Planar Renovation Project: Quasielemental Plane of Lightning

There are several examples of storm elementals in 3e and 4e, who would logically be placed in the Quasielemental Plane of Lightning. In fact, though 4th edition doesn't have individual elemental planes, it does a lot to further the concept of storm as an element.

I see the words "Shakespeare" and "Tempest" in this thread, though, and think there should be ariels, mirandas, and calibans on an island somewhere.

Also, don't forget magnetism.

Serra: Connected to the rest of the multiverse by a portal to Mount Olympus, Serra is a cloudsilver-mining town, whose inhabitants use skyships to scour the skies for precious metals. The portal is guarded on the Mount Olympus side by celestial servants of a storm god who demands tribute from those who would pass through it. The inhabitants of Serra are a mixed lot, including dwarves, gnomes, fauns, bariaurs, humans, aasimars, and genasi. The town is protected from the ubiquitous lightning storms by massive lightning rods that channel energy into arcane batteries. Besides refined cloudsilver, other magic items are produced by the smiths and artificers of this town. A vocal minority of Sensates uses the town as a base for experiencing the wild storms and lightning displays of the plane, using skyships to tour and explore.

Stormheart: Stormheart is a settlement (a gate-town, technically) on the other side of the Storm King's Gate, the portal connecting the Quasielemental Plane of Lightning with Arcadia. The inhabitants are mainly human and aasimar, their government dominated by the Harmonium, who uses this settlement to perform experiments in pacifying the irredeemably chaotic with surgery and other methods too extreme to perform in Arcadia itself, both for fear of discovery and fear of losing another planar layer. A small number of "monstrous" citizens, including illithids, xixchil, aboleths, and zerns (MMIV), aid the Harmonium leadership with their specialized skills. The town, like the castles of the Storm Kings in Arcadia, was originally constructed by the Wind Dukes of Aaqa in the Age Before Ages, and it still shows signs of their distinctive architecture - a dome of indestructible glass protecting the city from the storms, a portal that resembles a floating, immovable glass sphere. Just as the Wind Dukes have long since passed on the offices of the Storm Kings, they have not lived here for uncounted millennia, and younger races have made it their home, building new buildings over the ruins of those within the dome.

The Bleeding Maw. This is the massive, uncontrolled vortex from the dying Demiplane of Electromagnetism, resembling a seemingly infinite column of lightning surrounded by a humming ring of blue electricity that fires bolts of lightning in every direction. Nearby are some shocker settlements, and many tribes of lightning quasielementals who seem to exult in the wild energy entering their domain. Blue dragons also seem attracted to this phenomenon for some reason, and several of them lair in the ruins of shocker communities that they've destroyed. Xap-yaup, xong-yong, and xag-ya energons also frequent the area, observing for their own unknown purposes. For those protected from the lightning, this is an easily-located entry into the dying demiplane. It's also a good way to find friendly (and sometimes desperate) shockers to ally with, as the local shockers are much more eager to find friends of other races than is typical, and close to their homeland they are more sophisticated and cultured as well. Some of their communities include genasi and other races living among them.

Prosper's Isle. This earth pocket is inhabited by a storm giant wizard known as Prosper, his daughter Mia, and his servants, the sylph Erel and the deformed human-giant hybrid Cabil. Prosper was exiled from his people (who live on the Material Plane) long ago, and spends most of his time researching same forbidden magic that earned him his exile. His daughter has grown up in isolation, and is both dangerously naive and dangerously curious.

Briar. This degenerate community, tied to a Mount Olympus portal guarded by servants of Aerdrie Faenya, is inhabited by wicked elves, fey, and shadowswyfts sworn to the worship of the Queen of Air and Darkness. The town is built on what looks like an enormous thorny tree floating in the clouds, its roots trailing, blackened and scarred by the endless lightning strikes. Though the tree has been struck thousands of times and shows it, the community it shelters, carved from its still-living wood, remains unharmed. When the community was founded, the elves and fey were good-aligned worshipers of Aerdrie Faenya come to revere the primordial skies of the plane, but as the years passed they became obsessed with a need for more power than their goddess was willing to grant, and turned to the Queen of the Unseelie Court, who granted them unnatural swiftness and a portal to the Plane of Shadow, which they use to raid the planes beyond before zipping back to their lair. The shadowgate is in the darkest and thorniest heart of the tree; it is impossible to pass through it without cuts and abrasions, which serve to sacrifice blood to the tree and the dark goddess.

The Thunder Temple. From Dragon #370, this floating island of earth is where the leadership of the cultists of the imprisoned primordial Mual-Tar, the Thunder Serpent, make their abode.

Palace of Ty-h'kadi. This cloud-wreathed silver castle is the home of the lord of the storm elementals, Ty-h'kadi the tempestuous. Not exactly the same as lightning quasielementals, the storm elementals make their home on the same plane, where the self-proclaimed Prince of Thunder and Lightning acts as their leader. Ty-h'kadi is unpredictable and often destructive, though he is allied with the good archomental Chan of the winds, as well as the elemental ruler Akadi, who some claim is his mother.

The positive vs. negative polarization theme could encompass the quasielementals' personalities as well. Those with a positive charge would be more xenophobic yet pious, while those with a negative charge would be friendlier but greedy. This would result in wars between the two groups since the positive chargers would be nativists and purists to the extreme (e.g. keep non-natives and non-native matter/energy out of the plane) while the negative chargers would support immigration and inter-planar trade to destructive extremes. There might also be those with... a neutral charge? Those with a more sensible outlook that is a balance between the two extremes.

I've always liked Lightning, but never been very sure what to do with it.

However - yes - power. Forget about using it like modern electricity - think more 'GIVE MY CREATION LIFE!'. It seems like a good place for wizard types to gather a hell of a lot of raw power for spells that need it, and I can't think of a better Plane for that sort of thing. Wizard castles floating in the clouds, carefully set up to attract the most lightning possible to power spells that warp the Planes and break the normal laws of magic? Or just to blast something into pieces.

Thought I'd jump into this project now seeing that it's starting to take off.

BlackDaggr: I'm personally against using alignment traits on any of the elemental planes only because I feel the outer planes have these pretty well covered. I do like the idea of selling power, perhaps even the invention of the portable battery (though limited in what it could actually be used with)

What I do like is the idea of applying certain emotions that always seem to be connected to certain elements. For lightning, I pictured it would be anger. Not just raging anger, but also righteous anger, brooding anger (thunder), anger out of impatience or confinement. This wouldn't have to be applied to broadly that every living thing is angry, but I do see lightning elementals embodying this trait. They would be easily offended or lash out at someone nearby because of a stray thought they had.

Another thing as far as life on that plane goes, is what about the Lightning Genasi and Ruvkova tribes of the Plane of Lightning. I figured that a few of the non-natives of Lightning did eventually settle the plane, and become those after a few generations.

Untrue. Genasi can be born more or less spontaneously to any humanoid parents as long as the birth happens on an elemental plane.

HEY! Do you wanna feel so energetic? Then try Powerthirst, the energy drink for people who need gratuitous amounts of energy! With all new flavours like Shockolate - chocolate energy - it's like adding chocolate to an electrical storm! What's that? You like strawberry? Well how about RAWBERRY! Made with lightning - real lightning!

I think a lightning elemental energy drink salesman is a great character idea.

I think among non-natives that could be commonly found among the Plane of Lightning, Storm Giants and Dragons particularly Blue Dragons could be among them. At least some of them might go to the Plane of Lightning, "to get back to their roots".

Hmm - I think the part about the natives fighting among each other is generally not correct. I'll look it up.

Ah yes, here we go - page 94 of The Inner Planes:
'They [lightning mephits] get along well with the quasielementals and shockers - for some reason, the natives of the Thundering Realm rarely conflict at all'

Lighting mephits (who apparently have kingdoms) are generally at war with smoke and steam mephits who appear in the Dark Lands though.

So vividium is described only as solid lightning? Nothing about color or shape? because solid lightning sounds like what a simple person could describe large, high voltage batteries. Since they come from Plane of Lightning, they store huge amounts of energy compared to even our modern standards. They look like grayish blue, and turn bluish gray in time as they deplete. They can be recharged by exposition to the plane's lightnings. They electrocute at touch so they must be handled carefully. They can also easily burn out applications if not used properly. When it is working, it generates a sound between a strong hum or a thunderous roar, depends on the power output. Since it is supposed to be solid, it is a metallic substance - adding to the "battery" feel. They are very hard to work on, for apparent reasons, and the miners shape them to standard shapes so the user can understand which one he needs for his current application. (Meaning, smaller ones are lower voltage, lower energy storing, larger ones are high voltage, high energy:))
Next, site ideas.

Hmm - I think mephit politics and society might be an interesting point here. Lightning mephits form 'tiny kingdoms amid the storm clouds'. They're hyperactive and highly curious, dislike fighting and prefer to befriend opponents (MCA1). They're friendly with pretty much all the natives on the plane.

In the Dark Lands, they fight wars with Smoke and Steam mephits. Now - smoke mephits are pretty lame - lazy and generally disagreeable. However, apparently they have a king wannabe Elemental Prince called Ehkahk who rules them, who could possibly push things in an interesting way if for some reason he was behind the fighting there.

Steam mephits are where shit gets dangerous though. They consider themselves rulers of the mephits and they don't mind striking first - and they have water attacks. Water is instant-death to lightning mephits. They're in constant war with mist mephits who share the same plane. Mist mephits consider themselves to be fantastic spies.

The Dark Land between Steam and Lightning (known as The Death Cloud from Steam's end) sounds like a pretty interesting place. There's no mention of how steam mephits organise themselves, but I'm imagining reasonably well put together groups of steam mephits (who sometimes fall apart due to too many egos, but I'm sure they can work out some kind of working social structure - they need to assert their egos over someone...) warring with zanny lightning mephit 'kingdoms' (find it hard to imagine them having much real structure). Mist mephits would be backing the lightning mephits from the sidelines.

Given the friendly terms everyone is on in lightning, perhaps there'd be quick alliances formed to take down some steam mephits (quick because no one can really stick with it - too many distracting things). Steam mephits ambushing them with their rain storm and water jet abilities ... could be a rather messy situation. Brutal, really, given the powers involved - and the lightning mephits are pretty much the good guys here looking at the stereotypes given by the books.

What happens if steam mephits do manange to subjugate some lightning mephits? Then we have some tragedy - steam mephits strike me as being fairly authoritarian - what would they do if they managed to constrain lightning mephits using water as a threat? I'm sure you can do something awesome with captive lightning mephits...

Yeah, I just came here to state that (I looked through the Inner Planes book again).

The nature of the Quasielementals and mephits of Lightning is that they're VERY energetic, free-spirited (much in the way that air elementals are extremely free-spirited), and they all get along very well with one another (and with the shockers as well). A lot of them also tend to be rather academic. On the other hand, Inner Planes also states that the Quasielementals and mephits of lightning come the closest (by far) of any of their subtypes in the inner planes to being chaotically-aligned.
HOWEVER, Lightning mephits, Steam mephits, and Smoke mephits do not get along with one another at all, and wars regularly break out in the border regions between these groups.
That said, the elemental beings of Lightning are also highly, highly inquisitive, which could translate badly for planewalkers (esp. ones made of flesh). While the shockers are likely knowledgable enough to know that they are dangerous to most types of fleshly beings, the lightning mephits and quasielementals probably do not know this (esp. the younger ones). So they might touch say-- a planewalking human with a measly Electricity Resistance 10, not knowing that their very touch is harmful.

The border regions BTW are:

Wall of Light (Positive): Wall of cascading energy that stands as a permanent barrier between Lightning and the Positive. Energy Plane (the only way to get to the Positive Plane from Lightning is by passing through the Tower of Storms)
Bright Land (Radiance): Region of dangerously bright, glowing clouds (suffer dazzled, dazed, or blindness effect without eye protection. Fire-based creatures are likely immune to this effect)
Dark Land 1 (Smoke): Region of black clouds.
Dark Land 2 (Steam): Region of black clouds.
Glittering Crystal (Ice): This place consists of stormclouds intermixed with glowing skybergs made from Brightice.
Subdued Cacophony (Air): Just like Core Lightning, but far less lightning and there are breaks in the storm clouds.

The border regions connecting those border regions are: (note: Inner Planes doesn't list the border regions for the Elemental, Positive, or Negative planes)
Aurora (Lightning): Vast clouds of darkness with sparks of electricity floating about like fireflies
Shimmering Drafts: Field of electrically charged, billowing snow that inflicts subdual damage when it comes into contact with bare skin.
Bright Land (Radiance): Storm clouds of roiling, churning radiance with similar effects as the violent currents on Air.
The Death Cloud (Steam): Electrically charged steam; unlike the Shimmering Drafts, this inflicts lethal damage.

PORTALS
Storm King's Gate (connects Lightning to somewhere in Arcadia)

There are also four 2-way gates that connect Lightning and Olympus, and each is guarded by a storm deity of that plane. I only know of two of them: Zeus and Illanis (unless the other two are Phaulkon and Aerdie Feayana, but those aren't storm deities, only wind)

Only two sites are listed for Lightning: The Tower of Storms on the border between the Wall of Light and Positive Energy, and The Eye (as in eye of a storm) near the center of Core Lightning, which tends to be where planewalking colonies settle.

As for vividium, it is indeed all they say about it-- planewalkers come to Lightning to "mine vividium, which is essentially solid lightning". So I'm thinking it's something like a wall/item of force, except that it's probably breakable (making it like a wall of force would suck eggs anyway. That's essentially what Riverine from Stormwrack is, and it sucks, sucks, sucks, SUCKS! Sure, it's indestructable-- that is to say, it has infinite hardness and HP/inch, but it's INSANELY expensive *costs 20k additional bucks to forge heavy armor from it* and for all your trouble, a simple Greater Dispel Magic destroys it entirely.)
There are several other special substances mentioned briefly in the Inner Planes book, but for which no stats are given. Others include:

--Brightice (skyberg ice that glows like lightning)
--Radiance-Forged (no proper name is actually given, but it would most likely translate to an equipment template such as those seen in the 3.5 DMG2. It's basically just normal iron/steel equipment forged on the Quasielemental Plane of Radiance, which gives it some special qualities.)

Eternal Ice is mentioned in other Planescape books, but again no stats are given for it beyond that "it's like ice, but it doesn't melt", and suggests using it to make containers. I have the Eternal Ice thing covered, though, or more specifically, I will have it covered.

Those are just the ones I can recall off my head.

We probably need some means of updating the hazards listed in Inner Planes for lightning to 3.5.
In addition to those, the Lightning Pillars from the Frostburn supplement would be found in the Glittering Crystal and Shimmering Drafts (in the case of Glittering Crystal, they'd take the form of skybergs rather than actual pillars of teal ice)

Lightning states that some of the storm deities may have secret summer homes in Lightning somewhere.
Here is a list of likely canidates:

--Horus (LG) (Egyptian greater deity of sky, sun, storms, war, vengeance)
--Iallanis (NG) (Storm giant deity of beauty, mercy, love)
--Lei Kung (LE) (Chinese deity of thunder and vengeance)
--Raiden (CE) (Japanese deity of thunder and fletching)
--Ramman (N) (Babylonian deity of thunder, storms)
--Rudra (NE) (Hindu deity of storms and disease)
--Stronmaus (NG) (storm giant deity of weather, sky, joy, sun)
--Talos (CE) (Faerunian deity of natural disasters, storms, and thunder)
--Thor (CG) (Norse greater deity of thunder and war)
--Ukko (LG) (Finnish deity of sky, winds, and weather)