Celestial Nadir

## Planar Traits

* World Axis
* World Tree

## Demiplane

The **Celestial Nadir** was an artificial demiplane created by the original Imaskari Empire. It was used as a safe place for magical experimentation should unforeseen consequences arise. It also served as a magical bridge for the Imaskari, since many portals were situated in the demiplane that led to various locations on the Prime Material Plane.

## Access

It could only be accessed from certain locations possessing standing-stone rings, and only by using a Celestial Nadir keystone. All the keystones were lost by the 14th century DR, save for one possessed by Empress Ususi. There were said to be twenty standing-stone rings that led to the Celestial Nadir. However, the only known standing-stone ring locations, as discovered by Empress Ususi, were the menhir ring at Adama's Tooth, the Mucklestones ring in the Lethyr Forest, and an unnamed ring in Skyclave city (formerly the Palace of the Purple Emperor).

## Features

The plane was an apparently endless void, with roads of unsupported stone. It had free-floating lakes and islands of stone, which held a number of crumbled ruins. Some of those ruins had illumination, which may have accounted for the stars. The tombs of many powerful emperors drifted within some of the ruins. Some other objects floating through the void included cubes made of perfect mirrors, and slabs of transparent glass with the remains of monsters embedded in them. Both were prisons holding monsters in stasis. The air inside the demiplane was sharp and cold, but not damp, with a faint hint of the smell after a thunderstorm and occassional sharp breezes.

The stones at Adamas' Ring led to a three-way split. One of the roads continued for a few hundred paces to a geode where Pandorym's body was held; the path around the geode was overgrown with celestial nadir crystal. Another road led to an aurora-like curtain after a few miles, behind which the Palace of the Purple Emperor was faintly visible. It served as a portal to the same. The third path seemed to lead off into the distance beyond what was visible. There were dot-like stars both above and below. The path from the Mucklestones was straight for as far as the eye could see; Ususi employed it to reach Yeshelmaar sooner. A different path opened into the Arches of Xenosi in the Rawlinswood, close to Dun-Tharos.

The Celestial Nadir was home to a naturally occurring sediment called celestial nadir crystals, which were amethyst in color. It could be found in geode-like hollows, even inside of statues, strangely. There were as well creatures formed of astral ectoplasm, naturally occurring astral constructs, and large spheres of accumulated moisture, which held fishes inside. Time passed differently in the center of the demiplane relative to the edges, according to Ususi.

## History

Originally devised by the Imaskari to serve as a buffer between portals, and then extended to serve as a dumping ground for unwanted experiments, refuse, creatures drawn from other planes, hazardous extraplanar material and a safehouse for valuables, the Nadir continued to grow after the destruction of the Imaskari, perhaps even absorbing other demiplanes.

In −2488 DR, the Elder evil Pandorym was summoned by the Imaskari, and its body was separated from its mind, leaving it inside the Celestial Nadir. The elder evil remained imprisoned until Vaelan miners working for the Datharathi accidentally stumbled upon the Nadir in 1370 DR. It was resealed after Ususi Manaallin and others entered the Celestial Nadir in 1374 DR.

## Appendix

### References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). *Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide*. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, *et al*. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 140. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Bruce R. Cordell (2006). *Darkvision*. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 215–217, 253, 279–280, 284–285. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Bruce R. Cordell (July 2004). *Lady of Poison*. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 11. ISBN 978-0786931613.
4. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). *Darkvision*. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 2. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
5. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). *Darkvision*. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 26. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Bruce R. Cordell (2006). *Darkvision*. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 25. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Bruce R. Cordell (July 2004). *Lady of Poison*. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 14. ISBN 978-0786931613.
8. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). *Darkvision*. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 219–223. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
9. ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). *The Grand History of the Realms*. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 150. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
10. ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). *The Grand History of the Realms*. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 155. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.