Manual of the Planes

BYTOPIA INHABITANTSBytopia is home to a large number of celestials, includingguardinals and archons as well as planetars and solars andthe occasional eladrin.Many of the creatures that roam Bytopia are celestialversions of animals and beasts found on the MaterialPlane. Axiomatic creatures (see Chapter 9) are lesscommon but found here as well. In general, gentler creatureslive on Dothion, while wilder beasts and moresavage creatures live across the gap on Shurrock.The primary deity of Bytopia is Garl Glittergold, deityof the gnomes. He has a whole community to help himmanage his portfolio. His team of “able assistants”includes Baervan Wildwanderer, tender of the forest;Baravar Cloakshadow, master of illusion and deception;Flandal Steelskin, paragon of metalsmiths; Gaerdal Ironhand,the gnomes’ battle general; Nebelun, muse ofinvention and discovery; Segojan Earthcaller, tiller of thesoil; Callarduran Smoothhands, emissary to the deepgnomes; and Urdlen, known only as “the greedy.”Garl Glittergold’s divine cohorts make their home onBytopia, in a region of Dothion known as the GoldenHills, although Callarduran is often visiting the deepgnomes on the Material Plane, and Urdlen claims part ofthe 399th level of the Abyss as his home.As a result of Garl Glittergold’s presence on this plane,most of Bytopia’s petitioners permanently assume theform of gnomes regardless of their race in mortal life.Those whose souls drift to Bytopia by virtue of theiralignment alone (good with just a touch of the lawfulethos) may be surprised to find themselves incarnated asgnome petitioners.Bytopian gnome petitioners have the following specialpetitioner qualities:Additional Immunities: Fire, cold.Resistances: Cold 20, electricity 20.Other Special Qualities: At will—magic circleagainst evil (as the spell cast by a 5th-level sorcerer).These petitioners live on Bytopia in much the sameway as they lived in life: pursuing order at a leisurelyplace, satisfying curiosity, and otherwise enjoying themselvesat their work. There is a marked humor among thepetitioners of Bytopia, an easygoing nature that disappearsas one moves onto the sterner planes of law. Conversely,they maintain a sense of community that erodes as onemoves through Elysium and onto more chaotic planes.pqsOPTION: GNOMES ALONE ON BYTOPIAWithin the D&D cosmology, Garl Glittergold is the deity of thegnomes. But if you want to create a whole pantheon of gnomedeities that embodies the virtues (and some of the sins) of thegnome race, you can use Garl Glittergold’s able assistants aslesser and intermediate deities.You’ll have to decide which domains the other gnome deitiesoffer their clerics, give the deities alignments, and decide whattheir favored weapons are.pqsShurrockupupbarrier between layersDothionBytopiabarrier between layersFEATURES OF BYTOPIABytopia is divided into two layers, each facing the other.The Astral Plane reaches both of these layers, though themore settled layer, Dothion, is considered the first layer.In general, outsiders and petitioners live on Dothion andgo adventuring and exploring on Shurrock.Vision on Bytopia is just as it would be on the MaterialPlane at that particular time of day. Both layers of Bytopiashare a day and night cycle, though the radiance comesfrom the border between the two layers. It brightensduring the day to the brilliance of noon, then subsides,until the border itself is invisible and night falls.There is no moon on Bytopia, and the stars are thecampfires and town-lights of the layer directly above. Asa result, there are few stars on Dothion’s half of the plane,while there are many on wild Shurrock.DothionDothion is the more populated of the two facing planes andis the home of the gnomes. It is a realm of pastoral activityand individual industry. Its rolling hills cluster aroundspikes of volcanic rock that jut toward to its more savagecompanion layer. The land is a combination of open, settledmanor farms and well-tamed woods and forests.Dothion is a very domestic plane, its petitioners raisingsilver-wooled sheep and golden-flecked lambs. Theopen spaces are huge manor fields of wheat, barley, andcorn. The residents have dammed many gentle streams,harnessing them to waterwheels that grind the grain intoCHAPTER 7:THE OUTERPLANES137