Elemental Plane of Air

"'Welcome to our home of a thousand deep breaths.' - A djinni"

Description
It is as open as the eternal sky. It is as solid as a child's breath. It is falling forever. The Elemental Plane of Air is an empty plane, consisting of sky above and sky below. Clouds billow up in bank after bank, swelling into grand thunderheads and dissipating into wisps like cotton candy. The wind pulls and tugs at travelers, and rainbows glimmer in the distance.

The Elemental Plane of Air is the most hospitable and survivable of the Inner Planes, and it is the home of all manner of airborne creatures. Indeed, flying creatures have a great advantage on this plane. While travelers lacking flight can survive here, they will be at a disadvantage. Natural vortices connect this plane to the Material Planes usually on high mountaintops or in the middle of severe weather conditions.

The "Boundless Blue" is also a popular destination because of its breathtaking scenery. A clear blue sky that stretches endlessly, as seas of white clouds drift lazily through them.

It is unsurprising that this plane is extremely popular for powerful entities to place homes, castles and libraries. The plane's natural friendliness and beauty lend it to such pursuits.

On a long-term basis, the general lack of food and water could become problematic. This makes the djinn especially valuable as allies, as they can create food, water and wine.

Elemental Plane of Air Traits

 * Subjective Directional Gravity: Inhabitants of the plane determine their own "down" direction. Objects not under the motive force of others do not move.
 * Normal Time
 * Infinite Size
 * Alterable Morphic
 * Air-Dominant
 * Mildly Neutral-Aligned
 * Enhanced Magic: Spells and abilities that use, manipulate or create air and both empowered and enlarged.
 * Impeded Magic: Spells and abilities that use or create earth are impeded.
 * No Special Traits

Elemental Plane of Air Links
Owing to the plane's popularity, it is among the easier Inner Planes to get to. A number of portals exist connecting this plane to the rest of the Great Wheel. Ignoring those in Sigil, most are in remote, or difficult-to-reach places. Chant is that such a portal exists atop the highest branch of Yggdrasil, the World Ash. Supposedly, this is even a two-way portal, making it extremely useful.

High above the endless landscape of the Arborea stand the great pillars and towers of the Greek pantheon. It is said that in this place, a body can find not one but two portals to the Elemental Plane of Air. Each is opened with a different key, and they are linked, meaning they must be opened at the same time. Oh, and they are many miles apart, so it takes excellent coordination and luck.

In Mount Celestia, several portals to the Boundless Blue exist. At the heart of Jovar, the Glittering Heaven, sits a massive stone ziggurat. While those who ascend this structure find themselves entering the seventh layer of the Mount, another secret resides here. Buried deep in the ziggurat is a portal to the Plane of Air, which is among the worst-kept secrets in all the Outer Planes. Still, its exact location isn't known, nor is the key or why the archons are so keen to keep its existence hidden.

There is another portal, of sorts, in Mercuria, home of Bahamut, the Dragon God. In this layer, the greatest of all dragons swells in an immense palace, the scope of which few primes could imagine. At his whim, he can take his palace to the Plane of Air, to float freely.

Other portals and vortices exist, of course. As noted earlier, storms or high mountain tops can often contain hidden portals or vortices. Portals to the Elemental Plane of Air aren't uncommon in Sigil, and chant is that the Lady of Pain uses portals from the Plane of Air to ensure the city is full of fresh air.

Air Inhabitants
Most of life here is on the wing, and it is where the swift and maneuverable survive. Most common to the plane are elementals themselves. These free-willed beings include air elementals and half-elementals analogs of many Material Plane creatures. Smoke and ice paraelementals can be found as you near the Elemental Plane of Fire and Elemental Plane of Water, respectively. Vacuum and lightning quasielementals can also be found as you near the Negative Energy Plane and Positive Energy Plane, respectively. These beings generally consider the Elemental Plane of Air theirs, and will jealously guard it, harassing or attacking non-natives.

A small number of outsiders make this plane their home. The best-known are the djinn, though scavenging arrowhawks and omnipresent mephits of various elements can be found here. Creatures can be found here from the Material Plane, but without intelligence and flight, most are quickly consumed by natives.

The native tongue here is Auran, a breathy and leisurely tongue that sounds like long exhalations. When other languages are needed, Common and Celestial are most common.

Powers
The Inner Planes are not generally home to many powers, due to the lack of the Divinely Morphic trait. However, some powers find the Boundless Blue so appetizing that they have made their realms here regardless.

Akadi
Akadi, Queen of the Elementals, is by far the most powerful of the free-willed air elementals. In the scope of things, she ranks with many greater powers, though Yan-C-Bin, an chomental, has been challenging her power. She dwells within a great whirlwind called the Great Funnel that is large enough to swallow whole planets. This impressive force drifts about, moving on her whim, and all winds on the plane are said to originate from here. Those who are welcomed have nothing to fear from the winds. Those who are not are torn asunder by the winds.

Akadi is neither good nor evil. She is the mistress of the air and has little or no interest in anything outside her realm. Despite her centralist outlook on the multiverse, she is famous for her stormy temper and changeable disposition.

Chan
Like Yan-C-Bin, her evil foe, she is an invisible entity of softly churning air. The Princess of Good Air Creatures is the master of calm breezes and gentle sounds, though she can rage like a harsh wind or even a violent tornado when forced to. Her steady surveillance of yan-C-Bin forces him to curb his activies, or invite her intervention. Of course, this works both ways, so the two are in something of a cold war.

Chan spends most of her time in the Palace of Unseen Contemplation, her floating stronghold made of purest glass. Otherwise, she wanders the plane keeping an eye on Yan-C-Bin. Although not an actual power, as an archomental she boasts a large army. called the Silent One, she rules by reputation rather than word, her loyal servants executing what they believe her will would be. She is known as a gracious host, but not prone to spilling secrets.

Shu
Brother and husband to Tefnut, Shu the Upholder is an intermediate power of the Egyptian pantheon. he has been charged by Ra, his father, with keeping the would-be lovers Geb (the ground) and Nut (the sky) apart. His efforts thus far have been quite good.

He makes his home in the Elemental Plane of Air in a realm known as Desert Wind. This area of warn, swirling breezes lies near the border of the Plane of Air and the Paraelemental Plane of Smoke. Golden flecks drift to and fro in the wind like desert sands being kicked up. Shafts of sunlight lance through the realm, warming those they fall apon even further. The breezes, golden motes and radiant beams are all aspects of Shu's petitioners. All were of good alignment, but the breezes were Chaotic Good, the motes Neutral Good and the beams Lawful Good.

Those who reach the realm can only enter with the deity's blessing. If he desires visitors, the way is open and inviting. If he does not, the aforementioned breezes become scalding, the motes sting like embers, and the beams hot enough to melt armor.

Yan-C-Bin
Yan-C-Bin, Master of Evil Air, is naturally invisible. Only a slight disturbance in the air marks the passing of this archomental. He lives in a palace of solid air similar to Akadi, but spends much of his time wandering the multiverse. All creatures that soar the skies of any plane know and fear him. The power doesn't amass troops, but gathers small groups as needed and works in secret.

His greatest foe is Chan, though their war is one of silent intimidation, rumor-mongering and covert operations. Truth is, they have never even met. Neither puts much stock in gathering armies, but some say on the day they meet, only one will walk away.

Proxies
Powers that reside here tend to prefer privacy, so the proxies try to ensure their masters remain undisturbed.

The Azure Guard
A collection of twelve powerful female Air Genasi warriors utterly devoted to Akadi, Queen of the Air Elementals. They train specifically to fight in the Plane of Air, and have mastered its ins and outs. Chant is their magic armor, which is colored a deep blue that gives them their name, is forged from the wind itself, which explains its ability to be both weightless and yet act as heavy armor. At any time, six to eight remain by Akadi's side while the rest do her bidding.

Kherehuty:
The affairs of Shu are handled by Kherehuty, a talented and powerful magician who handles all of the deity's worldly affairs. Those wishing an audience with Shu had best go through Kherehuty first. He is famed for both his temper and his attention to detail. This latter trait is best reflected in the minute schedule he keeps for Shu, in which every element is checked and double-checked to ensure maximum precision. Woe to any foul up Kherehuty's schedule, because then he'll have to answer to Kherehuty.

Features of the Elemental Plane of Air
For first-time visitors, the greatest danger is the panic of finding themselves with no semblance of a ground beneath you. Some travelers have fallen to their deaths, never realizing where they were and how a simple thought could stop their descent. But besides this, there is no inherent risk to the plane.

Hazards
Compared to other Inner Planes, the Elemental Plane of Air is completely safe. There are no geysers of magma, jets of flames, vacuums or anything else inherently harmful to travelers. But that isn't to say the plane is completely safe, either.

Storms in Air
The greatest hazard of the plane is the wind. Now, finding an area of this plane not continually subjected to a light breeze is impossible, but it is rarely a threat to life and limb. However, sometimes a wind becomes a tempest, and such storms will throw you way off course or even injure you.

Maelstroms
Maelstroms are related to the winds, gales and storms described above. Yet, they deserve special mention. A maelstrom is a whirling vortex of air, possibly created when a small crack opens between the Elemental Plane of Air and Quasielemental Plane of Vacuum. Most primes describe a maelstrom as a looking akin to a giant circular tornado that has turned in on itself and is attempting to devour its own tail.

Anything or anyone that drifts near a maelstrom is attacked, Level + 7 versus Fortitude. Failure means you are sucked in until a successful escape (Athletics, Hard DC), or are rescued from outside. Folks stuck inside of a maelstrom are unable to take any actions other than escape. Chants has it that there is a Great Maelstrom, thousands of miles across, at the exact center of the Plane of Air. 'Course, how can anything of infinite size have a center, so if it exists, it could be anywhere. If such a thing were to exist, the odds one could find it without being immediately flayed alive would be low.

Smoke Banks
Often the result of long-forgotten battles, clouds of choking smoke hang in the calmer regions of the plane, backwaters of the greater air currents. Occasionally they are swept up into great moving walls, but in general they are relatively stationary.

Flying castles
The weightless nature, empty disposition and hospitable environment makes this plane ideal for individuals seeking privacy. These individuals include powerful wizards and sorcerers seeking uninterrupted time for their studies, clerics of all alignments seeking refuge against threats of more dangerous planes and even monasteries and libraries whose users seek solitude and reflection. Any chunk of rock large enough to support a foundation either has or had a structure built on it. Given the nature of subjective gravity, each room could have its own "down." However, buildings expecting visitors will often keep it simple. Settlers on this plane need to provide their own food or water, so such settlements are either near vortices or portals that allow easy travel between planes. Many settlers seeking to settle long-term see the wisdom in making alliances and agreements with the natives, and these agreements sometimes include food and water. The unwise who do not make peace with the natives often find their homes destroyed and they themselves slain for their hubris.

Djinni Strongholds
The djinn as a whole are a very accommodating people. They tend to settle on the bits of floating earth, and generally welcome guests. A typical djinn community will have 3d10 djinn of varying power, 1d10 jann and 1d10 elementals of low intelligence who acts as servants and guards. The most powerful djinn in a stronghold is called a sheik. The sheik may or may not be noble djinni. Such strongholds tend to be opulent pleasure domes, but the djinn also raise livestock and maintain gardens and fountains.

Djinn gather strongholds into allied confederations. In case of an attack, a stronghold sends one of its members to the nearest ally, who in turn sends two more messengers to its allies. In a short time, a horde of djinn have been rallied. Therefore, successful attacks must be rapid, and besieged djinni will seek to prolong any fight, knowing help is on its way. Powerful caliphs rule these confederations, with each caliph holding sway over all strongholds within two days' flight. These caliphs, in turn, swear fealty to grand caliphs. The most powerful grand caliph rules from the Citadel of Ice and Steel.

Citadel of Ice and Steel
Planewalkers often marvel at the fabulous floating cities of the djinn, which are spoken of with wonder throughout the Great Wheel. By far the greatest is the Citadel of Ice and Steel. It is where the Grand Caliph of all Djinn lives, with his six times six advisors.

The Citadel itself is immense, being several miles across and completely wind-sculpted. It constantly hurtles through the Plane of Air, making even visiting it a challenge. As the structure is perpetually falling, only the Will of the Grand Caliph can arrest its momentum. Only fliers can move through the Citadel, meaning nonnatives must be escorted.

The Citadel derives its name from the two wondrous substances it is mad of. The first, eternal ice, is a transparent substance mined in the Paraelemental Plane of Ice and transported here specifically for this structure. The second is a fabulous, multi hued steel mined from the Quasielemental Plane of Mineral that makes for graceful archways and elegant buttresses throughout the egg of glacial rock. Within the structure a series of fountains feed a delicate lattice of canals that crisscross the strange structure, bubbling musically at all times. Galleries of fantastic art are scattered about, each dedicated to the work of a single djinni artist. The pieces on display range from the traditional to the fantastic, including flame-sculptures and chromatic-symphonies.

Smaller spheres of ice orbit the main one, housing various nobles and advisors. Secreted away here is the mysterious Invisible College, a group of sorcerous djinn who use advanced illusions and deceptions to protect the Citadel. Chant is they have mastered magic unknown anywhere else in the Great Wheel. If one were to infiltrate, they may be able to learn the dark of it. But the College is suspicious, and not easily fooled.

Rumors speak of a flying castle owned by Sardlor, the ruby king of all gem dragons, who visits for lavish banquets. Chant is, the Grand Caliph hates whenever Sardlor visits, as he demands much in the way of time and treasure. Nonetheless, Sardlor is too important an ally to make an enemy. Other rumors say the Citadel has been spotted on other planes, but no proof has emerged.

Borealis
Borealis is a magnificent spherical structure built around a vortex linking it to the Quasielemental Plane of Radiance. Extending from the core of the palace are nearly a hundred spires. These heights reach over 1,000 yards and makes the whole of it look like a spiky sea urchin or dandelion seed. No two spires are identical in color, and the whole of the color spectrum is shown. The palace appears to be made of stained glass, but the chant is that the panels are actually solid light. No one knows what magic could even be employed to do such a thing. At the same time, no enemy has even as much as cracked the place, making it clear it is much stronger than it looks.

From a distance, Borealis lights up the sky with a blaze of shimmering colors. These ripple and scintillate, producing a spectacle more wondrous than any display of fireworks or pyrotechnics.The inhabitants are not native to the Plane of Air. They are nyth, radiant creatures akin to the will o' wisp. Normally, these are solitary hunters that roam their domains seeking prey. Here, however, where Air meets Radiance, they instead have gathered in large numbers.

It is said that others dwell at the heart of this structure, and the nyth merely act as guardians. Planewalkers who have hung about have never seen any guardians other than the nyth, however. Visitors are neither welcomed nor turned away. As long as they stay to the top of the spires and do not attempt to go to the heart of the structure, the nyth are happy to leave visitors alone. At the first transgression, however, the nyth will tear the intruder apart.

Taifun, the Palace of Tempests
Taifun is an immense palace of stone built upon a great floating mountain near the Quasielemental Plane of Lightning. Here, where the air lashes constantly at travelers, this citadel looms like a warrior's worst nightmare. The shipyards that surround it add to its impressiveness. Spreading out in every direction from the towering stone walls is a spiderweb of docks, and tied to these is dozen of airships. Both the aerial armada and the fortress are ruled by a powerful air genasi named Haalifith.

Most refer to Haalifith, who is an Air Genasi, as a "wind duke," but it is the fact that his nonelemental parent was a storm giant that makes him especially terrifying. From the shelter of his fortress, he sends out his armies. Chant is that he has decided he is the only true wind duke, and has set about the task of destroying all other Air Genasi. At first, he was considered a barmy, but now he is recognized as a very dangerous blood.

The Waterspout
Not far from the Citadel of Ice and Steel is a magnificent place known as the Waterspout. It is a unique structure that is the source of many debates among the learned and planewalkers. The Waterspout is a pair of vortices, both of which open into the Elemental Plane of Water. A great torrent of water flows out of one, thunders through 500 yards of intervening space, and disappears into the other. Ripples of mist come from both vortices, so it appears as if the Waterspout hangs between two billowing clouds.

As fascinating a sight this is, it raises many questions. Why does the water travel from one vortex to the other? Neither the Plane of Water nor the Plane of Air have specific gravity, so nothing should be forcing the water through or directing it to the other vortex. Also, the fact the two vortices are clearly linked has raised other questions relating to its origins. The truth may be unknowable, but this hasn't deterred a few. A warrior-wizard of elven and elemental descent named Brahmas Pulivuln is in the midst of building a series of water wheels around the structure. He hopes to use it to generate power, which he can then store in a magical energy accumulator called an inverted sphere. The cost is clearly enormous, yet no one has yet to see any hint that Brahmas is running out of money.

Fact is, no one even knows how he has so much money, or what his goal is. Some ascribe sinister motives to it, while others just think it is self-aggrandizing or self-serving. Despite the fact that no one seems interested enough to stop the project, Brahmas has hired a good number of guards. Marids and djinn come and go, using the vortices as a passageway as they have done for eons, but Brahmas has thus far respected them and not hindered their passage.

Planewalkers and the Plane of Air
The Elemental Plane of Air is often considered the heart of commerce in the Inner Planes. Chant is that those from the plane itself head to secret merchants in the Ethereal Plane for rare goods, but few no the dark of it and are willing to share the secret. The merchants are constantly looking for guards, especially those who can cast a flight spell or ride a flying mount. For those who can't do either, this is the place to learn.

The djinn, though aloof, are often seeking help in their war against the efreet. They particularly appreciate (and reward) cutters willing to go to the City of Brass to spy on their enemies.

Not all planewalkers come here looking for work; many desire entertainment, information and leisure. Sislan are said to produce flutes and horns that make music so lovely that mortals can't bear to hear it. The cloud giants of Zephyrhome maintain complex but thorough catalogs of all races in the Great Wheel and a secret about each. They'll share this knowledge, but only in exchange for a bit of a sod's memory - a strange and hefty price. More than one connoisseur has come to the Boundless Blue seeking the invisible vineyards, where ephemeral vines bear transparent grape that produces wine that puts even many of Arborea's vintages to shame.

Air Encounters
on a d% result of 96-100, roll on the encounter table. Roll once per hour.