It's as boundless as the eternal sky, as sturdy as a child's breath, endlessly descending. The Elemental Plane of Air exists as a vast expanse, a realm of emptiness with nothing but sky above and below. Banks of clouds swell and dissipate like grand thunderheads melting into wispy cotton candy. The wind dances around travelers while rainbows shimmer in the distance. Among the Inner Planes, this plane reigns as the most hospitable and survivable, hosting a plethora of airborne creatures. Flying beings thrive here, holding a distinct advantage. Though non-flying travelers can manage, they face a disadvantage. Natural whirlpools serve as connections between the Elemental Plane of Air and the Material Plane, often appearing atop towering mountains or amid extreme weather phenomena like the eye of a hurricane.
Creatures native to the Material Plane, particularly those equipped with wings, may be found here. However, the plane's lack of solid ground often disorients and confuses many Material Plane inhabitants, leaving them vulnerable to more potent Elemental Plane of Air denizens. Notably, hippogriffs, pegasi, beholders, sphinxes, and sprites have been encountered here, while common birds and less intelligent fliers struggle to survive.
Auran serves as the native language of the Elemental Plane of Air—a breathy, unhurried tongue reminiscent of a prolonged exhalation. When other languages are required, denizens often resort to the Common tongue of the Material Plane, occasionally utilizing Celestial as well.
Characters might want to dive toward their opponents as a form of charge. If they do so, treat it as a regular charge (straight-line movement only, a +2 attack bonus, and a –2 penalty to Armor Class for 1 round). Alternatively, characters can simply plummet toward a helpless or stationary target. In this case, use the Falling Objects section in Chapter 3 of the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide, to determine damage from falling objects. Apply that damage to both attacker and target. A maximum of 20d6 points of damage can be inflicted in this fashion.
But other than that risk, the Elemental Plane of Air offers no inherent danger. There are regions of extreme weather, but they are a danger to natives as well as visitors. Spells such as avoid planar effects that provide planar protection do not help against such storms.
On a long-term basis, obtaining food and water is a problem. Rainfall can provide water, but food is always scarce. Elemental creatures, made of the substance of the plane itself, tend to dissipate when slain, and real food is hard to come by. The djinn are welcome allies to many travelers from elsewhere, because they can create food, water, and wine.
Barring clouds, fog banks, rain, and other impediments to sight, vision on the Elemental Plane of Air is unaffected, as is darkvision. The entire plane is limned with a pearly radiance of no definite source, as if the base matter of the plane held its own inherent radiation.
The Elemental Plane of Air is constantly in motion, ranging from gentle breezes that tug on a traveler's cloak to mighty tornadoes that spiral through the empty skies. The majority of the winds are light or moderate, and only in specific situations will winds be sufficiently large to impede or damage travelers.
The Weather Hazards sections provides rules for the effect of winds of various strengths. In almost all cases, creatures are airborne on the Elemental Plane of Air (so they are treated as one size smaller for the purpose of wind effects). Creatures that find something of sufficient size to hide on or behind avoid this penalty, but if blown away are thrown into the wind itself, taking damage each round until the wind dissipates.
The clouds themselves, common features on the plane, have the same effect as fog, obscuring all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. Creatures within 5 feet have one-half concealment, so attacks against them suffer a 20% miss chance. Arrowhawks and other scavengers often hide in clouds to ambush their prey better.
Extreme weather is also common on the Elemental Plane of Air, including snow, rain, sleet, hail, duststorms, thunderstorms, blizzards, and hurricanes. Despite the lack of objective gravity on the plane, rain does occur, falling for miles before dissipating and being swept up into new clouds.
Characters who enter areas of heavy Smoke are affected.
Settlers on the Elemental Plane of Air have to provide their own method of acquiring food and water, so many strongholds are set up near gates and vortices that allow easy access to other planes. In addition, the wizards, clerics, and monks who make these floating fortresses their homes must make peace to some degree with the local elemental and outsider population, either by negotiation or force. Not all invaders do so successfully, and travelers may discover the empty towers and citadels of wizards whose flesh has been ripped from their bones by angry invisible stalkers, or whose strongholds are frozen solid after crossing a foul-tempered ice paraelemental.
A typical djinn community on the Elemental Plane of Air consists of of these creatures (some of whom have undoubtedly earned levels in character classes), jann, and elemental creatures of low intelligence who act as servants, pets, or guardians. The most powerful of the djinn in the stronghold is known as the sheik. The sheik may or may not be a noble djinni.
Such strongholds are often nothing more than opulent pleasure domes, but the djinn also raise livestock (often horses for racing) and maintain gardens and fountains. Djinn gather strongholds into larger, allied confederations. In case of an attack, a stronghold sends one of its members to the nearest allied stronghold, which in rum sends two more messengers to its allies. In a short rime, a horde of djinn have been rallied for the fight. As a result, successful attacks against djinni strongholds must be rapid strikes.
Powerful caliphs rule the confederations of djinni strongholds, with each caliph holding titular sway over all strongholds within two days' flight. These caliphs, in turn, swear fealty to grand caliphs. The most prestigious and puissant of these grand caliphs dwells in the Citadel of Ice and Steel, advised by all manner of sheiks, emirs, beys, and maliks. This citadel is a constructed thing, made of magic steel and ice that is cool to the touch but harder than stone.
The Citadel of Ice and Steel consists of level upon level of gardens, courts, and labyrinths. It is a palace without stairs, and visitors who can't fly get genie guides to escort them through the citadel. Smaller citadels orbit the Citadel of Ice and Steel, each the home of a trusted advisor or powerful lesser caliphs. At the heart of the citadel is said to be a prison cell for the grand caliph's greatest enemy.
Inhabitants
Life dominates the Elemental Plane of Air in flight, where speed and agility determine survival. Predominant among its inhabitants are elementals born from the very essence of the plane's winds and weather. These autonomous entities consist of air elementals and half-elemental versions of various creatures from the Material Plane. Within the plane's extremities, ice and smoke paraelementals inhabit vast clouds of ash and stormy ice and hail, detailed further in Chapter 9 on paraelementals and the half-elemental template. They regard the Elemental Plane of Air as their domain and readily antagonize (at best) or obliterate (at worst) travelers from elsewhere. A handful of extraplanar beings opt to dwell within the Elemental Plane of Air, notably the well-known djinn. Additionally, scavenging arrowhawks and ever-present dust, air, and ice mephits inhabit this realm.Creatures native to the Material Plane, particularly those equipped with wings, may be found here. However, the plane's lack of solid ground often disorients and confuses many Material Plane inhabitants, leaving them vulnerable to more potent Elemental Plane of Air denizens. Notably, hippogriffs, pegasi, beholders, sphinxes, and sprites have been encountered here, while common birds and less intelligent fliers struggle to survive.
Auran serves as the native language of the Elemental Plane of Air—a breathy, unhurried tongue reminiscent of a prolonged exhalation. When other languages are required, denizens often resort to the Common tongue of the Material Plane, occasionally utilizing Celestial as well.
Movement and Combat
Movement on the Elemental Plane of Air is described in the section on subjective directional gravity in Chapter 1. Creatures that have a fly speed have their maneuverability improved by one grade on the Elemental Plane of Air, from clumsy to poor, from poor to average, from average to good, and from good to perfect. In addition, any flying creature can dive, moving in the same fashion as other, non flying creatures.Air Combat
On the Elemental Plane of Air, a larger number of attackers may assault an target, being able to attack from above and below.Characters might want to dive toward their opponents as a form of charge. If they do so, treat it as a regular charge (straight-line movement only, a +2 attack bonus, and a –2 penalty to Armor Class for 1 round). Alternatively, characters can simply plummet toward a helpless or stationary target. In this case, use the Falling Objects section in Chapter 3 of the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide, to determine damage from falling objects. Apply that damage to both attacker and target. A maximum of 20d6 points of damage can be inflicted in this fashion.
Features of the Elemental Plane of Air
For travelers arriving on the Elemental Plane of Air for the first time, the greatest danger is the panic of finding themselves in midair without even the sight of ground beneath you. Some travelers have plummeted to their deaths, never realizing where they were and how a simple thought could stop their descent. Setting the wrong direction as “down” can be fatal in such cases if there's a solid object along the path of descent (and if you fall far enough, there always is).But other than that risk, the Elemental Plane of Air offers no inherent danger. There are regions of extreme weather, but they are a danger to natives as well as visitors. Spells such as avoid planar effects that provide planar protection do not help against such storms.
On a long-term basis, obtaining food and water is a problem. Rainfall can provide water, but food is always scarce. Elemental creatures, made of the substance of the plane itself, tend to dissipate when slain, and real food is hard to come by. The djinn are welcome allies to many travelers from elsewhere, because they can create food, water, and wine.
Barring clouds, fog banks, rain, and other impediments to sight, vision on the Elemental Plane of Air is unaffected, as is darkvision. The entire plane is limned with a pearly radiance of no definite source, as if the base matter of the plane held its own inherent radiation.
Winds and Weather
The Elemental Plane of Air is constantly in motion, ranging from gentle breezes that tug on a traveler's cloak to mighty tornadoes that spiral through the empty skies. The majority of the winds are light or moderate, and only in specific situations will winds be sufficiently large to impede or damage travelers.
The Weather Hazards sections provides rules for the effect of winds of various strengths. In almost all cases, creatures are airborne on the Elemental Plane of Air (so they are treated as one size smaller for the purpose of wind effects). Creatures that find something of sufficient size to hide on or behind avoid this penalty, but if blown away are thrown into the wind itself, taking damage each round until the wind dissipates.
The clouds themselves, common features on the plane, have the same effect as fog, obscuring all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. Creatures within 5 feet have one-half concealment, so attacks against them suffer a 20% miss chance. Arrowhawks and other scavengers often hide in clouds to ambush their prey better.
Extreme weather is also common on the Elemental Plane of Air, including snow, rain, sleet, hail, duststorms, thunderstorms, blizzards, and hurricanes. Despite the lack of objective gravity on the plane, rain does occur, falling for miles before dissipating and being swept up into new clouds.
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 the smoke banks are relatively stationary. Large amounts of fire also generate smoke banks that hover around the source of the flame.Characters who enter areas of heavy Smoke are affected.
Flying Castles
The weightless nature, empty disposition, and hospitable environment makes the Elemental Plane of Air ideal for powerful individuals seeking privacy. These individuals include wizards and sorcerers who want uninterrupted time for long-term studies, clerics of all alignments escaping the threats of more dangerous planes, and even monasteries and libraries whose users seek solitude and reflection. Any chunk of rock or mineral large enough to support a building's foundation is the site of some structure (or at least it has been in the past). Given the nature of subjective gravity, the rooms within such a structure may all have the same direction of gravity, or the structure may be a crazy quilt of rooms with shifting gravitational directions. Often this depends on the needs of the users. Those who expect visitors provide a common “down” direction for reference.Settlers on the Elemental Plane of Air have to provide their own method of acquiring food and water, so many strongholds are set up near gates and vortices that allow easy access to other planes. In addition, the wizards, clerics, and monks who make these floating fortresses their homes must make peace to some degree with the local elemental and outsider population, either by negotiation or force. Not all invaders do so successfully, and travelers may discover the empty towers and citadels of wizards whose flesh has been ripped from their bones by angry invisible stalkers, or whose strongholds are frozen solid after crossing a foul-tempered ice paraelemental.
Djinni Strongholds
The djinn are among the most accommodating of the outsiders that make the Elemental Plane of Air their native realm. They tend to settle the larger chunks of physical matter on the plane, shards of rock and earth ranging from a thousand feet to several miles across. Each of these islands has its own gravity, and the guests of the djinn move around as on the Material Plane.A typical djinn community on the Elemental Plane of Air consists of of these creatures (some of whom have undoubtedly earned levels in character classes), jann, and elemental creatures of low intelligence who act as servants, pets, or guardians. The most powerful of the djinn in the stronghold is known as the sheik. The sheik may or may not be a noble djinni.
Such strongholds are often nothing more than opulent pleasure domes, but the djinn also raise livestock (often horses for racing) and maintain gardens and fountains. Djinn gather strongholds into larger, allied confederations. In case of an attack, a stronghold sends one of its members to the nearest allied stronghold, which in rum sends two more messengers to its allies. In a short rime, a horde of djinn have been rallied for the fight. As a result, successful attacks against djinni strongholds must be rapid strikes.
Powerful caliphs rule the confederations of djinni strongholds, with each caliph holding titular sway over all strongholds within two days' flight. These caliphs, in turn, swear fealty to grand caliphs. The most prestigious and puissant of these grand caliphs dwells in the Citadel of Ice and Steel, advised by all manner of sheiks, emirs, beys, and maliks. This citadel is a constructed thing, made of magic steel and ice that is cool to the touch but harder than stone.
The Citadel of Ice and Steel consists of level upon level of gardens, courts, and labyrinths. It is a palace without stairs, and visitors who can't fly get genie guides to escort them through the citadel. Smaller citadels orbit the Citadel of Ice and Steel, each the home of a trusted advisor or powerful lesser caliphs. At the heart of the citadel is said to be a prison cell for the grand caliph's greatest enemy.