Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo

## Description

It is where everything, and nothing, is possible. It is where raw chaos seethes. It is where the elements come to die. Limbo is a plane of pure chaos. Untended sections appear as a roiling soup of the elements. Balls of fire, pockets of air, chunks of earth and waves of water battle for ascendance until they in turn are overcome by yet another chaotic surge. However, landscapes similar to ones found on the Material Planes drift through the miasma: bits of forest, meadow, ruined castles, and small islands.

Limbo is inhabited by living natives. Most prominent of these are the githzerai and slaadi. In Limbo, most petitioners take the form of unthinking, ghostly spheres of swirling chaos.

Limbo has no layers. Or if it does, they continually merge and part, each is as chaotic as the next, and even the wisest sages would be hard-pressed to distinguish one from another.

## Limbo Traits

* **Subjective Directional Gravity**
* **Normal Time**
* **Infinite Size**
* **Highly Morphic** See Controlling Limbo, below.
* **Sporadic Element-Dominant** The elemental dominance can change without warning.
* **Strongly Chaos-Aligned**
* **Wild Magic** Whenever using an Implement power, make a Wisdom check (versus DC 10 + Power Level). If it fails, roll on the Wild magic table.
* **True Chaos** See Controlling Limbo below for full details.

## Limbo Links

Permanent portals exist between various planes and Limbo. However, a huge ball of fire, a pile of boulders, or a terrible windstorm could be waiting on the other side. Thus, entering Limbo can be quite dangerous for unprepared visitors.

## Controlling Limbo

There are three kinds of terrain in Limbo: uncontrolled raw areas, controlled areas, and stabilized areas. Raw areas make up most of the plane, while the controlled areas (also known as tended areas) and stabilized areas are tiny islands in comparison.

### Raw Limbo

Uncontrolled areas of Limbo are dangerous, but most sentient creatures can exert a localized calming influence (see Controlled Limbo. But sometimes, there is no control, such as when a visitor first enters Limbo or when a traveler is knocked unconscious. When no one is trying to control a given area (an "area" refers to a close burst 2 around an individual), use the chart below.

 11-20
 21-30
 31-40
 41-50
 51-60
 61-70
 71-80
 81-90
 91-100

### Controlled Limbo

Controlling an area of Raw Limbo is an exercise of the mind. Make a Wisdom check (Medium DC) to establish control of an area of Limbo, and this check must be repeated each round as a free action. A traveler who fails two or more checks in a row gets a +6 to the subsequent roll. If entering an area of Raw Limbo from a controlled or stabilized area, a character can make this check just prior to entering that area.If the Wisdom check succeeds, the character can reshape Limbo to suit their needs (a favorite is a chunk of earth surrounded by an atmosphere of air).

The table below says how large of an area an individual can control, based on Wisdom score.

Once control is achieved, it lasts as long as the controller remains in the controlled area, or until another creature succeeds in wresting control away. Controlled areas drift at 1d8 squares per round in a random direction (1d8 to decide direction). If more than one creature would control an area, the winner is the one with higher Intelligence. In the case of a tie, go to Charisma next.

### Stabilized Limbo

Stabilized Limbo doesn't move and cannot be wrested away. If allowed to drift, it will eventually erode. Industrious creatures bring bits of stabilized earth together to create foundations, for example.

## Limbo Inhabitants

### Planars

Slaadi and githzerai are commonly associated with Limbo. Of the two, no one remembers a time when slaadi did not inhabit Limbo. The githzerai arrived later, seeing the plane as a challenge to their indomitable spirits. Limbo is a harsh proving ground for their particular ethos: "Pain is weakness leaving your body."

Even though they are natives, the slaadi control Limbo much like travelers do. However, a slaadi's control never falters, even if the slaadi is unconscious, and area of control surrounds the slaadi tightly (in a close burst 1).

The few githzerai that follow a monastic calling also follow the dictates of Law, and so find the plane particularly challenging. However, within the walls of githzerai monastaries, the "strongly chaos-aligned" trait is nullified. Most githzerai do not follow a monastic calling, however, and instead congregate in large cities.

### Petitioners

These petitioners revere chaos above all else. Some come to embody the plane itself, while others linger as insane spirits composed of Limbo's raw materials.

* **Additional Immunities:** Fire, cold
* **Resistances:** Lightning 20, Acid 20
* **Other Special Qualities:** The petitioners not absorbed into the plane become swirling masses of elemental power, gibbering and laughing with zero regard for their surroundings. Like slaadi, Limbo's petitioners always maintain control of their immediate area, even when unconscious or caught off-guard.

## Locations

Limbo consists of wonders beyond imagining, a few of which are detailed below. Random surges of elemental fire light the plane. Some are far off and visible only as a dim glow spreading through floating seas, while others are bright, too-close suns. There is no night and day here.

### Githzerai Cities and Monasteries

Githzerai who call Limbo home congregate in cities or monasteries. Those who gather in cities value straightforward martial prowess, and are deadly fighters, mages and swordmages. However, even the city-born respect those able to leave the city behind to mediatet in the swirling chaos of the plane.

#### Shra'kt'lor

This is the githzerai's largest city. The Great Githzerai rules from here as the god-king of the githzerai race, and he is an extremely powerful swordmage. The city is an austere place with massive iron gatehouses piercing seven concentric walls of high, thick granite walls. Quarters inside the city tend to be cramped, though the market is broad and filled with food and items.

#### Monastery of Zerth'Ad'lun

One of the many monasteries, this particular one follows the teachings of Sensei Belthomis, a powerful monk. He teaches a specialized martial art known as *zerthi*, and those skilled in it claim to be able to peer a moment into the future to aid their martial expertise.

From the exterior, the monastery seems like a small glade of stone spires and towers layered around a sphere about a quarter mile in diameter. Taking full advantage of Limbo's gravity, the interior contains winding stairs that connect "floors" to "ceilings" and "walls." All surfaces are floors, in essence.

Vast halls provide room for mass martial arts training while hundreds of tiny cells lighted by dim candles provide privacy for individual meditations. The schedule of a monk is strict and harsh, but the reward is considered just compensation. The monastery welcomes visitors and will put them up for about a week. Nongithzerai wishing to study are permitted, but expect to be training for several months before learning anything.

### Slaadi in Limbo

The slaadi freely roam the length and breadth of chaos, unharmed by all except the most severe chaos storms. Generally, slaadi roam in gangs of two to five (1d4+1), but sometimes hunt in larger packs of six to eleven (1d6+5).

#### Spawning Stone

The primordial home of the slaadi, it is located in the realm of their greatest dominion. Each race converges here for a season of mating. many slaadi die in the ritual, and adult bodies are always floating around the stone. Though the stone drifts about, currents of chaos-stuff always flow away from the stone. Slaadi recognize these currents and thus can always find the stone.

A single death slaad guards the stone against non-slaad visitors. This sentinel, known as the Guardian of the Stone, is immensely powerful. The slaadi believe that whomever defeats this Guardian is reborn as a death slaad with great powers, including the ability to create and reshape Limbo as he or she sees fit.

## Limbo Encounters

Roll once per hour. On a 98, roll a d10. Evens roll 1d100 on Abyssal Encounters. On odds, roll 1d100 on Beatific Encounters.

## References

1. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 92-93
2. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 93
3. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 93
4. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 93
5. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 93
6. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 93
7. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 93
8. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 93
9. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 94
10. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 94
11. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 94
12. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 94
13. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 94
14. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 94
15. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 94
16. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 95
17. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 95
18. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 95
19. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 95
20. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 95
21. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 95
22. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 95
23. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 95
24. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 95
25. ↑ Manual of the Planes, Third Edition, Wizards of the Coast, Renton, 2002, p. 95