Ravenloft Cosmology

[Spiteful Crow]

On Wikipedia, it mentions that where the Demiplane of Dread meets the elemental planes, the planes of pyre, mist, blood, and grave form. Also, Planewalker had a short little article describing those planes. Are there any major sources on these? And does anyone actually use them in their games?

[Tobias Blackburn]

I've never heard of the those particular elemental planes. It sounds more like someone wrote that without too much understanding of the forces that govern Ravenloft.

My understanding is that a dread elemental (Blood, Grave, Mist, Pyre) are formed when the planar fabric of Ravenloft corrupts an elemental as it is summoned. When you summon an earth elemental (for example) you have a chance that it will be corrupted and become a grave elemental. You can corrupt the summoning on purpose if you want to ensure you get a grave elemental.

I don't see the purpose of having para-elemental planes for blood, grave or pyre, and the Mist that it would take about there is Ravenloft itself. None of those are actual elements or even para-elements. They're just corrupted.

[Algaris]

I vaguely remember hearing small snippets of some of them. I always thought they were in the same vein as quasi elemental planes, such as the quasi elemental plane of lightning.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Do elemental planes connect to the ethreal plane?

Naturally, they do co-exist with the material plane, but do the elemental planes have a similar connection - or is there only means of connecting to the ethreal plane involve crossing the prime material plane?

I had read somewhere that Ravenloft is connected to the the plane of shadow

[Spiteful Crow]

Well, according to Planescape...

The elemental planes and the ethereal plane are connected AND coexistant. The ethereal plane is supposed to be "potential matter" while the elemental planes are the "building blocks of matter". Since the Demiplane of Dread is floating somewhere deep in the Ethereal, it's not too much of a jump that it corrupts parts of the elemental planes. Wikipedia also mentions that the Nightmare Lands is a result of Ravenloft corrupting a part of the Plane of Dreams.

The astral plane is coexistant with the outer planes, but cut off from the ethereal and elemental planes, thus cut off from Ravenloft.

The shadow plane is coexistant with almost everything. If I recall correctly, it's mentioned in the 3E players handbook that Ravenloft has a stronger connection to the plane of shadow, thus making shadow spells stronger. I also remember reading somewhere that Ravenloft didn't connect to the shadow plane until the Grand Conjunction, but I don't remember where.

[Spiteful Crow]

Well... I got bored at work today and came up with this...

The Dread Elemental Plane of Grave
- Coexistant with the Near Ethereal, Coterminous with the Elemental Planes of Earth, Blood, and Pyre, and the Demiplane of Dread.
- Earth Dominant
- Mildly Evil Aligned. Good characters suffer a -2 penalty to Charisma based checks.
- Enhanced magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use, manipulate, or create earth or stone (including those of the Earth domain) are both empowered and extended (as if the Empower Spell and Extend Spell metamagic feats had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots). Spells and spell-like abilities that are already empowered or extended are unaffected by this benefit.
- Impeded magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use or create air (including spells of the Air domain) are impeded. A spellcaster attempting to cast one must make a Spellcraft check (DC 20 + the level of the spell). If the check fails, the spell does not function but is still lost as a prepared spell or spell slot. If the check succeeds, the spell functions normally.
- Altered Magic. Spells are still subject to the same rules that govern the Demiplane of Dread. Due to the limited flora and fauna of the domain, most summon spells are rendered useless. Any attempts to summon an elemental automatically brings a hostile Grave Elemental instead.

Location: Demiplane
Ecology: None
Darklord: Alisson
Year of Formation: ?
Cultural Level: Varies. Graves can be found from all cultural levels, ranging from elaborate monuments to primitive wooden sticks.
Population: Unknown (90% Elemental, 10% Undead)
Main Settlements: None
Religion: None
Language: None
Government: Undead Despotism

The Dread Elemental Plane of Grave appears to be an endless graveyard. It is said by some that everyone who has ever died (or ever will die!) in the Demiplane of Dread has a grave somewhere in this plane. When approaching the true Elemental Plane of Earth, the graves start to appear in more and more advanced states of decay until the ground is devoid of graves entirely. An endless wall of stone rises up at the exact border and no known methods can pierce it. Any unfortunate being that digs their way through from the Elemental Plane of Earth finds the passage sealed behind them, trapping them in the Plane of Grave. Near the border with the Plane of Pyre, the urns full of ashes and the remains of funeral pyres can be found. At the border with the Plane of Blood, the sky turns red and the ground ends at an endless ocean of blood.

The plane gives new meaning to the term "silent as the grave", to the point where sounds even seem to be slight muffled, giving a -2 penalty to Listen checks. The only natives to the plane are the Grave Elementals, wandering undead, and the rare Ash Quasielementals that can be found near the border with Pyre.

[Spiteful Crow]

Alisson, Darklord of The Grave

Female human Lich Exp 3 / Necromancer 10

Should have at least 7 ranks in Heal.

Signature Possession: A bloody scalpel (+3 dagger of wounding)

Alisson appears to be a young woman with long black hair and pale skin. She wears a long white robe and carries a chirurgeon's kit. She carries a sad expression and always seems impatient, looking all around her as though she expects to find something.

(Forgive me if this is a bit dry, I'm not too good at fleshing out stories )

Background:

Alisson used to be a healer for a small, remote town on some far off Prime Material Plane. The townspeople would constantly come to her for medical aid and she was loved by all. One month, an epidemic struck the town, and Alisson was forced to send a request to the nearest city for medical supplies. When the supplies arrived, there wasn't enough to treat everyone, so the townspeople were forced to draw lots. Alisson's betrothed was chosen to remain untreated, and in spite of her protests, gladly accepted his fate in order to save the rest of the town. His slow painful death proved to be too much for Alisson, and she was stricken mad with grief. She began to blame the other townspeople for his death and longed for some way to bring her beloved back. She started studying death and secretly exhuming corpses for experiments. When the graves started running out, she began poisoning her patients in order to supply more corpses for her experiments. Alisson didn't hold back, defiling any grave she could find with the exception of her betrothed's. Finally, the dark powers of Ravenloft took notice of her. An earthquake struck the remains of the town, and when Alisson awoke, she found herself in an endless graveyard.

Current Sketch:

Much to Alisson's delight, she now has an endless supply of corpses to use in her experiments. Unfortunately, the dark powers have cursed her to never find her betrothed's grave. She constantly wanders the plane, conducting grisly experiments on exhumed corpses and searching for her beloved. She orders the grave elementals to search for the grave, but they are as powerless to find it as she is.

When she encounters outsiders, Alisson will first ask them for help in her search. If they don't find it within a couple of days, she grows impatient and attacks them, accusing them of trying to keep her from her beloved. If a spellcaster offers Alisson a new necromantic spell she doesn't already know, she leaves him/her alone.

Combat:

In combat, Alisson will usually have her elemental and undead minions attack her opponents while she attacks from a distance with spells. If forced into melee combat, she resorts to attacking with her scalpel.

Special Attacks:

Touch of the Grave (Su): Instead of the normal Lich touch attack, Alisson uses the Touch of the Grave attack of elemental lichs.

Summon Grave Elemental (Su): Alisson can summon up to 4 Grave Elementals per day. Each elemental has 8 hit dice and serves Alisson willingly.

Special Qualities:

Turn Immunity (Ex): Alisson cannot be turned, destroyed, rebuked, or commanded by clerics.

Command (Su): All undead and elementals in the plane are under Alisson's control. She can see through their eyes and take direct control of them at will.

Phylactery (Ex): As long as her betrothed's corpse remains intact, Alisson cannot be permanently destroyed. If reduced to 0 hit points, she rises from a random grave in 1d6 days. If the corpse is found, dug up, and destroyed, Alisson dies permanently when defeated. If the corpse is reanimated by Alisson as a result of outsiders leading her to the grave, it still counts as "destroyed".

Closing the Borders: Alisson cannot close the borders.

[Don Fernando]

Fantastic job! Spiteful Crow

One question though, if I understood correctly you thought of the elemental plane of grave as a domain, and not as a Plane per se. Is that correct? Because if it's a plane, the ruler should be quite powerful (god or demi-god), maybe even beyond the control of the DPs. Just wondering...anyways if it's a domain you did a great job!

[ScS of the Fraternity]

I like this a lot.
It could be that the elemental planes could have mutliple domains ON them, as opposed to each being their own single domain - but either way is still pretty kwel.
If Ravenloft is trully cut off from the rest of the multiverse, then perhaps the planes are where the spirits of the dead reside - based on emotial resonance.

Grave migth be people who died at peace with themselves (though even still they despise the living for interrupting their rest).
Pyre may be the resting place of the violent and the wrathful
Halls of Mist might be the resting place of those who died in terror and madness.
The Ocean of Blood might be the receptical for those who died in misery and pain.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Given that Ravenloft is such a compact little place, by planar standards, I think it might make more sense to have four Elemental Domains as origin-points for the dread elementals, rather than full-fledged planes in their own right. Perhaps the DPs got interested in the elements at some point, and purposefully Mist-napped four villains whose habits and natures would reflect those elemental forces? A quartet of evil genies might work well -- they could even have a shared history -- as might a cabal of four elemental scions (or other PrCs of your choice) who'd conspired to wreak havoc with their respective elements' destructive powers. Upon arrival in Ravenloft, each was given a domain that represented his or her element, but in corrupted forms specifically designed to repel and horrify them.

This might even be the basis for a new Cluster, if you want the Elemental Domains to interact. It could be a bit like the old Burning Peaks -- all four of the elemental darklords could engage in a continual conflict, alternately allying with and betraying each other -- but more adventure-friendly and less redundant.

[Darkknight]

I think you are on to something. I do not like the idea of plane, domains, or a plane with multiple domains. It would give my pcs hope that if they could just make it to the other "plane"...

As for the great domain idea above, I like Allison. great ideas all around.

I could easily see a new cluster being formed.

[Spiteful Crow]

Ravenloft's Elemental Planes are supposed to be where the real Elemental Planes intersect with the Demiplane of Dread. Just like the Nightmare Lands are a result of the Plane of Dreams (is that what it's called?) intersecting with the demiplane. In effect, they're just more domains, especially since Ravenloft's laws of magic treat the domains as separate planes anyway.

I pictured the planes of Grave, Blood, and Pyre as domains in a cluster with their own darklords, while the "plane of Mist" is whatever people walk into at domain borders. Like I mentioned in Grave's description, the planes are connected to the real elemental planes, but the connection is only one way, trapping unwitting planewalkers in Ravenloft. So... a someone on Earth could go tunneling in the wrong direction and suddenly find himself trapped in a creepy graveyard. Or, someone wandering Fire might suddenly find the flames becoming malevolent.

[Spiteful Crow]

The Dread Elemental Plane of Blood
- Coexistant with the Near Ethereal, Coterminous with the Elemental Planes of Water, Mist, and Grave, and the Demiplane of Dread.
- Water Dominant. Some areas have the minor positive-dominant trait.
- Mildly Evil Aligned. Good characters suffer a -2 penalty to Charisma based checks.
- Subjective directional gravity. Inhabitants of the plane determine their own “down” direction. Objects not under the motive force of others do not move. Due to the surrounding blood, "falling" is a lot slower than normal.
- Enhanced magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use or create water are both extended and enlarged (as if the Extend Spell and Enlarge Spell metamagic feats had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots). Spells and spell-like abilities that are already extended or enlarged are unaffected by this benefit.
- Impeded magic. Spells and spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor (including spells of the Fire domain) are impeded. A spellcaster attempting to cast one must make a Spellcraft check (DC 20 + the level of the spell). If the check fails, the spell does not function but is still lost as a prepared spell or spell slot. If the check succeeds, the spell functions normally.
- Altered magic. Spells are still subject to the same rules that govern the Demiplane of Dread. Due to the limited flora and fauna of the domain, most summon spells are rendered useless. Any attempts to summon an elemental automatically brings a hostile Blood Elemental instead. Also, any spell that creates water creates blood instead. Anyone witnessing this for the first time must make a horror check.

The Dread Elemental Plane of Blood is an endless ocean of blood. No sky or ground exists. Only blood. That said, outsiders have a tendency to drown rather quickly. The only natives of the domain are blood elementals, and various undead fish. When approaching the Elemental Plane of Water, the blood becomes thinner and thinner, but an unseen barrier prevents entry into the plane. Any being who swims in from the Plane of Water finds themself trapped. When approaching the Plane of Grave, the swimmer finds themselves coming out of an ocean of blood onto a beach. When approaching the Plane of Mist, the blood starts to feel colder and colder, numbing the senses until the traveller doesn't even notice the transition into the mists. Throughout the plane, a distant ominous hearbeat can be heard, and the blood moves along with the "pulse".

[Spiteful Crow]

"The Elemental Planes Cluster"

The Elemental Planes Cluster supposedly consists of the four corrupted elemental planes of Ravenloft. Only the planes of Blood, Grave, and Pyre can be found, however. Where one would expect to find the fourth domain is only a misty border. Unlike normal domains, the planes are infinite. Unless someone walks with the intention of entering the other elemental planes, the plane continues infinitely. For beings without spellcasting capabilities, the only escape from the cluster is to walk into the misty border touching the planes of Blood and Pyre.

[Manofevil]

There's another way to structure this. When a person steps into the mists, Do they WAlk on mist? When they sail into the mists, like in Dance of the Dead, Do they SAIL upon the mists? My answer to both questions is I doubt it. When they walk through the mists, let the ground they walk upon be of the plane of Grave and when they sail into the mists. Let the liquid they sail upon be of the plane of Blood. Unseeable, of course because of the mists obscuring them. . This can also also be used to answer a stuctural question I didn't even realise I had until I read this thread. What happens when a person or group cross a domain border while underwater, say, using a breathe water spell or something as mundane as a submarine? Are we to believe that the water suddenly turns to mist? Wouldn't gravity take over then? The water could just turn white, but wouldn't it be more disturbing if it suddenly became blood-especially if one is swimming? In short let the plane of Grave mark the domain borders on and beneath the land's surface, so dwarven miners tunneling toward the border suddenly find themselves besieged by grave elementals. Let the plane of Blood mark the domain borders on and beneath the waters, so anyone moving beneath the water would immediately be set upon by blood elementals. I'll admit I'm stumped on where to put the plane of Pyre though I'm sure it could be slipped in someplace. Hazlan's borders perhaps. And there's no saying we can't have domains of peices of the planes like Spiteful Crow created. What do you all think?