Lamannia
Lamannia embodies primordial nature, untapped and untamable. It’s often called the Twilight Forest, and is depicted as a realm of colossal trees and massive beasts. However, the forest is just one of the facets of Lamannia. Every natural environment is represented in various layers that exemplify and exaggerate their features. Windswept desert, raging ocean, endless plains—all can be found here. In other planes, these environments are backdrops to the story the realm is telling. In Lamannia, the environment is the story. It doesn’t need the help of fey or fiends to make its point, because the land itself is the point.
Some scholars assert that Lamannia served as a blueprint for the Material Plane—that here, the Progenitors perfected the ideas of storm and stone. They believe that the natural world is infused with the essence of Lamannia, and that druids and others who wield primal magic actually manipulate that Lamannian essence. And indeed, druids who travel to the Twilight Forest can be overwhelmed by the sheer force of nature that infuses this place.
Lamannia lies close to the world, and it’s one of the easiest planes to reach. Its treasures are natural objects imbued with elemental power—wood, stone, herbs, and plants, all of which are stronger and more potent than their mortal counterparts. But when you come to Lamannia, there are many predators, and you are prey; anyone who seeks to despoil the embodiment of nature will be hunted.
Geography
Each of Lamannia’s layers highlights a particular aspect of primal nature. One layer in Lamannia might contain a single colossal mountain peak; on the other hand, the Twilight Forest could be as large as Khorvaire (or even Eberron itself). The edge of a layer could be an impassable physical barrier, or it could wrap around onto itself—if you sail far enough in the Endless Ocean, you’ll find yourself back where you began. Most layers of Lamannia follow a traditional day-night cycle, though they aren’t synchronized across layers, and when the moon Olarune is visible, it’s always full.
The portals that connect the layers of Lamannia often only allow travel in one direction. Any deep pool of water may connect a layer to the Endless Ocean; but while you can get to the Ocean by diving into a pond in the Twilight Forest, there’s no gate back to the forest on the other side. The Endless Ocean contains small islands, and if you explore one, you’ll find you’ve moved to a new layer.
Localized Phenomena
Lamannia is a reflection of the natural world, intensified and exaggerated. The air is pure and clean, the water fresh and clear. Colors are impossibly vivid. It’s suffused with life—a realm in which any stone could be an earth elemental, where any tree could be awakened. Vegetation is nearly always in bloom, and beasts are almost always in the peak of health. Except for a few layers such as the Rot, Lamannia reflects the ideal state of the natural world. Here are some of the plane’s consistent properties.
Extended Druidic Magic. When a creature casts a druid spell with a duration of 1 minute or longer while in Lamannia, the duration is doubled. Spells with a duration of 24 hours or more are unaffected. A DM could decide to extend this effect to other characters that draw on primal sources of magic, such as a Gatekeeper ranger or a Greensinger bard.
Indomitable Animals. Beasts and elementals have a +2 bonus to Constitution and advantage on Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma saving throws. Upon its arrival in Lamannia, any elemental or beast that’s charmed or bound in any way is immediately freed from that effect; this can be disastrous for an elemental airship that’s thrown into the plane.
Elemental Power. When a creature casts a spell that summons or conjures an elemental, it does so as if the spell were cast at a level one higher than the spell slot that was expended.
The Land Provides. A creature has advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to forage for food or shelter. In most layers of Lamannia, the vegetation is bountiful and the land sustaining.
Primordial Matter. It’s difficult to destroy or contaminate the matter of Lamannia. All nonmagical food and drink is purified and rendered free of poison and disease. In addition, natural materials such as wood and stone are tougher than
their mundane counterparts.
Standard Time. Time passes at the same pace as on the Material Plane, and is consistent across its layers.
Fauna & Flora
A common story about Lamannia tells of an explorer who passed through a manifest zone and found herself on a vast mountain peak. Pressing up the mountain, she was exploring a mysterious thicket when she was set upon by rats the size of wolves. She fought the rats, but was on the verge of being overwhelmed...until a giant beak flashed down and snapped up a rat in a single bite. The wide “thicket” wasn’t natural briar; it was the nest of a gargantuan roc, one of Lamannia’s many impressive denizens.
Beasts
Lamannia’s primary inhabitants are beasts—both ones that you might encounter in the wilds of Eberron, and massive creatures that can be seen as iconic representations of their type: the idealized incarnation of Bear or Wolf. Any natural creature can be found in Lamannia; indeed, some sages assert that the presence of a creature in Lamannia is what defines it as “natural.” For the most part, Lamannian beasts are no smarter than their counterparts on Eberron. However, some animals possess intelligence similar to that granted by the awaken spell, though even these beasts generally follow their natural instincts and live wild lives. While the giant owls of Sharn may own shops and run for city council, the giant owls of Lamannia are content to hunt the beasts of the Twilight Forest. So it’s possible to find creatures in Lamannia that speak Common or a Primordial dialect, but most have little interest in long conversations. The beasts of Lamannia generally fall into the following four categories. Mundane Animals are identical to their counterparts in Eberron. Any natural creature can be found in a layer with an appropriate environment. If such beasts are the first things adventurers encounter in a visit to Lamannia, they might not even realize they’ve traveled to another plane. Dire Animals are creatures of remarkable size. Such creatures are more common than mundane animals; in the Twilight Forest, most owls are giant owls, and they prey on giant weasels and rats. Any natural beast could have a dire counterpart in Lamannia. Megafauna are gargantuan beasts. The roc is an example of Lamannian megafauna; those found in Eberron have been drawn through manifest zones or slipped between planes during coterminous periods. The DM can create a wide range of megafauna; a pack of gargantuan wolves could hound the adventurers, or they might meet a megafauna serpent that uses the statistics of a purple worm—perhaps even a megafauna dinosaur! While these creatures are similar in form to beasts, they are typically classified as monstrosities. Between their vast size and their connection to the plane, they’re immune to most effects that target beasts, and you can’t charm a roc with a simple animal friendship spell. Totems are beasts that are beyond the tactical scale—creatures that can be measured in miles. The gnome explorer Tasker tells a tale of an island in the Endless Ocean that turned out to be an enormous turtle; another of his stories features a pack of lycanthropes living in the fur of a massive roaming wolf. Such totems aren’t natural creatures and don’t need to eat. Their origins and purpose are unsolved mysteries, but most sages believe that they are immortal spirits projected by the plane itself. Some claim that the totems are connected to all creatures cast in their image. Others believe that the totems are sources of primal power, and barbarians, shifters, and druids can receive power and guidance from them. All that’s known for sure is that they’re immune to common spells, and there are no accounts of anyone successfully harming or communicating with a totem.Elementals
After beasts, the most common inhabitants of the plane are elementals. Unlike the genies, mephits, and anthropomorphic elementals of Fernia and Syrania, Lamannia’s elementals are the pure, living essence of the elements, unburdened by any humanoid desire. These include the standard earth, fire, air, and water elementals, but they can come in a wide array of sizes and forms. Adventurers exploring the Broken Lands could encounter tiny globs of lava crawling across the land, while the leviathans of the Endless Ocean and the elder tempests of the First Storm are forces of apocalyptic power. The Zil gnomes commonly summon and bind the elementals of Lamannia, using them to propel lightning rails and airships. While intelligent, these elementals are utterly alien. They have little concept of time and perceive the world purely through the balance of elements. The sole desire of most elementals is to express their element: to burn, to flow, to fly. Many have an antagonistic attitude toward spirits of other elements, which drives the deadly conflict between them in the Broken Land—this poses an obstacle in dealing with elementals, as they tend to perceive humanoids as globs of water. While it’s possible for a character that speaks Primordial to talk with a Lamannian elemental, it’s usually difficult to establish any sort of common basis for negotiation. Still, there are legends of wandering druids who “befriended earth and air,” so anything is possible!Humanoids
There are merfolk in Eberron—such as the Kalamer of the Thunder Sea—but their people began in the Endless Ocean of Lamannia, and are still found there. These primordial merfolk remain close to their elemental roots and instincts. They wield druidic magic, but don’t craft tools or structures. Other humanoid natives of Lamannia are much the same; any race with a strong primal connection could be tied to Lamannia, but they’re driven by instinct and avoid the trappings of civilization. There could be tabaxi dwelling in the branches of the Twilight Forest, but if so, they’ll seem wild. Over a century ago, during the Silver Crusade, there were many lycanthropes who fled to Lamannia. As long as they remain on this plane, a lycanthrope can’t spread the curse to anyone other than their offspring, and the unnatural impulses of the curse—the drive to prey on innocents, the bloodlust that can cause a victim of lycanthropy to lose control of their actions—are suspended. Meanwhile, primal instincts are amplified; Lamannian werewolves remain predators and take joy in the hunt, but they aren’t driven to evil, and remain in full control. Packs and communities of lycanthropes are scattered across the layers. Most are descended from lycanthropes who fled Eberron to escape both the templars and the dark power whose corrupting influence led to the crusade; these shapeshifters embrace their primal nature and rarely assume humanoid forms. But there are also packs descended from afflicted templars who chose exile over death, and who strive to preserve the beliefs and traditions of their ancestors. A handful of druids and rangers have crossed into Lamannia and chosen to remain in this primal paradise. Many run with lycanthrope packs, embracing their feral instincts and spending their days in wild shape. Others act as planar shepherds, seeking to minimize the impact of dangerous manifest zones and help unwary travelers.Greater Powers?
There are no celestials or fiends in Lamannia. Yet explorers often report a feeling that they are being watched, and there are times when random events seem to be guided by an unseen hand. When outsiders have sought to establish industries in Lamannia, they’ve been attacked by megafauna or elder elementals, or struck by especially vicious turns of weather. It’s possible that this is the work of the totems, and that they have great influence over their layers. Or there could be a greater power that watches over the entire plane. Some scholars assert that the moon Olarune is the consciousness that governs the plane, and Eldeen shifter traditions that predate the practices of the Wardens of the Wood also reflect this belief. Shifter druids suggest that Olarune created the shifters, and the first lycanthropes were her champions.History
A town is established in the desolate Blade Desert, but it thrives beside a small lake that provides fresh water and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of fish. In a small Eldeen village, the locals live in harmony with a breed of giant rabbits unknown elsewhere in Khorvaire. A tribe of shifters lives in the branches of three massive trees that grow in a Lamannian manifest zone. These are all examples of how Lamannia can affect the Material Plane; below are a few more.
Manifest Zones
Lamannian manifest zones are relatively common, and usually share one or more of the plane’s universal properties. They’re often found at the heart of a region that resembles the connected layer; zones tied to the Endless Ocean are found underwater, while manifest zones tied to the Twilight Forest can be found in the Towering Wood, the King’s Forest, and other vast woodlands. It’s relatively common for these zones to serve as gateways to Lamannia, though they might require a lunar alignment or a coterminous period. This goes in reverse too, as creatures can be pulled through to the Material Plane, from hostile elementals to deadly megafauna. Zilargo has a number of valuable zones with the Elemental Power property, and House Cannith and the Twelve are eager to find more of these zones—though they’re also dangerous, as elementals sometimes spontaneously manifest in such places, linger for a few hours, then dissipate. Bound elementals can also break free from their bonds in some Lamannian manifest zones—especially unfortunate if that elemental is responsible for keeping an airship aloft! Plants and beasts near Lamannian zones often are significantly larger and healthier than their counterparts in other areas, and many House Vadalis enclaves are built in these zones. Zones with the Primordial Matter property can also be a valuable resource for communities, with purified food and water and the presence of extremely durable wood and other materials for industry. The prison of Dreadhold is built in such a manifest zone. However, though Lamannian manifest zones can be useful tools for communities and dragonmarked houses, some zones actively resist and repel civilization. Weather, vegetation, and a rapid rate of decay can combine to quickly destroy structures built in the zone and overgrow the ruins.Coterminus & Remote
While Lamannia is coterminous, the effects of Lamannia manifest zones are enhanced. In regions of unspoiled nature—such as the Eldeen Reaches and the wilds of Q’barra—fertility of both plants and animals is enhanced, and beasts conceived in these periods are often exceptionally strong and healthy. Spells that target beasts or elementals are extended; if a spell has a duration of 1 minute or longer, the duration is doubled; spells with a duration of 24 hours or more are unaffected. While Lamannia is remote, fertility rates drop, and beasts born in these periods are often weak or sickly. Animals are often uneasy, and the duration of spells that affect beasts or elementals are cut in half, to a minimum duration of one round. Lamannia traditionally becomes coterminous for a week around the summer solstice, and is remote for a week during the winter solstice.Lamannian Artifacts
Lamannian vegetation is prized by alchemists. Herbs and roots from Lamannia can produce exceptionally strong potions, and many types of Lamannian vegetation have innate magical effects; there are bushes in the Twilight Forest that naturally produce goodberries. Lamannian lumber likewise can have unusual properties, mirroring the densewood and bronzewood in Aerenal. Lamannian wood and stone can serve as powerful focuses for primal magic, for creating figurines of wondrous power, or for tools designed to summon or bind elementals.
Alternative Name(s)
The Twilight Forest
Type
Plane of Existence
Included Locations
