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The Beastlands - Good, Chaotic
Tendencies
I think I could turn and live
with animals, they are so placid and self-contain'd;
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition;
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins;
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God;
Not one is dissatisfied--not one is demented with the mania of owning things;
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago;
Not one is respectable or industrious over the whole earth.
-- Walt Whitman
| The choice was excellent. As the
realms have been developed, they have come to be peopled by intelligent animals. It is a
happy, natural world without the laws of civiliation or the reflective thought of Law.
This is the only place in the multiverse where visions of natural harmony and "noble
savagery" are true -- and this is its magic. "The Perfect Wilderness",
"The Beastlands" or "the Happy Hunting Grounds" are universes filled
with sentient speaking (and often spellcasting) animals in all their beautiful diversity.
There are no tame animals here, and any animal brought here from another plane immediately
becomes feral, though not necessarily unfriendly. All kinds of terrain are here. This is a
realm of primitive beauty. Many of the animals are the spirits of the blessed dead who
were of good, non-lawful alignment and who preferred to live simply and without much
reflection. Others are animals of the plane's ecosystem. Regardless of their origin, most
of the animals are profoundly wise and holy, and serve as exemplars of individual virtues,
as in the medieval bestiaries. All of them can talk, though most prefer not to. Those that
do will question the party about how they have treated animals, and about goodness. Evil
visitors are usually hunted, while good visitors are usually left alone, but don't get
over-confident. The Lords of each kind of animal live here, knowing all that concerns the
species. Warden animals serve them and supervise each species in turn. (Natural
ecosystems, dominated by good animals, may be found on all the upper planes.) All ranger
skills, and all skills and proficiencies related to animals or to the wilderness, get a
bonus of 10%. Great beings whose faces appear in the clouds can answer almost any
question. (Summon them with "weather summoning".) Distances here are
enormous. A few humans live here -- noble savages or happy hippy-types. Most of the
area is beautiful wilderness. Centaur heaven is here, though there are relatively few
other great spiritual powers. There are a few lycanthropes, but there are no monsters with
magical powers here. The good folk here generally consider that ends justify means. This
is a common location for the headquarters of good sects devoted to animals, nature, or the
wilderness. Visitors will acquire at least one physical feature of the animals they most
resemble; for chaotics this happens almost at once, and even for lawfuls it will happen
within a week. These physical chages wil persist after for the duration of time spent on
the Beastlands. Visitors may discover that their deeds, good and bad, are widely known --
especially how they have treated animals. All good proxies and departed souls on these
planes exist simultaneously on all three. The good creatures living on these planes never
make war on one another. The "Signers" philosophic sect, which holds that the
universe is their dream, has its headquarters here. ("You're all just figments of my
imagination.") Primitives will enjoy hunting the animals for sport, which the animals
don't mind. This is the only place in the multiverse where fantasies about noble
primitives and nature's harmony are really true. The Verdant Guild ("Wylders")
are the local protect-the-environment movement, and oppose all encroachment of
civilization. Mottos include those attributed to noble First Americans of our own world.
Public portals between the layers and to remote planes are found in forest glades, guarded
by fierce, intelligent animals who will question visitors. Because this is a plane where
goodness is very strong, you will find genuine unselfish love from many, if not most, of
the locals. The spiritual beings of the Beastlands are good company and have a sense of
humor. People and intelligent animals will go out of their way to help you in the
Beastlands. Good characters who earn acceptance from the animals as permanent residents of
the Beastlands have "won the game", and may reappear only briefly as glorified
saints. Krigala is a noonday universe. The plants here grow to enormous sizes. The
ratatosk squirrel-folk inhabit branches of Yggdrasil that reach to here. The Forbidden
Plateau is a basalt pillar topped with a realm of dinosaurs and green- furred beastfolk.
Light-green pools extending into the astral appear and shine at random points in the
forests, and can be moved freely among the trees. Portals to the Outlands, Elysium or
Arboria are often hollow trees. Signpost is a frontier-style camp for the Signers'
faction. Skerrit's Glade is the home of centaurs, and those who stay here for a day got +1
on wisdom as long as they stay on the Beastlands. Standing Stones is the home of a
powerful antlered tiefling who will turn sport hunters into the hunted. Triberove is a
huge travelling town of wemics who will welcome most decent creatures to travel with them.
Brux is the universe with two rising-setting suns. There are gates to the Demiplane of
Shadow, and there are rumors that Brux is the repository of items that were safely locked
away but vanished anyway. Al Karak Elam-Ihankhal is the realm of the xenophobic flying
elves. The Cat Lord's Prowl is cat terrain, and visitors will usually be eaten at once.
Anything that any cat knows, the Cat Lord knows. Ursis is home to the good bear people,
and those infected with lycanthropy and not yet of evil alignment can be cured here.
Karasuthra is a nighttime universe lit by randomly-wandering stars. Burrowing and noctural
animals thrive here. The Owl Lord's Soar is here, and as with most other realms of animal
lords, a visitor with nothing to offer the Owl Lord will be ignored or eaten. The
Labyrinth of Fiery Doom is a portion of Baator that switched over when a fiend discovered
how to love. Stormhold is a realm of perpetual thunderstorms, where the good Storm Giant
King's palace glows with the color of a cloud's silver lining. A magical pool, infinite to
those within, gives healing, restoration, and regeneration to any whom the storm giants
wish. Spell alterations in the Beastlands: Air, wind, and weather spells fail. This
includes "fly" and "feather fall". Conjurations and summonings bring
only the local animals, which are not under control. Divinations cannot contact
supernatural or extraplanar beings. Spells directed against "normal animals"
fail. Harmful necromancy is cast at one level lower. Fire spells are enhanced on the
noonday layer and diminished on the night layer. Other elemental spells may be enhanced or
weakened by the terrain. Spell keys might be available to reach off-plane sources of
information, but other uses seem improbable.Wizardly spell keys are natural objects.
"Elemental aura" requires stones and pebbles. Alterations require blown leaves.
Conjuration-Summonings require a bit of food that the animal will like. Divinations are in
silver ore. Enchantments and charms require quartz crystals. "Whispering wind"
requires a feather. Cloud-evocations require a treebranch struck by lightning. Necromancy
requires a bone. Power keys are rare and appropriate to the sect; one uses a snow-globe.
Referees might not want players to realize that they have entered the Happy Hunting
Grounds. Depending on the site of arrival, visitors might simply recognize a world where
animals live as happily as we sometimes pretend they do. |
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