Realm of Yath (3.5e Location)

Author: Eiji-kun (talk) Date Created: 3-24-17 Status: Complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

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The demiplane known as the Realm of Yath is an old demiplane created by an ancient wizard. Over the years it has been colonized and transformed into a micro-nation of its own.

Realm of Yath

An advanced demiplane created long ago, this realm has connections to some of the inner planes which feed it fresh materials which cycle in and out, making an effective microcosm of the material plane. Ancient ruins dot the landscape, remainders of the previous and original wizard and his minions who created this place.

Planar Traits

The Realm of Yath has several connections to the inner planes, but none easily traversable. Its main entrance is a gateway on the ethereal plane which tends to wander about when unobserved.

Physical Traits

• Gravity: Normal gravity.

• Time: Normal time.

• Size: Finite Shape.

• Morphic: Alterable Morphic.

Elemental, Energy, Alignment and Magic Traits

• Elemental Dominance: No Elemental Traits (specific locations may have these traits, however).

• Energy Dominance: No Energy Traits (specific locations may have these traits, however).

• Alignment Traits: Mildly neutral-aligned.

• Magic Traits: Normal magic.

Planar Connections

The gateway to the Realm of Yath can be found in the ethereal plane as a pair of large invulnerable alabaster spires carved with magical runes. Though the portal is not obvious, passing through the gate causes the mists of the ethereal to thicken and deposit the target to a similar gate within the demiplane. The ethereal side gate wanders when unobserved, spontaneously teleporting away to random positions. Whoever is granted ownership of the demiplane (see below) can choose to affix the gate in a specific location if needed.

Technically four other gates exist, one to each primary elemental plane. However travel through them is both unadvised and impractical. The portals are tilted in a 45 degree axis in pairs of two, forming an "atom-like" orbital pattern. They appear as spheres of the chosen element, and their rise and fall over the horizon acts to give a day/night cycle with the sun (fire plane) and moon (earth plane) respectively, wind and water merely appearing as unusual weather effects on the edges of the world. Whatever magic holds them in their pattern also keeps them from spilling forth uncontrolled, and the gateway to enter via the planes is a mere inch in diameter and as extremely high pressures.

Inhabitants

The Realm of Yath is home to a small nation composed of one major city and dozens of smaller towns in what is in essence a massive floating island. The original name of the first nation has been lost to history, known only as the First Kingdom these days. Over time ownership of this land has changed hands many times, with it last being known as the home of the Nuthae Kingdom. This magocratic kingdom is ruled by spellcasters, who seek to unlock the secrets of the First Kingdom, match, or even exceed them. They are ruled primarily by humans, with a moderate amount of unusual red-skinned orcs, gnolls, a small population of dwarves and druegar, and miscellaneous other races in smaller number. They are also home to a very large amount of undead of the mindless or controlled variety, as necromancy is not only allowed but embraced as a means to minimize work, support the living, and simply because there were so many corpses left in the wake of the last war which produced this new kingdom.

Because of the ruthless efficiency of their spellcasting rulership and their blind eye to ethical constraints of certain magics, the civilization is considered somewhere between neutral evil, true neutral, and lawful evil. As a rule except for the use of undead, the more ethically concerning activities is a matter of secrecy and less obvious to the average visitor. Slavery is rare but not technically forbidden, reserved for certain prisoners and for enslaved evil monsters. "It is better to use them for their talents than kill them and let them turn to waste." as one would say.

Movement and Combat

As the environment is not unlike the material plane, there are no unusual circumstances surrounding movement and combat within.

Features of Yath

The Realm of Yath is essentially a floating island suspended in a vaguely starfield-like void which is only visible at night, the light of their "sun" turning the atmosphere blue in the daytime. It is a rough hemisphere of earth with a bubble of air that rapidly fades out the farther from the island it goes, reaching a space-like void at the edge where the planar gates orbit, and where the downward pull of gravity ceases. The edge of the plane is a clear unbreakable crystal-like substance which black material and white "stars" dance within. The stars move about on their own in their own unusual patterns which have some arcane significance and perhaps to the function of the plane entirely, and do not appear to be actual stars of any sort. More concerning is that these "stars" detect as life forms, but no communication with them have ever succeeded. At least not without melting the mind of those foolish enough to contact them.

As the planar gates orbit the world, they slowly emit chunks of their element into the demiplane, refreshing the realm of atmosphere, moisture, earth, and providing heat. These take the form of barely visible rings as the gates trail material behind them with each settling into place. Eventually material is cycled down and out of the giant sphere to the bottom where a hungry vortex waits to swallow up anything close enough. Some suspect this is a gate to the negative energy plane, but if it is it is a one-way gate for nothing which entered has managed to leave. The bottom of the world, then, is a churning maelstrom of material being broken and reformed.

The landmass of Yath itself is large and stable, the edges surrounded by large mountains, cliffs, and walls of ice, always quickly rebuilding itself with volcanic activity that pours up the edge of the landmass. Within these confines it is large enough to host weather patterns and multiple biomes. The central and largest mass is a land of windswept mountains and badlands within the center, two deserts known as the eastern and western sandseas, savannah and grassy plains, a thick and foreboding forest, and a large sea which serves as their ocean, fed by lakes and rivers from the nearby glacial walls.

The landmass is about 10,000 squares miles (roughly the size of the island of Sicily). In general it tends towards temperate to warm temperatures and strong winds. It has a form of seasons as the elemental planar gates slowly drift around, eventually flipping back and forth where the sun rises and sets.

Dusk Ridge

The center of the realm is dominated by sunset colored mountains, plateaus, and arid badlands with the largest city being built on and around one of the largest plateaus, the capital of Xingax the Towering City. There a grand city of ivory and ruby rises to the heavens, built on top of platforms which conceal a much older and more ancient city built into the walls of the plateau itself. Below, smaller towns sprung up and melded into one sprawling metropolis with the city of white and black towers overseeing all. Within the center is a large faded pale blue tower which seems to be tied into the function of the demiplane. Its mysterious ever-shifting rooms are explored for secrets, but it is also a place of great danger for the foolish and reckless. Below the plateau businesses thrive, followed by the commonfolk and progressively becoming more and more rural the farther out it gets.

Nearby is the ruins of Dmitra the Walled City, capital of the previous kingdom. It was razed to the ground but for one major area which hosts the gateway into this plane. This gate is instead guarded and a road and long bridge heads towards the center and its new capital. Travel in the ruins is forbidden, for it is said that uncontrolled undead roam this land and fiends and other dangers still spawn from the effects of the previous war. Fortunately for the realm as a whole, the new occupants seem entirely disinterested in leaving the city or approaching the gateway. Just as a precaution, a massive wall was built to partition a portion of the city off and keep the danger at bay, and they are protected by a powerful sect of magic knights known as the Blackflame Guard. It is said lying among the rubble, a great and terrible superweapon lies dormant, some manner of colossus. None have been able to activate it, and perhaps this is for the better for when the last time it was activated, a nation fell.

Lastly in this area is a major mining and industrial city known as Druxus the City of Bridges for the bridges crossing from one bank to another. The majority of it is underground or along sides of the vast Ocher Canyon, and is the primary home to the realm's dwarven and duergar population. It is considered a major military hub for non-magical training, equipment, and raw materials for more magically inclined enhancement projects. The sky above it is choked with smoke, and the river which runs through the base polluted and brown. This toxic flow eventually settles towards the savannah into a place know as the Deathmarsh.

Eastern and Western Sandsea

To the west and east, large sandy deserts flank Dusk Ridge. The land is largely barren of both supplies and civilization, save for the dotted oasis at random places populated largely by humans, orcs, and gnolls. These small towns are many and minor, and roads between the cities are impossible to maintain so a proper navigator is always required to pass safely through. What is special about these deserts is their namesake: the Sand Seas. Depending on the season, one desert is wracked with high temperatures, intense dryness, salt caked planes, and dust storms that create massive dunes. Meanwhile the other reverts to quicksand as groundwater swells up from deep below, sinking the terrain into large whirlpools of soft and pliable sand and even generating currents making it an ocean of sorts. Which one is which entirely depends on the season, and which way the sun is rising at the time. It is said the two deserts are connected by a massive underground aquifer which moves back and forth as if pulled by the tides. The cities are built on islands of stability where bedrock keeps them safe from the rapidly changing terrain.

Baying Field

The baying fields is a savannah primarily dominated by gnolls, with some orcs and humans residing there. The place is largely barren, for the savannah is a dangerous plane full of monsters and powerful beasts. Once long ago it was the site of an ancient civilization more primitive than the First Civilization with the remains of the old residents scattered about. At some point there was a war and a powerful demon lord was summoned to the world. It has been long since the nameless fiend was slain, but its corpse still rots in the wild in a fetid pit known as the Blister surrounded by fecund by evil life born of the eon-long death throes of a huge toad-like kaiju. This is the Rot of Sojourner, a sacred place for the gnolls and flind population and a ecological disaster to everyone else. Still, it is kept around for the recent kingdom has adopted a policy of hunting down the half-fiend spawn which arises from its decay and either enslaving them to be used as a tool, or studies and medically and magically tested on to advance the sciences.

In addition to the savannah lies the Deathmarsh, a result of runoff from Druxus in the Ocher Canyon. It is a foul and toxic place, and only the most terrifying and hardy creatures survive here. Those that do not form a massive graveyard of bones surrounding the area, a place of difficult terrain, poison environment, and deadly feral beasts.

As a precaution and as a central area of civilization Bouvet-øya the City of Hunters was created. This well defended city is decorated with the pelts and bones of their kills, making it an unusually artistic, if grotesque, culture which has grown within its heavy walls. They celebrate strength, honor, and the hunts which are born a job to keep the savannah safe and a right of passage of those living within. Such is the culture that it is the product of several kingdoms old, and its civilization has endured the rise and fall of countless rulers.

Surgreen Plains

One of the nicest places in Yath the plains sits on the other side of the Savannah, far from the toxic influence of the Deathmarsh. Here grassy hills gently roll over the landscape and high winds promote the use of windmills. This is the realm's main source of agricultural products, and it is largely dominated by many small towns and villages. It's biggest city is also its main point of trade, Yaphyll the City of Eyes. It is a place rich with both wealth and knowledge, and is often the main place other than the capital that visitors head towards. The city is watched over by the 13 Eyes, a group (not actually composed of 13 people) which keeps peace and order in the realm at the sacrifice of privacy. The great ivory tower covered in eyes that stands in the center is said to see all, even events outside of the city itself. This, among many things, seems to have been one of the relics of the First Civilization re-purposed to the task of observation and intelligence gathering. It is also sometimes used to stargaze and determine the nature and movement of the "stars" above, though often to the detriment of any who try to look too deep and too long.

Schwarzschild Forest

The Schwarzschile Forest is an uninhabited area of yath that is covered in a large dark green forest on one side of the plains and reaching all the way to the frozen tundra by the Uttercold Peaks. It is the main source of lumber from the realm, but is not well explored due to its habit of getting occupants lost within. It is said in the forest space and time bends, and entering one way may end you exiting out another way in another place, or even another time. But most often you are simply eaten by giant time spiders. This effect is not so intense on the edges, but the depths of the forest remain a mystery. Some have suggested that this is actually another gateway to the Feywild or some unknown "Plane of Forests", but traversing it is not viable. There is a small amount of fey which appear within, but even they are subject to being eaten by time spiders.

Dromp of the Black Forest is the main forestry and trading hub, an industrial town which sits on the edge of the forest. The town constantly must keep their clocks set correctly as they are subject to unusual drift, which is also a subject of study by scholars trying to understand the timebending nature of the forest.

Alembic Sea and Uttercold Peaks

While small lakes and rivers dot the entire landmass, the majority of the water arrives from the Uttercold Peaks, a constantly chilled part of the edge of the world which is dominated by ice, snow, glaciers, and tundra expanding into the Schwarzschild Forest. This melts as the seasons pass, filling a large sea and keeping it from becoming too salty. The upper part of the alembic sea is indeed nearby freshwater, while deeper below lies a layer of saltwater that becomes increasingly briny and increasingly deep. Some say that a few underwater caverns connect to the vast tunnel system below and into the underground aquifer (colloquially known as the Lower Alembic Sea) which is covered in crystal deposits. The sea provides aquatic life, and is said to host a small and unquantified number of sahuagin living under the waves.

Beyond fishing and a water source, not much occurs here. Alkammar of the White Beach is a town which serves as a major port for ships traveling the area and fishing. Also here, set in ruins near the edge of the world, is the former town of Ysval the Enshadowed. It is a ruined city of constant night, bitter cold, and shadow hauntings. It is believed to have once been a place of great shadow magic and power, but whatever occurred here has long since rendered the place dead and haunted. Some say though that at certain times in the dead of night, they can almost make out the image of the still intact city bustling with life. The ruins are notable for a vast wall of names, and the inscription "Sleep is the little death, here we lie buried but eternal." It is believed to have been a gravestone for the former inhabitants.

Encounters

The realm is large and varies enough for many encounters. As such here is only a generalization of what to expect to challenge your players.

Any of the cities are ripe for humanoid encounters with human, orc, gnoll, dwarven, or druegar opponents. The ruling class tends towards spellcasters, especially of the arcane sort, while elite guards and warriors hold the middle ranks protecting the wizards from harm. Notable among them are the gish Blackflame Guard from Dmitra who are known for their mysterious black fire weapons and attacks and their mastery over the demonic and undead.

Dmitra is a place of undead and fiendish, especially demonic, threat. It is also home to still sometimes active constructs which tirelessly work to protect a city long dead.

The environment of places like Druxus and the Sandseas are encounter enough. In the sandseas, there are many dangerous wild beasts including purple worms which become active during the dry season, and desert krakens that awaken in the wet seasons.

The Baying Fields are home to many dangerous dire animals, magical beasts, and actual demons or demon-tainted creatures. It is known especially for its large beasts which can take entire teams to down and whose bodies are sought for their magical properties.

The forest is a natural hazard and home to dangerous fey, plants, and various spiders including the "time spider", a breed of monstrous spider known for their ability to time hop themselves and others, among other destructive or perhaps protective behaviors.

Even the underground may pose a place to explore, inhabited by aquatic terrors from beyond who live in the briny and cold depths.

Using the Realm of Yath

As a demiplane, the idea of an ancient wizard's stomping grounds can be added to any campaign with minimal fuss. It offers a great deal of opportunities for dungeon delving adventures, wild and escaped monsters, and other dangerous and exciting adventures.

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