Maelstrom

Collectively referred to as the Maelstrom (or Limbo), vast swathes of uncharted, unclaimed terrain metaphysically border and surround each of the planes on the Outer Sphere. Mysterious and dangerously chaotic lands untouched by the gods, these regions lack the cohesive stability present in all of the other planes; even the brutal depths of the Abyss possess a structure that the Maelstrom does not. Some scholars believe the Maelstrom to be ancient, pre-dating all other places in the multiverse, with the possible exception of the Abyss. Certainly, the proteans are associated with the discovery of the Abyss.

## Structure

When viewed from the edge of another plane, the Maelstrom’s (also known as Limbo) features appear much like that of its adjacent neighbor. The differences grow more profound farther away from the stabilizing anchor of the borderlands, eventually falling back into the mutable freedom of perpetual change in a vast churning sea of possibility called the Cerulean Void. The Maelstrom defies the efforts of mapmakers, as its very character shifts and flows like the tide of an unseen ocean, to which the borderlands are but shores and calm shallows. Crystalline forests melt like candle wax into shallow brine seas with jewel-like icebergs, and then sublimate to vast parched deserts, all within the stretch of days. Still, islands of stability do exist within the depths of the Maelstrom. Petty gods, exiled fiends, and fallen celestials rule such islands, and even the rare stronghold of a mortal wizard or priest-king can be found here, holding itself against the metaphysical lapping tide. Creatures wandering in from the structured planes, long since grown native, populate the Maelstrom’s borderlands, often possessing characteristics and behaviors at odds with their origins. Deeper still, the mysterious serpentine proteans thrive within an environment of plastic potentiality. Claiming to be the first children of the Outer Planes, the proteans worship alien, godlike beings they refer to as the Speakers of the Depths, whom scholars speculate to be something akin to a pair of conjoined gods or a single dualistic entity.

The Maelstrom is infused with the quintessence of destroyed outsiders whose energies fail to reach planes of their own alignments, and it grows by eroding and consuming quintessence from planes of the Outer Sphere. Such quintessence returns to its unaligned potentiality via the Antipode, an aeon-guarded hub that redistributes it back to the Positive Energy Plane.

*Source*

## Residents

Creatures wandering in from the structured planes, long since grown native, populate the Maelstrom's borderlands and often possess characteristics and behaviors at odds with their origins. Deeper still, chaos beasts, chaos incarna, and the mysterious serpentine proteans thrive within an environment of plastic potentiality. Claiming to be the first children of the Outer Sphere, the keketar, imentesh, and naunet proteans worship the Maelstrom itself and the godlike beings they refer to as the Speakers of the Depths, whom scholars speculate to be something akin to a pair of conjoined gods or a single dualistic entity. Screaming owlbears are also said to inhabit the Maelstrom.

**Proteans**: A protean is a large, serpentine creature with arms and an armored snake-like torso. They are the children and harbingers of the primal chaos of the Maelstrom, which they worship. Subtypes include the ephemeral voidworm, brutish naunet, clever imentesh, princely keketar, and the unique protean lord. The internal anatomy of a protean is mutable, and all proteans have the ability to change their outward form. Proteans all have the ability to fly, and cannot be held or captured by normal means. Proteans have no innate gender, but can take on any gender they feel like, including none or both at the same time. Some proteans are created by reproduction (requiring two or more proteans), while some are formed directly from the raw chaos of the Maelstrom, and others are mortal souls that have been transformed into proteans.

*Source*

## Physical Traits

* **Subjective Directional Gravity and Normal Gravity**: On the few islands of stability within the Maelstrom, gravity is more likely to be normal (down is toward the center of mass). Everywhere else, gravity is subjective directional.

* **Erratic Time**
* **Highly Morphic**
* **Strongly Chaos-Aligned**
* **Wild Magic and Normal Magic**: On the few islands of stability within the Maelstrom, magic is more likely to be normal. Magic is wild everywhere else.

*Source*

## Notable Locations

### The Seawraith

Besmara, the Pirate Queen, wanders the Maelstom on a pirate ship known as the Seawraith. The depiction of the vessel changes depending on who views it, changing its appearance to the viewers cultural idea of a warship. Sometimes she leads armadas or floating wreckage of the undying in her wake.

### The Ossuary

A seemingly massive, ancient temple of protean architecture. Their is no writing on the wall of the temple in any language and all that seems to remain are the bones of those who sought its secrets littering the floors. At center of the temple are three shallow pools, possibly for ritual bathing or sacrifice. Two are empty while the third is filled with a golden liquid whose consistency is always changing and is both hot and cold to the touch. Some believe that the pools with grant any wish while others caution that it simply kills. The location of the Ossuary is constantly changing, making it impossible to place on a map.

### Jandelay

Jandelay is a mysterious person, location, or creature connected to the mythical Oliphaunt of Jandelay. It may be the first person to record the Oliphaunt's existence, the Oliphaunt's progenitor, or the place from which it hails. The epic poem *Jandelay* implies that Jandelay is a place of green fields and spires somewhere within the chaos of the Maelstrom, and that the Oliphaunt is Jandelay's eternal guardian.

### Sydrixus

The pocket plane acting as the planar realm of Ydersius, the god of the serpentfolk. Since Ydersius' defeat at the hands of Savith, the plane has not been accessible by the god nor his servants, including his herald: the Emperor of Scales.