The Sites - Smoke (TIP)

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Only a very few important structures are known to exist in the paraplane of Smoke. This is not to say that rumors do not abound of more, but I can neither confirm nor deny such things and thus leave them from my report.
==The Choking Palace==
This is the seat of Ehkahk's power. The diminutive tyrant rules from a floating castle constructed of gray-black iron. Each room, chamber, and hall holds a large brazier that fills the already naturally smoky palace with semimagical fumes. The smoke from these burners renders the smoke inside the palace utterly transparent to those who sincerely serve Ehkahk, and completely opaque to all others. Further, those within the enchanted smoke, no matter where they stand in the palace, are always within view of the Duke himself.
The Choking Palace's central keep holds a vast library of all manner of lore. Ehkahk values knowledge greatly, and he always seeks more books-or more information for his scribes to record.
The Smoldering Duke rarely leaves his castle, choosing to spend most of his time writing his own voluminous journal-like works. Only the unwise disturb Ehkahk while he writes (or while he claims to write-a few of his servants have noticed that Great Ehkahk, of late, has taken to falling asleep during his studies).
Those who bring the Duke gifts and flattery quickly gain his favor. He particularly values eversmoking bottles and braziers of sleep smoke. It comes as little surprise to most that Ehkahk has perhaps the greatest collection of pipeweed and smoking implements in the multiverse. He and all of his minions continually partake of some sort of inhalant, incense, or smoked substance.
==Cinderwood==
Horribly misnamed (it resembles no forest and offers no wood), this place is more akin to an archipelago of islands on a terrestrial world. Here, however, the islands are cinders ranging in size from that of a man's fingernail to that of a small mountain. They float through the vapors and number in the thousands. 
Many of the inhabitants of Smoke-including belkers (creatures as untrustworthy as any that ever drew breath, if indeed they do), paraelementals, and mephits-live in and among the cinders. A being standing on one of the islands cannot see most of the others floating around it, but he can often hear the sounds of creatures moving, talking, and working on a nearby cinder. Occasionally, the islands collide as they drift, which often pulverizes the small to mediumsized specimens.
Making a lair within a cinder is tricky business. Digging into one is nothing like digging into earth or stone. Instead, it is flaky, brittle, and fairly soft. Only a skilled hand (or claw) can shape this substance into a cave, a tunnel, or a foundation for a more conventional dwelling.
The efreet once invaded the Cinderwood, attempting to take it all for themselves. The inhabitants drove them off, using the hated efreet's lack of vision against them. I suggest that we djinn learn from this and steer clear of this locationunless we seek to parlay with those who dwell here already.
==The Hidden City==
Long have rumors and caravan tales told of a magnificent city lost within the paraplane's eternal clouds of smoke. I am pleased to tell you, my lords and masters, that the stories are true. I myself have beheld its soot-covered walls and lofty towers.
A group of mortals-mostly human-constructed this floating city after the manner of many found in our own plane of Air. Seeking privacy in the extreme, they built the magical town in the paraplane of Smoke, where it would remain hidden forever in the choking fumes. (Enchantments keep out the dangerous vapors, but the paraplane still taints everything in the city with soot and smoke damage.)
The Hidden City is ruled by a family that has produced twin heirs in each of its last eight generations. These twins always rule together and, apparently, without internecine conflict. Their blackened palace floats magically above the center of the city.
The town opens its gates to those who seek sanctuary from oppression or merely a place to rest. Travelers can find food and shelter here for a reasonable price, assuming that they can find the city at all. Even water is available, which is a great accomplishment in the paraplane of Smoke. As strange as it sounds, the Hidden City is built atop a natural spring. In my understanding, such a thing should not exist in a place like Smoke, unless perhaps it is actually a portal to (or a pocket from) the plane of Water. Great and wondrous are the Maker's mysteries!
According to the inhabitants of the Hidden City, Ehkahk's forces scour the paraplane looking for them. Apparently, the Smoldering Duke wants control of the town, or perhaps he just resents the idea that an entire city can be hidden from him. The enchantments surrounding the city allow the rulers to decide who finds them and who does not. Thus, Ehkahk stands little chance of gaining entry-unless he dispatches spies and infiltrators to sneak in and reveal the city's location to him. Contrary to some rumors, the Hidden City does not move.
==Reinsong's Ashen Fortress==
Reinsong, a powerful cloud giant, has created a huge fortress out of solid ash and smoke (perhaps he is also part fire giant?). Within this vast, strange structure, the giant keeps a veritable army of tentacled creatures called grell. These beasts are mostly unknown in the Inner Planes, but in truth, they are quite well adapted to Smoke. They float of their own accord and seem to be unhindered by the fumes, both in respiration and in vision.
Reinsong maintains a policy of aggression with virtually any being that he comes upon. He has ordered his grell servants to attack and kill any who dare to approach the fortress, and sometimes the ill-tempered giant wanders the paraplane of Smoke with no apparent purpose other than to attack and destroy whatever he finds.
Stories say that, long ago, Reinsong was a giant of good (or at least fair) temper who dwelled in the quasiplane of Steam. He lived in a small community of his own kind, and fell in love with a giantess named Glasyl. Glasyl, however, was the mate of another, and when her husband (whose name I do not know) discovered that Reinsong desired his wife, he unleashed a powerful and potent curse. This curse not only cast Reinsong into the paraplane of Smoke for all eternity, but it placed an evil spirit within the giant's own flesh.
And so Reinsong struggled not only with his harsh new environment, but also with his own body for control of his actions. While he eventually regained absolute mastery of his flesh, he can never let his guard down or the spirit within him will use the giant's own body against him. Thus, Reinsong is a bitter and nearly insane prisoner, forced to live with this horrible curse for the rest of his days.
The Ashen Fortress is rumored to contain the treasures of everyone Reinsong has slain, as well as the tributes given him by natives in vain attempts to persuade the giant to call off his unprovoked attacks. Magic and wealth beyond reckoning supposedly lie within the magical walls of the fortress, waiting for a thief bold enough to challenge the grell and the nefarious traps.
==The Valley of Blinding Mist==
The most important of all sites discussed in my report, my honored and glorious superiors, is that of the Valley of Blinding Mist. This region of Smoke serves as the staging ground for our foes, the efreet, when they arrive from their camps outside the City of Brass.
Efreeti commanders, arrogant and foolish, do not consider themselves vulnerable in this area of the paraplane, where the smoke becomes so thick as to be impassible except through the valley. Our foes think that their power here is supreme, and that this path to their home plane cannot be threatened.
Ah, honored masters, they are quite wrong. In my vision, I have seen a secret pass through the solid smoke that leads to the midpoint in the valley. The efreet know not of this pass, and leave it unguarded. A quiet and skillful army could sneak into their midst and catch them unawares. Our victory would be swift!
(While the pass does indeed exist, the efreet know all about it. When the djinn followed the advice contained in this portion of the report, their foes ambushed them and the air genies were decimated. Readers may consider it poetic justice to hear that the djinni who compiled this report was leading the charge.-the Editor)