Manual of the Planes

APPENDIX:VARIANT PLANES& COSMOLOGIES206SPIRIT WORLDThe Spirit World is a realm brought into sharp focus.Colors are brighter, sounds more distinct, and everysense is more keenly aware of its surroundings. Some ofits denizens say that the Material Plane is just a palereflection of the Spirit World’s vibrancy. It is a dimensionof ultimates.The Spirit World is part of a cosmology radically differentfrom the Great Wheel. In this cosmology, there are spiritsfor everything, from the greatest mountain to the smallestflower, as well as spirits of ancestors and objects long passedinto history. The Spirit World is the plane where the spiritsof all things, living and unliving, make their homes.The Spirit World is a Transitive Plane that replaces theAstral Plane of the D&D cosmology. Unlike that plane,the Spirit World is both coexistent with and coterminousto the Material Plane, matching its terrain. A valley in theSpirit World corresponds to a valley on the MaterialPlane, and where there is a waterfall in one, there is awaterfall in the other. In the case of the Spirit World,however, the waterfall is higher, its water more pure, andits sound more pleasing than that of its equivalent on theMaterial Plane. The Spirit World’s waterfall would likelybe the home of a water elemental that serves as the spiritof the waterfall.Living creatures and their structures, from beaverdams to palaces, do not necessarily have direct analogs.However, where a citadel stands on the Material Plane, asimilar citadel (though greater and stronger) may standin the Spirit World, occupied by the spirits of reveredancestors of the Material Plane citadel’s ruler.SPIRIT WORLD TRAITSThe Spirit World has the following traits:• Normal Gravity.• Timeless: In the Spirit World, creatures do nothunger, age, or thirst. Days and nights pass within theSpirit World as they do on the Material Plane. However,the nights are ebony black and set with brilliantstars, while great clouds arching across a sky of purestblue dominate the days.• Infinite Size: Unless the Material Plane has the finitesize trait, in which case the Spirit World does too.• Alterable Morphic: Changing things in the SpiritWorld does not directly affect the Material Plane, andchanges on the Material Plane aren’t necessarilyreflected in the Spirit World right away.• No Elemental or Energy Traits: However, particularlocations within the plane may have those traits. Asmith’s forge on the Material Plane, for example mayhave an equivalent in the Spirit World with the firedominanttrait.• Mildly Neutral-Aligned: Specific locations mayhave other alignments; the Spirit World equivalentof a haunted graveyard might be mildly evil-aligned,for example.• Enhanced Magic: All divine spells are extended andempowered on the Spirit World. Arcane magic, whichcomes from knowledge as opposed to proper veneration,is unaffected.SPIRIT WORLD LINKSThe Spirit World is coexistent with the Material Plane,and movement on one is equal to movement on the other.A traveler who enters the Spirit World, walks three milesnorth, and then returns to the Material Plane is threemiles north of the walk’s starting point.Travelers reach the Spirit World through the EtherealPlane, which forms a border region between the MaterialPlane and the Spirit World. A character on the EtherealPlane can see onto both the Material Plane and theSpirit World: the Material Plane clearly and the SpiritWorld as a faint echo. By concentrating on the echo, atraveler can move to the far side of the Ethereal Planeand enter the Spirit World.Because the Spirit World replaces the Astral Plane,spells that allow access to the Astral Plane use the SpiritWorld instead.The Plane of Shadow does not connect to the SpiritWorld, so spells that use the Plane of Shadow do not functionin the Spirit World.The Spirit World leads to other planes, in particular thehomes of whatever great powers oversee the operation ofthe known universe. A traveler through the Spirit Worldfinds portals to the great palaces of these deities, as well asunique heavens and hells. A traveler seeking the Duke ofStorms, for example, would find a portal to his palaceoccupying the same general location as storm-wrackedpeaks on the Material Plane.SPIRIT WORLD INHABITANTSThe Spirit World is home to a variety of creatures, includingfey, elementals, undead, outsiders, and dragons.Those with access to the plane shift spell visit the MaterialPlane under their own power, and spellcasters use summoningspells to bring other Spirit World creatures to theMaterial Plane. Still other Spirit World creatures find naturalportals between the planes.FEATURES OF THE SPIRIT WORLDSettled areas of the Material Plane are particularly dangerousin the Spirit World, because these places are where thespirits of ancestors dwell. These spirits are extremely protectiveof their descendants; an assassin who pops into theSpirit World to infiltrate a local duke’s reception hall will beconfronted by one or more ghosts of the duke’s predecessors.This is one reason that rulers live in the same palace forgenerations: They enjoy the protection of their ancestors.ELEMENTAL PLANEOF COLDThe Elemental Plane of Cold is a dimension wrapped inice. It is a place of bitter blizzards, deep snows, and