Pelion, third layer of Arborea

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

But people also forget that there's more than dust to Pelion. The reasons we go there involve the tombs and monuments to races and creatures and heroes we've forgotten, to seek the last crumbs of their being for one reason or another. Even if it's for an ancient item, that item is often the crux of that time-eaten existence. And it echoes through the eons into our own, telling us that, no matter how much time may pass, those people and places are still important today, even if it is only for today. They have endured long enough to be sought by us, and that is why they have endured so long. If Pelion is founded on primal fear, it is driven by primal will: the triumph of the self over annihilation, the eternal echo of 'I AM' resonating through time.

## Pelion, third layer of Arborea

Some say this vast expanse was once full of life

## Cosmology

### Position

Chaotic Good

Teleportation circle

## Overview

No one likes Pelion. Even the Dustmen, who many think would be a natural fit for the layer, find it disquieting, but for other reasons than most do. Most simply see the constant dust and sand as a desolate wasteland, which it is, and write off the whole layer as the equivalent of the multiverse's oubliette. The Dustmen, though, hate it because it is not the quiet stillness of True Death that people think it is, but because there is too much energy. Underneath the powdered dunes and slowly atomizing monuments, there is a force calling out, screaming not that they shall be again, but that have always been and always shall. Pelion is the last refuge of our selves.

That doesn't make it a welcoming place, though. The third layer of Arborea is constantly shrouded by blowing dust and wind that makes it difficult to see, move, and even breathe sometimes. The weight of time presses against the visitor, scouring away illusions of immortality.

Still, there are reasons enough to visit. It's said that everything that truly passes from memory eventually ends up on Pelion. Every speck of dust is the remnant of a mortal soul, their own grain of immortality, filling an endless infinity and burying the past. The few landmarks, then, exist because they are so much larger, the physical remnants of that which is truly important and unending. And that is why some foolish adventurers locate and explore the crypts and statues that serve as rare landmarks: because anything that has lasted this long must house something important and powerful, and that something might be worth risking your life for.

But you need to be careful. More than one cutter, striving to retrieve some ancient horde, has added their corpse to the ever-blowing dust.

## Survival

### Physical conditions

Going to and from the plane isn't easy simply because there aren't many portals leading to it. A crypt diver's best option is to find a way to Amun-thys, the realm of Nephythys and the layer's only permanent resident. Since Nephythys' portfolio covers wealth and death, though, portals to her realm often involve finding some long-lost ruin that's attuned to her over the centuries, so "best" here is relative. Other than that, a berk's best hope is a random portal somewhere in Sigil, though anyone hawking the location to a known portal to Pelion is more likely to be setting the target up for a robbery than selling that sort of knowledge. (Rumor has it that the Dustmen keep track of portals to Pelion, and likely have the most accurate list. There may even be a portal in the Mortuary.)

The other way involves getting to Arborea and then traveling through the plane. That is...a long journey. Since Pelion is rumored to be the titan's graveyard, it's a path that is made to discourage casual visitors. Moving from the first layer to the second is easy enough, but getting from the second to the third involves a sturdy ship and long voyage. Pilgrims seeking the third layer must sail to an isolated island protected by a variety of fierce mythological creatures. Should you defeat or avoid them, a person could find a large cave near the center of the island that, if traveled through, emerges on Pelion, roughly near Titan's Fall (see below). Besides the general dangers, any voyage to Pelion from Ossa likely needs divine providence as well--Poseidon himself is said to protect the titan's path on Ossa and will send anyone who hasn't successfully petitioned him to a very deep and watery grave.

Once on Pelion, the main challenges are providing the basics of survival: food, water, and shelter. Living off the land means finding these resources in the ever-shifting dust, which is extremely hard to do. At the DM's discretion, PCs may not forage unless they have a ranger in the party, and even then, the amount is not doubled as it would normally be, and can only be done for a number of days equal to the ranger's Wisdom before the layer begins to hide even that from the party. Further, any travel done on the same day as foraging is halved. Fortunately, conjuration magic involving food and water works fine, if sometimes a bit oddly. (See "Magical Conditions")

Shelter is a part of existence on Pelion oft-forgotten by an eager explorer, who thinks that a temperate dry climate means they can simply use their bedroll to sleep. Much of the plane is an open waste, meaning the wind can wear a body down without some kind of respite. A simple lean-to made with a well-preserved hide is enough to rest, but a full night's sleep can be dangerous by itself--more than one explorer has woken up buried under the dust dropped by an overnight change in weather. Forecasting the weather involves a Survival check at DC 15; success means the party can find a spot that will remain relatively unaffected by the night dust (meaning they'll still have to clean off their gear in the morning, but they won't need to excavate themselves too much.) Failure by more than 5 means they read the weather entirely wrong and get caught in a dust storm. Any party that doesn't have someone wake up during the night (a posted guard, a light sleeper who makes a Constitution saving throw to wake up after snuffing dust in their bedroll, etc.) will be buried. Dust suffocation while asleep works the same as the rules on p. 183 of the Player's Handbook.

The last challenge is trying to figure out how much you'll actually need. Exact distances aren't well known, even by the locals, because the plane resists attempts to measure and map the places within. A good guide has a decent sense of where things might be and how hard the journey will be, but can't give anything exact. They will always suggest climbing gear, though--the layer does have mountains and ravines due to long buried topography, buildings, or corpses.

### Magical conditions

Like all the planes, magic works differently due to the nature of the plane. Layers also change this somewhat based on the specific philosophy they’re created from. Because of this, even experienced planewalkers can get caught unawares by some of Pelion’s limitations.

When dealing with the school of Conjuration/Summoning, for example, casters have to remember that only nature spirits will answer any summons, and that any attempts to summon other types (celestials or fiends, for example) will suffer retribution from the Furies—there are laws that Arborea follows, and attempting to break them by calling in beings from other assemblages of philosophical realities doesn’t sit well with them. The nature and power of the summons are all taken into account, so a low-level spell trying to summon a celestial would perhaps simply fail, and a persistent mage might find themselves under a streak of bad luck (forcing the PC to roll at Disadvantage in a non-lethal situation, for instance) until they made a small atonement at a temple. Calling fiends and other lower-planar entities usually brings more forceful and direct retribution, such as hostile nature spirits that cannot be bound by the caster. Amun-thys is an exception to this, however, which makes it a valuable place for mages to assemble their usual summons before tackling the layer’s challenges.

Divination spells require props, as is normal on Arborea, but Pelion also wants things to be remembered, not found. Any divination spells based on or bestowing locations of things (*Find the Path, Clairvoyance, Locate Object, Scrying,* etc.) automatically fail. Spells that give knowledge of qualities or history (*Comprehend Languages, Legend Lore, Identify, Detect Magic*, etc.) give extra information that wouldn't normally be available; DMs are encouraged to be particularly detailed and generous with such information.

Enchantment spells based on emotion still carry a risk on Arborea. Any target of such a spell makes any required saves at Disadvantage. (animal friendship, charm person, calm emotions, etc.) However, if the target rolls an unmodified 1-4 on the save, they instead fly into an uncontrolled rage—the sort of righteous, repressed base feeling that serves as the underpinning of the plane—and begin attacking the caster.

## The locals

### Amun-Thysa

The goddess Nephythys is the only deity with a realm in Pelion, which makes sense given her divine portfolio of both wealth and guardianship of the dead. Her realm provides the rest of the planes with the only unchanging reference point on the layer. Because of this, Amun-thys is the only place any expedition could use as a reliable home base for their forays into the dust.

Amun-thys is not very large or active. Dotted with tombs and temples, Amun-thys resembles a ruined city surrounded by tombs more than a god's realm. The big giveaway that you're in her realm is the clear, dark sky above--Nephythys doesn't let the dust constantly blow in her realm, which is often a welcome enough experience for explorers to consider worshiping her, and her affiliation with darkness and night means it never gets brighter than a bright twilight during the day. Amun-thys also has a more active population, so it's one of the few places you can meet a group of people you didn't come on-layer with. Her petitioners are friendly enough, though—Nephythys is a divine protector in general, so some of her petitioners are people who lived a devout life trying to protect both the living and the dead. Many of them,however, are former priests that now care for the monuments and treasures in her realm, so none are willing to serve as guides for outgoing parties. They're the only ones with any sense of the physical nature of the layer, though, and Nephythys gives them the ability to cast divination spells normally. This means that any successful tomb seekers will tithe generously to the priests so they will cast a spell to give the party a sense of where they need to go. The priests speak in general terms, though, so directions consist of, "Your destination will be found to the south, eight days away, on a mountainside guarded by scorpions." Whether than means actual scorpions or just statues or something entirely different is often left to the party to decipher, though another tithe may convince the priest to "seek additional guidance from Nephythys." Just remember that Nephythys is a protector of the dead, and she won't help those who are seeking only to loot the tombs of those long passed--you have to convince them that there is either a good reason for finding this tomb, or that there's something in it for her. A promise to return a unique item or knowledge is often enough.

In addition to that, Nephythys does try to emphasize the protector role within her realm as well, so while there aren’t many places a cutter’s able to visit, there are several established inns and other locations that happily serve outsiders. Service is seen as a strong way to understand Nephythys’ will, so there are always petitioners willing to assist those who need it. One such place, Serpents’ Salve, is both inn, provisioner, and hospital for groups heading into the dust. It’s owner, a devout planar named Shakir Scaletorn, runs it almost like a temple to Nephythys, which may explain why the power allows it to survive within her realm. Chant is Shakir is “scale-torn” because he was once a notable follower of Set who repented and sought out Amun-thys as both a succor and repentance from his Setite ways. He never speaks of his past, even if asked, but he knows an awful lot about poisons and their antidotes.

Besides being the only place to fill provisions and get respite from the otherwise monotonous conditions, Amun-thys has a brisk trade in guides who can help a group of people survive. As they stick around longer than most, guides tend to have good relations with the priests of Nephythys, so they have easier access to the magical resources they can provide. Don't think that's all they use, though, because no guide gets the title without knowing how to actually survive in the wastes. One of the most popular and trusted guides is Ashakur, a female minotaur who has been on-layer for over two decades. In addition to her extensive knowledge of the plane, her immense strength, and her battle prowess, her innate sense of direction means she can always find her way back to Amun-thys. In a layer that prevents the use of location magic, her extremely high rates are considered sound insurance by any adventuring party that values returning from their expedition, successful or not.

Cutters have other reasons to pop into the realm. Amun-thys doesn’t restrict summons to nature spirits, so magic-users that want something other than elemental-y servants need to find a way into Nephythys’ realm. The priests are aware of this and try to accommodate (read: haggle with) these casters to prevent any mishaps (read: try to leverage favors from the caster). Most casters where this is an issue are usually more powerful ones as well, so any agreements usually come in the form of favors or services to be rendered to the priesthood.

### Titan's Fall (multiple)

Before the gods of Olympus rose up, the titans roamed the first layer of Arborea, exercising their power and might. But even then, they occasionally met the limits of their existence. When they passed on, they would travel to Pelion to find a final resting place. Being even grander than the titans currently known, their immense corpses would alter the landscape around them--giant craters from where they fell, mountains from their body as the dust piled up, and groups of scavengers that could survive on the body as it slowly composted into myth.

Many of the corpses are confused or synonymous with the mountainous regions of the layer, since only their bodies would provide enough of a base to prevent burial by the winds. A few isolated towns subsist on them, usually named after the corpse they're "mining" for the necessities of life. Survival is usually a priority here, Should adventurers come across such a town, they should be peery; many of these town are clannish and paranoid of outsiders stealing "their land" and its resources, which are often seen as the key to wealth or immortality or something else only a godlike corpse could provide. Additionally, the people there are often mad due to the long-term effects of subsisting off of the flesh and blood of a near-deity (as it's often the only long-term source of nutrients anywhere near the site, and the people don't want to establish regular trading or supply lines to prevent others from jumping their claim.)

Most of these small towns are very small, ranging from a couple of people to a few dozen, all working to dig deeper into the titan's body. Many of the older corpses have begun petrifying, requiring the settlers to mine through the body to get to the interior. Usually, biological bits of the titan remain behind, which the settlers feed off of, driving them closer to madness. Many are looking for vital organs--petrified or not, the settlers often believe them to contain powerful, primal magics that they can exploit (or sell to other believers for a hefty profit.)

The chant says that the most recent titan to fall is still in the process of dying; even though they have begun merging with the landscape, the titan remains in a semi-conscious state. Such a titan would, at the very least, be a trove of information. If someone could help revive it, the rewards would be (metaphorically and likely physically) immense.

### Base Camp Ettenil, League of Hypostatic Cartography

Sigil is a city with everything in it, and in such an environment, it’s not uncommon to find people whose primary trait is that they have far, far more money than sense. Alaric Stancaster is one such person. Raised in the cosmopolitain-yet-sheltered protection of Sigilian high society, he longed for the freedom to go wherever and do whatever he wanted. Most rich people become constant tourists around the planes, but he wanted to see the sights no one—not even rich people with almost limitless amounts of wealth—could go. He wanted to explore. Armed with the confidence and optimism of the invincibly rich, Stancaster founded the League of Hypostatic Cartography, dedicated to “mapping the truth of the planes.”

Flush with grand aspirations and cash, Alaric’s first order of business was to determine the initial locations of exploration. As a Signer, he believed Pelion to be a symbol of the faction’s ideals, a testament to the power of individual will over the multiverse. He headed out through Amun-thys and established Base Camp Ettenil (named after a former factol of the Sign of One) as its first field base, located in a crag only a few days’ ride from Amun-thys.

That was several years ago, and time and circumstance has made Alaric slightly more practical, but no less enthusiastic. Standing six-foot-two and as thin as a Fated’s charity donation, Stancaster greets everyone who enters with a hearty, disarming grin and a firm handshake, letting them know they’re welcome in camp. He is eager to engage in conversation with them, half because he’s just that gregarious and half because he’s usually a bit starved for information from around the planes, especially Sigil. (He does spend a fair amount of time there, helping to establish more base camps around the planes, but he prefers fieldwork to the more sedentary task of planning and logistics.) He’s also eager to show visitors around the camp; originally a few large tents and some crates, the camp now boasts four permanent stone structures and an extensive horde of supplies for at least twenty people.

Outside of Amun-thys, Camp Ettenil is the best place to find supplies, information, and possibly guides as well. (Stancaster, however, will not aid known fugitives from Amun-thys; he spent a lot of time and money securing his supply chain through the realm, and he will not jeopardize it by going against the priests.) If the party can weave a good tale and make sure there’s a bit of lore or glory for Stancaster to seize, he may even accompany the party as their guide, providing them with excellent equipment and plentiful supplies for as long as he’s with them. Camp Ettenil also has a more valuable resource that even Amun-thys can’t provide: camels. Stancaster brought them a couple of years ago, and while the care and feeding of them has increased the cost of maintaining the base camp, their effectiveness is unquestioned, allowing the League to range further from camp without as much wear.

As far as information goes, Ettenil is also a good resource for somewhat more trustworthy reports on the layer. Despite the erudite title, Stancaster does actually insist on mapping the layer to the best of their ability, including the recording and storage of extensive observations. So far, the League has mapped paths to Amun-thys, Mithardir, several Titans’ Fall mining camps, and a host of tombs and monuments across the layer. Stancaster has been on Leviathan, but “I didn’t stay more than a day, day and a half. Didn’t want to travel too far a distance from our boarding point,” so he has minimal contact with the people aboard. He is currently prioritizing a longer-term trip to Stone Feathers, though he is concerned about the trip across the Titanspines to be dangerous. He would very much be interested in anything regarding other lost lands, especially the Edge of Remembrance.

### Leviathan

Titans aren't the only beings that die on Pelion, though they're the most common. Stumbling upon an unexpected and unknown fossil out in the sands can be disquieting under the best circumstances. When that fossil moves, it's hard to tell what people might do.

When some parties are on the move in the open dunes, there is a small chance that a giant bony tentacle reaches down and captures them (You can have PCs make Dexterity saving throws to avoid getting trapped, but once caught, they can't escape.) The next thing they know, the tentacle hauls them high enough to swallow the ground in floating dust, and then, a giant skeletal beak, open and waiting for food, tosses them inside. And then....

They find themselves in a large bony cavern with a small camp in the middle. The camp, cheekily named Bone Base and led by a cheerful little tabaxi named Wind-blown Pine Needles, will inform the newly-consumed camp member that they are aboard what they have named Leviathan, a flying skeleton of some now-extinct gargantuan species.

The members of Bone Base have taken on the task of figuring out exactly what Leviathan is/was and learning all they can about it. So far, they know that it's an unknown entity that died eons ago in the sands of Pelion. It is capable of flying, and continues to "hunt" the sands for food, even though its now a skeleton. Most of Leviathan appears to be a bony exoskeleton that was protecting a soft interior, which is why the "stomach" of Leviathan is an open cavern. It has some sort of magical sense, as it seems to favor eating magic users over non-magic users. Its purpose remains unknown.

Bone base is populated by three dozen or so people who, having been hunted and eaten, are now more intrigued by the creature than they were by whatever they originally came here for. Needles organizes the camp into three teams that rotate responsibilities every three days. Team One is assigned to research of Leviathan, Team Two is on housekeeping duties (cleaning camp, casting conjure food and water, repair tents and gear, and so on), and Team Three is on mapping and reconnaissance.

Because Leviathan is attracted to magic-users and people with strong magical auras, Bone Base is surprisingly well-equipped for a group of people randomly thrown together. Part of it has to do with the fact that Needles' original traveling party makes up a third of of the current camp, with others all being added later. Another part is due to the larger-than-expected concentration of a variety of casters, allowing for the conjuration of food and other basic supplies. (The existence of an alchemy jug helps with this.) Magical healing is also available, and Bone Base is probably the largest concentration of (living) diverse magical power outside of Amun-thys.

The rumor mill often involves speculation on what Leviathan is and how it works. Said rumors include ideas that it came from beyond the Edge of Remembrance (see below); that it is a avatar of Nephythys that attacks anyone close enough to a long-lost secret; that Leviathan is the progenitor of some other massive creature, like an astral dreadnought or a kraken; that Leviathan is the embodiment of retribution for now-dead titans; and many, many more. If you manage to exhaust the more academic theories being tossed about, you start to move into the other puzzles of the entire project, such as "What was here before Needles established Bone Base?" ("A few supplies and a lot of bones."), "How can someone leave Leviathan?" (When Leviathan drops low to “feed”, members can lower a rope that's low enough to the ground to allow people to safely(ish) disembark.), "What is everyone looking for here, anyhow?" (A lot of things: necromantic insights and secrets, a power source to control Leviathan, hidden riches, etc.) and "If everyone in Bone Base had some goal on Pelion, and people can leave Leviathan at will, why does everyone seem eager to stay here despite the hardships?" (Curiosity, of course. What else is there to do?)

And once you get past the social realities of Bone Base, you may be able to get to the more personal motives of the members, and you might find out then that large majority, if not all, of the people eaten by Leviathan are...not people you would commonly associate with the upper planes. They may not be evil, but they certainly don't seem interested in a greater sense of good. And then the rumors shift to the more conspiratorial: is Needles the leader of a haphazard group of adventurers who have more or less lucked into a magical investigation, or does she have some sort of power over Leviathan? Is she, perhaps, the warden of a moving jail designed to keep undesirable people from finding anything on Pelion?

No one answers that last one, instead looking uncomfortably away. Needles never answers this as well, only suggesting that, if the questioner is worried about Leviathan being a prison, then they are free to leave at the next descent.

## Mysteries

### Mithardir

Far west from Amun-thys, the terrain moves from endless dunes punctuated by ruins to dunes anchored by dead trees. Keep moving west, and the trees become larger and more common, until the trees are standing more than lying, and the wind dies down and the dust doesn't blow but fall like ashen snow. This is Mithardir, the elven ruins, the land of the forgotten dead for a race that measures its oldest members by the number of human kingdoms they have seen rise and fall.

The petrified forest of Mithardir often leaves first-time explorers with the sense of being in a magical winter landscape: quiet, covered in a fine powder, and still. PCs who pass Nature checks will note that the trees aren't of any species they're familiar with; PCs familiar with elven history and pass a History check will note that the wood matches the descriptions of artifacts made with the wood from the first forest.

Petitioners here don't exist; this is a place between history and myth, after all, and many elves confuse the first forest that Mithardir was with the realms of the elven pantheon. The few elves that do exist here aren't of any kind that most would recognize; the few Athasian elves who make it off of their world often find themselves here for some reason. The existence of Mithardir also invites speculation about possible other racial homelands buried somewhere in the sands, though if they exist, no one has produced any evidence of them.

The dangers of Mithardir are many. There aren't many creatures here, but those that exist here are often powerful immortal beings that have have been trapped and warped by ancient magic. Mummified elves are the most common threat, previous adventurers that were killed and preserved by the nature of the realm, animated by some unknown curse into free-willed undead to protect the realm they sought to plunder. Such mummies often move much faster and quieter than their normal kin.

More common are the magical traps and spells that have remained dormant through the aeons. Adventurers who wish to liberate elven artifacts are encouraged to obtain access to multiple types of knowledge magic, such as legend lore and identify, as well as restorative magics like heal and remove curse, as many of the items sought are not easily used and kept by those who possess them. Many of the artifacts are intelligent as well, and may require more work to use.

The rewards are just as grand, however, as Mithardir was where the first magics were woven by the elves, and the remnants of those magics can sometimes dwarf more recent magics. After all, if the magic was meant to be known, say the elves, they would remember the spells. More likely that the magic doesn’t work properly anymore, and that any attempt to revive such ancient arts would likely destroy the caster and a good deal around them as well. Of course, others say that the elves do remember, and they just want to keep it to themselves. The only way to know for sure is to find it and use it yourself.

### Stone feathers

Somewhere south of Amun-thys, at least two weeks out from the realm, and possibly more, is a tall mountain range the locals call the Titanspines, a wall of stone thrust sharply out from the dust that functions as a practical southern boundary to the layer. But if a party is determined and well-prepared, they can cross the Titanspines and travel to the dust dunes on the other side. Not much has been reported from there, but those that have returned all report that their only notable landmark was a towering multi-colored mass of stone and mineral that resembles a gargantuan ball of wings and eyes that floats at least fifty feet above the ground.

Stone Feathers, as it’s come to be known, is a fine example of the sorts of mysteries Pelion holds. Large enough to house at least one decent-sized city, the floating statue/island contains enough precious gems to make a party of adventurers very, very rich—if they could get the gems off of it. For some reason, all transportation magics—teleport, fly, wind walk, and so on—do not function within at least fifty feet of it. One party reported successfully boarding the island by having an aarakocra member fly high enough with a chain that they could essentially fall onto it and make their way down, so if the chain still exists, there may be an established route available. Otherwise, the known landing protocol is “find a way to perform a controlled crash onto it.”

Once aground, the island is filled with passages that snake through the...rock? Body? Whatever it is, the tunnels are filled with the same feathered wings and eyes that compose the island in general. Light fixtures aren’t necessary—no matter how far one delves into the island, sunlight always seems to illuminate the area, and there are no shadows in any corners. Explorers report that the island almost seems alive, and the eyes, though unfocused, always seem to be watching. A couple of reports says that the wings even flutter sometimes, and if so, there is speculation that the tunnels may shift because of that. Others have reported a presence on the island, though none have made any kind of contact with it; a record taken from an illithid nautiloid describes an illithid party that tried to psychically contact a presence within Stone Feathers; it ends with the party fleeing the island as it attacks them from all directions, magically and psychically. Out of a party of twelve, only two made it off the island alive.

“What was an illithid nautiloid doing on Pelion?” you may ask. According to the record, it appears the illithid boarding party encountered Stone Feathers a few hundred years or so before its first known sighting, though the location was not recorded. That leads to more speculation about the origins of Stone Feathers. Did it originate in the Astral? Was it something that came from beyond the Edge of Remembrance? Is it a creature or a place, or both, like a zaratan? The only answers are going to come from other adventurers seeking answers.

### The edge of remembrance

If one could fly high enough to see most of the layer, and if the dust didn't exist, it would be possible to see that there is a very large ridge along one side of the layer. It extends a long ways until it slopes gently upward, far enough to see that it is an arm hundreds of leagues long, ending in a hand, palm raised toward the sky, holding a small temple in the palm. The index finger points out to the wastes beyond and below, filled with dust and ruins of no known origin. This is the Edge of Remembrance, the boundary of our existence's memory.

The temple has a single inhabitant, a titaness names Clienne, who says she is the last priestess of Mnemosyne, the titan goddess of memory and remembrance and the one who gave birth to the Muses. She tends to the temple and offers shelter and food to those who visit, but only for three days--after that, guests must leave, though they may decide whether they will climb the Stairs or not.

As the last priestess of a now-gone goddess of memory, Clienne knows far more than anyone could hope to record. She will happily answer any questions and expound at length on any topic. She clearly remembers distant events like the gith's rebellion against the illithid, and she is an expert on even more ancient topics, such as the early days of the Blood War, Asmodeus' fall from grace, and other now-mythic events. Her memory is unfailing, and she can tell you of every being that has come to visit, what they asked, and what they shared with her. And she will always share the story of the temple.

In her tale, before the fall of the titans, Pelion wasn't a dead layer. It was still a layer of quiet reflection, with still lakes, open plains, and echoing vistas. It was nature at its most tranquil and serene, a place so large that even the titanic emotions of Olympia were swallowed and echoed back at those who held them. When the gods of Olympus overthrew the titans, Mnemosyne was allowed to live, but eventually she grew tired of the Olympians and spent more and more time reflecting on Pelion. Angered by what he saw as disloyalty, Zeus struck at Mnemosyne, killing her. As she fell, her body crushed the land beneath her, grinding it to dust and casting it into the air, filling it and burying the beauty beneath a cloud of her dying grief. Ever since, Pelion has been dry and desolate, with nothing but ruins poking through. With her last wish, she created the temple to serve as the last refuge of time and memory, and she cradles it in the palm of her hand to this day.

At the beginning of the third day, Clienne will give visitors two choices: the first is to return the way they came. The second is to leave through the door on the opposite side of the temple, one that leads to the index finger. At the end of that finger, a person can see the ruins of the ages before ours, the remnants and detritus of gods and planes and beings that lived and died before any being who's existence we know of began. And carved into the rock cliff is the Downward Helix, a weathered set of steps leading down onto the plain of those forgotten dunes. Cutters who make the climb down the Helix never return--whether they die or get lost or find some power or life beyond our memories is unknown, but whatever happens to them, they have chosen to leave this existence behind to sift through the ages before us, beyond our most liminal ideations.

### Weather

1-5: A light, swirling dust. Not bad enough to interfere with your vision, but enough to want a head wrap to protect your eyes.

6: An arising--the dust on the ground floats up and is carried off by gentle winds.

7-8: A still day where the dust floats down like new snow. Advantage on all Stealth checks.

9-10: A dust fog. The particulates are very fine, and while they don't sting, they are easy to inhale, which causes problems. A wet cloth over the mouth and note prevents any damage, but all Athletics and Acrobatics checks are made with Disadvantage, due to the inability to get air efficiently. (Beings that don't breathe, like warforged, are immune to this and may make checks normally.)

11: A dust storm! Vision is reduced to 30 ft. range. A person out in the storm takes 4d6 damage per hour if not wearing protective clothing (a robe covering the full body, head/face wrap, and so on). Those staying put must make Strength saving throws every hour to prevent getting partially buried in the blowing dust. Those who fail start suffocating.

12-14: A stinging, blowing wind where the dust is sprayed against your skin. Protection is required or a body takes 2d6 damage per hour.

15: A singing storm. The dust falls lightly, but you can hear voices calling to you from all around, whispers that speak of lessons and warnings from the past. Beings that pass a DC 18 History check can hear a clear sentence or two that seems meaningful. (The exact usefulness is up to the DM. Clues, hints, distractions, and adventure hooks are good, but outright lies are discouraged.)

16: A lightning storm. The dust blows thick, but not as bad as a full dust storm. Instead, lightning fills the sky regularly, and those caught in it risk electrocution. Vision is reduced to 60 ft. range, and anyone caught in the open needs to make a Wisdom saving throw every round or be struck by lightning for 6d6 damage; anyone wearing metal armor makes the save at disadvantage, and those who take sensible precautions have advantage.

17-19: A light dust, but thick. Vision is reduced to 60 ft. range.

20: An eerily clear day. Everything is silent except for your own actions. Travel is doubled but Stealth checks are at Disadvantage.

### Narration tips

No one likes Pelion. No one considers themselves a native of the plane—not elven mummies, not the children of titan prospectors, not Clienne, no one. Even Nephythys, who has her realm there, sees Pelion as a something that is endured rather than a land that one lives in. Make it clear that the entire purpose of the layer is to embody the idea that, in the grand scheme of things, you are nothing and do not matter. Look up the definitions of *enounement, kenopsia, ellipsism, occhiolism*, and other words you would expect overly-verbose romantics to sigh wistfully upon learning, then work those feelings into your descriptions a little.

Relatedly, nothing is small on Pelion. There are no small, personal tombs, nothing tucked away in a corner of the hills. Pelion scours everything to dust, and only the hardiest and most willful monuments have a chance at lasting long. Every single landmark is a giant middle finger raised from beyond death at the layer and the gods and time itself. “Ozymandias” is the starting point for this sort of feeling; be ready to carry it off to extremes. Go beyond myth; these are the remnants of the myths of long-eradicated cultures: only the most determined remain, and their resolve has not diminished over the ages.

Finally, remember that Pelion is temperate in climate. It’s dry and dusty, but it’s not unbearably hot or cold. Exposure conditions should be ailments like dehydration, trouble breathing (from dust inhalation, disadvantage on Constitution-based checks and saving throws) and sand blindness (like snow blindness, gives disadvantage on vision-based Perception checks). PCs that dress for the desert might actually get chilled in the winds, as the radiant heat of a desert day doesn’t exist there.

### NPCs

*Ashakur, female minotaur*

Ashakur should be a ranger at least a couple of levels above the PCs, and probably more. PCs should get the impression that anyone extensively trained in physical combat (fighters, barbarians, paladins, combat-focused priests) might be able to take her down in a fair fight, there is no way in the Nine Hells Ashakur would ever get into a fair fight. Ashakur also enjoys the support of many people from Amun-thys; fighting her there often means fighting the other locals willing to stand beside her. Outside of combat, Ashakur is reserved but focused; give her advantage on any Survival rolls in Pelion.

*Shakir Scaletorn*

Shakir is incapable of being cowed in any way: he has seen and done horrible things, and he will no longer be complacent. Make him a high-level fighter type, and make sure the party knows that messing with Shakir marks them as People Who Are Not Welcome Here.

*Alaric Stancaster*

Alaric is a young, rich man with lots of dreams and optimism, but he’s no fool; his weakness should be his generous and trusting nature, not any quixotic delusions. Alaric should be an expert with regards to anything commonly encountered on Pelion. He should be a decently leveled rogue or College of Lore bard if necessary. He is a good choice to use if you need to hand out side quests or send the party to some corner of the layer.

*Elven Mummy*

Elven mummies are not native to the plane: they are elves who have punished by their gods to protect the ancient treasures of their past. They should be unnaturally lithe desiccated corpses, not lumbering tissue-wrapped bodies. Use regular mummy statistics, but give them a DEX of 13 (+2) and a speed of 40 ft. Some should be armed with bows, which attacks at +5 at short bow range. Keep their vulnerability to fire, though, and give your PCs some chances to hit them with flaming attacks so you can narrate how they evaporate like flash paper as they die.

*Crazed Titan Prospector*

Break out your best Fallout survivor camps and Angel Gang impressions. Titan prospectors are a mix between crazy-because-they-live-alone-in-a-bleak-wilderness and crazy-because-they-survive-off-of-a-dead-god-being’s-corpse. Some are feral, some are worshipful of the fallen titan, some are paranoid for a host of other reasons, but none of them would be considered a model citizen anywhere else. They might be spellcasters, but are rarely priests, if only because dead titans don’t grant spells. Slapping an innate power or two on them due to “mutations” would also be in-character.

*Wind-Blown Pine Needles, tabaxi leader of Bone Base*

The exact nature of both Needles and Leviathan is left for the DM to decide. PCs should get the impression that Needles is helpful, but very guarded regarding her personal life. She should be able to cast some kind of magic, though she should excel in interpersonal issues.

*Clienne, Titaness priestess of Mnemosyne*

Clienne should read to the players as a “dweller on the threshold” type—she is a gatekeeper to grander mysteries, but the vistas beyond are beyond the scope of most D&D games. If your group descends the Downward Helix, make it clear that they are in wholly alien lands. If your group ends up trying to fight Clienne, use storm giant stats, add three to everything, then let her cast any priest spell innately as an action. If they beat her, Pelion itself should rise up to crush them. Clienne is an embodiment of the mystery and grandeur of Pelion, and if the PCs want to declare war against reality itself, feel free to have reality fight back.

### Adventure seeds

*Gods and Monsters*: While staying at Bone Base, Reconnaissance brings back troubling news: Leviathan has taken a sharp turn and is headed towards Amun-thys. The beast will reach the realm in about one day, though the priests will likely be trying to prevent the incursion before it reaches the realm. No one is sure why Leviathan has headed that way, nor are they sure what the realm will do in response to it, but no one is eager to find out.

There are two immediate ideas floating around. The first and most vocal one involves simply leaving: the research was fun while it lasted, but it's time to cut our losses before they become big. Those in favor of this note that there's even a chance Leviathan could be attracted to them again if they stayed together, reasoning that a large concentration of magic would likely draw the beast to them once more. Another faction suggests that, if a group had enough magic and could move quickly enough, they may be able to change Leviathan's path so it avoids Amun-thys. Unless one of the PCs can suggest a way of moving quickly for long distances (at least 90 ft./round to keep pace with Leviathan), this one isn't likely to work.

Needles is quiet but razor-focused. She intends to ride Leviathan wherever it goes, even into Amun-thys. PCs have only a few hours to forge a coalition of people who can enact a plan, whatever it may be, and then play out the inevitable conflicts that result from it as opposing groups respond.

*Price of Knowledge*: Base Camp Ettenil is under a subtle siege. Reports show that the food and water supplies are being tampered with, and the camels are being poisoned. Alaric has organized a more rigorous watch schedule, but it hasn’t helped much as the food continues to spoil. If the assault continues, Base Camp Ettenil will collapse, and Stancaster has far too much involved to allow that to happen.

Should the PCs agree to help, an investigation should be able to give the PCs enough information to set a trap for the saboteurs, which should result in a fight as they face a group of Dustmen trying to infiltrate the camp to both drive the League off Pelion and to discover what they know about Mithardir. Stancaster is actually a bit professionally offended by the attempts (“They could have just asked,” he mutters. “It’s not as though we don’t announce our findings within reputable salons in Sigil.”), and in an somewhat uncharacteristic move, mentions to the PCs his recent discoveries into Caelora Thelfaserine, which roughly translates into “Cathedral of Last Light,” a temple located in the westernmost land the elves knew. “Our research shows it figured prominently into elven rituals involving death and metaphysics. They grew a plant of some sort there, maybe a vineyard, that, when processed according to a ritual, allowed the imbiber to, ah...’pierce the boundary of death.’ I’m afraid I don’t know much else beyond that, but if the Dustmen are willing to fight over it, there might be some sort of truth to it.”

This should lead the party into a temple/pyramid dungeon crawl filled with traps and enemies all around leading up to a climactic fight with an elven mummy lord willing to open a portal to the Far Realm to destroy the trespassers, all while the PCs race against the Dustmen to find the treasures within.