Plane of Earth Written & Designed by “Weird Dave” Coulson

Codex of the Infinite Planes

The Essential Guide to the Planes of Existence Volume III: Plane of Earth Written & Designed by “Weird Dave” Coulson

Interior Art by Jeshields, Brett Neufeld, and www.critial-hit.biz

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Volume III: Plane of Earth command scores of slaves from the native sandlings, pech, and other creatures. “The Underdark? A child’s toybox compared to the twisting The dao hold numerous outposts throughout the Stony labyrinths, caves, passages, and wonders of the Plane of Expanse and each one is built around a mazework. A Earth. In the Underdark, there’s an innate sense of the dao mazework is their first line of defense – a confusing world above that colors the experiences of travelers and series of passages meant to confuse and trap intruders. inhabitants, but this does not exist on the Plane of Earth. One of the largest open quarries in all the Plane of Earth It is suffocation and brutality defined and stands as one of is the Great Dismal Delve, a massive cave carved out by the least hospitable of the Inner Planes. Still, the realm is the slaves of the dao, and at its heart sits the fabulous ripe with treasures and secrets buried beneath the rock and Sevenfold Mazework, also known as the City of Jewels. stone.” Therein dwells the Great Khan in the Hidden Fulcrum, his personal palace and one of the most complex maze in the Astromarchus the Sage Inner Planes (and rivaled across the multiverse only by the mazes of Baphomet, demon lord of beasts and minotaurs, Earth is a fundamental component of the multiverse and in the Abyss). perhaps the most visible to most inhabitants of the Material Planes. Continents, islands, mountains, hills – these are all Mud Hills concrete examples of this ubiquitous element across the Beyond the Stony Expanse, where the Plane of Earth realms, and it shows up in all of the other Inner Planes as approaches the other Inner Planes, the region becomes well in one form or another. And the root for all that rock more diverse. The Mud Hills are a vast region of bubbling, and dirt is the Plane of Earth. churning dirt and muck close to the Plane of Water – Much of this plane is solid mass making it difficult for between the two sits the distinct Swamp of Oblivion (also non-native creatures to move around or even breathe. known as the Plane of Ooze). The Mud Hills are open to However, limitless tunnels, passages, and caves wind their the sky and the tunnels that cross beneath are treacherous way through the stony realm, the result of both incursions and prone to constant shifting at a moment’s notice, so from other Inner Planes and determined digging efforts by most travelers avoid this region entirely. It is known that the native creatures. The dao, genies of the earth, are the the dao have several outposts in the Mud Hills to search cruelest of slave drivers and constantly seek out veins of rich for rare mineral deposits that are known to show up only minerals and ore to adorn their fabulous abodes. in that area. Getting lost in the Plane of Earth is perhaps the greatest threat to travelers beyond a collapsing tunnel or marauding Furnaces beast as there is no clear indication of any cardinal The heat intensifies on the other side of the Plane of Earth direction. Tunnels wind up and down, cross between each in a region known as the Furnaces, close to the Plane of other, and cut into massive caves with no discernable Fire. Lava seeps up and creates dangerous terrain, but the pattern or thought. For travelers willing to risk the journey, dao have harnessed the raw potential of the Furnaces to however, great treasures and wonders can be found, power their forges. Beyond the Great Dismal Delve, the whether it’s the prize opal Koh Nur in the center of the dao’s largest concentration of dao and slaves can be found here. Sevenfold Mazework or searching the chaotic Tunnels of Madness for the Heart of All Mountains or trying to escape the infamous Salt Dungeons of the Great Khan. Cycle of Time There is no natural way to tell time across the Plane of Earth. Even the Void Peaks have no sun to mark the Lay of the Land days, though the Mud Hills are lit by a dim pale light that darkens slightly every twelve hours. This lack of time and The Plane of Earth is best described as the largest chain of the general closeness of the tunnels in the Stony Expanse mountains in the multiverse both in height and breadth. For leads many travelers to madness and despair. those brave or foolish enough to try and reach the top, they However, the dao have developed a way of telling time. find only the Void Peaks – the mountain tops pierce a veil Each outpost and most buildings are furnished with a of airless black that is inhospitable to living creatures. Most clock gem, an enchanted jewel of nearly any size that planar scholars agree that the Void Peaks are a breach from changes color gradually from red to blue and back again to the Plane of Earth into the Negative Plane, the multiverse mark the passage of time. Unfortunately for travelers used source of death and decay that enfolds all of the realms. to the cycle of time in most Material Planes, the dao clock gems are based on a 13-hour cycle (13 hours of red time Stony Expanse followed by 13 hours of blue time) creating a 26-hour day. Below the Void Peaks and encompassing the vast majority The source of power for all attuned clock gems is Koh of the Plane of Earth is the Stony Expanse. Great veins of Nur, opal of the Great Khan in the center of the Sevenfold minerals and rich ore cut through the rocky layers of the Mazework in the City of Jewels. An attuned clock gem Stony Expanse and over the countless centuries tunnels continues to be synchronized even when taken outside the andSample caves have been carved out by time or force. The dao file Plane of Earth, though they need to be re-attuned to the consider this their eternal realm, though their numbers opal every one hundred years. are realistically too few to effectively control the entire region, but this overriding philosophy is what drives them to

Volume III | Plane of Earth 3 Surviving Many of the tunnels do connect to other regions, owed in large part to the never-ending machinations of the dao. The tunnels and passages that cut through the Plane of They constantly hunt for greater sources of ore and gems Earth are breathable, so one of the greatest threats to and use teams of slaves to accomplish this, but moving so travelers are cave-ins and earthquakes that can suddenly many creatures across the Plane of Earth can be difficult. send tons of rocks crashing down. Digging out of such a The dao use magic and slaves to create tunnels and burial can be dangerous depending on the type of earth passages that can be used to access the richer veins of involved (see the Hazards & Phenomena section for minerals. details). Digging around the Plane of Earth can become a Fresh water is scarce and edible food for non-natives can necessity for travelers, especially if they’ve been trapped be hard to come by, so travelers are encouraged to have a in a cave-in or earthquake. You can use the below table source of sustenance before venturing out into the Stony to determine randomly what kind of earth is being dug Expanse. A common feature of dao outposts are gardens to through, which determines the progress and difficulty of grow food for their various slaves, but these are jealously the digging. guarded behind their mazeworks. In the Void Peaks, there is no air so anyone that 1d10 Type of Earth DC Progress Per 10 penetrates the surface of the Plane of Earth here begins Minutes suffocating immediately unless they hold their breath (or do not need to breathe). The closer a traveler gets to the 1-3 Soil 12 10 feet Void Peaks, the less air is available so ascending to this 4-6 Very soft rock 14 5 feet region is not advisable. 7-8 Soft rock 16 4 feet Getting There 9 Hard rock 18 2 feet 10 Very hard rock 20 1 foot The dao do their best to control or shut down unwanted portals to the Plane of Earth, so the number of known gates to the plane is relatively small. The City of Glass Digging is a Strength-based ability check. Using and being on the Plane of Water contains a known gate, along with proficient with mining tools adds a user’s proficiency the City of Brass on the Plane of Fire and Sigil in the modifier to digging checks. Other characters can assist Outlands. The dao occasionally have dealings with the with the Help action under the appropriate circumstances. fiends of the Lower Planes so it is known that the City of Jewels contains gates to the Abyss and the Nine Hells. In the Material Plane, natural gates and portals have The Powerful and Mighty been known to appear in the deepest mines dug by dwarves. Many dwarven strongholds consider themselves Though the dao would have travelers believe they are the the first line of defense against incursions from the Plane greatest power in the Plane of Earth, the truth is more of Earth, whether it be by natural monsters or planned complex than that. It is true that they control the most invasions by the dao. For their own interests, the dao concentrated territory of any sentient denizen of the consider dwarf slaves the best the Material Plane can realm, but the plots and machinations of other influential provide (followed by gnomes) and actively raid dwarven creatures continue to occur throughout the plane. outposts and strongholds to replenish their slave pens. These powerful creatures can be used as villains or Some deeper dungeons in the Material Plane have patrons for a party of adventurers that seek to explore been known to contain gates to the Plane of Earth as the domains of the Plane of Earth. Most are treacherous, well, whether stumbled upon accidentally or deliberately however, with evil intent, so adventurers are encouraged to opened by wizards and priests eager to use earth tread carefully in their halls and homes. elemental creatures as guardians and workers. Below the city of Waterdeep on Faerun, the sprawling megadungeon Elemental Lords of Earth Undermountain is known to hold a few permanent portals. The greatest and most powerful earth elementals on the plane are the Elemental Lords of Earth. Sometimes Traveling Around referred to as archomentals or primordials, these immense beings are comprised of the very stone and earth that Once a traveler reaches a cave or tunnel in the Plane of makes up the plane. There are at least three elemental Earth, moving around becomes as easy as following a lords known – Ogremoch, Entemoch, and Sunnis. The passage – and as frustrating when that tunnel leads to plane is vast, however, and others may still exist, dormant nowhere! Most native creatures, such as the xorn and or waiting. earth elementals, can move through the earth of the plane Ogremoch is the best known of the earth elemental as Sampleeasy as a fish moves through water, leaving no tunnel lords and he is known as the Princefile of Evil Earth in their wake. Powerful magic can allow an adventuring Elementals. He dwells in a stone spire deep in the Stony group to do the same, but for most the zigzagging Expanse that is surrounded by airless void, and from passages that cut through the Stony Expanse are the most there he contemplates his next move. His cultists are accessible means of transportation. known to spread destruction across the Material Planes

Volume III | Plane of Earth 4 in accordance with his will, which can be confusing to Great Khan of the Dao most. But Ogremoch is nothing if not patient, and while In the center of the Great Dismal Delve sits the Sevenfold he seems slow to act it is only because he is considering Mazework, the largest dao settlement in the multiverse, how best to utilize his forces to accomplish his goals of and in the center of that (beyond the first five maze layers) crushing all living creatures beneath stones. He has a rests the palace of the Great Khan known as the Hidden special hatred for flying creatures, and uses squads of Fulcrum. When a dao ascends to the role of Great Khan gargoyles to harass aarokocra in the Plane of Air on a he or she forsakes their name in favor of the title, so it is regular basis. difficult for an outsider to know when the power in the dao Ogremoch’s twin, Entemoch, is less known but no less khanate shifts. powerful. Unlike his brother, Entemoch is a Prince of The current Great Khan is a massively loathsome, Good Earth Elementals, and works to thwart Ogremoch’s greedy, and paranoid dao who rarely leaves the inner schemes as much as possible. He travels throughout sanctum of the Hidden Fulcrum. He surrounds himself the Stony Expanse, moving from passage to passage to with stone and iron golems along with other constructs stamp out his brother’s followers, though to date he has as these are the only personal protection he trusts, and not moved much beyond that simple strategy. Ogremoch’s he communicates his wishes through a select cadre of schemes are larger than his twin realizes. Gnomes are well seneschals that operate outside his personal chamber. regarded by Entemoch. But even the seneschals rarely gaze upon the Great Khan Sunnis is a Princess of Good Earth Elementals and in person – the Great Khan makes his wishes known she dwells in a palace called the Sandfell. She keeps a through specially enchanted mirror gems that allow for lower profile than Ogremoch but opposes the dao at every communication between tuned gemstones. opportunity – the two have an intense rivalry on the Plane The Great Khan has an insatiable appetite for of Earth. Sunnis believes that the native creatures of the everything, from slaves to jewelry to art and treasure, plane such as the pech and sandlings deserve freedom and and his greed has pushed his surveyors to find more and she works with her followers to break the slave chains of more veins of precious ore and mineral across the plane. the dao in their outposts across the plane. He treats well with the Grand Sultan of the Efreet and the two have a mutual business partnership – the efreet Gargoyle Princes come to the City of Jewels to purchase slaves, and the dao use efreeti techniques and masters in the working of the Gargoyles are a common encounter in the Plane of Earth along with margoyles, their wingless cousins. These stony creatures are normally born as a byproduct of the Elemental Lords of Earth, who leave behind shards as they move through the plane that grow into gargoyles. Ogremoch is fond of using gargoyles in his never-ending war with the forces of the Plane of Air. But not all gargoyles are born this way. Some are descendants of a line of fiercely intelligent creatures known as ancient gargoyles who were born from the plane itself. The most powerful of these native denizens are the Gargoyle Princes, each ruling a princedom in the Plane of Earth carved to their specification. The exact number of Gargoyle Princes is unknown, though at least four are known to exist. Each is thoroughly evil and represents the most ambitious aspects of the ancient gargoyle race. The most prominent of the Gargoyle Princes is Prince Krongrud. Physically, Prince Krongrud is powerfully strong and views strength as his best asset – his plots are usually direct and involve total destruction. He rules from the subterranean Castle Kronguard and keeps company with his Legion of Stony Doom, an army of well-trained gargoyle warriors. Prince Krongrud pushes the boundaries of his princedom continually and does not get along with the dao or the Elemental Lords of Earth. The other well-known Gargoyle Prince is Princess Zadhey. She is cunning and manipulative, and though her princedom is relatively small, from her Basalt Citadel she leads an elite force of ancient gargoyle assassins. Princess Zadhey is on good terms with the dao who sometimes contractSample her assassins out for attacks on rivals, both file internal and external.

Volume III | Plane of Earth 5 ore they mine. The Grand Sultan comes personally to the Deepstone King of the Pech Great Dismal Delve to watch and bet on greater basilisk The pech were not always hunted down by the dao and races organized by the dao. used as slaves. At one point, they held their own land and served a wise and great leader of their own kind in Keepers Under the Mountain a fantastic realm of peace and tranquility. This mythical place is called Deepstone and it has passed completely Dumathoin, dwarven god of secrets, does not dwell on the into legend, along with the role of Deepstone King. Plane of Earth, but his followers maintain a stronghold But to the pech slaves of the dao, the myth of Deepstone dedicated to his teachings and worship there. The Library and its legendary king is a wellspring of secret hope. Pech of Dumathoin is maintained by a devout order of dwarven workers toiling in the mines and tunnels of their genie monks and clerics called the Keepers Under the Mountain, masters believe that the Deepstone King is destined to and they trade in secrets of all kind. The halls of their return, and when he does he will free all of the pech from hidden fortress are said to contain one of the largest their bonds of servitude and lead the elemental people to collection of scrolls in the multiverse, and the Keepers their legendary homeland. Some say that this king will rise maintain the sanctity of this holy site against all intruders up from the ranks of the enslaved pech, while others say he with zealous ferocity. will come from outside the Plane of Earth to save them all To that end, the Keepers maintain a secret presence in a massive revolt. throughout the Plane of Earth and try to keep up on events For their part, the dao do their best to quash any stories throughout the Inner Planes. Several dwarf slaves in the they hear about the Deepstone King, and this tactic has service of the Great Khan are secretly members of the worked for many hundreds of years. But the pech have Keepers Under the Mountain, and they communicate long memories, and they pass the story of their legendary knowledge through the very stone of the plane itself. leader from one generation to the next in the hope that Several deep cover Keepers are assigned to the Gargoyle one day, their stories become true and they are led to their Princes while others travel as independent merchants ancient homeland. between the Sevenfold Mazework, the City of Brass on the Plane of Fire, the City of Glass on the Plane of Water, and even in the Citadel of Ice and Steel on the Plane of Air. Creatures & Denizens Leadership in the Keepers is determined by the number of known master secrets, which are the great mysteries The Plane of Earth is a dangerous realm with monstrous of the multiverse according to Dumathoin. The teachings denizens capable of sneaking up on travelers through the of the Keepers Under the Mountain say there are thirteen very rock. Cunning dao, ruthless sandlings, and voracious master secrets, and only Dumathoin knows all of them. eaters such as the greater basilisks and tunnel worms are The highest ranking Keeper, the Seventh Master Librarian, all creatures capable of ending a traveler’s journey through is said to know seven of the master secrets. the Plane of Earth. Recently, however, a splinter faction has grown within the ranks of the Keepers. Some of the librarians and monks believe the secrets of Dumathoin are not meant to be hoarded but instead should be shared with all sentient creatures. These radicals call themselves the Liberties Under the Mountains and work to subvert the work of the library and its keepers. So far, a dozen members have been expelled from the Keepers, and rumors persist that at least one of them held the rank of Second Master Librarian. Sample file

Volume III | Plane of Earth 6 Basilisk, Greater Greater Basilisk The greater basilisks of the Plane of Earth are massive Huge monstrosity, unaligned serpentine creatures with no legs that move through the tunnels of the realm seeking prey. They use their acid to Armor Class 17 (natural armor) eat away at the stone to create passages in search of food, Hit Points 161 (14d12+70) Speed 40 ft. and they use the same acid to devour the petrified victims of their deadly gaze. They are animalistic and cunning but STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA know the Terran language instinctively. 22 (+6) 13 (+1) 20 (+5) 6 (-2) 14 (+2) 10 (+0) Hunting Snakes of the Dao. The dao are fond of using greater basilisks for a variety of purposes. The Saving Throws Con +9, Wis +6 most common function is to hunt down escaped slaves, Skills Stealth +5 but they are also used for slave discipline. A slave who Damage Immunities acid, poison has disobeyed its dao master or broken the law is turned Condition Immunities petrified, poisoned to stone using a greater basilisk’s gaze, after which the Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12 monster is allowed to feed on an appendage on the Languages can’t speak but understands Terran petrified victim. Once the feeding is complete, the dao Challenge 10 (5,900 XP) reverse the petrification and the slave returns to work minus a piece of themselves. Petrifying Gaze. If a creature starts its turn within 30 feet of the Bejeweled Eggs. Greater basilisks in the wilds of the basilisk and the two of them can see each other, the basilisk Plane of Earth do not gather in large numbers. They are can force the creature to make a DC 17 Constitution saving typically found as solitary hunters or mated pairs, and throw if the basilisk isn’t incapacitated. On a failed save, the the pairs usually have a nest that they guard jealously. creature magically begins to turn to stone and is restrained. It Greater basilisk eggs are crusted with naturally occurring must repeat the saving throw at the end of its next turn. On a gemstones of all shapes and sizes – this is another reason success, the effect ends. On a failure, the creature is petrified the dao prize them so highly. A mated pair typically has until freed by the greater restoration spell or other magic. 1d4+1 eggs every fifteen years, and it requires ten years for A creature that isn’t surprised can avert its eyes to avoid the a hatchling to reach maturity. saving throw at the start of its turn. If it does so, it can’t see the basilisk until the start of its next turn, when it can avert its eyes again. If it looks at the basilisk in the meantime, it must immediately make the save.

Actions

Multiattack. The greater basilisk makes two attacks: one with its bite and one to constrict.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (4d6+6) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) acid damage.

Constrict. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one Large or smaller creature. Hit: 17 (2d10+6) bludgeoning damage. The target is grappled (escape DC 17) if the greater basilisk isn’t already constricting a creature, and the target is restrained until this grapple ends.

Acid Spit. Ranged Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (6d6) acid damage. The target and each creature within 5 feet of it must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Sample file

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