The Plane of Ichor (#14/31, #348/365)
"The Plane of Ichor is a quivering fungal plain, adorned with great living tentacled thread-forests, immense sporeballs scattered across the plant-scape, and hideous trembling swamps and lakes full of disturbing aquatic life. Amid the cloying murk and gloom rise gleaming pyramid-like temple cities; spires of purity amidst a sea of unrelenting decay. It is a place of endless death and rebirth; a cycle of life eternal, where one's own lifespan may be measured paradoxically by the blink of an eye or the infinite timeline of the universe, impossibly ancient and incalculably evil."
Vade Mecum Infernum by Aughm Lightchaser (p. 10)
The corrupting fungal landscape of this plane is a patchwork of rival demonic domains ruled by individual Plague, Rust, Greater Shadow and Venom Demons. The decaying wilderness between these dominions is home to all manner of foul minions including warring tribes of savage Acid and Toad Demons, while deep in the darkness of the fungi jungles and thread-forests lurk truly hideous foes: Ishkarim, Death Spiders, Nanka and the Angaroc.
A map of the Demonic Pit itself can be found in the Rough Guide to the Pit (p. 38), as well as general encounter tables (pp. 39-41), and some notes on potential terrain and special features (pp. 31-33) relevant specifically to the Plane of Ichor.
The Plane of Ichor is a place of rot and corruption. Any cloth, leather or wood items will gradually rot away to dust if they are not magical, enchanted or blessed in some way. Every week a Hero spends on the Plane of Ichor, they must decide what one cloth, leather or wood item (weapon, shield, armour etc.) has been lost to rot that week. As a result, if not magical, most items and implements are either made from bone, metal, rock or stone, or treated with potions that prevent rust.The Necrotic Wilderness of Q'Yann (#15/31, #349/365)
"This eldritch realm means different things to different beings. It is an otherworldly dimension of unimaginable horror that will snap the mind of most mortals and cause them irrevocable insanity. Originally, it was thought to be the lair of an obscure Demon-Prince known as Rivel, who was subsequently imprisoned upon Titan. Its current master is a servant of Ishtra, known as Morpheus, and under the rule of Morpheus, Q'Yann has become a dream-world of enternal nightmares. Mawn Pretoragus, a necromancer who lived a century past in the Old World city of Blackhaven, was one of the few mortals who ventured to Q'Yann through his personal Door Beyond; unfortunately his abode and sanctum lies in ruins beneath the Blackhaven slums. Another intrepid adventurer, believed by some to be Stey Van Hund in his treatise Vampire Blood, wandered here accidentally and somehow remained sane, described Q'Yann thusly:
''The magic portal transported me across unguessable gulfs, and I was in a place that had not a single element of familiarity. It was night, but the breeze carried the perfume of unknown flowers; the shapes of the trees were all wrong. The moon was too big, too yellow. It seemed to have a sardonically winking face..."
Vade Mecum Infernum by Aughm Lightchaser (p. 10)
As Morpheus is a minion of Ishtra, and aligned to the element of fire, this has caused some conflict on a plane more given over to the element of water. A local demonic potentate, the Scarlet Queen, has arisen in opposition to the rule of Morpheus, and dwells within Q'Yann, at the fortified Garden of Nightmares, from whence she sends forth her champions, a rogue company of Iron Demons, known as the Sisters of Silent Death to battle the Everchanging Legions of the Dream Lord. The Sisters carry a geas gifted to them by a long-forgotten demigod, though some point to Tanit for involvement. When a Sister is slain, she will instantly be reborn a second time as a Silent Death, hence the name of their chapter, disappearing only if they avenge themselves upon their slayer or die a second death trying in the attempt.
"This is a series of heavily fortified pyramid-shaped temples, each carved eons ago from gigantic blocks of jade; the temples also contain gardens cultivating various horrific strains of carnivorous fungi. It is the lair of the Demon Lord Ishtra, one of the three eternal Snake Demons, though he prefers to take the form of a gigantic goat-headed crocodile, or a raging ball of energy, spitting streams of electrical sparks in all directions. Ishtra is particularly fascinated by fire, and so, unusually for the Plane of Ichor, his palace is staffed with various kinds of Fire Demons, Lava Demons, and other incendiary beasts. This extends to the temples themselves, with each of the three greatest pyramids housing a gigantic central chamber containing a fire that has been burning continously since the First Battle Elsewhere, there are subterranean catacombs and breeding pits, populated by a mutated hybrid denizens including Prowlers, Chaos Beast Men, and Hellhorns."
Vade Mecum Infernum by Aughm Lightchaser (p. 10)
The domain of Ishtra is the paradox that stands at the heart of this area of the Pit, where the Planes of Blood, Bile and Ichor all claim influence from the Magical Plane of Water, yet lack a Demon Lord to call their own. For Ishtra is an agent of Fire, a long-lost exile or a rank invader, and stands in opposition to the inherent elemental power of the Plane of Ichor. Sith is well at home on the Plane of Steel, allied with Earth, and likewise Myurr on the Plane of Rust, influenced by Air, so only the Demonic Thrones of Fire and Water remain empty (for Ishtra the Fire King is not on the Plane of Obsidian to claim his throne, and the identity and status of the Water Lord are unknown.)
As a result, while Ishtra claims ownership of this Plane and through Morpheus, the Realm of Q'Yann, that influnce is always being contested. There is eternal warfare in the fungus jungles here, between the bestial troops of Ishtra, led by Fire Demons, whose patrols are under constant attack from the demons indigenous to the area, mainly feuding tribes of Acid and Toad Demons, lead by rival potentates of many a varied demonic stripe.
In addition, the Temple-Fortress of Ishtra is a gigantic shrine to the everburning Flames of the First Battle, and documented thusly:
"This magical flame dates from when a combined fire-bolt from the Sun Goddess Glantanka, Kilanirax the Dragon King and Galana the Veiled Sorceress, blew apart the Time God Chronada. After the First Battle, the Demon Prince Ishtra collected some burning embers of the fiery remains of Chronada's charred corpse, and brought them here to his temple-fortress, where the flames have burned continuously for millenia, in the great halls of the three largest jade pyramids."
Encyclopedia Arcana: Volume 1 (p. 147)
Because of this, extra-planar incursions braving the mystic defences of the temple-fortress (aided perhaps by the elemental opposition and instability of the region) are not uncommon, usually by various beings intent on tempering their weapons in these eternal tongues of fire, including crusading adventurers (such as Stey Van Hund), Chaos Warlords, evil Demonologists and assorted other folk intent on fighting for or against Demons and their ilk.
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