The Elemental Plane of Water: The Bottomless Deep (TIP)

__TOC__
Absolute Prohibition:	Fire*
Wizard School 	Alterations
Air, Earth 	<
Water 	+
: * Unless the spell is cast within an elemental pocket or protected environment such as the City of Glass (page 59).
: (I found it necessary to compile the information in this section myself. Although I explored many different avenues in attempting to find an appropriate researcher or narrator for this chapter, none could be found. A triton [who shall remain nameless] promised to deliver a manuscript, but I never heard from him again. The nereid and the water genasi replacements likewise never came through. It almost makes one a little peery that some- body out there doesn't want the dark of this plane revealed. Is there a secret out there in those murky depths? Almost certainly. In fact, there're probably far more than just one.- the Editor)
Clueless folks think of the Elemental Plane of Water as a body of water that's more or less like a giant ocean. In some ways, that's true enough. In other regards, though, there are some very important differences.
Perhaps the most telling difference between the Bottomless Deep and a prime ocean is the fact that there's no surface. Now, to some, that may seem like an addle-coved thing to say, but a body might be surprised at how many leatherheads out there think that ships sail on top of the plane of Water. Let's clear that misconception up right now-a basher can swim forever and he'll never find the surface or the ocean floor. This endless sea has neither.
Not that a body could figure out which way to swim to even try it. As in the Elemental Plane of Air, there's no up or down here-no gravity at all, in fact. Unlike that realm, though, a body here can't convince himself that a given direction is down. Well, actually, he can, it just doesn't have any effect. This lack of gravity means that the hazards of water pressure aren't present. No matter how deep you swim (and "deep" is a truly relative term here), the crushing weight of a terrestrial ocean never materializes.
There's also a soft light-a rippling blue-green glow-infusing the whole plane. Exactly what causes this is unknown, but it's fairly constant throughout the place. Thus, no matter how far a body goes, he'll never want for light.
Most people assume that a really large body of water, like an ocean, will be laced with salt. That's not the case here, save for elemental pockets of salt (see below). Curiously, however, this doesn't matter to the creatures of Water. All manner of aquatic life, denizens of both fresh and salt water, survive comfortably here. Indeed, the nurturing quality of this realm allows creatures native to arctic oceans to mingle with those from the tropics.