The Bleeding Heaven

Her mobile realm, also known as the Realm of Eternal Poems or the Shifting Realm, has created many a legend, e.g. from an Outlandish tribe who stumbled upon a place of many wonders which was just not there anymore the day after. Passion lets the realm shift to anywhere she considers it needed for her plans. About her plans: she tries not to interfere too much with the plans of other powerful people, be it gods, fiends or others. Instead she chooses particular mortals as the main characters of an emotionally intensive poem, and she makes the person live the poem. She might arrange everything so that a knight falls in love with a beautiful princess who is then captured by an over-powerful mage, and then Passion makes sure the coming adventure is a story of highly intense emotions for the knight.

The poor man might be broken as a result, or he'll finally rescue his girl and then experience the greatest love he could ever have felt - it doesn't matter for Passion, as long as it's as poetic as possible. Not too rarely, the "victims" of Passion even find a kind of happy end, but have a broken heart or soul nevertheless.

But don't think Passion influences people too directly. She's very subtle, and usually people don't even realize she puts them into a "real poem". Passion can measure a mortal as no other power can, and she only sets mortals into particular situations if she's sure some poetic result will come about. After setting things in motion, she usually just watches, except if she really has to do something to make the situation more poetic. Even then, she prefers to act as subtly as possible. If her chosen hero gives up all too soon, she makes sure he finds some motivation, be it that he just comes upon the solution to an important puzzle, or he meets a bard who manages to cheer him up - whatever's needed, and, of course, whatever's most poetic. If her chosen hero succeeds too easily, she might also put some obstacles in his way.

Passion is, as should be clear by now, a true neutral god (Greater Power of the Outlands, Main Portfolio: Poems; one of her other "deific identities" might have any portfolio fitting to her plans on that world). Note that even other gods don't realize that her other identities are not the entities they seem to be. Passion is subtle and clever enough to make sure even gods don't uncover her mysteries.

Description: The Bleeding Heaven is a place of much variety. There are cities and there's absolute wilderness; the only constant is intelligent life. You can find a person with a bleeding heart at every other corner, and even in the darkest tunnels you will find a couple in love who have sworn to stay together forever.

Nevertheless, you can't find everyything here. The general cultures to be found in the Bleeding Heaven are quite civilized, and even in the most dangerous wilderness you'll meet no fiend, dragon or other such creature. Passion seems to favor humans in her realm, but there are also other intelligent creatures, sometimes living beside humans or inhabiting their own villages or cities; sometimes not even knowing there's a world beyond their city. The most important feature is the Library of Trust and Fear. Here, any poem that Passion has ever written (and, remember, which has really been experienced by someone!) is to be found.

Strange creatures, which seem to be Incarnates of extreme feelings, hover around in this library (use them as "normal" Minor Incarnates, but choose any feeling you like, about 10% of the Incarnates here are Major Incarnates). The library can be found by anyone who just stumbles upon it, except if it's someone currently involved in a "real poem" of Passion. The Greek-looking complex doesn't seem to have any defenses except the Incarnates, though anyone trying to destroy anything in here will find out it's simply impossible (the items are indestructible).

Reading the books in this library is a dangerous thing. The poems tell stories of the most intensive feelings, and the Goddess of Poems writes them herself. Whoever starts reading them has to manage a saving throw vs. paralyzation, or he has to completely finish the book without a break (he can, of course, also decide to read on if he succeeds in the saving throw, but he'll still have to finish it without a break then). Reading a book requires 5d100 hours of constant reading, depending on the size and complexity of the book. Such a long time alone can be dangerous, and a body might not be able to eat or drink anything during this time; even if this isn't a problem, he still has to make a saving throw vs. polymorph with a malus of 2d4 (penalty of -2 to -8) or he'll transform into one of the Incarnates himself (with a 10% chance of becoming a Major Incarnate). The feelings of the poem overwhelm a person so much that he can't help but absorb them into his very nature.

Note that even if a PC isn't polymorphed, reading such a wonderful, intense poem will surely still change them. The DM should make up a little description of the story told by the poem, and tell the player what overwhelming feelings he has when reading the stanzas. Remember, the Goddess of poems wrote it - and it's all real.

Principal Towns: The City of Affection has a population of about 50,000 people. Most of them are petitioners of one of the godly identities of Passion, and they don't remember anything of their previous life. Only those beings that are driven by the most intense feelings live here. If there's a good-hearted man, you can be sure he's a holy one; if there's a murderer, he's sure to be one that could even shock a tanar'ri. The whole city is bombastic; a "normal" living house could be made of purest gold and resemble the head of a lion, and a jeweler's shop might be nothing less than a gargantuan crystal in the form of a rose, with the shop set in its top. The streets are made of marble, and the parks are so full of plants that even a druid might become fearful of all that nature. The City of Affection is, besides the Library of Trust and Fear, the most extreme place in a realm of extremes.

You probably can't find as many wares here as in Sigil, but the wares are of a perfection never before seen. Not to forget the salesman; he's surely the friendliest salesman you've ever met, with a daughter as beautiful as the Lady of Pain is silent. And when you come out, your heart filled with sadness because you have to leave these people behind, beware of that strange looking man with the knife in his hand - you WILL meet him again, that's a promise.

Special Conditions: First of all, magic is always changed here. There's no spell key, no power key, nothing - it's changed, period. In one of the rare situations where nothing truly important happens, the mage or priest just has to make a saving throw vs. spell. If it succeeds, the spell is at maximum power, otherwise nothing at all happens. If the situation is more intense, all beings involved in the effects of a spell have to make saving throws. The one with the best result will unconsciously influence the effect; that is, the DM decides how the spell is changed to benefit that particular person. A fireball might turn on the mage casting it, or a death spell might instead heal the victim. If the caster influences it, the victim might have no saving throw, or there are "just" maximum effects. If none of the involved people succeed at the saving throw, the spell is changed in a way that makes it horrible for all involved, including the caster. For example, a lighting bolt might darken the sky, so that a half dozen lightning bolts come down on the whole place every minute for the next half hour; or a "summon insects" might turn into a plague for all people around, including, of course, the caster.

Finally, Bards benefit greatly from being in this realm. Everything they make up, every poem, music, etc., is a masterpiece of art. When they risk their life for someone else, it's assured they have success (that is, they rescue the person etc.; but it's not certain they will survive!). And when it comes to leaving the realm again, they don't want to. If they have companions, these will have to make up something to force the bard to leave the realm. Despite the fact that the Bleeding Heaven is the Realm of a True Neutral goddess, not everyone here is true neutral. The overall alignment comes out to be True Neutral, but you can find characters of any alignment here.

Principal Non-player Characters: The City of Affection is full of unbelievable characters; the one with the most political influence is the bard Galdarish (Petitioner/male human/20th level Bard/True Neutral). He seems to know about everyone in the city, and just about everyone seems to like him - whether paladin, beggar or murderer. He doesn't have any major plans, he just wants to enjoy life - and he's very near to what Passion herself would consider enjoying life. He loves adventures, no matter if for good or evil, and he's helped many people in the city with their problems. Many love-struck couples have found themselves due to his help, and his hand has struck down many foes. It seems as if Passion herself protects Galdarish, making sure that none of his mysteries are uncovered so he can lead his life as he currently does.

Services: In The City of Affection, you can get only the normal wares, from ropes to swords to jewels. But you can always be sure it's one of the most perfect items you've ever seen. If you're especially lucky, you stumble upon the strangely shifting shop of Hemrual the Inventor, a small dwarf with sparkling green hair and a beard down to his feet. He's already built a machine that managed to move a whole mountain, and since his arrival here (no one can really tell how long that's been) he's been trying to build a "perpetual mobile" - a machine working forever without ceasing, without influence from outside, and without magic. In any way, you can be sure he's got something interesting.

In the Library of Trust and Fear, you can, of course, find the greatest poems ever written, though you have to fight off all the Incarnates AND resist reading the countless tomes (or survive the experience). If you manage to take one out, though, and find a buyer for it, it might be worth any price. But you can be sure that the book will find its way back to the Library, be it after some hours or a few millennia.

There are many other services available in this realm. Extremely devoted sages are found throughout the realm, for example. Many deep-hearted adventurers (and possible companions) live here, and if you seek the love of your life, you've got a good chance to find it here (but be prepared to fight for it - love makes the greatest poems...)