Planescape in Dragon #351

If anyone has any comments on this particular article on the gatetown of Ecstasy, I'm curious to see what folks think about it. And for those of you that have a copy of the issue already, here's some material that was cut out of the article by the editors.

In the section of the Revelhome, I originally had the following line: "Described as “the ultimate festhall” by the Torillian wizard Volothamp Geddarm". I'd intended to link Volo to a line back in the 2e Players Primer to the Outlands.

The section on the temple district was cut, though some people therein remain listed as important persons in the city stats:

"Temple District:

Ringward from the Court of the Philosopher King, the temple district of Ecstasy caters to the organized spiritual needs of the populace, with major temples devoted to Pelor, Mishakal, Isis, Lathander, Enlil, and the Celtic Pantheon. The temples remain polite to one another, but they still compete for worshippers, and the large numbers of their priests who debate within the Court attests to this rivalry.
Situated next to a half-built temple to Tsuki-Yomi, rises the smallest but most influential temple in Ecstasy. Known as the Shrine of the Cadence, it contains a trio of statues, icons of the past three factols of the Transcendent Order, Valney Hawkins, Mirian Sirinovna, and Thomas the Apophatic. Said by their faction to have ascended in a moment of sublime revelation, followers venerate the factols in total as a channel towards Oneness, or as individuals, bodhisattvas of universal harmony."

My section on Beyond Ecstasy was gutted unfortunately:

"Beyond Ecstasy:

The Wandering Castle:

Many reclusive wizards make their homes in secluded dwellings across the breadth of the Land, but some take their exploitation of the Spire’s effects to an extreme. Seeking to gain protection from magic, but not wishing to always hinder their own, they reside in mobile towers able to stride between the rings at will. Some towers resemble golems while others move upon mechanical legs or wheels; the methods are as diverse as the wizards themselves.
One such tower lurked spireward of Ecstasy for decades, wandering back and forth between the rings but staying distant from the town itself. Little was known about the tower or its reclusive master for many years, till its movements grew erratic and then finally it stopped. Only a mile from town, many suspect its owner died causing the tower to go silent, and true or not, wizards and other mortal adventurers, both the curious and the greedy, have increasingly come to investigate.
Perched high atop a plinth that overlooks the tower, one of Ecstasy’s petitioners tells the following tale: ‘When I am gone the Serpent’s Inn shall come; a door, a cottage, it matters not, but it will bring another mage, one pure of heart, as pure as the Philosopher King himself, and if they wish, they’ll have the tower for their own.’ Given his words and enigmatic smile, many suspect the spirit of the wizard himself still clings to his memories of mortality, hoping to entrust his tower to a worthy successor before he passes into Elysium.

Bariaur Tribes:

Of the many nomadic bariaur tribes who wander the Land, the most notable near Ecstasy call themselves the Ringstriders. Numbering seventy members and led by the sisters Fara and Marissa Meadowseeker, they wander between the 10th and 7th rings in the region stretching from Ecstasy to Faunel. Periodically stopping to trade in Ecstasy, they happily entertain visitors, eagerly exchanging information as they listen to stories and spread news of their own travels.

Indep Villages:

Toward Tradegate, members of the Free League populate a number of secluded and self-sufficient villages. One such village, Bria’s Respite, sends a trade representative to Ecstasy on a bi-monthly basis. An air genasi of elven descent named Whisper-on-the-Willows, he deals goods from a half-dozen planes, and typically seeks to exchange them for divine magic and celestially crafted items (including weapons) from Elysium, though why he needs these things is an open question.

The Hinterlands:

Beyond the Gatetowns in the unmapped region known as the Hinterlands, the metaphysical fabric of the Land grows more dynamic and possessed of a shifting, fluid tenor that differentiates it from the regions closer to the Spire.
Travelers tell conflicting, often fantastical stories of things they encountered: Petrified forests breaking the surface of misty oceans, crumbling and abandoned realms of forgotten deities, and embodiments of concepts half formed or stillborn. Many sages speculate that the Hinterlands embody the manifest dreamscapes of outsiders along with still forming beliefs, those almost forgotten but still clinging to a twilight half-existence, and things even more bizarre.
In the Hinterlands beyond Ecstasy, some claim to have found the ruins of an abandoned gatetown consigned to history when an earlier portal to Elysium shifted location. Others relate that on the fringes of the Hinterlands, a hidden city of guardinals keeps quiet vigil over Ecstasy."

And two "things for the PCs to acquire" was cut as well:

"One or two things for the PCs to acquire:

The Walking Tower of Arvijsek (Major artifact)
Sixty feet of steel and stone, Arvijsek’s tower stands upon a great set of iron legs whose forepaws resemble those of a giant griffon. Possessing a strong Antipathy effect against evil creatures, the tower’s dimensions are twice those of a Daern’s Instant Fortress, with several rooms on each of three floors, all comfortably stocked to the tastes of a powerful wizard.
Normally stationary, the tower obeys simple commands from its owner such as to move or stop, and it may also attack as an animated object of gargantuan size.
The tower cannot change hands until the death of the previous owner, and even then it can only be claimed and commanded by a good aligned arcane spellcaster able to cast 4th level spells.
Strong aura of conjuration, enchantment, and transmutation; CL 20th

[DM’s are encouraged to stock the tower with other items of their choice left behind by Arvijsek for his successor. They may also tailor any notes, messages, or even a will left to the new owners of the tower.]

Simpathetic Egg:
The tiny red and green speckled eggs of the Simpathetic are potent magical items in their own right. Much as the adult birds can act in coordination to shift across planes, the eggs of their young have a similar latent ability, and swallowing one of them raw will shift a person one layer up or down on their current plane.
Strong aura of conjuration; CL 15"