Latest revision as of 10:44, 13 November 2016

Outer Plane
Layers:	Abellio Buxenus
Primary Faction:	Harmonium
Sect:	None

It is the land of perfection.
It is where laws are made for the common good.
It is the plane where harmony is born.

Arcadia thrives with orchards of perfectly lined trees, ruler-straight streams, orderly fields, and cities laid out in geometrically pleasing shapes. The mountains are unblemished by erosion. Everything on Arcadia works toward the common good and a flawless form of existence. Here, nothing intrudes on harmony. It is said that everything on Arcadia is as perfect as it can be, neither as strictly regimented as Mechanus nor as devoted to the perfection of the individual as Celestia. But this is not entirely accurate. In fact, the inhabitants of Arcadia are often so convinced of their own righteousness that they are hard-pressed to recognize their own flaws. This likely contributed millennia ago to the loss of the bottommost layer of Arcadia, Menausus, which spiritually transmigrated to Mechanus, becoming one with the gearworks realm of ultimate law. St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel, deity of goodly retribution, has his realm on Arcadia.

Traits

Normal Gravity.
Normal Time.
Infinite Size: Each layer of Arcadia stretches through an infinite, well-ordered landscape.
Divinely Morphic: Lesser deities can transform Arcadia with a wave of the hand, but the plane has the alterable morphic trait for other creatures.
No Elemental or Energy Traits.
Mildly Law-Aligned: Chaotic characters on Arcadia suffer a –2 penalty on Charisma-based checks.
Normal Magic.

Connections

Portals to other planes are few on Arcadia, but they are permanent, clearly identified fixtures. Arched trellises of flowering ivy, holly, or some other lush, verdant growth mark each gateway to another plane. Portals also connect farflung locales on Arcadia, as well as running between its two layers. Portals between the layers are usually set between huge, rune-carved plinths standing 40 to 50 feet tall.

Inhabitants

Many mortals from the Material Plane live on Arcadia, settling among such other creatures as archons, aasimar, devas, and the ever-present einheriar militias (see Arcadia Petitioners, below). Arcadia is also home to peaceful animals: golden foxes, coppery hares, and silver-wooled sheep, as well as all manner of organized insects such as wasps, bees, and ants. Giant-sized versions of these animals and insects also can be found throughout Arcadia. Formians have a few hive-cities on Arcadia, but their expansionist ethic is muted (at least outwardly). Arcadia's harmony would be spoiled should warrior formians begin to march.

Petitioners

The petitioners of Arcadia are called einheriar. The einheriar appear much as they did in their previous lives, though they are markedly more healthy and robust. They are all fanatically devoted to making sure the common good is maintained. Using their abilities to discern the alignment of all they meet, einheriar make it their business to police the plane. If they catch any nonlawful or nongood creature, they have three possible courses of action. Chaotic good or neutral good visitors are tolerated so long as they follow the laws of Arcadia. Those who are truly neutral are asked to finish their business and leave. Those who are tainted with evil in any aspect are immediately and remorselessly attacked. The einheriar have the following special petitioner qualities:

Additional Immunities: Sonic, acid.
Resistances: Cold 20, electricity 20.
Other Special Qualities: Detect chaos, detect good.
Detect Chaos/Good (Ex): Einheriar can detect chaos or detect good at will (as the spells cast by a 5th-level cleric).

Features

There is nothing native to Arcadia's two layers that does not contribute toward perfection and peace. The fields and forests are swollen with grain and fruit, all growing without tending or fear of infestation. Even the “wild” flowers grow naturally to create the most harmonious blend. The trees of Arcadia are wondrous specimens. These great plants grow in both neat forests and straight-rowed orchards. Their bark has a copper, gold, silver, or iron sheen. Their leaves range from deep green to fiery red, but the leaves never fall. Fruit is always in season. On rare, wondrous occasions a plucked fruit suddenly manifests magical properties, mimicking the effects of a randomly determined potion (see Chapter 8 of the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide). The fruit is nonmagical until picked. Vision is normal on Arcadia. Night and day are determined by the Orb of Day and Night atop Arcadia's tallest peak. Half the orb radiates light, and the other half is dark. It rotates evenly and without fail, lighting part of the infinite plane while another part falls into natural darkness. There is no dusk or dawn, just day or night.

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 ! colspan=2 style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;"| Outer Plane
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-Arcadia's a plane of rolling fields and gently-sloped valleys, where well-ordered orchards produce fruit of the perfect size and texture. Everything here works toward the common good, a flawless form of existence. In the Land of Perfect Good, nothing intrudes on the harmony - at least, it better not, or it's going to get scragged.
+[[File:arcadia.jpg|right|caption]]
+*It is the land of perfection.
+*It is where laws are made for the common good.
+*It is the plane where harmony is born.
+Arcadia thrives with orchards of perfectly lined trees, ruler-straight streams, orderly fields, and cities laid out in geometrically pleasing shapes. The mountains are unblemished by erosion. Everything on Arcadia works toward the common good and a flawless form of existence. Here, nothing intrudes on harmony. It is said that everything on Arcadia is as perfect as it can be, neither as strictly regimented as Mechanus nor as devoted to the perfection of the individual as Celestia. But this is not entirely accurate. In fact, the inhabitants of Arcadia are often so convinced of their own righteousness that they are hard-pressed to recognize their own flaws. This likely contributed millennia ago to the loss of the bottommost layer of Arcadia, Menausus, which spiritually transmigrated to Mechanus, becoming one with the gearworks realm of ultimate law. St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel, deity of goodly retribution, has his realm on Arcadia.
-There's nothing native to the plane that doesn't contribute to making this a place of perfection and peace. The fields and forests all bear as much fruit and grain as possible, existing in perfect rows of tree and stem. There's no trees in the fields, and there's no grain in the forests; everything sits within its own purview in neat rows, and never intrudes on the domains of the others. Even the "wild" flowers're separated by color, and always grow the same height as the neighbouring grasses of the plains around. The trees are straight and tall, with bends or twists coming at lengths that just ''seem'' predetermined.
+=Traits=
+*Normal Gravity.
+*Normal Time.
+*Infinite Size: Each layer of Arcadia stretches through an infinite, well-ordered landscape.
+*Divinely Morphic: Lesser deities can transform Arcadia with a wave of the hand, but the plane has the alterable morphic trait for other creatures.
+*No Elemental or Energy Traits.
+*Mildly Law-Aligned: Chaotic characters on Arcadia suffer a –2 penalty on Charisma-based checks.
+*Normal Magic.
-The beasts of the forests and fields don't usually seem all that interested in attacking a berk, preferring to let travellers alone. However, there's times when a cutter upsets something in the strictly regimented order, and this brings the flora and fauna down on his head. The dark of it is that the creatures are as attuned to the Arcadian order of things as the trees and the grass, and they just don't like to see sods messing with a pattern that's best left alone.
+=Connections=
+Portals to other planes are few on Arcadia, but they are permanent, clearly identified fixtures. Arched trellises of flowering ivy, holly, or some other lush, verdant growth mark each gateway to another plane. Portals also connect farflung locales on Arcadia, as well as running between its two layers. Portals between the layers are usually set between huge, rune-carved plinths standing 40 to 50 feet tall.
-It's said (mostly by the inhabitants of the plane) that everything in Arcadia is as perfect as it can be, neither as strictly regimented as [[Mechanus]] nor ans devoted to the perfection of the individual as [[Mount Celestia]]. Well, that ain't entirely true. There's a dark underside to the plane that the inhabitants are blind to, mostly because they're a part of it. They're so convinced of their own rightness that they can't see their flaws, and this has proven a problem for them time and time again.
+=Inhabitants=
+Many mortals from the Material Plane live on Arcadia, settling among such other creatures as archons, aasimar, devas, and the ever-present einheriar militias (see Arcadia Petitioners, below). Arcadia is also home to peaceful animals: golden foxes, coppery hares, and silver-wooled sheep, as well as all manner of organized insects such as wasps, bees, and ants. Giant-sized versions of these animals and insects also can be found throughout Arcadia. Formians have a few hive-cities on Arcadia, but their expansionist ethic is muted (at least outwardly). Arcadia's harmony would be spoiled should warrior formians begin to march.
-In short, the plane itself is as perfect as it's going to be, if a cutter likes everything neatly ordered and in its place. It's the people who're the problem.
+=Petitioners=
+The petitioners of Arcadia are called einheriar. The einheriar appear much as they did in their previous lives, though they are markedly more healthy and robust. They are all fanatically devoted to making sure the common good is maintained. Using their abilities to discern the alignment of all they meet, einheriar make it their business to police the plane. If they catch any nonlawful or nongood creature, they have three possible courses of action. Chaotic good or neutral good visitors are tolerated so long as they follow the laws of Arcadia. Those who are truly neutral are asked to finish their business and leave. Those who are tainted with evil in any aspect are immediately and remorselessly attacked. The einheriar have the following special [[petitioner]] qualities:
+*Additional Immunities: Sonic, acid.
+*Resistances: Cold 20, electricity 20.
+*Other Special Qualities: Detect chaos, detect good.
+*Detect Chaos/Good (Ex): Einheriar can detect chaos or detect good at will (as the spells cast by a 5th-level cleric).
+=Features=
-If a body's lawful and good, there's very little for her to worry about when she goes to Arcadia. She can wander the fields and forests, admiring their perfection, their safety, and their other idyllic qualities. This is a place where order permeates everything, including nature. Everything is devoted to the common good, and everything seems to work toward a common goal. The animals are all larger than on most prime worlds, and all provide more to those who harvest them. Forget nature here; everything works in an obvious, predetermined order to grant the greatest good for the greatest number.
+There is nothing native to Arcadia's two layers that does not contribute toward perfection and peace. The fields and forests are swollen with grain and fruit, all growing without tending or fear of infestation. Even the “wild” flowers grow naturally to create the most harmonious blend. The trees of Arcadia are wondrous specimens. These great plants grow in both neat forests and straight-rowed orchards. Their bark has a copper, gold, silver, or iron sheen. Their leaves range from deep green to fiery red, but the leaves never fall. Fruit is always in season. On rare, wondrous occasions a plucked fruit suddenly manifests magical properties, mimicking the effects of a randomly determined potion (see Chapter 8 of the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide). The fruit is nonmagical until picked. Vision is normal on Arcadia. Night and day are determined by the Orb of Day and Night atop Arcadia's tallest peak. Half the orb radiates light, and the other half is dark. It rotates evenly and without fail, lighting part of the infinite plane while another part falls into natural darkness. There is no dusk or dawn, just day or night.
-Anyone of chaotic or evil persuasion might want to think twice before coming to Arcadia. The people, devoted to seeking the greater good for the greatest number, tend to be more than just a little fanatic in their pursuit of happiness and rightness. They don't take kindly to souls coming here who don't share their views, and they express this feeling forcefully.
-Arcadia's criss-crossed with roads. There's a road network that leads from every important site to every other important site. It's even said that if a body knows the right bath key (a series of words or a particular phrase), she can step on the road and have it carry her almost immediately to her destination. The words are kept dark, except for the high-ups in Arcadia, but a body can bet that there's people willing to pay a lot of jink for those keys.
-Now, one of the side effects of having all these reads all over the plane is that it means people've got to use them. Unless a body's got business tramping about in the fields or woods (such as farming or harvesting), he's likely not to be from around here. And if he's not from around here, he's got to be stopped and questioned - extensively, since law-abiding folk all use the roads, and anyone who doesn't must have a certain contempt for the law. The militia patrols therefore question nearly anyone they see who's off the road and in the wilderness of Arcadia - even farmers. Who knows? It could be a spy dressed in farmer's clothing.
-The chant's that there's three layers to Arcadia, but most people don't get past the first. The einheriar - the petitioner protectors - of the plane like to make sure chaotic and evil berks don't make it any farther. Of course, this makes everyone all the more curious about what they're hiding, and thus increases the security the einheriar have to devote to patrolling the plane.

Arcadia: Difference between revisions