Exploring the Dead God GAPs

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: "You must remember, my boy, fleshly bodies for gods are nothing more than a matter of convenience . . . The corpse of a god is not flesh. Flesh is inconsequential to divinity. The corpse of a god is memories, wars, heroes, regrets, sacrifices, prayers — the stuff of significance."
: — Artus, a planewalker 
While on the Astral Plane, a traveler can find and explore these immense rocky isles. They drift for all eternity within the Silver Void, unmoving and unmoved. Some are hundreds of feet long, while others stretch out for miles.
==Determining the Identity and the Dangers There of==
The form of the isle doesn't always reflect the physical appearance that the power took in its life — usually, they are not easily discernable as corpses at all. An average berk can't tumble to anything about the deity's former identity, appearance, or power just through cursory examination. Other means exist, however.
The body of the god, that portion that makes its final resting place on the Astral, isn't the physical body of the god at all — because they don't have them. Instead, thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and energy compose a power. That's why when it dies, it seeps its way onto the Astral Plane — home to lost memories and ideas. These thoughts and feelings cocoon themselves into things which most call dead gods. While this is the only example of "solidified thoughts" on the Astral, a body shouldn't assume that the thoughts of powers are constructed in the same manner as mortals'. Mortal thoughts become psychic winds, and godly thoughts become rocky islands. That's the way of things.
Sometimes, however, the powers' thoughts "leak" out in the form of images or strong emotions. While on the corpse of a deity, a cutter can find herself suddenly experiencing vivid memories not her own. Sometimes those sods near a dead god will be overcome with an irresistible urge or emotion. These are not purposeful manipulations of the dead power, but side effects of the powerful mental energies of the area. Some planewalkers claim that a few of the gods' memories and residual thoughts are so strong that they become a reality on the rocky corpse, forming cities, landscapes, and even creatures.
While some dead gods have active memory auras, all of them have occasional stirrings. Fortunately, these events are few and far between (a dead power stirs only once or twice in a 500-year period, usually). During these times, the entire corpse shudders and shakes, toppling any buildings or constructions built upon them (githyanki hr'a'cknir predict these "godquakes," enabling them to warn their fellows and move to safety). This continues for 10 to 30 minutes with "aftershocks" continuing for 1 to 4 days afterward. Worse, manifested dreams of power accompany the stirrings. The dreams can either take the form of rampant delusions gleaned from those within a certain radius or become actual physical creations.
Once, a dead god whose name is recorded as Thuon (but of which no other information is known) experienced one of these stirrings. Apparently, Thuon was some sort of monstrous god, revered by creatures that no one even has a name for anymore. Presumably, the demise of these creatures caused the deity's death. In any event, Thuon's monstrous nature was revealed when suddenly horrors never seen before (or more accurately not for a long, long time) began springing forth from his corpse. That area of the Astral quickly became a battleground, with the local githyanki fighting against this new, mysterious force. 
After many long, bloody battles, a githyanki explorer named T'gis came upon Thuon's corpse and saw that the creatures were only manifestations of the dead god's dreams. He returned to his people and related this news. The githyanki, acquainted with this situation, stopped fighting the horrors and simply left the area. They knew that the power's dreams would stop shortly, and the horrors would go away. Sure enough, not long afterward, the githyanki returned to find that the creatures had vanished. The githyanki now watch Thuon's corpse closely, wary of another stirring.
In any event, some of Thuon's nature was revealed in the stirring. The easiest way to determine the identity of a dead god is to observe such events — in other words, allow the god to inadvertently reveal his own nature. Otherwise, the only way is to take what observations can be made of the corpse and conduct research. A well-stocked library is essential for such an endeavor, and a good deal of magic such as legend lore is very helpful as well.
==Other Dangers==
More dangers await explorers of dead gods. A few god-isles exert a gravitylike pull, holding matter to them within a radius of a few hundred feet. Not only do these alter the rules that govern the Astral (making the area more like a terrestrial plane), but they become navigational hazards. A traveler entering a gravitylike zone may "fall" into one of these corpses and go straight to the dead-book. Worse yet, a radius of time surrounds an even more select few, making time pass as it would off the Astral within the area of effect. Just as if they left the plane, objects and people instantly experience time "catching up" with them if they've been on the Astral for a while. Again, blundering into one of these areas can be very dangerous if a body's not prepared. The githyanki avoid such areas as though they were cursed.
==The Benefits==
The reasons for braving such dangers are many. Despite the fact that the gods are "dead," energies emanate from their corpses, strange even by astral standards. The githyanki attempt to use these energies when possible, but they are careful not to abuse them so as to raise the ire of the Guardian of the Dead Gods (see below). The githyanki hr'a'cknir operate two (and possibly more) essence mines which collect these energies for purposes no non-githyanki has been able to determine or even guess at. Chant is, bloods can employ some of these energies to create certain magical items, golems, and other artificial animate constructs. Other rumors claim that these essences can be distilled into curatives, powerful stimulants, protective charms, and more.
On the surface of the dead powers, a body can find unique plants and valuable minerals. Those looking in the right places will find anything from odd fungi to forests of trees growing on a divine corpse - growing despite the lack of the passage of actual time. Oftentimes the growth (if any) will betray some clue as to the nature or identity of the power. Many more times, it won't. Curative herbs, magical ingredients, and components abound amid this growth. The body itself will often contain gemstones, metals, and even magical ores (adamant, mithral, and more). Mining the body of a dead god can draw unwanted attention, however (see below).
Some deity's corpses secrete a substance called godsblood, which supposedly acts as a great curative and antidote. A blood'll carefully examine the substance to distinguish it from other foul, decay-ridden secretions that congeal and form tainted pools, rivers, and lakes on the corpse. These waters are foul and poisonous. Only an expert can identify godsblood.