It is an ocean without a surface.
It is domain of current and wave.
It is a bottomless depth.
The Elemental Plane of Water is a sea without a floor or a surface, an entirely fluid environment lit by a diffuse glow. It is one of the more hospitable of the Inner Planes once a traveler gets past the problem of breathing the local medium. The eternal oceans of this plane vary between ice cold and boiling hot, between saline and fresh. They are perpetually in motion, wracked by currents and tides. The plane's permanent settlements form around bits of flotsam and jetsam suspended within this endless liquid. Even these settlements drift on the tides of the Elemental Plane of Water.
Many water-breathing outsiders also make the Elemental Plane of Water their home. These include such transient beasts as the tojanida and the mephit, as well as more settled groups such as tritons and marid genies. In general, water-breathing outsiders found on the Elemental Plane of Water tend to be playful and cruel, not hesitating to torment (and drown) interplanar visitors who rely on magic spells or items to survive on their plane.
Finally, water-breathing creatures from other planes may be found on the Elemental Plane of Water. Fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and most sea-dwellers live on this plane, but not air-breathing ocean-dwellers such as whales and dolphins. The Elemental Plane of Water is hospitable to both freshwater and saltwater species, though each type has its own regions to inhabit. Monstrous aquatic creatures such as the kraken and aboleth may be found here as well.
Portals seem to be common between the Elemental Plane of Water and oceans on the Material Plane, and rarer portals connect to large bodies of water on other planes. Both of the great rivers of the Outer Planes, the Styx and the Oceanus, contain vortices to the Elemental Plane of Water. Tritons and marids in particular make use of the vortices, and settlements of these creatures are usually found near permanent portals.
Natives of the Elemental Plane of Water speak Aquan, a flowing, subtle language filled with double meanings and hidden puns. Those dealing with other planes speak other languages to facilitate their dealings: Common, Infernal, Abyssal, and Celestial are frequent choices.
While a traveler may choose which way is up, whether she rises or sinks depends on whether she would rise or sink normally. Characters carrying less than 5 pounds of gear rise headfirst, but others sink feetfirst. Both do so at the same rate: 15 feet the first round, then 30 feet each round thereafter. The resistance of the water prevents the great speeds found on the Elemental Plane of Air and elsewhere, so a sinking or rising character takes no damage from striking an object.
In addition to moving about by sinking or rising, travelers can swim normally. If a solid surface is available, they can walk. Those with fly speeds can fly at half their normal rate, and their maneuverability is reduced by one grade.
There are almost no static physical locations on the Elemental Plane of Water, because even the largest communities drift on the currents of the plane. These include portals that lead elsewhere, and established communities may drift along with these vortex entrances. Travel between two communities on the Elemental Plane of Water often requires divination magic. Alternatively, travelers can hire a local guide knowledgeable in the currents and tides of the plane to figure out where a particular community or portal has drifted to. Tritons and marids make suitable guides, and they tend to treat fleshy travelers from the Material Plane better than elementals and other outsiders do.
Further, any slashing weapon, blunt weapon, claw or tail attack also deals half damage (subtract 2, then divide the remainder by 2, rounding down), with a minimum of 1 point of damage dealt. The freedom of movement spell negates this penalty
Creatures made of fire (such as fire elementals) take points of damage each round on the Elemental Plane of Water, because it has the water-dominant trait. Creatures with the fire subtype are very uncomfortable on the plane.
A great difference between the Elemental Plane of Water and other watery domains is a lack of pressure. In Material Plane oceans (and some others), the pressure of the water increases with depth. The water pressure can grow strong enough on the Material Plane to crush the life out of creatures and bend steel. But the pressure on the Elemental Plane of Water is no worse than a just few feet underwater in a Material Plane ocean, so there are no dire consequences.
Long-term survival on the Elemental Plane of Water is fairly easy. Obtaining water is obviously not a problem, though its purity and salinity may pose some difficulties in specific areas. The abundance of sea life in the plane is enough to satisfy any traveler with a taste for fish. A vague, dim glow that issues from all sides illuminates the seas of the Elemental Plane of Water. This glow gives everything a blue-green aura, but limits clear vision. Normal vision, including darkvision, is limited to 60 feet. Clouds of silt, algae, and other detritus may limit sight even further.
However, in spots the temperature changes dramatically. Hot spots raise nearby water to the boiling point, dealing points of fire damage to those caught too close. The warmest of hot spots may have vortices to the Elemental Plane of Fire, and in these regions flames may briefly flicker before being inundated by the endless water.
Similarly, cold regions drift on the currents, some so cold that they sap the life out of those caught within. Unless otherwise protected, creatures take 1d6 points of cold subdual damage per minute within such an area. At the heart of these regions solid ice may be found, and there wander such cold-loving creatures as ice paraelementals. Hot spots and ice pockets are usually no smaller than 300 feet across, and ones of a mile or more across have been reported. Movement is unaffected within these regions.
Such areas are hard to spot visibly, but the temperature changes around their edges are gradual. Creatures usually know of the approach of a hot spot or cold pocket minutes before it starts dealing damage. Under normal situations, this is sufficient time to swim for more moderate waters.
Some currents are stronger than others. Strong currents may drag travelers in a particular direction at up to 120 feet per minute (roll to determine the current's strength in feet per minute). Travelers must be able to move faster than the current to make progress in the opposite direction.
Some currents pose a physical danger. Whirlpools are localized areas formed by counterflowing currents that suck everything within feet into a tightening spiral. Those caught within a whirlpool must make a Swim check (DC 15) or take points of damage from the buffeting current. Make this check every round. Those caught in a whirlpool can escape it with a second successful Swim check (DC 15) or automatically after rounds. Some 30% of whirlpools have vortices at their bases, and creatures sucked in are ejected on some other plane, either on the Material Plane or on another plane that has an area with the water-dominant trait. Make a Reflex save (DC 19) for anyone caught in the whirlpool for each round after the sixth to avoid being sucked into the vortex. The DM determines where the vortex leads.
The most dangerous currents are tidal bores, great fluid avalanches that course through the plane, spreading destruction in their wake. Anyone caught in a tidal bore must succeed at a Swim check (DC 20) or take points of damage. In any event, creatures hit by a tidal bore are dragged miles away by the force of the water.
A typical marid stronghold is tied to some type of jetsam, usually a bit of solid matter or even a weed bed. Usually marids are found in such a community, with a variety of elemental servants and jann, as well as mortals who have lost bets, sought favors, been chosen as favorites, or otherwise wound up enslaved by the (relatively) benign marids. They have little use for evil creatures, even those that breathe water, and marids are frequently at war with the evil denizens of the Elemental Plane of Water.
The Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls is the greatest of marid communities and the seat of the Coral Throne. From this court emanates the wise rulership of the Great Padishah of the Marid, the Keeper of the Empire, the Pearl of the Sea, the Parent of the Waves, the Maharaja of the Oceans, Emir of All Currents, and so forth. This citadel, set atop a free-floating coral reef, is bedecked with all manner of towers and halls carved from living shell and ringed with luminous, glowing pearls. About two hundred marids make the citadel their home, all of them nobility. Each marid has a set of personal servants, bringing the nonmarid population of the citadel to about a thousand. The court of the great padishah is filled with intrigue and espionage because each marid has the heartfelt belief that he or she truly deserves to sit atop the Coral Throne.
Assassinations are common, as are palace revolutions and exiles. The marids are individually the most powerful of genies, but their strong wills and high opinions of them selves prevent them from banding permanently under any one leader.
The City of Glass is a cosmopolitan collection of traders, travelers, and expatriates from other planes. Its denizens are primarily from the aquatic races of the Material Plane, including merfolk, aquatic elves, kuo-toas, lizardfolk, locathahs, and sahuagin. It is ruled by a council of longtime residents, no two of whom may be of the same race. The City of Glass is a merchant's freeport and actively encourages trade. Mercanes may be found within its borders, along with marids, dao, and human traders. Several of its portals lead back to the Material Plane, and it is said that in secret places within the city, there are portals to other planes as well.
Historians note that the “unbreakable” glass of the dome has been broken in the past. Without definite gravity, however, the air remained more or less where it was. The city officials immediately repaired the rift and put to death the visitors whose errant spells were responsible for the break.
There are several theories about the Avenger. It might be a powerful construct, either still under the control of its master, wild and berserk, or with its own free will—the stories inevitably vary on this point.
Others contend that the Avenger is a vehicle, perhaps constructed on an alternate Material Plane, that found its way to the Elemental Plane of Water. The nature or fate of its crew varies from tale-spinner to tale-spinner as well. The locathahs say that the crew is locathah pirates, while the marids make a good case for rebellious jann. Several human tales talk of a crew of spectres.
The table below is suitable for typical travelers, but the DM can also use it as a springboard for encounter tables for specific areas by adding new creatures or changing the percentages.
On a d% result of 96–100, characters encounter something on Table 6–4: Elemental Plane of Water Encounters. Roll once per hour.
It is domain of current and wave.
It is a bottomless depth.
The Elemental Plane of Water is a sea without a floor or a surface, an entirely fluid environment lit by a diffuse glow. It is one of the more hospitable of the Inner Planes once a traveler gets past the problem of breathing the local medium. The eternal oceans of this plane vary between ice cold and boiling hot, between saline and fresh. They are perpetually in motion, wracked by currents and tides. The plane's permanent settlements form around bits of flotsam and jetsam suspended within this endless liquid. Even these settlements drift on the tides of the Elemental Plane of Water.
Water Inhabitants
The Elemental Plane of Water is relatively benign for an Inner plane and is home to a large number of native elementals, water-breathing outsiders, and creatures from other planes that can survive in its watery seas. Elementals are discrete and separate manifestations of the plane itself, granted sentience and mobility from magic or natural forces. These include the water elementals summoned by spellcasters and elemental versions of Material plane creatures. Such creatures tend to be at least semiliquid and mimic seagoing beasts and monsters of the Material Plane.Many water-breathing outsiders also make the Elemental Plane of Water their home. These include such transient beasts as the tojanida and the mephit, as well as more settled groups such as tritons and marid genies. In general, water-breathing outsiders found on the Elemental Plane of Water tend to be playful and cruel, not hesitating to torment (and drown) interplanar visitors who rely on magic spells or items to survive on their plane.
Finally, water-breathing creatures from other planes may be found on the Elemental Plane of Water. Fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and most sea-dwellers live on this plane, but not air-breathing ocean-dwellers such as whales and dolphins. The Elemental Plane of Water is hospitable to both freshwater and saltwater species, though each type has its own regions to inhabit. Monstrous aquatic creatures such as the kraken and aboleth may be found here as well.
Portals seem to be common between the Elemental Plane of Water and oceans on the Material Plane, and rarer portals connect to large bodies of water on other planes. Both of the great rivers of the Outer Planes, the Styx and the Oceanus, contain vortices to the Elemental Plane of Water. Tritons and marids in particular make use of the vortices, and settlements of these creatures are usually found near permanent portals.
Natives of the Elemental Plane of Water speak Aquan, a flowing, subtle language filled with double meanings and hidden puns. Those dealing with other planes speak other languages to facilitate their dealings: Common, Infernal, Abyssal, and Celestial are frequent choices.
Movement and Combat
The Elemental Plane of Water has no set directions, so travelers can move about in a fashion similar to movement on the Elemental Plane of Air. Rather than falling, a traveler may choose to rise or sink.While a traveler may choose which way is up, whether she rises or sinks depends on whether she would rise or sink normally. Characters carrying less than 5 pounds of gear rise headfirst, but others sink feetfirst. Both do so at the same rate: 15 feet the first round, then 30 feet each round thereafter. The resistance of the water prevents the great speeds found on the Elemental Plane of Air and elsewhere, so a sinking or rising character takes no damage from striking an object.
In addition to moving about by sinking or rising, travelers can swim normally. If a solid surface is available, they can walk. Those with fly speeds can fly at half their normal rate, and their maneuverability is reduced by one grade.
There are almost no static physical locations on the Elemental Plane of Water, because even the largest communities drift on the currents of the plane. These include portals that lead elsewhere, and established communities may drift along with these vortex entrances. Travel between two communities on the Elemental Plane of Water often requires divination magic. Alternatively, travelers can hire a local guide knowledgeable in the currents and tides of the plane to figure out where a particular community or portal has drifted to. Tritons and marids make suitable guides, and they tend to treat fleshy travelers from the Material Plane better than elementals and other outsiders do.
Water Combat
Water impedes combat on the Elemental Plane of Water, just as it does beneath the surface of a Material Plane ocean. When creatures are involved in combat, the following rules apply: Creatures without a swim speed (or a freedom of movement spell or similar effect) suffer a –2 penalty on attacks and damage underwater.Further, any slashing weapon, blunt weapon, claw or tail attack also deals half damage (subtract 2, then divide the remainder by 2, rounding down), with a minimum of 1 point of damage dealt. The freedom of movement spell negates this penalty
Features of the Elemental Plane of Water
The Elemental Plane of Water holds but one great immediate danger, and that is the fluid nature of the plane itself. Unless a traveler can breathe water or has no need to breathe, any visit to the Elemental Plane of Water must be brief. Those unable to breathe must hold their breath while on the plane and run the risk of drowning, as detailed in The Drowning Rule in Chapter 3 of the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide.Creatures made of fire (such as fire elementals) take points of damage each round on the Elemental Plane of Water, because it has the water-dominant trait. Creatures with the fire subtype are very uncomfortable on the plane.
A great difference between the Elemental Plane of Water and other watery domains is a lack of pressure. In Material Plane oceans (and some others), the pressure of the water increases with depth. The water pressure can grow strong enough on the Material Plane to crush the life out of creatures and bend steel. But the pressure on the Elemental Plane of Water is no worse than a just few feet underwater in a Material Plane ocean, so there are no dire consequences.
Long-term survival on the Elemental Plane of Water is fairly easy. Obtaining water is obviously not a problem, though its purity and salinity may pose some difficulties in specific areas. The abundance of sea life in the plane is enough to satisfy any traveler with a taste for fish. A vague, dim glow that issues from all sides illuminates the seas of the Elemental Plane of Water. This glow gives everything a blue-green aura, but limits clear vision. Normal vision, including darkvision, is limited to 60 feet. Clouds of silt, algae, and other detritus may limit sight even further.
Hot Spots and Ice Pockets
The bulk of the Elemental Plane of Water is within a comfortable temperature range, like ocean temperatures in warm or temperate coastlines on the Material Plane. There is no inherent temperature danger to travelers in areas that are within this range.However, in spots the temperature changes dramatically. Hot spots raise nearby water to the boiling point, dealing points of fire damage to those caught too close. The warmest of hot spots may have vortices to the Elemental Plane of Fire, and in these regions flames may briefly flicker before being inundated by the endless water.
Similarly, cold regions drift on the currents, some so cold that they sap the life out of those caught within. Unless otherwise protected, creatures take 1d6 points of cold subdual damage per minute within such an area. At the heart of these regions solid ice may be found, and there wander such cold-loving creatures as ice paraelementals. Hot spots and ice pockets are usually no smaller than 300 feet across, and ones of a mile or more across have been reported. Movement is unaffected within these regions.
Such areas are hard to spot visibly, but the temperature changes around their edges are gradual. Creatures usually know of the approach of a hot spot or cold pocket minutes before it starts dealing damage. Under normal situations, this is sufficient time to swim for more moderate waters.
Currents, Whirlpools, and Bores
Most of the Elemental Plane of Water swirls with a dizzying tangle of currents, moving the various fixed locations around with slow ease. Settled areas are aware of the course and heading of other settlements, though the distances may become insurmountable and communities lost to each other through the eternal sea.Some currents are stronger than others. Strong currents may drag travelers in a particular direction at up to 120 feet per minute (roll to determine the current's strength in feet per minute). Travelers must be able to move faster than the current to make progress in the opposite direction.
Some currents pose a physical danger. Whirlpools are localized areas formed by counterflowing currents that suck everything within feet into a tightening spiral. Those caught within a whirlpool must make a Swim check (DC 15) or take points of damage from the buffeting current. Make this check every round. Those caught in a whirlpool can escape it with a second successful Swim check (DC 15) or automatically after rounds. Some 30% of whirlpools have vortices at their bases, and creatures sucked in are ejected on some other plane, either on the Material Plane or on another plane that has an area with the water-dominant trait. Make a Reflex save (DC 19) for anyone caught in the whirlpool for each round after the sixth to avoid being sucked into the vortex. The DM determines where the vortex leads.
The most dangerous currents are tidal bores, great fluid avalanches that course through the plane, spreading destruction in their wake. Anyone caught in a tidal bore must succeed at a Swim check (DC 20) or take points of damage. In any event, creatures hit by a tidal bore are dragged miles away by the force of the water.
Red Tides
A dangerous contagion has infected patches of water where red tides occur. Red tides range from a mere 60 feet across to areas large enough to comprise entire seas of pestilence. Those who inhale the deadly water or whose unprotected eyes are exposed to it may fall victim to blinding sickness, as described in Disease in Chapter 3 of the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide. Unlike with most diseases, the initial Fortitude save to avoid infection must be made each minute a character remains in a red tide.Weeds and Coral
Balls of seaweed and coral float through the Elemental Plane of Water, growing in all directions equally and resembling planets of living plant life. These spherical beds are often the lairs of outsiders native to the plane, especially tritons. The waters around weed and coral spheres frequently have excellent fishing grounds, so sometimes marids build outposts nearby.Marid Communities
Marids are a fiercely independent race, so the “marid empire” on the Elemental Plane of Water is really a large collection of semi-independent strongholds, all of which swear fealty in varying degrees to the padishah of the marid. Often that degree of fealty is determined by the proximity of the stronghold to the Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls or the presence of agents of the padishah. All marids claim nobility of some kind, and the plane is filled with shahs, atabegs, and mufti.A typical marid stronghold is tied to some type of jetsam, usually a bit of solid matter or even a weed bed. Usually marids are found in such a community, with a variety of elemental servants and jann, as well as mortals who have lost bets, sought favors, been chosen as favorites, or otherwise wound up enslaved by the (relatively) benign marids. They have little use for evil creatures, even those that breathe water, and marids are frequently at war with the evil denizens of the Elemental Plane of Water.
The Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls is the greatest of marid communities and the seat of the Coral Throne. From this court emanates the wise rulership of the Great Padishah of the Marid, the Keeper of the Empire, the Pearl of the Sea, the Parent of the Waves, the Maharaja of the Oceans, Emir of All Currents, and so forth. This citadel, set atop a free-floating coral reef, is bedecked with all manner of towers and halls carved from living shell and ringed with luminous, glowing pearls. About two hundred marids make the citadel their home, all of them nobility. Each marid has a set of personal servants, bringing the nonmarid population of the citadel to about a thousand. The court of the great padishah is filled with intrigue and espionage because each marid has the heartfelt belief that he or she truly deserves to sit atop the Coral Throne.
Assassinations are common, as are palace revolutions and exiles. The marids are individually the most powerful of genies, but their strong wills and high opinions of them selves prevent them from banding permanently under any one leader.
City of Glass
For travelers with less of a taste for palace intrigue, the City of Glass is an ideal gathering spot on the Elemental Plane of Water (especially for travelers who breathe air). Located at a stable collection of portals to other planes (stable in that they do not move in relationship to each other), the City of Glass consists of a great sphere of unbreakable glass, half filled with water. Visitors enter the city through any number of openings along the water side, or through magical portals in the air-bubble half. Many buildings cross the boundary between air and water, there are buildings filled with water in the air half, and buildings equally stocked with air beneath the water's surface. By mutual agreement of the city's resident, “down” is toward the water half of the sphere.The City of Glass is a cosmopolitan collection of traders, travelers, and expatriates from other planes. Its denizens are primarily from the aquatic races of the Material Plane, including merfolk, aquatic elves, kuo-toas, lizardfolk, locathahs, and sahuagin. It is ruled by a council of longtime residents, no two of whom may be of the same race. The City of Glass is a merchant's freeport and actively encourages trade. Mercanes may be found within its borders, along with marids, dao, and human traders. Several of its portals lead back to the Material Plane, and it is said that in secret places within the city, there are portals to other planes as well.
Historians note that the “unbreakable” glass of the dome has been broken in the past. Without definite gravity, however, the air remained more or less where it was. The city officials immediately repaired the rift and put to death the visitors whose errant spells were responsible for the break.
The Avenger
The true nature of the Avenger, a unique figure on the Elemental Plane of Water, is unrevealed. Considered a myth by many, the Avenger appears as a great, dark gray manta ray measuring about 90 feet from the nose to the base of the tail and 180 feet from wingtip to wingtip. Its tail, which extends a further 90 feet, discharges lightning bolts (as an 18th-level sorcerer), apparently at will. The Avenger appears to be a construct or a vehicle as opposed to a living beast, because it propels itself through the water with a battery of water-screws.There are several theories about the Avenger. It might be a powerful construct, either still under the control of its master, wild and berserk, or with its own free will—the stories inevitably vary on this point.
Others contend that the Avenger is a vehicle, perhaps constructed on an alternate Material Plane, that found its way to the Elemental Plane of Water. The nature or fate of its crew varies from tale-spinner to tale-spinner as well. The locathahs say that the crew is locathah pirates, while the marids make a good case for rebellious jann. Several human tales talk of a crew of spectres.
Water Encounters
The Elemental Plane of Water is a shifting, fluid place. Most creatures have their own supply of air, or have the ability to breathe water, or do not breathe at all.The table below is suitable for typical travelers, but the DM can also use it as a springboard for encounter tables for specific areas by adding new creatures or changing the percentages.
On a d% result of 96–100, characters encounter something on Table 6–4: Elemental Plane of Water Encounters. Roll once per hour.