Kythri
It’s hard to keep a consistent rhythm in Kythri. It takes effort to maintain any pattern of behavior; without even thinking about it, people in Kythri adjust their behavior to avoid repetition. This is the essence of Kythri. On the one hand it’s a vision of chaos, but it’s also about change, adapting to overcome the unexpected, and challenging traditions.
Kythri is commonly imagined as utterly unstable, with landscapes taking shape only to boil away within moments. And this is true of the heart of the realm, known as the Sea of Chaos. But at the edges of the sea, there are islands that linger. The environments of these Shifting Islands steadily and constantly change; a vast desert might be a lush rainforest in a few hours. But the land itself remains constant, and creatures can live on these islands, adapting to the endlessly changing environment.
While Kythri constantly changes, its elements are usually natural. A jungle becomes a desert, a blizzard becomes a sandstorm—but it’s comprised of sand, not tiny marble busts of King Boranel. This distinguishes Kythri from Xoriat or Dal Quor; while constantly changing, it’s generally change between plausible options, unlike the unreal environments of the Realm of Madness and the Region of Dreams.
Geography
Unlike many planes, Kythri isn’t divided into layers. Its structure is closer to that of Dal Quor; it has a planar core, with islands of reality suspended within the Sea of Chaos. The difference is that the core of Dal Quor is stable—while in Kythri, the closer you get to the heart of the sea, the more tumultuous it becomes.
There are many slaad communities spread across the Shifting Islands, and at least half a dozen githzerai monastery vessels in the Sea of Chaos.
Localized Phenomena
All things change in Kythri, even time and the future. The only thing that’s truly reliable is that nothing’s reliable.
Broken Rhythms. A creature can’t take the exact same action on two consecutive turns. If it previously stood still, it must move. If it previously moved, it can stand still or move a different distance. A creature can cast a spell in two consecutive turns, but it can’t be the same spell. A creature can attack on two consecutive turns, but the second attack must be
described as substantially different in style from the one before.
Fluid in Form. When a creature casts a transmutation spell, its range is doubled; if it has a duration of at least 1 minute but less than 24 hours, the duration is doubled.
Embrace the Unknown. In order to cast a divination spell of 1st level or higher, a creature must succeed on a spellcasting ability check with a DC equal to 12 + the level of the spell. On a
failed check, the spell is not cast and its spell slot is not expended, but the action is lost. Divination spells cast on other planes can’t affect or target creatures, places, or objects on Kythri.
The Odds are Odd. If the d20 roll for an attack is a 1 or a 2, the attack misses regardless of any modifiers or the target’s AC. If the d20 roll for an attack is a 19 or 20, the attack hits regardless of any modifiers or the target’s AC, and is considered a critical hit. If a creature has an ability or item that increases its normal range of critical hits—such as the Champion fighter’s Improved Critical—its range increases by 1.
Constant Change. Nothing remains exactly the same in Kythri. Whenever a creature finishes a short or long rest, it finds that something changed about it or its possessions. Each player should describe what’s changed about their character; this could be as simple as your cloak changing color or your sword now having a stylish Aundairian design when it was originally Karrnathi. You could choose for the change to be physical—your skin, hairstyle, or sex—or mental—you suddenly hate olives or no longer believe in the Sovereign Host. These changes have no mechanical impact: the coins in your pocket may change in design, but copper coins won’t turn into platinum.
Chaotic Time. Time is fluid in Kythri, inconsistent both with the Material Plane and within its own islands. Adventurers who spend a day in Kythri could find that a year has passed in Eberron, or they could be trapped in Kythri for a year and find that only an hour has passed when they return.
Fauna & Flora
Wild Things
The islands of Kythri are inhabited. But how can a creature survive in an environment that can be a desert today and anglacier tomorrow? The answer, of course, is that the creature must change with the environment. Kythri’s islands include some creatures that appear to be natural beasts, though they change as the region around them does; the wolf in the forest becomes an arctic wolf when the land turns into a glacier, and turns into a jackal when it’s a desert. Even beyond their practical changes for survival, Kythrian creatures might be constantly shifting their plumage, behavior, and more fundamental biology, whether from moment to moment or day to day. However, not all of Kythri’s wild things transform into familiar forms. Part of the plane’s core concept is evolving in response to change, and Kythri is home to many creatures that blend the features of two or more natural beasts: monstrosities such as the owlbear, griffon, and chimera. It’s commonly accepted that at least some of these monstrosities first appeared in Kythri, and that they first appeared in Eberron either by passing through portals or due to the influence of manifest zones. Just as the environments of Kythri are chaotic but largely blend natural elements, Kythrian monstrosities typically blend the forms of natural creatures. While there are hippogriffs and griffons in Kythri, inherently alien creatures like kruthiks and aren’t found here. The wild things of Kythri also include natural shapechangers, notably a wide variety of mimics—even colossal ones that can assume the shape of natural features such as hills or mountains. It’s quite likely the mimics of Eberron either immigrated from Kythri or were created by its influence, much like the sahuagin of the Eternal Dominion use the blood of the kar’lassa bound to Kythri to create their plasmids. Unlike other planes where these wild things would likely be manifestations, the wild things of Kythri are mortal creatures. They live, reproduce, and die following (mostly) natural means, and have to find sustenance and shelter in their islands. Between the strange flow of time and unusual environments, this can lead to dramatic surges in populations or sudden extinctions. However, the plane itself seeds new life into islands that somehow become depopulated, and if all the griffons in Kythri were to die, new ones would eventually evolve. So even though Kythri doesn’t have manifestations, it ensures a steady stream of mortals exist—and when they die, it replaces them.Slaadi
The slaadi are native immortals of Kythri. Though they do reproduce (in strange and disturbing ways) and can die of mortal ailments, they’re defined as immortals because their population remains constant. Whenever a new slaad is born—whatever the method of its creation—an existing slaad dies, seemingly at random. And whenever a slaad is killed, a new one is formed. So while they seem to share many of the traits of mortals, they can never be wiped out even if they die en masse, and even if a blue slaad transforms a village of humans into slaadi with the chaos phage, the overall number of slaadi doesn’t increase. The slaadi are the only native civilization of Kythri. They aren’t a monolithic society; some live in massive cities, while others are tiny rustic communities. Each slaad community has its own distinct culture and a grand name, and the Slaad Cultures table provides a few examples of these—but there are many more, and they’re constantly changing. The grand city of Cornerstone may be the seat of the brutal Concordance of Iron today, and the Enlightened Lyceum League a month later. These changes are astonishingly fast, but they aren’t instant; there are usually at least a few days of chaotic transition and revolution in between a change. The scope of a community won’t change—Cornerstone is always a metropolis, while Turn is always a village—but the structures of the community shift. Under the Concordance of Iron, Cornerstone is filled with brutalist iron towers, while the Cornerstone of the Lyceum League is filled with slender glass spires. The slaadi themselves retain their core forms while their buildings and government change. Red slaadi are always red toad-like creatures that implant eggs, but the Lyceum slaadi might be tall and slender, while the Concordance slaadi are squat and heavy. Kythri’s influence can also cause slaadi to change color. So slaadi follow standard methods for creating particular colors—a blue slaad infects creatures with chaos phage, creating red or green slaadi—but a green slaad could go to sleep one night and wake up as a death slaad, and vice versa. In a culture like the Concordance, that means leadership frequently changes, because it’s based on color, not personality. Because slaad cultures change so rapidly, they rarely enact plans beyond their own communities, though cities occasionally clash. Some weeks they seek to exterminate the githzerai, and other weeks, to ally with them. You never know what you’ll get.Githzerai
The githzerai aren’t natives of Kythri, and their presence is an act of defiance: through unparalleled mental discipline, they create bastions of order in the heart of chaos. If they seek order, why don’t they dwell in Daanvi? It’s not that they simply desire order, but to strengthen their will by imposing it on a reality that absolutely defies it. The struggle is the purpose. Beyond this, they’re served by the fact that even great powers can’t scry into Kythri. The githzerai don’t dwell on the Shifting Islands of Kythri. Instead, they’ve created their own islands in the Sea of Chaos: vast monastery vessels the size of small towns, moving through the eddies of chaos and defying transformation. The githzerai devote themselves to meditation and self-improvement, with little interest in what transpires beyond their monasteries. They have no particular love of outsiders—they consider all creatures of Eberron to be warped shadows of their stolen reality—but neither are they inherently hostile. A persuasive group of adventurers could find brief shelter in a githzerai monastery, especially if they bring something interesting to trade or have compelling stories to share. However, should the outsiders offend the githzerai, they’ll feel no remorse in eliminating them; there’s nothing evil in shining light to dispel a shadow.Greater Powers?
No one knows if there’s a greater power shaping Kythri. The death slaadi are powerful beings, but there’s no known equivalent to Dolurrh’s Queen of the Dead or Dal Quor’s il-Lashtavar. Some sages assert that there must be a consciousness at the heart of the Sea of Chaos, a sentience behind the chaos, but if so, its presence has never been proven.History
Manifest Zones
Kythrian manifest zones are often unpredictable in minor ways. Weather patterns may deviate from the surrounding region and change on a moment’s notice. The plane’s universal properties also carry over to many manifest zones. Any Kythrian zone with the Constant Change property might produce monstrosities. A zone with the Fluid in Form property amplifies the effects of transmutation magic and can have dramatic effects on the success of magebreeding; these zones are extraordinarily valuable to House Vadalis. Manifest zones can occasionally serve as gateways, allowing creatures from Kythri to slip through into Eberron, intentionally or accidentally. Many monstrosities make their home in the wilds, whereas other creatures—like slaadi—can present very unusual encounters, depending what culture they’re from.Coterminus & Remote
Kythri’s cycle of coterminous and remote periods is completely unpredictable, lasting anywhere from days to centuries. Curiously, its proximity to Eberron has no discernable effects.Kythrian Artifacts
Materials from Kythrian manifest zones are often important components of magic items tied to transmutation or illusion; shiftweave uses fibers of plants harvested in Kythrian zones, the manifest zone of Hal’kyth is a vital part of the transmutation industry of the Eternal Dominion. Items that come from Kythri may have unpredictable effects. For example, a hat of disguise from Kythri may function normally when its wearer keeps in mind exactly what they want to look like; but if they don’t consciously enforce an appearance, it slowly but continuously changes minor elements of their disguise.
Alternative Name(s)
The Churning Chaos
Type
Plane of Existence
Included Locations
