The cloudway is a passage the connects the remains of
Heliomea to the
Radiant Growth. It pierces part of the Anemoi
Atmospheric Belt. It was constructed long ago by the angels that fathered the
Icara using strong aerial magic. Unfortunately, this magic has wained, causing the passage to almost entirely be swallowed by the atmospheric belt that it once carved through. It is still traversable, yet doing so is a lot more perilous than in the old days. By following the connecting tendrils of the reef inside, the players may venture from one side of the cloud belt to the clearing containing the Radiant Growth.
Although it would technically be possible for creatures to fly over the atmospheric belt in order to reach the Radiant Grove, doing so would leave them easy pray for the many Arrowhawks that nest at the upper surface of the belt.
Cloudway Entrance
Both entrances of the Cloudway have a pair of large monoliths carved with various runes. These monoliths once kept the Cloudway open. One of the monoliths near the Radiant Growth has collapsed, sealing off that entrance. The entrance near Heliomea is still partly open, but due to the fading magic in its monoliths, the passage does not head deep into the atmospheric belt. The open passage appears like an inverse tornado; clouds swirling around in a rotating, circular pattern. A dense, sand-like path fills the lower part of this inverse tornado, allowing for traversing. Eventually, the path will narrow to the point that it has been consumed by clouds. A continuation of the path, a connection of the nearby reef to the old path, allows the players to continue, leading to the
Parting Stratum.
Parting Stratum
The parting stratum is the first part of the reef encountered by the players past the Cloudway Entrance. It consists of a trial of large lilypad-shaped coral disks, which have a structure that most resembles a blending between shrooms and aquatic coral, but are slightly petrified as its edges are rather tough. Along their circumference grows an array of purple crystals. Dotted around the disks are large crystallized trees and small ferns. The disks are connected by tendril-like protrusions that are made of approximately the same material. Scattered along the protrusions are soft, blue mushrooms that are edible in smaller quantities. Additionally, the tendrils are covered in red, crystalized netles. These "plants" are irritating to the touch but cannot do any real damage. On the right-upper disks a small pool of water sits. Its color is remarkable, however, it is not toxic, although slightly acidic. The water has a pink color due to a dense quantity of specific bacteria living within. A player takes 1 acid damage upon drinking the water. A player submerged in the pool takes 1 acid damage every 60 seconds they are in contact with the water.
The Parting Stratum is a relatively quiet place. On occasion, a harmless creature may wander over from deeper within the reef, but at times there may not be a single creature around. Very rarely, a lone
Raptor Eel makes its way to the Parting Stratum, coming from the Predation Grounds.
The upper two paths lead deeper into the reef. The left one takes the players to the
Plateaued Reefs, whereas the right path leads to the
Predation Grounds. The lower path connects back to the
Cloudway Entrance.
Plateaued Reefs
The Plateaued Reefs are a peaceful area of the Cloudway. It primarily consists of a larger coral disk, from which a few small, younger disks protrude. The larger disk has a big sapling-like growth in its center. These stems are signature to older disks. The main disks have only started growing this stem relatively recently, as it thins rapidly along its height. A widening of the stem, some bit above the disk, indicates that a second layer is starting to grow. The stem is made of the same kind of crystal covering as the rim of the coral disks.
The Plateaued Reefs are populated by various docile creatures, such as
Giant Reefback Crabs,
Crescent Leviopods, and other small fish and crustaceans. Only the larger creatures may attack upon being provoked, smaller creatures will either flee or hide. When small creatures around a reefback crab are frightened/panicked and take cover on its back, the crab may decide to attack the source of the small creature's parrel.
The upper left path directly leads to the
Sunbeak Halo. The right path, across the smaller coral disks, leads to the
Preditation Grounds. Taking this path allows the players to reach the Occluded Highway while circumvent all or most dangers of the Preditation Grounds. The lower path returns the players to the
Parting Stratum.
Predation Grounds
The Preditation Grounds consist of a triple of coral disks of ascending size. Alongside it lies a large tendril offshoot. The disks function as the den of a group of predators, from which they venture to hunt.
The grounds are populated primarily by
Raptor Eels, being scattered around the larger two disks and the tendrils. The largest disk houses a Zinogre, the apex predator of the den. Most of the creatures in the grounds are asleep, usually hanging around their den to rest. The path between the lower and upper left passages has at most 2 raptor eels on it, which can be sneaked past. The Raptor Eels and the Zingore have a joint hunting tactic, where the eels constrain multiple targets and the Zingore kills them using its lightning powers. The eels are resistant to lightning damage, making this a favorable way of hunting. Yet, the eels still take damage during hunts, as a result, some of the eels will not be on full health as the players traverse the Predation Grounds and will shy away from combat as long as the Zingore is still conscious, instead, picking off players outside of the Zingore's range.
There are four paths connected to the Preditation Grounds. The upper two paths lead deeper into the reef, to a split of the atmospheric belt where opposing cloud streams meet. The left path leads to the
Occluded Highway and the right one to the more hazardous
Windward Causeway. The lower paths lead to the
Plateaued Reefs and
Parting Stratum respectively from left to right.
Sunbeak Halo
The Sunbeak Halo lies high above the rest of the reef, clipping the upper clouds of the atmospheric belt. As a result, it is the only place in the Cloudway where the open sky is visible. Due to the dense number of clouds around, the bright sunlight is strongly reflected, creating an almost golden glow over the entire area. The space exists of a single coral disk with two tendrils connecting it. The upper tendril is covered by a thin, transparent membrane that keeps it clear from any clouds. For the membrane to be affected, a valve-like structure blocks its entrance.
The valve of the covered tendril automatically closes if a nearby receptor is covered by clouds. These receptors are crystal growth on treestump-like structures scattered around the coral disk. The crystals grow pale when not detecting clouds and light blue when they are. As indicated by the roots in front of the valve, there are 5 receptors around, 4 of which are covered (note one receptor in the center underneath the red tree). In order for the players to proceed, they must somehow clear the clouds covering the receptors, which will cause the valve to open.
While passing through the Sunbeak Halo, the players may get ambushed by arrowhawks. The arrowhawks use the area above the atmospheric belt as their hunting grounds, often picking off creatures that venture up to places like the Sunbeak Halo.
The Sunbeak Halo connects the
Plateaued Reefs through its lower path to the
Parietal Atol through its upper path.
Occluded Highway
The Occluded Highway is a single, large tendril protrusion that spans the intersection of the atmospheric belt where two opposing cloud streams meet. As such, the weather surrounding the highway is incredibly volatile, with raging winds and frequent bolts of lightning. Luckily, the tendril is shielded by a translucent membrane that curves around its surface, supported by large carrying spikes. As a result, all creatures on top of the highway are safe from the dangerous storm present outside. The highway has grown to such a width that the typical darker material that covers the top of tendrils has made way for the lighter-colored variant as seen on coral plates.
The Occluded Highway is populated by a flock of
Axoltutles. Although these creatures are in no way aggressive, they are rather mischievous. The axoltutles, out of curiosity and temptation, may approach the players and, after appearing friendly and/or docile, attempt to snatch some of their belongings. The beasts might take a pouch, trinket, accessories, or even a weapon carried by a player using their snatch action. Once they have snatched something and a player responds to this, the axoltutle will try to flee from the player, unwilling to return the object. A player may convince the axoltutle to return an item using a successful animal handling or intimidation check (DC 16 or 18, respectively), or by harming the creature. If they seek to take the second approach, there is a chance that the axoltutle flock will become hostile and attack the party. In this case, any axoltutle will attempt to flee before their hp hits 0 and if half the flock has felt, the remainder of the flock follows suit.
The Occluded Highway is a major protrusion from some massive coral disks that lay further in the reef. As such, following the upper path leads to the
Parietal Atol. Players may trace back through the lower path where they will eventually find a smaller tendril intersecting with the highway that is still large enough for them to cross, the tendril leads back to the
Predation Grounds. Past the intersection tendril, the highway will simply narrow and eventually seize.
Windward Causeway
The Windward Causeway is another path that crosses the intersection where opposing cloud streams meet. Unlike the Occluded Highway, the smaller tendrils that form the Windward Causeway are not protected from the heavy storm that rages inside the rift. The storm causes mighty winds to drag creatures off the tendril protrusions, shifting direction halfway through the causeway. In the lower half of the causeway, the winds blow rightward, shifting to blow leftward in the upper half. Between some tendrils span net-like structures of smaller offshoots. These structures can be climbed but with difficulty.
There lurk no creatures in this area, however, the players will have to face the dangers of the tumultuous weather around them. When a player is outside the coverage of the clouds, at the start of their turn, they must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving throw or be thrown off by the heavy winds. A player caught by the winds will fly off in the wind's direction onto a lower tendril. The tendrils in the center of the area lie the highest, with the tendrils being on a lower height level each one off from the center (with some exceptions). There are places where the players can either shield themselves from the winds or hold out against an object. If a player flies off the map, they are lost in the astronomic belt, which will likely kill them. Players may reduce the Strength save DC by taking appropriate actions. A player may spend their action bracing for a wind gust, gaining advantage on their next Strength saving throw. Flying, however, is impossible in the causeway, as the winds are simply too strong.
At turn initiative 20, make a d20 roll for each player. On a 20, a player gets struck by lightning, taking 4d10 lightning damage and they must succeed on a DC 22 Constitution saving throw or lose their grip and be swept away by the wind to a lower level. On a 16 to 18, a player is hit by a piece of flying rock or the like and takes 2d10 Bludgeoning damage and they must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be similarly swept away by the wind.
The lower tendrils all lead back to the
Predation Grounds, being offshoots of or at some laying adjacent to the larger tendril that ran alongside this prior area. Most upper tendrils lead to the
Fossilized Vortex, however, the two left-most tendrils steer off into the direction of the
Parietal Atol. The destination of the party is determined by the direction the majority of the party heads towards.
Parietal Atoll
The Parietal Atoll is the core of the cloud reef. It consists of various large, multi-layered coral plates. Most of these plates have a large tendril protrusion connecting their lower levels between each other. The main tendrils are alike the Occluded Highway, except they aren't covered. The players will find themselves at an outer, two-leveled, coral plate. This plate, much like the Plateaued Reefs, has a large sapling-shaped stem in its center, from which the two coral plates have grown. The upper plate has been torn apart at some point in the past, existing now as two halves. For some reason, the vegetation of the lower level is much different from that of the upper level, with orange and pink trees scattered above and crystal and pale-white trees scattered below. There is a hole in the stem on the lower level, allowing the players to pass through it. The inside of the stem is made of a brown-gray, crystal-like wood from which green crystal firms grow in abundance.
The lower level of the coral structure is almost entirely filled with
Frostmist Jellyfish, with a few more being present on the top level. The jellyfish are not hostile and simply hover in place, ignoring the players. However, they are easily provoked. If the players get too close to one, it will immediately attack them. Engaging a frostimst jellyfish can quickly trigger surrounding jellyfish to join in, as runaway spells or projectiles hit them, or even if a player stumbles into one of them as a result of the battle. To carefully navigate through the school of jellyfish, the players must succeed on a Dexterity check whenever they spend their movement to pass the jellyfish. When the players do so, they move as if suffering from difficult terrain. The DC of this check is 7, however, any multiple of 3 rolled above this check gives a player an additional 5 ft. of movement up to their normal movement, negating the effect of being slowed down by their own carefulness. If a player chooses to dash through the school, they make their Dexterity check with disadvantage. The check may be relaxed if there are fewer jellyfish around their path.
The large tendril offshoot connecting the lower level is a far-off continuation of the
Occluded Highway, returning the players to that area when following it in the lower direction. The upper direction leads to the
Optic Passage. The top disk has three tendril paths connected to it. The lower left path leads to the
Sunbeak Halo, the lower right path to the
Windward Causeway, and the upper right one to the
Fossilized Vortex.
Fossilized Vortex
The Fossilized Vortex is a lone coral disk on which rests the long discarded shell of an ancient leviathan. To what creature the shell belonged is unknown, as the
Icara have never seen something like it, nor is it regaled in their tails. It may be possible that this creature is not native to
Aetheris, but drifted into the plain as it became more aligned with the elemental plane of air following the abandonment of the heavens. The shell is worn; cracked with various holes and tears. Inside, the bones of creatures once devoured by the leviathan can still be found, as well as pale blue crystals that grew as the biomass of the leviathan decayed. Deep within the shell, at its very core, sits a full pink pearl, large enough to fill one's hand. A pearl like this would be worth a small fortune to the right buyer. The coral disk has partly grown into the shell, filling its internal flooring with the same material as the coral's surface.
The shell houses a colony of
Cloudrock Scorpions. These creatures are born predators and will attack the party as they move through their territory. When the players are spotted by a cloudrock scorpion, the creature will not engage, instead, it will scurry off to recruit others of its colony. The scorpions will then attempt to surround or ambush the players, striking once they have an advantage.
Only one of the three paths leads directly deeper into the reef, that being the upper right path that heads to the
Optic Passage. The upper left path leads the players to the
Parietal Atoll and the lower path leads back to the
Windward Causeway.
Optic Passage
The Optical Passage resides at the very edge of the atmospheric belt at the clearing in which the Radiant Growth lies, thereby marking it as the end of the Cloudway. It consists of a large coral disk that was once covered with a transparent membrane much like the Occluded Highway in order to shield it from the higher cloud density as compared to the rest of the reef. The membrane was either destroyed or faded at some point, only remaining around the edge of the lower half of the disk, the side closest to the rest of the reef. As a result, the area near the exit of the cloud belt is covered in dense clouds, making it difficult to see through. Past the coral disk lie a number of small islands, likely broken off from the Radiant Grove, kept in place by tendril protrusions, which form bridges between these islands, making it possible to reach the center island. Well off to the side of these islands, the remnants of the original Cloudway entrance can be seen, alongside its one broken and one remaining obilisk resulting in the entrance being resealed with clouds, as well as a number of broken bridges once leading up to the Radiant Grove.
Slumbering in the Optic Passage, just past the center tree, are two
Cloud Marrin. These beasts may wake up if the players fail to sneak past them and will attack on sight. If combat ensues, at the end of the third turn, a loud cry can be heard in the direction of the outside. The cloud marrin will respond to this by immediately fleeing as fast as they can, towards the reef. At the end of the next turn, a
Tempest Whale appears from the surrounding clouds, flying over the small island and use its Cyclone Suction action. The tempest whale will prioritize swallowing the larger cloud marrin over any of the players, spitting them out as long as it swallows one of the marrins. Afterward, it will swim away toward the cloud sea.
Following the islands will directly lead the players to the
Radiant Growth, leaving the Cloudway. The left path back into the reef leads to the
Parietal Atol and the path to the right of it leads to the
Fossilized Vortex.
Enemy References
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