The Quasielemental Plane of Dust
(When I found a native of the plane of Dust—a rather bitter sandman whose name I never discovered—he gave the following speech, which I recorded as closely as I could.—the Editor}
Silence! Listen now, and I shall tell you of the hell that is my home.
The quasiplane of Dust is an expanse of darkness awash with minute particles. These are carried through the most tenuous of atmospheres on winds so frail that you cannot even feel their caress. The negative energy coursing through the plane causes all matter to decay, eventually destroying everything.
Toward the Elemental Plane of Earth, a traveler finds the dust growing thicker and thicker. In time, drifting clouds of matter begin to coalesce and form solid bodies. Here, in a place known as the Tumbling Rocks, masses of stone crash into each other with tremendous force. In the direction of the quasiplane of Ash, the scattered currents of dust begin to form thicker and thicker clouds. Eventually, in a region known as the Wasting Place, dust and ash merge in a choking cloud. Those who travel here risk being torn apart by the natural abrasion of dust or drained of all heat by the warmth-hungry ash.
Circling toward the quasiplane of Salt, the character of the dust becomes more and more crystalline. Where these two universes meet lies the Consumption, a dan- gerous realm in which all fluids transform into scintillating granules. Obviously, such an alteration proves fatal to almost any living thing. Death comes in many forms in the plane of Dust.
Without a doubt, the most dangerous of this plane’s border zones is the Storm of Annihilation. Here, where the quasiplane of Dust merges with the plane of Negative Energy, winds of deadly elemental force whip up storms of highly destructive particles. Here, the negative energy not only breaks matter up, but literally causes it to violently explode. Those foolish enough to come here deserve to die.
The Powerful and Mighty
While a good many braying fools might Claim to be major players in this quasiplane, they are nothing more than brutal thugs whose claim to greatness is based only upon their physical might. In time, even their power withers before the inevitability of Dust. Only one has proved himself more determined than the rest.
ALU KAHN SANG
Alu Kahn Sang (PI/@ quasielemental/HD 16/CE) describes itself as the High General or the Wind of Destruction, and these are fair enough terms. This quasi- elemental warlord has managed to assemble a legion of its peers under a banner of ultimate chaos and carnage. Sang appeals to nothing more than a desire for absolute destruction and violence, but its followers find that motivation enough.
Creatures & Denizens
Many creatures dwell in the quasiplane of Dust, some natu- ral and some paranormal. Such creatures obviously have extraordinary tolerance for pain and misery, or are simply trapped, unable to leave.
QUASIELEMENTALS
The fragmentation of matter is also evident in the society of the plane’s most numerous inhabitants, the quasielementals. These creatures form no social groups larger than small bands and build no strongholds for themselves. Instead, they wander about the plane, seeking something—anything—to destroy. Such random slaughter is the meat and drink of these terrible creatures.
Given this, it is easy to understand why no other race in this plane can stand the quasielementals. Dust mephits, dune stalkers, sandlings, sandmen, and all the other inhabitants attack them on sight, or flee. Some of these other elemental creatures have created large empires that provide them pro- tection from the rampaging packs of quasielementals.
ANIMALS AND MONSTERS
Dust animentals are not unknown, although they are not especially common. The most frequently encountered of these creatures are the dust wolves, which prowl about in deadly packs. Biting flies and crawling insects swarm amid the dust while the multiverse slowly decays around them and collects here.
Probably the most dangerous creatures are those beasts who have made their way here from the Elemental Plane of Earth—xomn, sandlings, silt weirds, dao, and more. The magic-devouring hakeashar can be found in large numbers in this plane. They drift about, a nomadic community that seeks out those able to wield magic. They have little to do with the other natives of this plane but are a menace to any planewalker who makes his way here.
Hazards & Phenomena
The quasiplane of Dust is indeed a dan- gerous place. After all, the very nature of the plane causes matter to gradually break apart.
DISINTEGRATION
With each passing hour, the detrimental nature of this realm erodes all nonnative living and unliving matter. This process begins the instant an individual arrives in the quasiplane and continues until magically halted or the poor soul's complete destruction occurs.
At the end of each turn spent in the quasiplane of Dust, a nonnative must make a saving throw vs. breath weapon. Failure inflicts 2d6 points of damage, while success halves that. When a visitor’s hit points fall to 0, she breaks up just as if she had been annihilated by a disintegration spell. Likewise, nonliving objects must also save vs. disintegration or crumble to dust.
While on the plane, normal healing magic does not restore hit points lost to this process unless accompanied by restoration, negative plane protection, or similar spell.
BREATHING AND SENSES
While there is a very thin atmosphere here, nonnatives cannot breathe it without magical aid. Indeed, it’s so thin that nonmagical flames won't burn. Even if a fire could ignite in the plane of Dust, surely it too would decay and crumble—like everything else here.
While no natural light exists and flames won't stay lit long enough to be of any help, little else prevents one from seeing well enough here. With some manner of magical illumination, vision works more or less normally to a distance of about 90 feet. Beyond that, however, the drifting dusts make vision impossible. Infravision functions normally, although it is limited to a maximum range of 60 feet.
OTHER DANGERS
But now you say, “I have magics to protect me from the dis- integrating dusts and the lack of air, so the quasiplane lies before me open to exploration.” Well, then, you are a fool and more than a fool. The plane of Dust has destroyed countless mortals who thought just that.
Cobwebs. Here and there, floating particles of dust collide and stick together. Occasionally, these form into strands or strings and then into structures that greatly resemble cob- webs clinging to dusty comers.
Cobwebs composed of quasielemental Dust are very sturdy, held together by the negative energy that saturates this place. As such, no physical force can break them apart. Powerful spells like disintegrate can destroy the web, but anything less fails to have any effect.
When a creature comes into contact with a cobweb, an immediate saving throw vs. paralysis is required. Failure of this roll indicates that the web has snared its victim. Once this happens, only a spell that breaks up the energy of the web, like negative plane protection, frees the trapped explorer. Disintegration can also be used to destroy the web at this point, but it stands a good chance of injuring or killing the ensnared individual (only a saving throw vs. death magic can save the poor creature).
Once a being is caught in the cobweb, it begins to feed on his energy. At the end of each round, the imprisoned body will be diminished in some way. The following chart can be used to determine the effect of the web minute by minute.
| Die Roll | Ensnared being: |
| 1 | loses 1 point of Strength |
| 2 | loses 1 point of Dexterity |
| 3 | loses 1 point of Constitution |
| 4 | loses 1 point of Intelligence |
| 5 | loses 1 point of Wisdom |
| 6 | loses 1 point of Charisma |
| 7 | loses 1 experience level |
| 8 | ages 10 years |
DUST DEVILS
As the thin winds drift through this realm, they engender frail storms of elemental Dust. From time to time, these currents feed on each other to become stronger and stronger, building until they become a swirling vortex.
Once formed, dust devils wander randomly about the quasiplane. Sometimes they drift slowly, matching only the pace of a walking man. Occasionally, they pick up speed and race along with the pace of a galloping horse.
When a dust devil comes into contact with solid matter, either living or unliving, it instantly bombards the material with the concentrated destructive power of this place. This acts exactly as a disintegration spell.
NEGATIVE POCKETS
In addition to the other sorts of elemental pockets found elsewhere, a traveler can stumble upon a pocket that has drifted from the plane of Negative Energy. These black vortices are all but invisible against the darkness of the quasiplane. Those who enter such pockets have their lives drained away just as if they had surrendered to the embrace of a vampire.
Mysterious Sites & Treasures
Few structures can resist the destructive swirling, stinging particles of this plane. In fact, only one important structure stands in the quasiplane of Dust.
CITADEL ALLUVIUS
The Doomguard have forged a great fortress here known as Citadel Alluvius. It stands upon a slowly rotating disc of elemental Earth and is insulated from the consuming nature of the plane by a continual, potent wall of force spell. Of all the Doomguard citadels constructed in the Inner Planes, none is so heavily populated as this immense fortress. A Doomlord named Pereid (Pr/? human/T19/Doomguard/LN) seemingly rules over the place and welcomes visitors of all kinds.
Apparently, the plane of Dust exemplifies these blustering fools’ philosophy. I have no patience for them. To live here by choice is the action of a madman.
Lay of the Land
The Quasielemental Plane of Dust is an open, empty place swept by howling winds and stinging fragments of particulate matter. Those who hope to survive in this plane must address numerous concerns.
When Earth is infused with Negative Energy, it breaks down and forms the Quasielemental Plane of Dust. Unlike Ash or Earth, Dust isn’t a solid mass. Instead, it’s an expanse of tenuous atmosphere filled with swirling particles of gran- ular matter.
The greatest threat a body faces from the quasipiane of Dust is disintegration. Eventually, even the most powerful basher will be taken apart. Little can be done to resist this effect, which extends even to portals and gates that lead here.
Cycle of Time
Time exists here but it isn't marked by solar activity.
Surviving
This plane of loneliness and deterioration offers visitors nothing. That said, some outsiders believe they have reasons to come here. For one, they seek the magic dusts (dust of disappearance, dust of sleep, and the like) that blow and collect amid the other choking clouds. For another, the Doomguard has apparently discovered some ancient city in the Wasting Place, not yet consumed by the forces of the plane. Rumors tell of strange flying vehicles within the ruins, with wheels that do not require ground to roll upon. The same stories indicate that the inhabitants of the city—apparently a race of multibrained fugue entities—may not be entirely gone from the place. This is probably just a Doomguard lie to entice others to their doom. (That last is so blatantly prejudiced that I feel compelled to refute it. The Sinkers here are no more bloody minded than those of their kind on other planes. Perhaps less.—the Editor)
SPELL KEYS AND OTHER NECESSITIES
Travelers in the quasiplane of Dust have learned that all spell keys here take the form of hollow, whispered lamentations. These breathless calls seem to have a special] power, enabling magic normally diminished in this quasiplane to function normally.
Getting There
Apart from the Doomguard, few nonnatives are insane or self-loathing enough to make their way into the quasiplane of Dust. After all, what sane person seeks out a land where ultimate disintegration is the only sure fate?
No one is certain just how many portals allow a body to reach the quasiplane of Dust. The only thing that can be said absolutely is that there are fewer today than there were yesterday. These structures seem to be subject to the natural decay of the quasiplane to which they lead.
It is widely believed that the Doomguard maintain a number of portals that only they can access. Whether or not this is true'is difficult to say, but convincing evidence supports such claims.
A large gate fashioned from a mysterious, crumbling structure stands in a remote comer of Elysium. It is abandoned and almost forgotten, although the portal still works. The problem is, no one knows what type of key might open the gate. Numerous theories have been put forward, but none have panned out. Some say that the key to this gate is no key at all.
In the midst of the vast battlefield of Oinos on the Gray Waste rests a large iron ring. It is old, rusted, and looks as if it might crumble into dust at any moment. Depending upon the current status of the Blood War, this gate may or may not be approachable. As often as not, it lies in the middle of a battle ranging from a skirmish to an epic clash of armies. To trigger the magical portal, an individual only need break an enemy’s sword over his knee. This can be problematic for creatures without knees, but most others find this requirement simple enough.
Only rarely do vortices lead to the Quasi- elemental Plane of Dust. They’re most com- monly found at the heart of great deserts, ringed by unending siroccos. Other large collections of sand or gritty soil can sometimes spawn such vortices. On the grim prime-material world of Athas, for example, vast seas of powdery silt lie waiting to consume travelers. More than one conduit to the Quasi- elemental Plane of Dust exists within those desiccated wastes.
Traveling Around
Gravity loses all will in the Quasielemental Plane of Dust, although a foolhardy traveler falls toward the plane of Earth if he moves into the Tumbling Rocks. For the most part, however, an explorer just floats around unless he has something to push off of or can cast some manner of flight spell. {A cutter can also move around by taking the eternal plunge, as detailed under the description of the Elemental Plane of Air.—the Editor)
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