[ Beastlands ] [ Krigala | Brux | Karasuthra ]
Beastlands
The Lands of Savage Beauty, the Land of Instinct, Animal’s Rest, the Wildlands
The Beastlands. At first glance, it all seems harmless enough, right? There’s nothing nasty like tanar’ri or baatezu here. That don’t mean there ain’t critters with big sharp teeth hungry for your flesh, though! This is the wildest plane of all: a primal place of savagery, instinct and survival. It’s also one of the most beautiful places around. It’s like all your senses are heightened — hunger pains are more intense but food tastes more delicious. Days are more exhausting but sleep is more refreshing. The weather is more intense, and also changeable. And weirdest of all, cutters who visit the plane start to take on bestial traits and appearances.
The plane has three layers, each representing a different time of day. Each layer also has a similar geography, and gates between the layers are incredibly common. Any natural archyway, cave opening, hole in a tree or vine covering a path could be a gate. Step through and you’ll find the landscape to be similar, but day has instantly changed to night, or to twilight. It can be jarring, and dangerous. Because creatures who like to hunt are able to use these gates as well. And you’d better believe that on the Beastlands, the animals are smart.
Krigala — Layer the First
Krigala is the layer of eternal noon. Selera, the sun that looks down upon these lands, never stops shining, and never shifts from her position at the zenith of the sky. The weather here can be baking hot, but frequent storms sweep across the land to keep things from turning to desert. The terrain varied from savannah to woodland to valleys and mountains, rivers, lakes and marshes. The animals who dwell here are those happiest in a diurnal environment: reptiles, insects, many birds and large mammals.
Brux — Layer the Second
The second layer of the Beastlands is a realm of perpetual twilight; Selera is always just on the horizon setting, and the moon Noctos is always crescent. The plants strain towards the half-sun to get enough light. This is the domain of the crepuscular creatures, those who flourish in the liminal time between day and night. Deer, foxes, frogs songbirds, rabbits, beetles, toads, wolves and tigers all haunt this layer.
Karasuthra — Layer the Third
The final layer of the plane is one of eternal night. The moon Noctos hangs in the sky, fat and full, casting a weak silvery light across the land. The moon is a jealous beast though, and does not like competition. Cutters aren’t able to make any kind of natural flame on the layer, and magical light is half as effective. This makes the layer doubly dangerous for a berk without low-light vision, because Karasuthra is the home to creatures of the night. Badgers and bats, hedgehogs and mice, but also far more dangerous creatures like panthers and leopards.
More details to follow!
Source: Jon Winter-Holt
