
|
Ilkmar
(by Alex
de Beer)
Three
hundred years before the old city was created, the wizard
Ennelong had cursed the gluttonous merchant Kohsmann for
his evil acts. The latter had made profit at the expense
of the poor, and, more serious, stolen a magical item
that was very dear to Ennelong.
Ennelongs
curse stated, that, lest he atoned, he and the ground he
stood on would become the very image of death. This would
happen when he would be on his highest moment of
glory.
The
wish Ennelong used was not without costs: being the old
mage he was, it became the end of him. Kohsmann, however,
successfully became a prolonger and sucked the peasants
dry for three more centuries.
Then
he came upon the city of Ilkmar, a harbour city which
nearly celebrated the 500th anniversary of the granting
of it's city rights. Kohsmann decided to run for mayor
and hoped to turn public favour towards him by setting up
a great banquet to celebrate the event. This was made
possible by a magical device that created godlike food.
His popularity rose considerably that day (the people
from the city did not know him yet) Thus his greatest
moment of glory came, and the fulfilment of the curse.
He, the city and all it's inhabitants turned into beings
of pure dust, and were sent to the Plane of Dust.
Right
now he lives his life there, as mayor of a city of dust,
inhabited by dust beings. Even the sea it lay at was
completely transmuted, turned into pure salt.
A
berk can just walk into the burg (given the right magics
on him) and interact with any creature in there. He
cannot touch 'em. Touching 'em will turn 'em into a pile
of dust. The blood will also avoid making too much noise,
for buildings may collapse (tough they seem to rebuild
themselves after a while).
Sages
speculate that there are ways to break the curse and
setting the inhabitants free. Those who know the dark of
Kohsmann know that he should severely atone for his
misdeeds.
The Rock of
Eternity
(by Adam
Reeve)
Entropy,
entropy, entropy! Blah, blah, blah! If I hear one more
soddin' Sinker go blatherin' on about the unstoppable
force of entropy, I'm gonna puke! Because I've seen it,
ya know. With my own eyes I've seen the Sinkers greatest
secret, their greatest failure...
There
was this bunch of backwater primes, centuries ago, who
had this special rock. The huge slab of granite, easily
one hundred yards in all directions, sat in the middle of
a huge flat prairie--a strange sort of place for such a
big chunk o' stone. Well, this rock had been there,
unchanged, for longer than anyone in the region could
remember, even with some of those darn elves livin'
there. And the thing seemed completely invulnerable to
anything anyone tried to do to alter it in any way.
Wizard magic, cleric prayers, and even dwarven mining
picks had absolutely no effect on the thing. Legends had
grown about the rock over the years, about what purpose
it may hold, or where it came from, but I'll get to that
in just a bit.
So
now along comes the Doomguard. This musta been a couple
centuries ago. The Sinkers heard about this enormous,
indestructible rock, and figured it would be their
crowning achievement and the proof to validate their
whole philosophy if they could somehow destroy the Rock
of Eternity.
They
expended an incredible amount of money and effort and the
managed to steal the Rock. Transported it to the Plane of
Dust, they did, figuring that the destructive nature of
the plane would cause it to decay, to crumble into dust
like everything else on that blasted, godforsaken
plane.
But
it didn't work! The huge Rock just sits there, now
three-quarters buried beneath the eternal dust ocean, but
just as large and indestructible as ever! Not a single
pebble has eroded from that baby, and it's got the
Sinkers pretty worried, believe me! Nothing they do will
crack that sucker, and they keep trying everything they
can think of. They post guards around the thing day and
night, and kill anything that even gets close enough to
THINK about sneaking a peek. (So how did I get to see it?
Well, ol' Gruff can't go spillin' all his secrets, now
can he?) 'Cause they know that if word gets out, their
philosophy will get a big ol' black eye, something the
Godsmen would just love to blab all over the
Cage.
There's
still plenty of mystery around the Rock of Eternity,
that's for sure. It definitely seems indestructible,
imperious even to entropy. Now I'm thinkin' that means
there's a reason for that. Seems to me that the only
reason somebody'd build a big rock like that is to trap
someone, or something, inside, and make darn sure that
they (or it) never, ever gets out. One legend says that
inside the Rock is the interdimensional space where all
the Lady's mazes are created. Another says an ancient
city of incredible magic and wonder lies within. And the
legends from that old prime world say that the thing
houses the biggest, baddest, most evil creature in the
multiverse, but I shudder to think what kinda creature
would need that big and tough of a prison. Of course the
legend also states that somewhere there is a unknown key,
which will 'unlock' the Rock, and if it is ever used it
will spell the end of all that is, was, or ever will be.
But that's just stories, just nonsense, I
hope..."
--
Gruff Rockfist, dwarf Indep and inner planar
explorer
The Sand Mines
(by Joshua
Jarvis)
by Ed McGraff
It
was on the third month of Pintar by Eolian reckoning
(that's my prime world, don't knock it unless you want a
slug of lead from my sling embedded in your heart) when
me and my band got lost in a sandstorm and got thrown off
track. Weeks from our portal and low on supplies we
decided to find a nice burg to get supplies and
directions in.
I
found a small boomtown and decided to mosey on down to
the general store and ask for directions. Dust swirled by
my face as I stepped into town. Women and children ran
for cover and a bunch of redsuits (hard heads you call
them) mostly hired thugs came out with crossbows loaded.
"You're not wanted in these here parts stranger," sneered
the Hardhead.
I
tried explaining the situation to him real gentleman-like
but he snorted and told me to leave this town by dawn.
After getting a drink and some quick directions at the
town centre I decided to go out and get my bearings. It
was tough, everywhere I went their were guards at my back
saying stuff like "There's not enough room in this town
for the two of us," and other lame threats.
I
did notice that the town was in a ring shaped air pocket.
Curious I darted through alleys shaking the guards, then
cast a spell over me to let me slip through the dust like
a cat slips through a gap in a picket fence. I was
surprised to see the central pocket hollow, and a huge
mineshaft. Silicate-rich sand was being smelted into
glass. I looked at one of the crates of glass and it was
marked silicate valley enterprises. I knew that this was
one of Sigils main glass suppliers (hey I may be clueless
but I'm not THAT clueless) and that they had a hidden
mine that they keep secret. (After all their sand makes
fracture resistant glass, super strong yet it doesn't
detect as magic.)
Then
I was spotted, crossbows raised and fired. It was only my
magic that allowed to escape by exiting the wall. I
gathered my band and high tailed it out of their, being
chased down by a posse that was out for blood. Those
redcoats were on a warpath and they had the bolts to
prove it. If it wasn't for me getting the portal location
they would have killed me. Now I'm a wanted man in over a
dozen planes (any with Harmonium) that's why I rarely go
to Sigil anymore. My homeworld is safer.

[
Main |
The Basics |
Locations |
Creatures |
Genasi
] [
Magic
|
Powers |
Stories |
TSR's Inner Planes ]

|
Here's
something I can't praise enough. This tome explores
not only Dust, but all eighteen Inner Planes,
describing the hazards, physical conditions,
powerful residents and most famous sites of
each.
Just
because I like you, I'm going to make you an offer.
You want to learn more about the Inner Planes? You
got the right jink? Why didn't you say before? It's
a deal!
Find
out more about the Inner Planes book
here,
or order it here, at a generous discount from the
RRP of US$20: [ US$
| UK£
]
|
Copyright
1999, text by Jon Winter,
graphics by Jon Winter and Jeremiah Golden


|