The Spire

The Spire

Location: Outlands / the Centre

The Spire at the centre of the Outlands, cutter, is a sight to boggle the mind of any berk who claps eyes on it. Imagine an infinitely tall column that spears the sky, with the ringed city of Sigil perched atop like some crown jewel. The Spire’s the biggest, most frustratingly obvious yet obscure mystery of the Great Ring, and it’s the very heart of the Outlands, visible from any point on the plane if the basher’s got clear skies.

Now, don’t go thinking magic will do you any good on the slopes of this colossal rock. The Spire’s a dead magic zone, leaving even the mightiest archmages scrabbling in the dirt like common berks. But that’s not to say the place is devoid of life. Aye, creatures of all sorts eke out a living in its shadow, and the rilmani, those enigmatic balancers of the planes, they thrive here, seemingly immune to the Spire’s magic-nulling touch.

And then there’s the moot of the gods, a gathering so hush-hush it might even be made up. Every few years, the chant goes, the big cheeses of each pantheon meet at the base of the Spire, hashing out the cosmos’s dos and don’ts. The Spire levels the playing field, stripping even deities of their might, so they can parley without fear of skullduggery. And the rilmani, those inscrutable keepers of balance, they watch over the proceedings, making sure the multiverse stays on an even keel.

The rilmani burg of Dendradis can be found here, clinging to the vertical surface of the Spire like a barmy barnacle. Although you’ll probably only be able to admire it from afar as the gray race do rather value their privacy,

Evern darker, they say there’s even a way to get inside the Spire. Apparently it’s a maze of tunnels and caverns that twist and turn as they climb up into infinity. There are pockets of magic and anti magic floating about, so a wizard’s spells might fizzle out like a damp squib. And it’s dark, darker than a tanar’ri’s sense of humour, with a silence so thick it’d smother a shout. They say time runs funny in there too, you know. 

So, if you’re thinking of taking a jaunt to the Spire, remember, it’s more than just a towering rock. It’s a place of secrets, of power, and of balance, where the fate of pantheons can hang in the balance. It’s also a very long walk across the Outlands from the last place that portals still work…

Canonical Sources:

• On Hallowed Ground [2e] p42,70 (pantheon leaders meeting at the Spire, Dunatis claims to have created the Spire, 
• Planescape Monstrous Compendium Vol. 2 [2e] p84,86-91 (rilmani at the Spire)
• Player’s Primer to the Outlands [2e] p4,6,31 (brief mentions)
• Turn of Fortunes Wheel [5e] (chapter of the adventure is set in and around the Spire)

Source: Jon Winter-Holt