Limbo

LYKA BRACER CHANGE

• If/when Lykalada'ath travels to certain planes of Existence linked to his past, the Bracer changes its properties while in that Plane. When he leaves that Plane, it returns to normal
• LIMBO - Bracer suddenly appears to be made of petrified wooden and shrinks down to look like a thin bracelet on Lyka's wrist, and can be used to send the Cantrip MESSAGE at will

Limbo is a plane of pure chaos, a roiling soup of impermanent matter and energy. Stone melts into water that freezes into metal, then turns into diamond that burns up into smoke that becomes snow, and on and on in an endless, unpredictable process of change. Fragments of more ordinary landscapes — bits of forest, meadow, ruined castles, and even burbling streams — drift through the disorder. The whole plane is a nightmarish riot.

• Limbo has no gravity, so creatures visiting the plane float in place. A creature can move up to its walking speed in any direction by merely thinking of the desired direction of travel.
• Limbo conforms to the will of the creatures inhabiting it. Very disciplined and powerful minds can create whole islands of their own invention within the plane, sometimes maintaining those places for years. A simpleminded creature such as a fish, though, might have less than a minute before the pocket of water surrounding it freezes, vanishes, or turns to glass. The slaadi live here and swim amid this chaos, creating nothing, whereas githzerai monks build entire monasteries with their minds.

“Breathe the fire; Walk the air; Drink the earth; Warm your hands at the water.” — A petitioner's greeting to Limbo

Description

This plane was supreme chaos, a twisting, quicksilver place filled with bits and pieces of rocks, trees, the four elements, entire landscapes, strong winds, and random pockets of liquid, solid, or gas. Sentient beings could dampen down the chaos to livable levels and produce a safe environment as long as they maintained concentration. The size of a safe zone was directly related to the intelligence of the individual controller. Demigods and more powerful beings did not have this burden and indeed could create realms that survived even if they left Limbo. Gravity operated only between solid objects that touched each other and had about the same strength as on most Prime Material Planes. Thrown objects would fly straight until they hit a solid object. Objects with no momentum would hang in space until contacted by something solid.

• As described by the Great Wheel cosmology, Limbo had five layers that were nearly indistinguishable from each other. The first four layers were named for the chief race or deity that were most often found there. The fifth layer was referred to as the layer of Lost Gods.

• A branch of Yggdrasil, the World Ash, connected the first layer of Ysgard to Limbo. It was a trajectory regularly chosen by the Great Modron March.

• A rare type of substance was exported out of Limbo called shiftspice. It was sold in small packets and consumed through dipping and licking wetted fingers. Each dip tasted differently. This exotic spice could be purchased as far from Limbo as Sigil, the City of Doors.

 

Gith and Slaad

“There, we mold the matter of Limbo with our minds. We forge cities with our thoughts. In its chaos we dwell, with only our knowing to preserve us. We are the githzerai.” — Dak'kon

The slaad were likely natives of Limbo and the githzerai were immigrants (or refugees, if you ask the githyanki) and the first layer was named for them. This layer was strategically important because of its connections to Gladsheim, Concordant Opposition, Pandemonium, and the Astral plane.

Susanowo

Named after a deity from the country of Japan on Earth, he ruled a spherical bubble half filled with sea water and aquatic life and churned by storms of his making.

Agni

Named after a deity from the country of India on Earth, he resided in a sphere of pure flame that floated through the layers at his will.

Indra

Also from India, Indra's sphere was half filled with enchanted milk and his palace stood on an island-sized tortoise (or possibly a tortoise-shaped island).

Lost Gods

It was unknown if any race or deity favored this layer.

NOTABLE LOCATIONS

The realms of the powers that resided in Limbo floated through the various layers at will and so are listed here in no particular order.

• The slaad lords Ssendam and Ygorl maintained realms most often found in the first layer but away from areas not under their control. Ssendam's citadel is a golden castle, while Ygorl's realm is a chain of carved spheres that whirl about.
• The githzerai formed hamlets, villages, and one large city out of the chaos, known as the Floating City or Citadel of Gith ruled by Zaerith Menyar-Ag-Gith (the Great Githzerai).
• Fennimar was the realm of Fenmarel Mestarine before moving to Arvandor. Shevarash, the Black Archer, also often stayed there.
• Targus, the Netherese god of war, lived here, before moving to Pandemonium under his new name of Garagos.
• Tempus Foehammer, Lord of Battles once lived in Limbo. Knight's Rest was the name of his realm which later became its own plane named Warrior's Rest in the World Tree cosmology model.
• Leira, the Lady of the Mists, once made her home called the Courts of Illusion here.
• Tapann, the patron deity of korreds once made his home here.
• Mystryl, the Mother of All Magic, lived on this plane in her domain called Dweomertor until her death in −339 DR.
• Astilabor, the Hoardmistress of the Draconic pantheon, was reputed to have a lair hidden somewhere in Limbo that contained more wealth than that found on all the planets of Realmspace.
• Kereska, the draconic "Light of Magic", resided in Limbo.
• Agni, the chaotic Vedic fire deity, had a mutable realm named Swarga here together with his fellow Lords of Creation Indra and Vayu.

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Githzerai in the World

"Zerthimon does not expect us to wait in patience for his return. Instead, we must pave the way for his efforts, so that we can hasten the coming of our golden age." — The Teachings of Menyar-Ag

It’s natural for githzerai to prefer to remain in Limbo. They have carved out a well-ordered civilization in an environment that they can freely manipulate with their minds. When they visit other realms, particularly the Material Plane, githzerai feel sluggish and aren’t comfortable functioning in a landscape that they see as being locked in immutability. Despite their disinclination toward travel, the githzerai send groups away from Limbo on a regular basis to keep from giving ground in their battles against the githyanki and the mind flayers.

Adamantine Citadels

• When githzerai travel, they sometimes bring a sliver of Limbo along. Before they set out, a cadre of powerful anarchs craft a citadel of adamantine out of the chaos-stuff around them. Inside the structure is more of Limbo’s essence, left in raw form until it’s needed. Then, in an eruption of psionic and arcane power that only Menyar-Ag can produce, the citadel and its accompanying githzerai are transported to another plane.
• After the transfer is complete, at least one anarch must always attend the citadel to maintain its form and shape as well as to utilize the chaos-stuff within. When a citadel is ensconced on another plane, the githzerai create a teleportation circle inside it to facilitate travel between that plane and Limbo.
• The appearance of an adamantine citadel on another plane creates a blot on the natural world. Life, the one thing that can’t be spontaneously created from the stuff of Limbo, is driven away from the location in a wave of dread. Depending on the size of the citadel, the affected area can have a radius of between several hundred feet and several miles. Birds avoid flying over or near it, other animals flee the area, and plants in the vicinity wither and die. Intelligent creatures can act normally, but being in the affected area is unnerving to them, and if they investigate, they soon identify the citadel as the cause. The githyanki, however, find it in their best interest to keep their citadels safe from discovery. Menyar-Ag prefers to plant them in desolate and rarely frequented places such as barren deserts or remote locations in the Underdark.
• The primary purpose of an adamantine citadel is to watch over the activity of some foe of the githzerai, such as an illithid colony, and to provide a base of operations for a possible attack. Citadels are also used to collect foodstuffs and other material goods for transport to Limbo. When the githzerai are finished with a citadel, they vacate it and return to Limbo. Immediately after the last anarch teleports away, the citadel vanishes, leaving only a scarred landscape to indicate where it once stood.

Spreading the Word

The githzerai see their cause as not just a provincial concern, but one that they strive to impress upon others. As such, they have taken the initiative in preaching the philosophy of Zerthimon and sharing their knowledge of how to fight illithids and githyanki. To this end, zerths sometimes venture to other planes with the intent of founding a new monastery or joining an existing one. These “missionaries” are always looking for those with psionic potential who can bring those powers to bear against the githzerai’s foes. Most often, they operate in secret or behind the scenes as they pursue their agenda and try to swell the ranks of their allies. Who can say how many monasteries are in truth secret recruiting stations for the githzerai?

Going on the Attack

The githzerai know full well that they can’t make progress in the war against their enemies by staying inside their fortresses on Limbo. To check the advances of the illithids and the githyanki and keep their foes’ numbers down, squads of githzerai often travel to other planes with the express intent of destroying the objects of their hatred.  

• Githyanki. Githzerai rarely confront githyanki on their home turf in the Astral Plane, but on other planes they maintain steady surveillance, always on the lookout for githyanki plots to foil and crèches to exterminate. During a mission of this sort, the githzerai don’t intentionally endanger the natural denizens of the plane, but they never compromise a planned attack on the githyanki just to protect innocent bystanders. In battling githyanki, the end justifies the means.
• Githzerai sometimes employ mercenaries on the Material Plane to aid them in battling the githyanki, primarily to keep their enemies off-balance or to provide reinforcements. For those who need such enticement, they offer the promise of sharing the bounty of great treasures held by the githyanki.
• Mind Flayers. Though they devote most of their military efforts to the constant campaign against the githyanki, the githzerai’s enmity for the illithids is even older. On one thing the githyanki and the githzerai can agree: the mind flayers must pay for what they did to the gith eons ago.
• As their means of vengeance against the mind flayers, the githzerai send bands of warriors called rrakkmas — illithid hunting parties — to other planes to do battle with any mind flayers they come across. It is in these circumstances that the natives of the plane most often encounter githzerai away from their monastery. With their attention focused only on their mission, the githzerai pay little heed to those around as long as they don’t interfere with the hunt.