm-riddled clouds and instead become solid masses. They still look like clouds but they support buildings and infrastructure as if they were regular earth. Many creatures build homes and settlements on these objects, the largest of which is the cloud city of Calypso.

Similarly, earth motes are simply chunks of earth and dirt that have collected together over time, generally as a result from multiple elemental storms. They can also appear from planar portals and vortexes, especially in the Mistral Reach and Sirocco Straits regions, where earth motes become more common. They are solid ground upon which creatures can rest and build homes as if it were Material Plane earth.

Labyrinth Winds

The bulk of the Plane of Air is made up of a series of air channels known as the Labyrinth Winds. Navigating these invisible pathways is chaotic and confusing, and there is no straight path to any single destination. Some djinni and certain shops in Calypso have maps detailing various sections of the Labyrinth Winds, but these can change with little notice.

Navigating the Labyrinth Winds requires two things – a starting point and a destination, and on the Plane of Air a destination can include a length of time (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc.). The wind gusts and breeze ways are strong enough to pull objects and creatures along the way without the need for special equipment, though the ability to fly or harness the winds effectively (such as a sky ship) can greatly decrease travel times.

Elemental Storm

It is not uncommon for even normal clouds to unleash an elemental storm on the Plane of Air with barely a moment’s notice. These storms are churned up by powerful forces contained within the Elemental Chaos, and they manifest with bolts and rains of energy just as often as water. Elemental storms always manifest from clouds; randomly determine the type using the cloud tables earlier. Use the table below to determine the nature of the elemental storm as well as the storm’s duration.

Void Maelstrom

Of all the environmental effects on the Plane of Air, void maelstroms are the most dangerous and least understood. Most planar scholars agree that a void maelstrom is the result of a spontaneous vortex to the Negative Energy Plane, drawing energy and light into it and creating a swirling maelstrom that sucks in debris, earth motes, and creatures. Why do void maelstroms only occur on the Plane of Air? There are some that theorize that since air is so ubiquitous across the multiverse, it touches more of the cosmic forces that hold everything together. Others say it has to do with meddling by ancient powers, such as the ones that built the original Sky Temples.

Whatever their cause, void maelstroms are dangerous and rare. When encountered, they appear as monstrous tornadoes, with a planar vortex to the Negative Energy Plane at its peak, drawing everything in. Void maelstroms are usually the same size, encompassing a rough cone about 1 mile long and 1 mile in diameter at its mouth, narrowing down to about 100 feet in diameter at the vortex. Creatures and objects caught in the maelstrom are sucked towards its center at an astonishing rate of 1/5 of a mile per round.

Sites & Treasures

Battered by constant winds and shuffled about by the unseen forces, the Plane of Air still holds a great number of mysteries and treasures that draw travelers from across the multiverse. Its general accessibility followed by the abundance of sights and wonders combines to make it the most traveled elemental plane in the multiverse.

Aaqa

Home of the Wind Dukes, Aaqa is an idyllic realm of law and order in every aspect. It is hidden from travelers of the Labyrinth Winds by elaborate illusions and elemental magic, so that only the vaati and their allies can locate it. While the vaati are the rulers of Aaqa, they number very few, and they rely heavily on aarakocra to take up most duties. The aarakocra are the eyes and ears of the Wind Dukes across the Plane of Air and the multiverse, and they communicate simple messages back and forth through the use of attuned Aeries of Stewardship.

Aaqa is shielded from the chaotic gales of the Labyrinth Winds by ancient vaati magic, and within its borders a peaceful serenity gathers around the gentle breezes that kiss the skin. Several earth motes are anchored to the realm, each containing idyllic gardens and marble columned buildings of radiant white stone. The earth motes are connected to one another by well-crafted stone bridges carved with the images of vaati legends.

The main earth mote is known as the Vale of Aaqa and houses the majority of vaati, working and going about their orderly lives according to ancient sacred laws. The seven castes of the vaati each have their role to play in the maintenance and defense of Aaqa, and the focal point of each caste is found in the Seven Houses located on the main earth mote. The Great Congressional Hall is the largest building in Aaqa, and its doors are sealed by vaati decree, only to be opened when the realms are threatened by the forces of utter chaos.

It has been centuries since the Great Congressional Hall was opened, but some Wind Dukes believe chaos is gathering strength across the multiverse and the time for action is approaching. Others preach patience, and the schism growing in the ranks of the vaati creates an opportunity for chaos to flourish.

Aerie of Ancient Feathers

While the aarakocra primarily serve the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, they do have their own beliefs and legends. Chief among these stories is the legend of their creator deity, Syranita, who once flew the azure skies of the Plane of Air in majestic freedom. She created the aarakocra out of a rare cloud she discovered, and the result were a race of noble bird folk with a strong belief in good and justice. Like her people, Syranita never settled down, and the beat of her wings took her from the elemental planes and beyond.

Through some calamity, Syranita’s power and influence declined rapidly. Different tribes of aarakocra have different versions of this downfall. The aarakocra of Aaqa blame Syranita’s fall on the forces of chaos, while others say she fought a mighty battle against a powerful Elemental Lord of Earth, destroying her foe but losing much of herself in the process. Whatever the truth, Syranita returned weakened to the Plane of Air, and she knew that her time was running low. She flew higher and farther than any creature had gone before, and there she discovered a cloudstone island far removed from much of the realm.

With her most loyal followers at her side, Syranita laid down upon the cloudstone island and never woke up again. Her body become a holy aerie, sacred to the aarakocra and tended to by her loyal followers and their descendants. The Aerie of Ancient Feathers was born from the passing of Syranita, creator of the aarakocra, and sometimes an actual feather descends from the distant site to visit good fortune upon one of her people. Some aarakocra don’t believe the Aerie of Ancient Feathers is real, and that it is only a myth, while others claim to have set clawed foot upon its sacred ground.

Borealis Radiance

Deep in the Labyrinth Winds, an unusual brilliant light sits suspended in the air, unaffected by the gales and storms, acting as a sort of stationary sun for miles and miles around it. The light is known as the Borealis Radiance, and planar scholars say it is a permanent vortex between the Plane of Air and the Positive Energy Plane. The radiant light shifts colors at times, always blindingly bright but changing from yellow to white to pale green on no set schedule.

Earth motes hang suspended around the Borealis Radiance, and the light from the vortex’s heart gives rise to unusual vegetation and formation found nowhere else on the Plane of Air. Enormous stalks of vegetation of brilliant hues, fields of serpent-like grass, rocks that spontaneously shift from solid to liquid, and massive trees sprouting huge bunches of strange fruit are just some of the unusual occurrences reported around the Borealis Radiance. Living creatures that approach too close to the vortex risk being burned by the positive energy, but most of the earth motes are far enough away to only mildly irritate visitors.

And the region is not uninhabited. Strange creatures called nyth dance around the earth motes in the light of the planar vortex. These normally solitary hunters have developed some unknown truce in the Borealis Radiance, perhaps because they are formed as a result of the planar confluence. Most planar scholars point to the Borealis Radiance as their birthplace, and certainly the nyth act as guardians of the entire area. Visitors are warned to be wary of the creatures, which act with naked aggression towards any trespassers.

Calypso, City of Clouds

If the Plane of Air had a capital city, Calypso would be a strong contender for the title. This sprawling city sits on a series of massive cloudstone islands in a magically supported cloud that obscures it from casual view in the Labyrinth Winds. Ramshackle buildings, opulent towers, grand villas and terraces, and dozens of shops and stores lay haphazardly scattered about the uneven cloudstone streets of Calypso, and all manner of creatures live, eat, and die in the City of Clouds, which has become a lawless haven for thieves, pirates, and unscrupulous merchants.

The city is nominally governed by the Confederation of Calypso, a group of the most influential sky ship captains that call the city home, but they have passed only one law, known as the First Law, the makes Calypso neutral territory for the purposes of pirate rivalries. The law is maintained by no regular militia, and fights regularly break out, but they are between individuals with problems with one another, not ship crews fighting ship crews.
Several influential guilds and organizations in Calypso keep things running as smoothly as possible. The Guild of Mages are the first line of magical defense for the city, and they maintain the portals that lead into and out of Calypso with a tight rein. The city’s Guild of Thieves runs gambling institutions, protection rackets, and other activities considered unsavory in more respected places. The most powerful guild on Calypso, however, is the Guild of Shipwrights. These are the craftsman that make and repair the sky ships that support the activities of the Confederation, and this guild wields its power with tyrannical authority. Most residents understand that though the Confederation of Calypso supposedly runs things, it’s the Guild of Shipwrights that operates the in’s and outs of the city on a regular basis.

Citadel of Ice and Steel

The djinn have the strongest presence in the Plane of Air, with a great number of freeholds and citadels scattered about. These genies believe in personal freedoms, so they don’t owe much loyalty beyond themselves and the people around them, but they do recognize the power of the Great Caliph of the Djinn, who dwells in the magnificent Citadel of Ice and Steel. This metropolis is constructed on a massive chunk of ice and earth, sculpted by the legendary crafters of the djinn harnessing the natural winds of the plane around them to form a massive oval shape. No less than 15,000 djinn dwell in the opulent citadel, which is one colossal building built over the entire sheet of ice and stone.

Walls are carved of magically reinforced ice set with steel beams and doors, and dozens of towers and minarets stand tall across the citadel. The center of the city is known as the Palace of Fortune and holds the court of the Great Caliph himself. The top of the palace reaches higher than any other point in the Citadel of Ice and Steel, a crowning symbol of the Great Caliph’s eternal standing as steward of all the djinni. The Great Caliph’s court is attended by dozens of noble djinni, some of whom live in the citadel but many of which are visiting from across the plane. Dragons, emissaries of elemental lords, celestials, and other powerful creatures have also been known to pay the Great Caliph a visit.

The Citadel of Ice and Steel is guarded by a well-trained cadre of loyal genie soldiers known as the Thunderbolt Legion. Service in this well-respected order is a high honor, and the Great Caliph has made honorary members of mortals that have come to the aid of the djinn in the past. To date, the Thunderbolt Legion has been called upon only once to defend the Citadel of Ice and Steel from a hostile force – a surprise attack by efreeti warriors and dao assassins nearly brought the citadel to ruin. But the heroes of the Thunderbolt Legion stood their ground, and many veterans of the legion still serve that remember the Battle of Boiling Stone.

Non-hostile visitors to the Citadel of Ice and Steel are brought to the Hall of Welcome, a custom for all djinn freeholds, but here the opulence is beyond measure. The finest food and the most delicate of wines are served to guests while they await their summons to the Great Caliph’s court, and there have been some visitors that have simply decided to live in the Hall of Welcome rather than move on. The djinni welcome such guests as long as they don’t inflict their beliefs on other travelers or residents of the citadel, a grave crime in the eyes of the Great Caliph. Personal freedoms are to be protected and treasured.

Cloud of the Nightwings

Black clouds on the Plane of Air are rare but not unheard of, but there’s at least one unusual specimen that appears so black it looks like a hole in the azure sky. Travelers and natives refer to it as the Cloud of the Nightwings, and many believe it holds either a planar vortex to the Plane of Shadow or the Negative Energy Plane. Bone-numbing cold radiates from the massive cloud, and strange ray-shaped monsters dart in and out of its great expanse.

The cloud captains of Calypso know to avoid the Cloud of the Nightwings when possible, but some rogue scholars with a flair for adventure have taken up its study in a shadowed guildhall in the City of Clouds. They propose that there are more than one such cloud floating through the Plane of Air, and that it holds not a planar vortex in its center but a portal to a previously unrecorded demiplane. Thus far, the scholars have sponsored three expeditions into one of the black clouds, but none have returned. Few captains seem willing to take them up on their lucrative offer for further study, however.

Cyclone Palace of Yan-C-Bin

The Prince of Evil Elemental Air, Yan-C-Bin is a greedy and destructive lord who sees little value in the aid or assistance of others. His home, the Cyclone Palace, is a reflection of this – a swirling cyclonic torrent of winds several miles wide and tall, at the center of which sits a cocoon of silence that Yan-C-Bin sits in to contemplate his actions and next moves. The movement of the Cyclone Palace draws in all sorts of things, including creatures and earth motes, but by exerting his powerful will the elemental lord can force out any intruders to his gust-filled realm.

The exception to Yan-C-Bin’s self-induced isolation are air elementals, who do not communicate with the sullen lord and instead simply obey his every wish and command. Yan-C-Bin cultivates a sense of wickedness in his air elemental servants by pitting them against one another, rewarding creativity and punishing failure. A small cadre of powerful air elementals serve Yan-C-Bin as sounding boards, assassins, thugs, soldiers, or whatever else he needs, and he often sends them to wreak havoc in a targeted region of the Material Plane and return with some desired treasure.

There are rumors of certain smaller objects caught in the Cyclone Palace that Yan-C-Bin has either not noticed or simply not cared enough about to deal with. It’s also possible that the elemental lord has created these rumors himself in order to lure gullible travelers to his realm so that he can smash them to pieces with the force of his slashing winds. It certainly would not be past the famously petty Prince of Evil Elemental Air to lay such a trap for the foolhardy.

Hurricane Boneyard

Yan-C-Bin’s Cyclone Palace is a whirling maelstrom of chaos and winds, but the elemental lord still enjoys collecting trophies from his eternal war on the rest of the multiverse. These trophies include rubble from destroyed kingly palaces, the smashed remnants of towers that once belonged to powerful wizards, debris from temples dedicated to gods of all types, and many others, and they are all deposited in a secret cloudstone island known as the Hurricane Boneyard. To the most people, however, the cloudstone island is simply filled with mountains of detritus with no rhyme or reason.

Yan-C-Bin is not most people, however, and he knows every piece of rubble and ruin he deposited in the Hurricane Boneyard. Here he keeps memories of past victories, and he has assigned a unit of his elite air elemental guardians to protect it from invaders that would steal his precious debris. Few generally care about the Hurricane Boneyard, but occasionally Yan-C-Bin scoops up lost treasures along with the broken masonry of his conquests. Several outstanding bounties still exist in Calypso for rumored lost treasure dropped somewhere in the boneyard, but none have taken up a ship ro risk Yan-CBin’s wrath to find them.

Prismatic Fortress

The impressive home of the Prismatic Order, the Prismatic Fortress is an imposing castle built of stone and glass upon a multi-colored cloudstone island. The fortress has seven towers, each colored and dedicated to one of the colors of the order, with a massive central citadel serving as the home of the Prismatic Master. The individual towers hold representatives of the seven master mages, who dwell in their own castles and citadels elsewhere on the Plane of Air, and they work to secretly spy on each other’s activities.

Visitors to the Prismatic Fortress are rare, but the current Prismatic Master is more accommodating than his predecessors. Guests are allowed to land in the Central Courtyard before the master’s citadel where they are greeted by the golem guardians and apprentice wizards that serve the order in the fortress. Obtaining an audience with the Prismatic Master is difficult as he is usually deep in his studies, but the appearance of travelers spreads quickly to the other master mages around the plane, so intrigue and rumors catch like wildfire.

Against attackers, the wizards summon elemental guardians to defend the Prismatic Fortress, and automated defense systems trigger spell effects that mimic the most powerful of prismatic spells in a wizard’s arsenal. Glass golems are common on the ground troops in the case of a hostile invading force, which to date has not happened.

Sky Temple Ruins

The Plane of Air holds many mysteries, and one of the most frequently discussed in the taverns and bars of Calypso and even the courts of the Citadel of Ice and Steel are strange ruins scattered about the plane. Located on unusual purple colored cloudstone islands, these colossal ruins contain iconography and images wholly unknown to the scholars of the current age. Long ago, some traveler called them ruins of an ancient Sky Temple, and the name stuck, but there is little evidence to suggest all of the ruins were once part of a holy site.

The ruins themselves are massive blocks of stone that look like granite but weigh one hundred times as much. The cloudstone islands that they are built upon should not even be able to support their combined weight, but somehow they do, though whether it’s a natural phenomena of the Plane of Air or something inherent to the unusually colored cloudstones is a mystery unto itself. The mysterious horuth usually keep their library lairs hidden near Sky Temple ruins, but the connection between the two is simply another piece to the whole baffling puzzle.

Some planar scholars believe the ruins to be the result of ancient giants who once ruled over the elemental planes, but little evidence in the other Inner Planes exists to support this wild theory. Others say it was a massive empire of horuth that collapsed due to some eldritch calamity, but without confirmation or information from existing horuth it remains unconfirmed. Sky ship pirates from Calypso generally avoid the ruins, considering them bad luck, and travelers that have visited the Sky Temple sites and returned tell strange stories of disembodied voices, ghostly apparitions, and unnerving feelings of “wrongness.” Few cloud captains are willing to venture to the unusual sites.

Star Cloud Islands

Near the Mistral Reach, travelers have noticed groups of strange black clouds that seem studded with mulitcolored lights, as if reflecting a night sky that never appears on the Plane of Air. For those willing to brave the cold and the winds of the region, these Star Cloud Islands hold a great number of unique properties not found elsewhere in the plane. They are solid, functioning as cloudstone for all intents and purposes, but when exposed to direct light the cloudstone softens and can be broken apart. It instantly reverts to its solid state when the light is removed, and some djinni near the islands have commissioned statues and ornaments to be constructed of the unusual material.

Nevari Sorraxon, the female tiefling Violet Master Mage of the Prismatic Order, is currently obsessed with cataloguing and understanding the properties of the Star Cloud Islands. She keeps several teams of apprentices and surveyors around them at all times, and Nevari has moved her personal fortress closer to the region to facilitate faster access. Of the Prismatic Order master mages, Nevari has been considered one of the most ambitious, with her tiefling sights set on the position of Prismatic Master, but the obsession with the Star Cloud Islands has consumed her in the past year. What does she hope to find there? And why do some apprentices go mad experimenting with cloudstuff from the islands?

Storm of Chaos

The Storm of Chaos is a primordial and powerful phenomenon traveling across the Plane of Air at random speeds and intervals. It is a massive elemental storm, several miles across, and consumes all of the clouds and air in its radius when it appears. Fire, lightning, earth, ice, acid, poison, all and more have been reported to be whipped about by the violent winds produced by the Storm of Chaos. The eye of the traveling storm is a colossal object that few have ever witnessed.

The truth is that the Storm of Chaos is fed by a living creature, driven mad by chaotic forces beyond its control, and this living creature was once one of the most powerful Wind Dukes of Aaqa. Before being wracked by chaos, the Wind Duke was instrumental in the creation of the Rod of Law and the battle against the Queen of Chaos. Something happened afterwards, something that the vaati do not talk about, and this Wind Duke fled Aaqa and was consumed by the very chaos it fought so hard to keep at bay. Then the chaotic forces of the Plane of Air combined with vortices from other planar realms and exploded out in a storm of titanic proportions.

If the Wind Duke is still conscious in the eye of the Storm of Chaos, it gives no indication, and none have reached the eye with their wits and skills about them to make any contact attempt. The Wind Dukes consider this a mark of personal shame and do not talk about it, but some aarakocra that guard Aaqa still mourn the loss of such a great general for the forces of law and good.