The Great Dark

The Great Dark (known to the elves as Thannasanoir) is a place of ultimate depravity and evil. It covers a vaguely circular area with a radius of eight thousand miles with Iourn's southern pole at its centre. However, this is not Iourn. The Great Dark is no longer part of the prime material plane and is classified as an outer plane. Magic of some kind is required to reach the Great Dark.

This document lists the rules and planar conditions that the Great Dark lives by. For more information on the area itself please refer to the Great Dark entry in the gazetteer seciton.

Great Dark Traits

• Normal Gravity
• Flowing Time in some areas. Normal Time in Tharkis.
• Finite Size
• Divinely Morphic, possibly Sentient
• No Elemental Traits
• Strongly Evil-Aligned, Mildly Law-Aligned
• Great changes to magic (see below)

Taint and the Great Dark

The Great Dark is horribly tainted. Disregard the normal mechanics for a Strongly Evil-Aligned, and Mildly Law-Aligned Plane and instead use the taint rules. Although all of the plane is tainted, some areas are more tainted than others.

Magic and the Great Dark

The magical weave that permeates the Great Dark is similar to the Weave on the rest of Iourn, and has the potential to cast any spell. However, the weave is tainted. What this means is that classes that insist on casting spells are advancing toward damnation at an alarming rate. A quick perusal of these rules indicates that all spell casters are shafted. This is largely true, but players are reminded that many classes and races are immune to taint in one way or another.

Every time any spell-casting class reaches into the Weave to cast a spell they feel the effects of the horrible taint that permeates the source of magic. This taint affects different types of spell casters differently. See the Magic section for my explanation of the different types of magic, and which classes fall into which bracket.

Touching the weave is akin to plunging your head into a septic tank. It is a horrible, stomach churning and down-right nauseating experience. Tainted scholars like it. Everyone else tends to avoid casting magic unless they really have to. For some it leaves an indelible mark.

Arcanists: Includes wizards, sorcerers, warmages, wu jen, assassins. Arcanists drink the power of the weave into their bodies and use that power to manipulate the weave to create spells. They are doubly fucked. Every time an arcanist casts a spell they are automatically nauseated the following round (see definition above). There is no saving throw against this affect. Additionally they must make a Fortitude save at DC 10 + level of the spell or gain 1d2 points of taint. All arcane spells are cast at +1 caster level in the Great Dark.

Divine Casters: Includes clerics, mystics, paladins. Divine casters use the power of a god to manipulate the weave. Every time they cast a spell they are sickened the following round (see definition above). There is no saving throw against this effect. If they cast a spell with the Evil descriptor the spell is cast at +1 caster level, and they must make a saving throw at DC 10 + spell level or gain 1 point of taint.

Psionicists: Includes psions, psychic warriors, wilders. Psionicists use the power of their mind to manipulate the weave. Every time they manifest a power they are sickened the following round (see definition above). There is no saving throw against this effect. If they manifest a power with the Evil descriptor the power is manifested at +1 caster level, and they must make a saving throw at DC 10 + spell level or gain 1 point of taint.

Song Magic: Includes bards, sonorists. Song casters use the power of harmony and their voice to manipulate the weave. Every time they sing a spell they are sickened the following round (see definition above). There is no saving throw against this effect. If they sing a spell with the Evil descriptor the spell is cast at +1 caster level, and they must make a saving throw at DC 10 + spell level or gain 1 point of taint.

Nature Magic: Includes druids, rangers, healers. Nature casters draw power from local flora and the energy of the land. At the beginning of each day the nature caster spends one hour drawing the power he needs. After doing this he is automatically nauseated for several minutes. Every time nature casters cast a spell they are sickened the following round (see definition above). There is no saving throw against this effect. If they cast a spell with the Evil descriptor the spell is cast at +1 caster level, and they must make a saving throw at DC 10 + spell level or gain 1 point of taint.

Invocations: Includes warlocks. Members of the warlock class contain a well of foul energy within them that they use for their eldritch blast. Although they draw power for their magic in a very similar way to the arcanist, this energy gives them some protection against the tainted weave. Every time the warlock modifies his eldritch blast with an invocation he is merely sickened the following round. You do not have to make saving throws to see if you acquire taint from spellcasting. Consider it a benefit of the dark bargain you have made.

It should also be noted that whatever evil force is behind the taint in the Great Dark, it does not take kindly to good deeds or spells cast to further the cause of good. All spells with a Good description at cast at -1 caster level. Additionally, spells cast with the best of intentions may be subtlely warped to have a less than desirable effect. The fireball you cast to slay those slavers shouldn't have been close enough to the orphanage to set it on fire, but some how a stray spark found its way to the thatch…

Planar Connections

Travel to and from the Great Dark is utterly impossible for any of the original prisoners, or descendents of those prisoners. The magic of the Grey Princes still holds fast after a thousand years. Of course, those with personal power greater than that of the Grey Princes may be able to get around this restriction. For everyone else, the Great Dark functions as any other outer plane. Characters can come and go as they please as long as they have suitably powerful magic, or can find a convenient portal. For such characters here is the list of planes with a direct conneciton to the Great Dark. In order to go from the Great Dark to planes not on this list, a character must first traverse a transitive plane.

Prime Material Plane

• Iourn: the Great Dark is coterminous with Iourn in seven locations - namely the Seven Gates of Perdition created by the Grey Princes. Any one with the proper key can enter the Great Dark through one of these gates. However, the gates are one-way. No-one, even those who are not descended from the original prisoners can leave through the seven gates.

Transitive Planes

• Astral Plane: the Great Dark is coterminus with the Astral Plane. Gateways can be opened between the Great Dark and the Astral at any point. Spells that make use of the astral plane function normally unless a native attempts to use that spell to flee the Great Dark - such individuals could teleport within the Great Dark, but not outside it.
• Ethereal Plane: the Great Dark is coexistant with the Ethereal Plane. The ethereal overlaps the Great Dark just as it does on Iourn. Spells that utilise the ethereal plane (such as ethereal jaunt) function normally. Natives cannot use such spells to flee the Great Dark.
• Region of Dreams: This plane is also conterminus with the Great Dark. Dreamers are able to open a portal of sleep anywhere in the Great Dark. Natives are unable to access the Dreamheart and trapped in their own dreams, or the dreams of other residents of the Great Dark.
• Shadow Plane: This plane is conexistant with the great dark and functions in the same manner as it does on the Prime Material Plane. However, the shadow plane cannot be used by natives to escape the Great Dark.

Outer Planes

• Greymere: The Great Dark was once a physical part of Iourn. As such it is still coexistant with the Greymere. However, the elves of the Greymere have greatly bolstered their defences and passage between the Great Dark and the Greymere is all but impossible.

See Also:

• The Great Dark
• Magic
• Taint