The Coalescence (3.5e Environment)

The Coalescence

The Coalescence is a plane of eternal night, created by a long-forgotten race dubbed the "Old Ones". The plane was re-discovered millenia ago by the Raven Queen, a goddess who had been searching for a land to begin the creation of her own soldiers known as the "Soul Reapers". After the creation of her first group of Soul Reapers, she slowly began leaving the realm under their control. Currently, the Reaper Lords (the highest ranked Soul Reapers) control the Coalescence, but they still worship the Raven Queen.

Description

The Coalescence is an infinite dark plane with black sand dunes and purple stone. It is entirely flat, and very cold. The only light source outside the city is from a single enormous orb of light high in the sky like a full moon. The city of Reapers is a small metropolis containing the Houses of the Reaper Lords, the Reaper Council, and the Market.

Plane Traits

Physical Traits

• Gravity: Normal Gravity. This Realm's gravity behaves exactly like the material plane.

• Time: Normal Time. Time flows normally in this Realm. (Arguably, no one has documented how time flows far in the infinite desert, so time may be variable farther away).

• Size: Infinite. As far as anyone can tell, the Realm goes on forever in any direction.

• Morphic: Alterable. Things can be moved and modified with physical effort or magic like in the material plane.

Magic, Alignment, and Energy/Elemental Traits

• Elemental Dominance: None. This Realm is elementally balanced.

• Energy Dominance: Mildly Negative-dominant. Living beings don't take damage like in other Negative-dominant planes, but they feel uncomfortable in the eerie silence and are accosted by a sense of dread, receiving a -2 penalty on all rolls unless they can succeed a DC 15 will save as they enter and every 24 hours past. Reapers and other non-living beings aren't penalized.

• Alignment Trait: Mildly Neutral-aligned.

• Magic Trait: Normal Magic.

Plane Links

There are, so far, no permanent Planar portals. Instead, every Reaper can perform a meditation ritual to open a temporary portal to The Coalescence. Other beings wanting to travel to this plane may do so through a Gate, Plane Shift, or other such spells, spell-like abilities, or psionic powers.

Plane Inhabitants

Outside the gates of the Reaper City, there exists nothing but sand and stone, and the occasional wanderer that has become lost and has not died yet. Within the Reaper City, however, exist homes for all the Soul Reapers that wish to live out their lives here. Also, because of the specific laws of the realm, the extradimensional travelers that wish to visit or run a shop in the Reaper Market all live within the city.

Movement and Combat

The Market, the housing area, and outside the city gates are the only places that are open for all to go. The Council Building is open for any Soul Reaper to enter, as well as any non-reaper that has been specifically invited in by a Reaper Lord for discussion. The Head Council Room is only open to the Council of Death to enter, unless they are giving a mission to a Soul Reaper, in which case they may call that Reaper in to the room.
All combat is banned within the city. Anyone starting a fight is punishable by fine, imprisonment, or banishment from the city permanently (depending on the severity of the fight). Murder is punishable by death. Most residents understand that this realm is a safe haven; others just don't care to fight.

Features of the Plane

Reaper City

Ranks: The ranks in the city are as follows: 1. The Raven Queen - She does not show up very often anymore, but she still commands authority from every Reaper in the city. 2. Council of Death - These are the chosen few (approximately ten at any given time) Reaper Lords that rule over every other reaper, and perform trials and pass judgement on the other Soul Reapers. One can only advance into being on the Council if a current member of the council dies or chooses to resign, or ascends to live permanently with the Raven Queen as her personal servant; and then, only by being chosen by the other members of the council. 3. Reaper Lords - These are the Grim Reapers who have not been assigned on the council. They are each given a mansion in the city to reside in, if they wish, and are given command and responsibility of a group of lower-level Soul Reapers to train and give small missions to. 4. Soul Reapers - These are any lower-level Soul Reaper. 5. Non-Reapers - Any non-reaper in the city is free to do as they wish, but must follow any instructions given to them by a Soul Reaper unless they wish to be reported (as they are technically not registered in the city).

Council Building: The Council of Death resides here. Here, the Reaper Lords govern the Realm and enact punishment if necessary. Reapers report to the council for some important missions, for trials, and for advancement of status (such as the advancement to become an Avatar Reaper). The Council of Death possesses a mirror of which the opposite side is the "moon" in the sky. With this mirror, they can see the going-ons of any place in the realm. This is how they keep order.

Houses of the Reaper Lords: Each Reaper Lord has a grand estate within the walls the City. These estates also provide modest accommodation to any Reapers in the Lord's jurisdiction.

The Reaper Market: After the foundation of The Coalescence, extradimensional drifters who would show up were allowed to live in the City, as long as they obeyed the law and saw to their own survival. They began in small shanty towns near the walls of the city, but as more showed up, they began selling wares to each other. Eventually, this plane grew into one of the greatest extradimensional economic centers, rivaling even Sigil in the amount of goods bought and sold. The motto of the Market is "Anything can be found, for a price." This is true, any good can be bought for around normal price, or sold for however much the seller feels they can get for it (under DM discretion); this is provided the person is willing to search around enough (or is lucky enough) to find the item needed.

Outside the City

The Black Wastes: The infinite stretch of cold, black sand and purple stone. While there are landmarks, getting lost is inevitable. Fortunately, there are no creatures outside the City Walls. Although there have been many who ventured out into the wastes, none has returned and attempts to find a corpse are fruitless. Each turn a creature is out in the wastes, it must make a DC 10 saving roll or be lost. If a creature becomes lost, they must create a portal to the city or another plane or be cursed to wander the wastes for the rest of their lives.
The Reaper Lords, however, have a crystal ball that they can use to locate any specific person. Many a time, a Reaper Lord will use this to find a person, teleport to them to question them, then leave them behind by teleporting back.

The City of White Nights: Just south of the Reaper City, there is a large tower made of a luminous, white stone. Any attempt to enter the tower has failed. It seems the tower was also made by the same creators as the plane itself, as the Gods of Death had attempted to enter it, but it rejected even them. It gained the name "City of White Nights" because of the stone's ability to illuminate the dark realm, and because of the rumor it was the home of the original inhabitants. Some who worship the Old Ones see it as a holy site and make a pilgrimage to it once a year, risking the possibility of getting lost to pay their respects to the forgotten Gods.

Plane Encounters

There are no encounters as there exist no creatures outside the walls of the City. Inside, combat is forbidden, so most inhabitants will either flee from you or kill you outright.

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