The Plane of Air is an elemental plane connected to Panoulis. As its name would suggest, this plane is woven together primarily by the ethereal element of Air and, subsequently, is the preferred plane of air elementals. Its entrance lies near the Windswept Plains of northern Panoulis, just north of Seraphim.
Geography[]
While the layout of the land of the plane of air is analogous to that of Panoulis, it is hardly recognizable. Where oceans lay and gently rock in Panoulis, violent yet contained whirlwinds and storms rage in the plane of air. Coastlines are pummeled with surf of dense air and gases rather than seawater. It is because of this that sand is not common on coastlines - a stark contrast with Panoulis. "Swimming" is generally an activity only practiced by air elementals, as most creatures are too dense to stay afloat in the seas of wind - the aeros, they're called. It usually isn't practiced for fun, but rather for displays of endurance and strength within the various groups of elementals. Some of the inhabitants of this plane have developed a sort of buoyant ship used to ferry passengers across the aeros. These aeros are effectively bottomless. "Falling" down into an aero will leads to the sky of the plane. The rich variety of gases in the aero are what lead to the strikingly vibrant colors observed far above the land in the sky - they often spill out of the bottom of the sea into the sky.
The land itself is mostly devoid of significant vegetation. Soil loose enough to be fertile is taken by the wind to places unknown, and the brutal windstorms typically uproot any plants that try to take hold in the rock. Ironically, plants that manage to squeeze roots into the stone shatter and break their only anchor from the buffeting wind. This constant battle of wind against the ground leaves the landscape as cold, gray, unforgiving earth - a somber sight to take in for visitors to the plane of air, but a familiar and comfortable sight for its inhabitants. The wind's constant whittling of the earth carves out and presses together wondrous shapes in the land, throwing up monstrous cliffs and tearing them down mere years later. Land farthest away from coastlines is ground up into fine dust, creating even more uninhabitable(by conventional organisms, at least) terrain. The landscapes there are streaked with massive columns and arches of the strongest stone that have stood the weathering of the wind and proudly protrude from the constantly shifting sea of sand below them.
The sky above the land is a painting of many shades of gray, brown, and blue; swirls of one color collide with strokes of another, which are then pervaded by large fronts of another color. The sky is revered almost as a deity in the air plane by some groups, and is a sight to behold to its visitors. It's seen in varying degrees of wonder by the plane's inhabitants; while some make it a point to soak in its beauty every day, some take it for granted and only passingly throw it a glance. Storms rarely bring rain as in Panoulis; rather, they're defined in the plane of air as being periods of increased wind activity.
Occasionally, large chunks of land are held afloat by immensely powerful air currents known as "kickstreams". These large chunks stabilize the flow of air and generally stay in place for thousands of years, only finally falling when split apart into pieces by the wind. Further adding to the stability of these islands is the curious effect of a violent circulation of wind in this plane - gravity's forces are counteracted more and more effectively as you rise in altitude in the plane of air. Eventually, a point is reached at which neither force in more powerful, and many airborne organisms live at this altitude and passively take in nutrients from the rich gases surrounding them.
Inhabitants[]
The plane of air is inhabited by a mostly docile group of airborne organisms. These organisms live off of the nutrients taken from gases that are circulated throughout this plane. A smaller but still signifcant population of air elementals live on the ground in naturally occurring caves and alcoves of this plane. They form cities in networks of interconnected caves, preferring to live in stagnant and stable air. While air elementals are stronger in the presence of winds, they do not live comfortably in it. A brave few air elementals do, however, form settlements exposed to the effects of wind, harnessing its power for their own benefit.
Air elementals are split up into several groups, just as humans are. They do not all share similar ideologies. However, many of them are neutral toward outsiders; neither warm nor cold.
Primal Lord[]
The primal lord of the plane of air is an air elemental. However, he is so massive that it's difficult to even realize he is a single entity - he exists effectively as a colossal, motionless storm. His body is so massive that the workings of his body act as a storm on the surface of the wind plane, stretching across miles of land and tearing away voraciously at those who attempt to pass through him, but never those outside of him. At the center of his body lies, much like a true storm, a peaceful "eye". It is here, and here alone, that those who successfully make it through his body can interact with this lord. His heart resides here in a vaguely humanoid shape, outlined by rushing winds. This peaceful center is only a few dozen feet across, and is mostly insignificant - however, it is one of the few places in the plane of air that has growing vegetation. It holds two of the five total trees in the plane of air and all of the grass. The heart of this lord can often be found sitting on a modestly crafted wooden bench in the center of this bizarre park.
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