The Quasielemental Plane of Radiance

(Radiance Quasielementals are philosophical creatures. Normally solitary, two were queried to assemble the data in this chapter. While the creatures themselves were similar, their debate revealed slightly different outlooks, proving that even beings that exemplify elemental forces are not all of one mind.—the Editor)

VARIR, A RADIANCE QUASIELEMENTAL: What is light? Is it the simply the absence of darkness, or is it something more? Light is the revealer, the solver of mysteries and the key to finding what is lost, Light is good- ness, truth, and the banisher of evil. Light gives sight, and sight brings understanding. Likewise, too much light can blind, taking sight away. Thus, light can bestow or banish understanding.

TEMMYUS, ANOTHER RADIANCE QUASIELEMENTAL: Radiance embodies both aspects of light: illumination and heat. Light is nothing more than these two qualities, although it is possible to manipulate and change them both. Different types of illumination produce different colors, and temperature can vary from object to object, crea- ture to creature—even the air can bring a change in temperature. All of existence stems from illumination and heat—the senses we use to perceive the multiverse tell us that.

VARIR: Light is truth; it shows us existence.

TEMMYUS: Light is existence.

The Powerful and Mighty

TEMMYUS: No true powers have established realms here. The quasielementals and mephits serve no masters. The only beings that stand out among others are King Black and Queen White, rulers of the Refuge of Color.

Creatures & Denizens

TEMMYUS: The number of creatures able to withstand the beauty of Radiance is small. The following discusses the few that exist.

QUASIELEMENTALS

VARIR: Of course, we do not name ourselves quasi- elementals—outsiders gave us that cumbersome name. We have no racial name, for we all operate independently. Radi- ance quasielementals generally live solitary, acetic lives. We like to think of ourselves as philosophers, but is there not an irony in thinking oneself a thinker?

ANIMALS AND MONSTERS

TEMMYUS: Brilliantly colored birds of light called varisoh fly about the plane. These creatures roost in the Refuge of Color, which we wili describe later.

VARIR: The scile are tiny motelike creatures that devour color. Radiance natives hate these vermin and they can prove to be hazardous even to nonnatives who are robbed of all color. Likewise, the undead darklights threaten all that live in the plane, and they are feared by all but the scile, with whom they sometimes hunt.

OTHER RACES

TEMMYUS: The only other intelligent creatures native to the plane are the mephits, and only then if one stretches the def- inition of intelligence to make it quite broad. They are more of an annoyance than a race.

VARIR: Sometimes efreet come to the plane of Radiance, but such occurrences are rare for they find no allies among the natives nor the upper-planar beings who visit the plane. Radiance offers celestial creatures such as devas, planetars, and the glorious solars a welcoming home in the Inner Planes. We of Radiance care little about their morality or politics, but we cherish their own respect and admiration for light.

Hazards & Phenomena

TEMMYUS: The colors and light of the plane, in all their glory, are far too much for nonnatives to handle. Those without some sort of protection for their eyes are blinded even as the beauty overwhelms them. Only thick blindfolds or cursed magical darkness block out the majesty of the plane to protect the lesser eyes of outsiders. Darkness creates only a weak shade, but this is apparently enough to protect fragile mortal eyes.

VARIR: Nonmagical or unprotected flammable materials like wood, paper, and cloth instantly burst into flames and are destroyed within a round when they arrive in the plane of Radiance. Anyone wearing items made of such materials suffers 1d6 points of damage if they are not protected from heat or flame. Magical items are allowed a saving throw vs. magical fire with a -2 penalty to escape such destruction.

Unprotected water and other . fluids, including frozen fluids, instantly boil away into vapor. Anyone exposed to these boiling liquids or the cloud of superheated steam they release suffers 2d6 points of damage. Magical fluids (which do not include holy water) may make a saving throw vs. magical fire to avoid boiling away.

Creatures of flesh and blood suffer damage each round that they spend exposed to the heat and fire of this plane. The severity of their injuries relies upon their natural Armor Class as indicated on the chart beiow.

Natural AC	Damage Per Round
10-12	6d6
13-15	5d6
16-18	4d6
19-21	3d6
22-24	2d6
25-27	1d6
28-30	Nil

Magic provides the best protection against such harm. Spells like protection from fire or magical items like a ring of fire resistance are nothing short of necessities for nonnatives.

TEMMYUS: That which can burn deserves to burn.

VARIR: The atmosphere of the plane of Radiance is safe for any creature to breathe. Although the heat is great, unlike the planes of Fire or Magma, Radiance contains no dangerous or noxious fumes, and no smoke. Throughout the Quasielemental Plane of Radiance, particularly near the plane of Lightning, strange storms ravage the endless atmosphere, churning the radiance and stirring the colors. Even natives fear these color storms, which can throw creatures to a distant area of the plane, often miles and miles away. Those failing a saving throw vs. paralyzation are hurled 1d100 miles away in a swirling morass of color and garish light. This is one time when the color of illumi- nation of the plane carries no beauty. No one knows exactly what causes these ugly storms.

Mysterious Sites & Treasures

TEMMYUS: The ignorant think of Radiance as one of the most formless and featureless of the Quasielemental Planes, but there are a few areas of distinction within the splendor of our plane.

THE KINGDOM OF THE BLIND

VARIR: The only place in the plane really hospitable to out- siders, the Kingdom of the Blind is actually a city rather than a kingdom. Floating amid the swirling colors, the city was built within a huge mineral pocket comprised mostly of reflective crystals. This fact makes the pocket, and thus the Kingdom itself, difficult to find. It also means that the inte- rior of the pocket, in which the city lies, is protected from the blinding light.

The Kingdom of the Blind is ruled by the self-appointed king and founder of the city, Nillinar Baskinol, a tiefling whose mind was long ago implanted within the body of a clay golem (PI/d golem/T9, 11 HD/LN). Travelers can find a safe place to lodge and stores from which to replenish their supplies, although prices are reportedly quite steep.

THE REFUGE OF COLOR

TEMMYUS: The only naturally occurring “solid ground” in the plane of Radiance, the Refuge of Color is an island of solid colors, appearing more like a swirling, prismatic display than a kingdom.

The enigmatic rulers of this place are King Black and Queen White, mysterious beings unique in the multiverse and apparently almost godlike in power. Their loyal subjects are the varisoh, who teem throughout the Refuge in the thousands.

The king and queen appear as regal, birdlike humanoids, standing 10 feet tall. Cold and aloof, they rarely take the time to notice visitors, let alone grant them audience.

THE HEART OF LIGHT

VARIR: Also occasionally called the Tower of Healing, this site is known mostly as a place where wounds and injuries heal faster and more completely than normal, where diseases fade and afflictions disappear. More than just these things make the Heart of Light remarkable. First of all, no one knows the true origins of the structure. Second, the tower's creators fashioned the structure from blue light and nothing more.

Currently, the Heart of Light has pò permanent occupants. Those that have attempted to stake a claim and set up permanent residence here have either disappeared or left, never to returm for reasons unknown to me.

For. a short-term stay, however, the tower may prove incredibly helpful and valuable. Within, alt healers. (individuals capable of healing, such as paladins or clerics—the Editor) function at twice their level-in regard to healing spells or abilities they can use and how effective such things are. Natural healing occurs ten times faster within the tower as it does without, and those willing to stay at least a week are purified of any disease or affliction.

Lay of the Land

VARIR: Arguably, the conditions in this plane are similar to those found in the planes of Air, Fire, and even Positive Energy. Nevertheless, Radiance has its own utterly distinctive nature, realized only when a traveler actually arrives in the plane as opposed to just reading about it.

The Quasielemental Plane of Radiance is a place of incredible light born of the union between Fire and Posi- tive Energy. Although it’s one of the most beautiful sights a body could ever behold, it’s also overwhelming. Those who aren't careful find themselves dazed and eventually blinded by the bombardment of light.

Reports, rumors, and outright tall tales sometimes make mention of the wondrous creatures that live in Radiance. The only problem is that no one really knows what's true and what ain't. It’s difficult to look around in a place so blind- ing. A body can bet, though, that all manner of miracles wait to be seen by those who can master the endless glare.

Cycle of Time

Time exists here but it isn't marked by solar activity.

Surviving

TEMMYUS: As stated previously, nonnatives rarely come here. Radiance is not for those who cannot endure its glory. Those that do come usually seek to investigate (or utilize) the Heart of Light.

Items forged in the plane of Radiance take on interesting and useful qualities. Metal worked here absorbs light and glows thereafter. Blades retain a keener edge (+1 bonus to attack and damage). Mirrors gain the ability to reflect more than is usually seen by mortal eyes. These factors bring some outsiders here, but they find the conditions so difficult to work within that the number is less than one might think. Which, as I have also said before, is a good thing.

SPELL KEYS AND OTFHER NECESSITIES

VARIR: Outsiders find that the nature and cosmological positioning of the plane of Radiance alter some of their magical spells and abilities. Spell keys, taking the form of specific colors, can reverse this. Those who know the nature of these keys know which color to associate with each sort of spell. All that matters is that the color must be present at the time of the casting.

(it is my pleasure to disseminate the following spell, which can be extremely useful in Radiance as well as on many other planes.—the Editor)

SIGHT WITHOUT VISION {Alteration} 2nd-Level Cleric Spell
Sphere: Protection
Range: Touch	Components: V,S
Duration: 1 hour/level	Casting Time: 5
Area of Effect: 1 creature	Saving Throw: None

This spell allows the recipient to “see”—that is, to perceive— the world around him as with normal vision without actu- lly using his eyes. Sight without vision allows a being to operate as though he could see in environments hazardous to his eyesight, such as in blinding light (as in the planes of Radiance or Positive Energy). This capability functions to a range of 60 feet, as though he were actually using his eyes. Even reading is possible through use of this spell. Objects that would normally block sight, such as walis or other barriers, still cannot be overcome by the use of this spell.

This spell also provides immunity to sight-based threats such as gaze attacks, eyebite, eyes of petrification, and so on. Vision-enhancing affects, such as eyes of the eagle, do not function for the recipient while the spell is in effect.

Getting There

TEMMYUS: Few creatures not native to the plane of Radiance wish to come here. This is a good thing. They cannot handle the glory of the plane, and their presence dilutes the beauty in distasteful ways.

That said, portals do exist that allow planar travel to and from Radiance. Most of them, at least on this side, are only briefly extant. For example, one portal, located near the Manticore’s Breach on the Outlands, brings a traveler to the plane of Radi- ance but deposits a traveler in a different part of the plane from moment to moment. Radiance portals, being temporary circular rings of color that shimmer in and out of the required shape, rarely last even long enough for a small group of travelers to pass through at the same time.

A number of these transient portals connect the Upper Planes with the plane of Radiance. The inhabitants of the Upper Planes recognize and revere the majesty found in Radiance more than other outsiders and thus have earned a great deal of respect in our eyes. They are most welcome here.

Vortices leading to the glory of Radiance last much longer, but they lie in places most outsiders find inaccessible, such as within the glorious shining heart of a prime- material sun.

Traveling Around

(Neither of our narrators could detail this section, since they simply could not understand how nonnative creatures might have difficulty traveling in their home. In any case, moving around this plane is identical in all respects to moving in the plane of Air.—the Editor)