Schism: Regions

Throughout Pelys, various landscape features can impact your experience in the campaign.

 Ash flumes
 Harsh polar winds
 Solar exposure

***Live Engagement Zones (LEZs)***. Once magic combat begins in an LEZ, the fabric of reality twists in a massive chain reaction from the plagues of the spellcasting. Any spell cast in an LEZ triggers a roll on the *Wild Magic* table.

***De-Militarized Zones (DMZs)***. Null pylons are set up in politically expedient "neutral zones" that prevent active mage combat from transpiring. DMZs are under the effects of *antimagic field* so long as these restrictions and the pylons are in place.

***Critical Response Zones (CRZs)***. If activity in an LEZ damages a font of magic, such as rupturing a ley-line, the immediate region becomes a place of "unraveling magic" that must be contained by a DMZ. Until the Imperium can effectively set up pylons, the location is treated as a volatile CRZ and trespassers risk executive action if caught: a single CRZ might spiral into a continental crisis.

## Cold Pelys

Cold Pelys faces upwelling from the deep waters to the west and glacial drifts from the south, divided from Dry Pelys by the Celma that splits Pelys relatively evenly. Vegetation includes flower-algae, hairgrass, pearlwort, threadmosses, bryum and pottia. On the coasts of Cold Pelys one can find penguins, petrels, cormorants, cockatrices, albatross and axebeaks, giant trout, catfish, waterfrogs, aeglids, whales, seals and sea lions, mollusks of all kinds, starfish, snails and salps. Besides this Cold Pelys has little life on the mainland, mostly inhabited by mites, springtails and midges. As infrequently traveled as it is, this half of Pelys has been alleged to be home to windwalkers, icemaidens, burrowing remoras and spiratazons. All of Cold Pelys has the following regional effects.

***Extreme Cold***. A creature exposed to the cold must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of each hour or gain one level of exhaustion. Creatures with resistance or immunity to cold damage automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do creatures wearing cold weather gear (thick coats, gloves, and the like) and creatures naturally adapted to cold climates.

***Shivering Seas***. All bodies of water in Cold Pelys are considered frigid water, with the corresponding environmental hazards.

### Astrandor

The under-elves reside throughout the deep underground networks of Pelys, though the surface region of Astrandor is without a doubt their unique possession. The cluster of mountains have many overhangs and wide-gaping cavern mouths which make it convenient for Underworld trade to move through Astrandor, moving across or down the Celma to the immediate east. While the *unterelfen* populate the Underworld all across Pelys, Astrandor is both where they most often venture in accessing the surface and where their settlements are indeed closest to the surface. As such, it resounds with the noise of grinding rock and its roads frequented by caravans of Underworld trade goods. Because of the activity here with the Underworld, sightings of strange or dangerous Underworld inhabitants also take place in more isolated parts of Astrandor, including troglodytes and the rindenvane. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 15. Navigation - DC 15.

***High Mountains***. Each hour a creature spends traveling at high altitude counts as 2 hours for the purpose of determining how long that creature can travel. Breathing creatures can become acclimated to a high altitude by spending 30 days or more at this elevation. Breathing creatures can't become acclimated to elevations above 20,000 feet unless they are native to such environments.

### Malpais

The hill country south of Astrandor is littered with the uneroded crags and stones produced by ancient lava flows that have long gone cold. These badlands are home to many human settlements along the coast, though since their enslavement it has become far less populated. While the direct sunlight and lower elevation makes it more hospitable than other parts of Cold Pelys, the sheer winds from offshore combined with the downdraft from Astrandor makes the Malpais startingly frigid. Most of its villages and towns are nested on the coastal hills along the circuitous route to and from Victorskell and Astrandor, open to trade by land and sea while remaining warmer than those frost-buffeted hills surrounding them. Scattered ruins of past human civilizations, among others, frequently become home to aspiring bandit kings or worse. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 15. Navigation - DC 10.

***Warmth of Civilization***. Non-wilderness locations, unless otherwise noted, are not subject to the *Extreme Cold* of Cold Pelys*.*

### Tartessys

The sprawling ice fields and tundra splayed between Astrandor and the westernmost peninsula makes for an inhospitable and unpopulated land, with few travelers making the journey along its coast by boat to best the harsh antarctic winds. It has seen some of the worst conflicts throughout the recent Schism, with much of it now an untraversable, devastated magical ruin. Its remote and unpopulated nature has made it the subject of many legends about what lurks beneath the ice, from harrowing apparitions called icemaidens or the gigantic mountain-eating serpent known as the remora. The constant echo of spell-artillery is frequently followed by the crack of glaciers or the splintering of ice sheets. Several sites of interest dot the coastline, including a mountain gorge fortress and a series of megalithic structures. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 20. Navigation - DC 10.

***Frozen Wastes***. Most exposed surfaces here are considered slippery ice.

***Fearsome Blizzards***. Strong winds impose disadvantage on ranged weapon attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or on sight. The strong winds also extinguishes open flames, disperses fog, and makes flying by nonmagical means nearly impossible. A flying creature in a strong wind must land at the end of its turn or fall.

### Fuegesecristo

Connected to a larger continent, the peninsula joined at the farthest point west of Cold Pelys sits on a number of high mountains, volcanoes and glaciers. It has a few human religious communities that survive on trade from the elves and humans to the north, though its people mostly keep to themselves and avoid contact with the mainland. It is only here where continued communication with the outside world beyond Pelys is consistently possible, far from the eyes of the Imperium. It is also one of the few places where humans can fearlessly practice their foreign religion. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 20. Navigation - DC 15.

***Mountain Blizzards***. Strong winds impose disadvantage on ranged weapon attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or on sight. The strong winds also extinguish open flames, disperses fog, and makes flying by nonmagical means nearly impossible. A flying creature in a strong wind must land at the end of its turn or fall. Also, each hour a creature spends traveling at high altitude counts as 2 hours for the purpose of determining how long that creature can travel. Breathing creatures can become acclimated to a high altitude by spending 30 days or more at this elevation. Breathing creatures can't become acclimated to elevations above 20,000 feet unless they are native to such environments.

## Dry Pelys

The much more populous Dry Pelys typically has its normal rainfall caught in the cloud-splitting mountains and therefore remains relatively constant throughout the year. Even these mountains typically do not receive much rain, with the cloudwater either collecting into icecaps or running down as rivers back into the ocean. Dividing it from Cold Pelys is the Celma that splits Pelys relatively evenly. Vegetation includes the widespread rose-shrub, cypress, pine, beech, and the famed caico, especially in the region of Thangendor. Its skies see condors, waterfowl such as rails and plovers, gryphons, flamingos, eblis, finches, hillstars and quetzals. It too has seas of giant trout, catfish, waterfrogs, aeglids, whales, seals and sea lions, mollusks of all kinds, starfish, snails and salps. Throughout this half of Pelys one might observe vicunas, alpacas, cragcats, cavies, huemeldeer, moondogs and foxes, tapirs, bears, tressyms and giant reindeer. The mountains and wetlands also hide harpies, wyverns, mudmothers, floating schools of huntenlights and the elusive timbertail.

### Thangendor

The Imperium is centered in the highest range of mountains on the continent, the winding and chilled land of the elves. Lush plateau meadows stretch against spiraling ice mountains and dense stone hills. Upon the air flies great flocks of eblis and quetzals, while below tread huemeldeer and tressyms. Cool water flows into waterfalls and a great number of the countryside is stepped into irrigated terraces. The largest and most glamorous of the elven cities dot the ascents of the well-maintained mountain paths, supported by networks of winding roads and formidable citadels. Since the onset of the Schism, the western provinces under the rule of the moon elves have experienced greater devastation of war, while the eastern provinces remain mostly unperturbed by the conflict. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 10. Navigation - DC 15.

***Heaven's Stair***. Each hour a creature spends traveling at high altitude counts as 2 hours for the purpose of determining how long that creature can travel. Breathing creatures can become acclimated to a high altitude by spending 30 days or more at this elevation. Breathing creatures can't become acclimated to elevations above 20,000 feet unless they are native to such environments.

### Sylvanys

The junction of low, interconnected islands protected by the nearby mountains, marshes and hills makes for a unique location in Pelys. These forests remain warm and comparatively humid throughout the year, and enough rivers drain into it that the Sylvanys can support a rich basin of unique animal and plant life. The children of Cobalt, the goblinoids, long ago thrust out the wood elves from the Sylvanys and fortified their camps within its borders. The rich beauty of the cerulean forests contrasts the militant shouts heard from the grey stonework. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 10. Navigation - DC 15.

***Bewitching Wilds***. While time seems to pass normally in the Sylvanys, characters might spend a day there and realize, upon leaving the jungle, that less or more time has elapsed everywhere else in the multiverse. Whenever a creature or group of creatures leaves the Sylvanys after spending at least 1 day on that plane, they must roll on the below table. A *wish* spell can be used to remove the effect on up to ten creatures. Some powerful fey have the ability to grant such wishes and might do so if the beneficiaries agree to subject themselves to a *geas* spell and complete a quest after the wish spell is cast. There is a 10% chance days become minutes, a 20% chance days become hours, a 35% chance no change occurs, a 20% chance days become weeks, a 10% chance days become months and a 5% chance days become years.

### Plankspear

The mystical glacier perched in the heart of Pelys on the swell of the Celma: the Plankspear forms the highest point in Pelys, all the more dignified by the golden Tower at its highest point. Surrounding the base of the glacier at high elevation is the capitol of Heru, the cloud-piercing pride of the Imperium. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 20. Navigation - DC 15.

***Shadow of the Tower***. Creatures gain the benefit of the *bless* spell as long as they remain on the Plankspear, in sight of the Tower. In addition, finishing a long rest on the Plankspear while in sight of the Tower grants a creature the benefit of a *lesser restoration* spell. When a creature leaves the Plankspear, it must make a Charisma saving throw against a DC of 5, plus 1 for each day spent on the Plankspear. On a failed save, the creature becomes afflicted with a yearning to return to the Plankspear. As long as the effect persists, the creature has disadvantage on ability checks. At the end of each long rest, the creature can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. A *dispel evil and good* spell removes this effect from the creature. Each hour such a creature spends traveling at high altitude counts as 2 hours for the purpose of determining how long that creature can travel.

***High*** ***Elevation***. A creature exposed to the cold must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of each hour or gain one level of exhaustion. Creatures with resistance or immunity to cold damage automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do creatures wearing cold weather gear (thick coats, gloves, and the like) and creatures naturally adapted to cold climates. Each hour a creature spends traveling at high altitude counts as 2 hours for the purpose of determining how long that creature can travel. Breathing creatures can become acclimated to a high altitude by spending 30 days or more at this elevation. Breathing creatures can't become acclimated to elevations above 20,000 feet unless they are native to such environments.

***Psychic Resonance***. Non-sapient creatures and even objects have been known to awaken near the Tower, and whimsical psychic effects persist depending on the activity of the Tower-Lights and the current affairs of Heru.

### Blackbride

South of the Sylvanys, the fearful wetland called Blackbride receives its clear rivers from its southern glacial flows and acts as a natural barrier to the frigidity of water and wind. Its stands of sawgrass and islands of pines conceal a hidden world in the muck, shrubs and waves. Waterfowl coo from their hunting grounds and tapirs grunt from grassy mounds above the waterline. The occluded ecosystems not seen, as told by wayward travelers in Blackbride, include such engimas as floating huntenlight swarms and ambushes by mudmothers. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 10. Navigation - DC 15.

***Dark Marsh***. Travel in Blackbride can only be done using a water vehicle such as a canoe. If a party becomes lost in Blackbride, regaining their bearings takes twice as long as normal.

### Vulcenhorn

The northern mountainous peninsula that shields Thangendor's north coast belongs to the dwarves, a less elevated but more sheer range of mountains and spires. Its rivers and lakes wash the impossibly durable stonework of the inhabitants. While its sloped ascents never reach the great summits of the elves, its deep underground caverns and its crag-congested spires make it all the more difficult to traverse. Gryphons make their homes in this terrain, visible at times from the roads that snake through the wilds. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 10. Navigation - DC 15.

***Mountains and Hills***. Each hour a creature spends traveling at high altitude counts as 2 hours for the purpose of determining how long that creature can travel. Breathing creatures can become acclimated to a high altitude by spending 30 days or more at this elevation.

### Spanish Pan

Formerly known as the Balenhorn, this expansive dry lake steppe makes for a land of hard living. Its human inhabitants split between its *gaucho* nomads and its oligarch princes that only settled the land in the years following the Spaniards touching ground some centuries ago. A majority of the Spanish Pan lays fallow from salt fields and motionless rivers a few inches deep, which makes conquest both an improbable cause and a frivolous endeavor. Only in this flatland do wild horses roam, and above them flocks of flamingos and waterfowl search for home. Some also speak of wyverns that lurk in the hills and by the valuable wellsprings but these are rare occasions. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 15. Navigation - DC 5.

### Victorskell

The forested "Victory Hills" south of the Plankspear crosses over to both sides of the Celma, alternating between brushlands, willow-wood, pine lakes and ruins encased in soft hills. Because of its unique position between hills, mountains, wetland and rivers, it remains typically very dry and moderately temperate despite the soil being less than ideal for agriculture. The Victorskell was awarded to the elven knights of Vasserin and its fiefs divided between them; most of its history thereafter involved its changing hands between their descendants or the fortification in the face of great threats. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 10. Navigation - DC 10.

***Windswept***. Unless otherwise noted, wilderness locations become subject to *Extreme Cold* when weather conditions bring in antarctic winds from the south.

## Underworld

The land of the dead, where all are buried and all go to their rest, is also a grand city of dancing lights as well as entombed treasures. Creatures not accustomed to the Underworld (e.g. humans, surface-elves) must succeed on either a DC 10 Wisdom or a DC 10 Charisma saving throw if they take a short rest or a long rest, or else be afflicted with Despair.

### Kinginon

Closest to the surface is the Kinginon, housing the Imperium's outposts. Surface-dwellers make up most of the living here, descending down deeper only where they are called for their labors. The Kinginon sees the bustle of humanoid activity common to most surface locations, thanks to convenient access in Thangendor and Vulcenhorn. It formerly sustained tunnels to the Faeriedark, though in the years since the Schism these points of contact have all been collapsed and walled off, sealing the Kinginon from any routes deeper in the Underworld except through Phlegoth and the Kilderweep. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 10. Navigation - DC 10.

### Phlegoth

At the edges of the Kinginon, draining down into some lost void below, Phlegoth boils. The volcanic activity routes through here and magmatic flows build in its bowels. Most of Phlegoth sites beneath Cold Pelys, with a few branching paths to the Kinginon called the Scorchers. Since the onset of the Schism, almost all of the combat in the Underworld has taken place in these narrow passageways, though the inherent danger of stirring up volcanic wrath with the tremors of war has kept it to a minimum. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 20. Navigation - DC 15.

***Volcanic Heat***. Creature exposed to the heat and without access to drinkable water must succeed on a Constitution saving throw at the end of each hour or gain one level of exhaustion. The DC is 5 for the first hour and increases by 1 for each additional hour. Creatures wearing medium or heavy armor, or who are clad in heavy clothing, have disadvantage on the saving throw. Creatures with resistance or immunity to fire damage automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do creatures naturally adapted to hot climates.

### Kilderweep

Beneath the immediate surface caverns, the Kilderweep seas receive the aquifer waters and mountaincap runoff, pooling into a labyrinthian archipelago between the belly of the Earth and the highest of the mountains in Pelys. The Kilderweep is regarded most often as the Underworld's analogue to the Land of the Dead, a lonesome and otherworldly netherregion where the departed roam in silence like solemn passengers that lost their way. Few passages lead from the surface to the Kilderweep, and these few are almost all submerged. A precarious tunnel system from Phlegoth, the Ruddenhead, does lead to the higher drainage areas of the Kilderweep, though the usefulness of such access remains to be seen. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 15. Navigation - DC 15.

***Deepwelling***. All water in this region is considered frigid water. A creature exposed to the cold must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of each hour or gain one level of exhaustion. Creatures with resistance or immunity to cold damage automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do creatures wearing cold weather gear (thick coats, gloves, and the like) and creatures naturally adapted to cold climates.

***Haunted***. The dead and the undead both rest in the frozen cells of the Kilderweep. One can expect ghastly occurrences to occur here by provocations of spirits or other lingering terrors.

### Faeriedark

The under-elves, deep gnomes and duergar primarily populate the Faeriedark, an expansive lair situated in the mid-depth caverns overlooking the Brattelstorga. The Faeriedark is exclusively underneath Astrandor, and itself is a sort of geological anomaly. Its warped location radiates with an iridescent violet-blue tinge that signals its unusual magical character, and unlit under-elf cities constructed of solid black substance rise like stalagmites from the underlake floor. The Faeriedark runs directly to the surface through the Turzenchain, a series of industrial shafts that lead into Astrandor, which the under-elves keep under impregnable guard. A handful of other less-utilized networks wrap into the Kilderweep and Phlegoth. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 10. Navigation - DC 15.

***Sylvan Laughter***. A creature that leaves the Faeriedark must make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw. Fey creatures automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do any creatures, like elves, that have the Fey Ancestry trait. A creature that fails the saving throw remembers nothing from its time spent in the Faeriedark. On a successful save, the creature's memories remain intact but are a slightly hazy. Any spell that can end a curse can restore the creature's lost memories.

### Hypneton

An underground forest lurks below the Faeriedark, though few manage to find it amid the impossibly complex series of cavern passages that lead to it. The *unterelfen* fearfully avoid the Hypneton and refer to it as a singular, living entity, a cursed nexus of frightening intelligence that has its own longings, hungers, lores and treacheries. Those who venture into it and return acknowledge the Hypneton feels as though it watched them with a vengeful aspect. The underground haunt abounds with light from its luminescent fungi, and some have even procured from it artifacts from unknown and forever unknowable civilizations. The Hypneton sits between and slightly beneath the Faeriedark and the Kilderweep, connected to both by scarcely-traveled cave systems. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 15. Navigation - DC 15.

***Raptures of the Deep***. The Hypneton longs to drink the souls of those who inhabit it, and its desires seep into its visitors. A creature gains temporary hit points equal to half its hit point maximum whenever it reduces a hostile creature to 0 hit points. Whenever a creature casts a spell with a beneficial effect, including a spell that restores hit points or removes a condition, the caster must first make a DC 10 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, the spell fails, the spell slot is expended, and the action is wasted.

### Brattelstorga

The Brattelstorga is the mightiest of the Underworld oceans, possibly the deepest, fed by the glacial waters of western Pelys. It is also perhaps the largest section of the Underworld, stretching underneath Cold Pelys and extending beyond any map or chart. A majority of the mining operations in the Underworld take place in the depths here. While the cold Kilderweep stays cold, the volcanic vents in the Brattelstorga instantly warm whatever water it drinks from above, and the heat interaction fills the caverns with a burning haze of steam. The Brattelstorga to date can only be feasibly entered through the Faeriedark, though the under-waterfalls from the Kilderweep have been of interest to the Imperium since the Schism. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 20. Navigation - DC 15.

***Primordial Gloom***. The supernatural oppression of this dread respite for the forgotten is taxing upon the living. Creature exposed to the heat and without access to drinkable water must succeed on a Constitution saving throw at the end of each hour or gain one level of exhaustion. The DC is 5 for the first hour and increases by 1 for each additional hour. Creatures wearing medium or heavy armor, or who are clad in heavy clothing, have disadvantage on the saving throw. Creatures with resistance or immunity to fire damage automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do creatures naturally adapted to hot climates. At the end of each long rest taken in the Brattelstorga, a creature must make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature gains one level of exhaustion, which can't be removed while the creature remains in the Brattelstorga. If the creature reaches six levels of exhaustion, it dies, and its soul sinks into the Abyss. The creature thereafter cannot be revived short of a *wish* spell.

### Devildark

Somewhere deep, leering at the edge of the Abyss, the Devildark chambers were closed off long ago by the under-elves and buried, forgotten for good. During the crisis of Farsian rule and the return of the dragons, something emerged from the corners of the Underworld touching the Abyss that prompted the seizure and closure of these locations by the *unterelfen*. The nature and scope of the problem has since remained as mysterious as it is verboten. The nine entrances to the Devildark are all found in the Brattelstorga, with the possibility of any other points of access an uneasy concern. ***Wilderness***. Forage - DC 20. Navigation - DC 20.

***Sealed Forever***. The Devildark was enclosed for good reason. Magical efforts to leave the Devildark by any spell other than a *wish* simply fail. Portals and gates that open into the Devildark become one-way only. Secret ways in and out of the Devildark exist, but they are hidden and well guarded. Undead, fiends, oozes and aberrations in the Devildark have advantage on all saving throws. A vial of holy water purifies a 10-foot-square area of the Devildark when sprinkled on it, and a *hallow* spell purifies any ground in the region.

***Mirror Zone***. Avoid deceptions, reflections and illusions while near or within the Devildark. It dwells in the dark.

### Abyss

Below the deepest floor of the deepest Underworld ocean lies the inked Abyss, where no living creature can go.

***Lightless, Lifeless***. When a creature other than an undead or a construct enters the Abyss, it immediately dies. So long as it remains in the Abyss, it cannot be restored to life.