Tracts of Fire

Greetings, dearly beloved. Today Voilá! has garnished me to dispel some of the mysteries that surround my wondrous home, the Elemental Plane of Fire. Specifically, he’s asked me to address that burning question that you Primes always seem to ask, about whether you can get a map of the plane. And to that, I say yes and no. You’ll be aware, I hope, that Fire is infinite in size. It’s quite possible for a clueless cutter to travel forever in one direction until their fire protection runs out and they roast to a delicious crisp, without the terrain ever changing. This is because you mortals simply don’t see directions in the same way as we natives of Fire can. If I told you to walk lifewards, which direction would that be to you? I can imagine the expression you’re making cutter, I’ve seen it a hundred times on a hundred faces of planewalkers. To be honest, it’s the same face I made when I first visited the desert of Zakhara and was told to travel to the North.

“What is North“, asked I, “Is it a city?”

“No, genie!” came the mocking reply. “Let me consult my magical needle, for it will point the way.”

“What?” asked I in surprise, “North is not something you can see or feel? What happens if you lose your magical needle?”

The prime was rude in his reply, so to teach him a lesson I wished that his needle would vanish. I would like to think he is still wandering that desert to this day. But I digress. My point is this, we efreet have no need of magical needles on the Plane of Fire. We can feel in our blood the cardinal directions of our plane. Lifewards, where the essence of positive energies are strongest, feels like a tingling sensation. Travelling lifewards in Fire will eventually take a cutter to the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Radiance. If you instead travel Nothingwards, where the yawning feeling pulls at your gut, that’s towards the Ashes. If you travel Earthwards, towards the direction where reality feels more solid and the flames dance more slowly, you’ll end up eventually on the border of the Para-Elemental Plane of Magma. And (not finally) Airwards will take you where the flames feel lighter and the soot tickles your lungs, that’s towards the plane of Smoke.

This is where the tungsten penny usually drops for planewalkers. The more perceptive of them can even learn to feel some of these directions with a patient teacher and enough time. It’s always a proud moment for me when a pupil takes their first step lifewards or earthwards. It’s hard to describe to a cutter who’s been born into the three dimensions of the Prime. But of course there are even more esoteric directions a blood can travel, and these a planewalkers will probably never master. First there’s Deepwards, which is also a dangerous journey. It will take you to a part of the Conflagration where the flames get even hotter, until they burn even a fire elemental. It’s here that old Kossuth keeps his realm. And finally, a direction even most elementals don’t know about, because it has been hidden for a long time. Wetwards is an ancient and secret direction. I’ll tell you about it some time, but not today. We have work to do…

Core Fire

Core Fire is everything a planewalker would think about when they imagine the Plane of Fire. Its the he always-burning, ever-hungry heart of the inferno. Air made of fire over water made of fire over earth made of fire. Dozens of races and tribes dwell here—efreet, salamanders, firenewts, azers, fire giants, harginn and so on—and they wage constant wars here to gain access to land and resources. Most of the well-known sites of the Crematorium can be found here; the City of Brass, the Sea of Scorching Waves, the Lands of Fire floating in them, the Candescent Skies above.

Brazen Bazaar (wandering site)
- The Plane Below [4e] p68
Hidden Heart (wandering realm of Zaaman Rul)

Afoapi Range

The mightiest mountain range in the Plane of Fire, the Afoapis are not rock, but solidified fire. The tallest of these is also the largest volcano, the mighty Sakalayo Peak.

Dar El-Hariq (site, observatory of the efreet)
- The Plane Below [4e] p54
Inferno’s Bliss (independent burg) †
- Planar Adventures [PF1e] p140; Planes of Power [PF1e] p34
Sakalayo Peak (mountain) †
- Planar Adventures [PF1e] p140; Planes of Power [PF1e] p36
Sanhari (onkushu burg)†
- Planes of Power [PF1e] p36
Zjarra (independent burg)†
- Planar Adventures [PF1e] p141; Planes of Power [PF1e] p37

Blazing Sea

A vast ocean of liquid fire, dominated in turn by the colossal City of Brass of the efreeti, which floats on the sea in a bowl of metal many miles across. See: Dragon Magazine #347 p34; Inner Planes [2e] p45-46,49

City of Brass, the (efreeti city)
- Dragon Magazine #347 p34; #353 p50; #357 p54; Dungeon Master’s Guide [5e] p55; Inner Planes [2e] p43,45-47,49,91; Manual of the Planes [3e] p74-75; Planar Handbook [3e] p136,138-141; Planar Adventures [PF1e] p139; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p10,27,30; Player’s Guide p2,4; Sigil & Beyond p77
Ninefold Towers of the Matriarch of Holy Sublimation (realm of fire mephits) †
- Planar Adventures [PF1e] p140; Planes of Power [PF1e] p34
Sable Forest (area)
- Inner Planes [2e] p47

Plain of Burnt Dreams

Badly damaged by the recent seismic battle between Imix and Zaaman Rul, it will be a long time before this part of the Plane of Fire returns to its pre-war state. Many of the flaming forests have been cut down to build war machines, the solid fire ground open-cast mined for raw materials and the liquid flames drained to satisfy the armies needs for refreshments. While it might not look much different to planewalkers, the blazing environment here is on the brink of collapse and may yet teeter over into the plane of Ash. See: Dragon Magazine #347 p34; Manual of the Planes [5e] p159

Jabal Turab (The Mount of Dust) (vortex to Air)
- Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p31
Lands of Fire (area in Core Fire)
- Inner Planes [2e] p40
Sea of Fire (area)
- Planar Handbook [3e] p140-141; Dungeon Master’s Guide [5e] p55
Suhkteh Albarrana (the Burnt Fortress, site)
- Planes of Chaos [2e] Book of Chaos p123

Sea of Scorching Waves

The Sea of Scorching Waves is a mesmerising expanse of liquid fire that stretches across a huge tract of Core Fire. From the kaleidoscopic colours of the sea near the Prismatic Frontier, to the thickened lavafires near the Burning Ridges, the Sea of Scorching Waves roils and undulates as molten magma churns and boils beneath the surface. Like the seas of the Prime, its waves crash against islands of bleached rock, but unlike any other sea, this sends plumes of ash and smoke high into into the air. The sea’s depths are home to ancient secrets, like the Isles of Scorched Bones which hold the stories of a long-dead race whose cities lie slowly melting. Efreeti vessels crafted from brass and volcanic rock navigate the treacherous currents, their enslaved crews skilfully avoiding deadly tungsten shoals and flame whales alike. See: Inner Planes [2e] p12,40,45

Black Fist (Sea of Scorching Waves) (site)
- Inner Planes [2e] p45
Citadel of Fire (site)
- Eternal Boundary [2e] p2,6,18,21,24,26-28,30-32
Cradle of Flames (realm of Feronia)†
- Planar Adventures [PF1e] p138, 140; Planes of Power [PF1e] p34
Isles of Scorched Bones (area)
- Inner Planes [2e] p45

Deep Fire

Delving deepwards into Fire, overly curious sods notice that after some time the fiery seas stop having islands. In the Deep Fire there are no impurities, and the temperatures keep rising. The Realm of Kossuth stands here as a wall of white flame. It is so hot that no mortal magic can protect a sod approaching it, and even most elementals cannot go near it. What is beyond the wall is unknown to me—perhaps lands where the biggest (and hottest) primal elementals roam. After all, Inner Planes in theory go on forever.

Crimson Pillar, the (realm of Kossuth)
- Molten Tower, the(site)
- Faiths & Avatars [3e]; Inner Planes [2e] p46-47,49; On Hallowed Ground [2e] 181; Planewalker’s Handbook [2e] p28
Fiery Maze of Contemplation (realm of Glautru)
Furnace, the (area)
- Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p31; Manual of the Planes [5e] p159

Fringes of Fire

Now, the border areas. These are still a part of the Plane of Fire, but the amount of elemental impurities filtering in from the neighbouring planes in such that the nature of the flames has started to be influenced. Each of the fringe regions can be used to travel out of the Fire and into the neighbouring Para- or Quasi-Elemental plane. This usually requires a local guide, as sensing the correct direction is not simple for planewalkers without magic or significant experience. The borders themselves are sometimes subtle and sometimes dramatic; each one is different.

Burning Ridges

(Magma) — The Plane of Earth (and, by extension, the Para-Plane of Magma) are important for many civilisations of the Crematorium, since only they can provide such commodities as obsidian and tungsten. As you travel earthwards, the liquid fire becomes darker, and islands much more abundant, resembling mountain ranges. This land is called the Burning Ridges, and a lot of communities (especially azers) from both planes choose it to make their kip. As you might expect, competition for land is fierce. When the gaseous fire becomes thicker, but the solid land is weaker, you’ve entered the Searing Mists, the border region with Magma. Watch your footing, because getting stuck in cooling molten rock is nobody’s idea of fun. Eventually the conflagration becomes thicker and more sticky, unable to support burning at all, and condenses. When you spot the bubbling pools of thick liquid rock you’ll know you are finally in the Para-Elemental Plane of Magma.

Auroric Palace (realm of Ymeri) †
- Planar Adventures [PF1e] p138; Planes of Power [PF1e] p34
Basalt Fortress (site)
- Dragon Magazine #347 p34; Inner Planes [2e] p49; Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix III [2e] p16
Crucible (azer tower)
- Manual of the Planes [5e] p158
Emberean Recess (magma dragons)
- Planar Adventures [PF1e] p140
Fountains of Creation (volcano range)
- Dungeon Master’s Guide [5e] p55
Obsidian Fields (area)
- Inner Planes [2e] p47; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p31
Temple of Ultimate Consumption (realm of Imix)

Cinder Wastes

(Ash) — Travel nothingwards and you’ll find yourself in the Cinder Wastes. Here temperatures rapidly drop to around 200-300 degrees—still enough to burn a sod, but not enough to melt precious metals. Fire in this place is constantly cooled by the presence of ash—so a fraction of it doesn’t burn, but instead falls down as fine particles and lays over the blazing sea as dark dunes. These become less and less hot as you progress towards Ash. This image has made many clueless wrongfully assume that the entire Plane of Fire is somehow a desert. Many fire-born creatures find the Cinder Wastes uncomfortably cold, but this place still has its share of inhabitants. For example, cinderbrutes, hulking creatures of fire and compressed ash, who seem to be native to this place. When you see that spires of crystallised solid fire start to protrude from the dunes, you’ll realise you’ve crossed over in the border region of Quasi-Elemental Ash into a beautiful but dangerous realm known as the Sea of Frozen Flames. Fourther nothingwards these becoming fewer and further between until eventually they’re abruptly snuffed out and the ash becomes endless. What’s that, oh you’ve been there already? Oh, you brave fool!

Cinder Wastes (area)
- Dungeon Master’s Guide [5e] p55
Rift River (area)
- Planar Handbook [3e] p155
Shadow Fire (hazard)
- Inner Planes [2e] p44
Slag Plinths (area)
- Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p31, Manual of the Planes [5e] p159
Smoldering Gate (gate to the Abyss)
- The Plane Below [4e] p54

Everlasting Firestorm

(Smoke)— Travelling airwards, Fire borders Smoke. When fiery environments meet fumes flowing in from the para-plane, the Everlasting Firestorm is found. Here powerful storms of flame ravage the landscape as the soot ignites and burns away. Few creatures of Fire can withstand such storms (even though they aren’t harmed by heat, they still can be flung far away by these “winds” of fire). Only gigantic elder, monolith and primal fire elementals enjoy this place. Further still airwards, in the border region of Scalding Skies where the Smoke chokes out the flames, cyclonic sparkstorms sweep the landscape. Then finally, the fire becomes cooler and filled with fumes. Gaseous, liquid and solid fire layers slowly dissolve into each other, until they meet banks of thick pungent rolling smog—this is the true Para-Elemental Plane of Smoke.

Burning Rift (site)
- Planar Handbook [3e] p155-156
Scalding Skies (border region with Smoke)
- Inner Planes [2e] p40, Manual of the Planes [5e] p159

Prismatic Frontier

(Radiance) — As you move lifewards towards the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Radiance, the flames change colour. As a premonition of what’s to come, you’ll see red, blue and even green flames. This place is more erratic than other areas, with fountains of toxic gases and areas of strange magic appearing here more often. Emberlings, small psionic creatures with a penchant for contemplation, like to observe these deadly, but beautiful sights. The flares become more brilliant, brighter and ever more colourful. At the point where incandescent rainbow-like arches of light scintillate continuously, this is the sign you’ve crossed over into Bright Flame, the border region of the dazzling Quasi-Elemental Plane of Radiance.

Tower of Djamela (site)
- The Plane Below [4e] p55

Canonical Sources: Start with the excellent Planescape Inner Planes [2e] book. Other references from D&D and Pathfinder lore are mentioned on the relevant entries. This index will continue to be fleshed out as more locations are added.

Other Sources: Margarita (introduction, border regions, conditions), Jon Winter-Holt