The Four Lesser Elemental Planes

Frostfell - The Elemental Plane of Ice

Located between the Elemental Planes of Air and Water, the Paraelemental Plane of Ice (or the Elemental Plane of Cold, as it's known to some Clueless with a skewed view of multiversal cosmology) is somewhat odd in not especially displaying characteristics of either. With neither the fluidity of Water nor the lightness of Air, it seems something of an odd manifestation in the Inner Planar structure. However, its relationship is somewhat more obvious upon closer examination. Ice itself consists of an infinite expanse of its titular material. Draw closer to Air, and the ice breaks away, forming massive blizzards atop the surface of the endless expanse in the region known as Precipice. Closer to Water, and the ice becomes less and less solid, eventually giving way to the ocean of motionless glaciers known as the Sea of Frozen Lives. Thus, it becomes more clear; Ice serves as the point of freezing transition between its parent planes.

Of course, like most planes beyond Air, breathing can be a concern in Ice. On Precipice, there is no worry about breathable air, as the entire region is filled with it. In the solid mass of the plane, though, it can be troublesome. Pockets of elemental air are one relief, and though these are more common than in other planes of a single solid mass such as Earth, they're still hardly a reliable resource. Some fissures and cracks in the ice also emit breathable air from the ice itself, but this isn't always enough to sustain a person's life. Such features only produce enough air for those that require it perhaps 75% of the time; the rest, it's a slow suffocation rather than a quick one.

Access to Ice is somewhat limited, as is the case for all the secondary Inner Planes, with portals to the Floating Plane being comparatively rare. Elemental vortices to Ice from the Prime tend to only occur in arctic or glacial areas, or in the centers of the harshest blizzards, and thus aren't often very accessible to planar travelers. As for other major portals, it's known that a two-way gate exists connecting Ice to Cania, and portals are believed to connect Ice to two especially frigid layers of the Abyss. Of these, only one is thought to be two-way, that between this plane and Soulfreeze, but the key for that portal is usually said to be a mortal soul, consumed in the transition; thus, few wish to investigate this claim in too much detail. A small few also claim the existence of a gate between Ice and the fiery layer of Muspelheim, but most consider such theories the ravings of barmies.

Fountains of Creation - The Elemental Plane of Magma

Bordering the inhospitable Elemental Plane of Earth and Elemental Plane of Fire, it shouldn't be a surprise to any traveler that Magma's an unpleasant place. It's easiest to imagine it as spewing out from the plane of Fire, whose leaping flames die down to a hellish glow and then spread in an evercooling mass to the plane of Earth.

The surface constantly churns and shifts as the scabrous, hardening chunks are churned back into the molten flow. Near the plane of Fire, this churning landscape bursts with occasional geysers of cryoplastic flow, lava that splatters nearby. Closer to the plane of Earth float pillars of solid rock, borne away by the searing tide.

Few extraplanars can survive this hostile land, so there are few places of note to visit. The most significant of these is Caldera, the stronghold of Chilimba, First General of the Cauldron and Master of All Mephits. This elemental lord claims dominance over the entire paraplane, and there are few to challenge his rule. The only visitors are the fiery Efreeti and the stolid Dao, who meet on this neutral ground to trade.

 Great Conflagration - The Elemental Plane of Ash 

Within the Plane of Ash lays a vast, dark lake. The lake’s waters, though darkened and chilled by the ash of the plane, are mysteriously pure and good to drink from. The water rests in the basin formed by a large, obsidian caldera. The caldera was once a roiling pocket of magma that burst and erupted like a volcano until the frigid, heat-sucking force of the Ash stole the pocket’s fire. It has since cooled enough to contain a large pool of placid water.

Strangely, the water is good to drink, though it is darkened from the ashen silt that has saturated it. The water even seems to have a beneficial effect on those stricken with illness or poison. The reason the water is potable remains dark.

Natives of the plane of Ash don’t much like the Caldera. A few ash mephits have hinted that the place is still moving, in danger of erupting again. While many Ash creatures feed hungrily on fire, they don’t like the magma, perhaps because of the violence with which the Caldera used to erupt.

 Swamp of Oblivion - The Elemental Plane of Ooze 

The Para-Elemental Plane of Ooze is a caustic sea of mud and slime, a quivering ocher ocean of muck. Formed where the Elemental Plane of Earth and the Elemental Plane of Water cross each other, this demiplane is only a fraction the size of its parent planes. Little relieves the unending ocean of sludge. While often mixed into a caustic slurry, denser pockets of material dot the world – globules of ooze, droplets of condensed acids, and the ever-precious bubbles of pure water. Large areas of pure mud, less caustic than much of the plane and filled with abrasive grit, occasionally find their center solidify into porous sandstone-like rocks, holding some of the only pure air on the plane and often serving as a home for the natives of the plane. The Para-Elemental Plane of Ooze is the home of all kinds of slimy creatures, along with a number of gelatinous outsiders and caustic magical beasts, but most dominant among them are the mud elementals, the oozes, and the djinn. As with all elemental planes, elementally-infused dinosaurs — long extinct on Creed — are common here. The plane is an ever-churning caustic slurry — few creatures are able to survive this world and even experienced travelers shy away from this place.