Beastlands

Template:Greyhawk Plane The Beastlands (more properly, the Wilderness of the Beastlands, also called the Happy Hunting Grounds, the Animal's Rest, and the Wildlands), is a neutral/chaotic good plane of existence.

The Beastlands is a plane of nature and animals. Peaceful alpine forests and groves of giant mushrooms can be found here. A varied climate exists across the plane, providing a suitable environment for many species of animals and plants. The number of traditional settlements is very small, with most inhabitants living beneath the trees out in the wilderness.

Inhabitants

The mortal souls that come to this plane after death take on animal traits soon after they arrive, developing pelts of fur and growing horns or pointed ears or other such features. Over the course of centuries they continue to slowly change, becoming celestial beasts.

The petitioners and denizens remain independent and self-sufficient, wandering alone or in groups through their own dreams and the great idealized dream of Nature itself. Visitors take on animalistic attributes as their true hidden selves shine through the boundaries they ordinary put up. The plane is filled with animals of all kinds: ordinary animals, the spirits of animals, and the souls of humanoids who have become animals in the afterlife.

The Sign of One faction dominates parts of this plane, as its members journey here to contemplate their true selves, live among dreams, and admire the beauty of the Creation they helped make with the power of their imaginations.

Cloudlike, collective beings called mortai drift overhead. In their misty forms can be distinguished faces and distant laughter. Flight spells are impossible on this plane.

Structure

As an Outer Plane, the Beastlands are spatially infinite, further consisting of three infinite layers (or sub-planes). The Beastlands first layer shares borders with the neighboring planes of the Olympian Glades of Arborea, the Blessed Fields of Elysium, and the Outlands; travel is possible between the Beastlands and these planes at certain locations. Portals in the Beastlands are large openings in hollow trees. These can be any kind of tree, but the same tree always leads to the same plane.

One prominent portal from the Beastlands to Arborea is known as the Roaring Gate (The Great Modron March, page 51). The River Oceanus is another common method of traveling from the Beastlands to Arborea; it is also used to travel from Elysium to the Beastlands.

Unlike most outer planes, the Beastlands have a single sun and moon visible throughout the plane rather than being limited to the realm of this or that solar or lunar deity. The sun, Selera, is visible on the daylit layer of Krigala and the twilit layer of Brux. The moon, Noctos, is visible on the twilit layer of Brux and the moonlit layer of Karasuthra.

Layers

The Beastlands consists of three layers:

Krigala

The River Oceanus, flows through the first layer, Krigala. Many lakes dot the plains in between the lush forests. Day and night does not occur normally on Krigala, but a continual late afternoon sun fills the sky. Gentle rains occur once per day allowing some measure of time passing.

Realms

• Grove of Perpetual Spring, the realm of Atroa.

• Skerrit's Glade, realm of the centaur deity Skerrit.

• The Grove of the Unicorns is the divine realm of Ehlonna, (the Greyhawk deity of forests and woodlands), and Mielikki (her Forgotten Realms counterpart). It exists at the base of several giant sequoias forming a natural cathedral between the branches.

• Filchnest, realm of the kenku deity Quorlinn.

• Goldenroost, home of Remnis, god of giant eagles.

• The Forbidden Plateau, an isolated realm filled with prehistoric animals.

• The Pridelands, home of Nobanion, the Forgotten Realms deity of lions, werelions, and wemics.

Brux

Day and night on Brux is still static like Krigala, but here it is eternally dusk. A silver moon can be seen in the opposite direction to the sunset. The temperature here is naturally lower than on Krigala.

Realms

• Al Karak Elam-Jhankhal, an avariel town.

• The Cat Lord's Prowl, domain of the Cat Lord, who shares his realm with Ferrix, the goddess of weretigers, though Ferrix usually prefers to wander.

• Findar Endar, the domain of the Forgotten Realms dwarf god Haela Brightaxe.

• The Library of All Knowledge, shared realm of the deities Deneir and Milil of the Forgotten Realms.

• Reastweal, home of the Indian deity Puchan.

• The wandering Seelie Court frequently appears on Brux, though never in the same place twice.

• Ursis, realm of the werebear god Balador.

Karasuthra

The lowest layer of Karasuthra is in continual night, with a single moon providing some illumination to the layer. The most dangerous creatures exist here, hunting their quarry through the night.

Realms

• Stormhold, home of the giant god Stronmaus.

• The Misty Valley, home of the Japanese deity Kura-Okami.

• Zhan, the Grand Forest Beyond the World, shared realm of the Dragonlance deities Chislev, Zivilyn, and Habbakuk.

Fauna

• Beast dragon
• Hollyphant
• Mortai

Creative origins

The Beastlands are based on the happy hunting ground in some Native American mythologies, and the plane was referred to by that name in the game's first edition.

Bibliography

• Baker, Richard, and James Wyatt. Player's Guide To Faerûn. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.

• Boyd, Eric L., and Erik Mona. Faiths and Pantheons. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2002.

• Grubb, Jeff. Manual of the Planes. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1987.

• Grubb, Jeff, David Noonan, and Bruce Cordell. Manual of the Planes. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.

• McComb, Colin. On Hallowed Ground. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1996.

• McComb, Colin, and Monte Cook. The Great Modron March. Renton, WA: TSR, 1997.

• McComb, Colin, Dale Donovan, and Monte Cook. Planes of Conflict. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1995.

• Noonan, David. Complete Divine. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.

• Perkins, Christopher. Warriors of Heaven. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1999.

• Wyatt, James, Darrin Drader, and Christopher Perkins. Book of Exalted Deeds. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2003.