Arborea

It is a plane of passion and peace.

It is abundant nature in its patchwork glory.

It is the domain of the Elven Lords. The Greek Pantheon. And the Roman Gods.

Yet only the top layer of Arborea has the great forest implied in the name of the plane. Arborea's second layer is an endless ocean, and its third layer a borderless desert of white dust. All three layers are places of mercurial weather, sudden attacks, and strong passions. Arborea is a plane of joy and sorrow.


The Olympian Glades of Arvandor are a crazy quilt of climates and environments, all of which thrive. Arvandor contains great woods of towering maples, birch, and oak. These great deciduous trees strain skyward, leaving a forest floor relatively free of undergrowth and brush.

The ground beneath the canopy itself is a rolling landscape of velvet moss and ferns. But the forestscape sometimes retreats before open glades of wildflowers, fields of swaying wheat and barley, and neat rows of fruit trees untended by any human hand. Here are trees that have never seen the woodsman's axe, fields rich with grain, and orchards heavy with fruit.

The very air of Arvandor seems charged with anticipation and excitement.

Sudden squalls brew up out of nowhere, beating the tree-lined paths with heavy winds. They pass within minutes and leave behind warm, sunny arcs of light filtering through the forest canopy. In the distance there always seems to be music; sometimes the elves and the fey are playing, but just as often the faint tune is merely the wind curling through the boles of the great trees.

Arvandor is a place with flowers in bloom and trees bearing fruit simultaneously. There are uplands covered with snow, but even the snow shines beneath a crystal blue sky.

Arvandor is almost overwhelming in its beauty, and the land embodies both wilderness and loveliness in one package.

The Beastlands' top layer is Krigala, split in two by the River Oceanus. The river flows through the layer in a strong torrent, flanked by verdant forests that often bridge the great river with intertwined branches above. Small side channels depart from the river, and there are numerous bayous and oxbow lakes formed whenever this extraplanar river alters its banks.

Krigala is a land of eternal afternoon. A warm sun basks the land in its continual glow. It is just warm enough in Krigala for the plant life of the area, and temperatures remain in a comfortable range unless manipulated by spells or divine will.

Time passes normally but is not tracked by the moving of the sun.

Instead, gentle rains drift in on soft breezes once per day. More rarely, occasional thunderstorms strike, sending many of Krigala's beasts to cover.

The centaur deity Skerrit lives in Krigala with his closest petitioners.

Skerrit is a lesser deity, but he is greatly venerated by the centaurs. The deity's realm looks little different from the surrounding woods, and the homes of his petitioners are often small huts and lean-tos. When a feast is called (and that's often if you're a centaur), the centaurs set out great tables in the midst of the forest, trusting to Krigala's benign nature and Skerrit's power to keep them in line. Skerrit's petitioners take centaur form but are otherwise similar to other Beastlander petitioners. They attack as centaurs do. In extreme cases, Skerrit might arm them, but such events are exceedingly rare.

Most of the creatures encountered in Krigala would be active during the day if they lived on the Material Plane. Most of the native life has a basic understanding of how me portals between the layers work, and they can avoid the portals instinctively if they choose.

The Grove of the Unicorns: Deep within the Beastlands is the realm of Ehlonna, deity of forests and woodlands. The grove sits at the base of a cluster of great sequoias that form a natural cathedral for those beneath the canopy. The lowest branches of the great redwoods are hundreds of feet in the air, such that those with wings can fly through Ehlonna's cathedral without difficulty. Those who reside within the borders of Ehlonna's realm live in peace with the trees and animals, and they are similarly left alone by the wild creatures. The thinking creatures of the Beastlands adore Ehlonna, such that she is often aware of occurrences that happen far from her Realm.

True to its name, the grove attracts groups of unicorns. These are both unicorns with the celestial template and half-celestial/half-unicorns. In addition, there are flocks of bariaurs in Ehlonna's service. The grove is not far from Skerrit's realm; centaur petitioners are found in Ehlonna's realm and half-celestial/half-unicorns in Skerrit's.

Ehlonna has taken advantage of the Beastlands' divinely morphic trait to give her realm the enhanced magic trait. Ehlonna has the power to make other alterations to the traits within her realm, if she so desires.

Not many Powers call the Beastlands their home plane. Mortal souls arrive in the Beastlands based on their alignment or philosophy; good with a lean toward chaos over order.

These petitioners take on the aspects of natural animals soon after their arrival in the Beastlands (formerly known as the Happy Hunting grounds). How soon, and what animal depends completely upon the petitioner. Some let themselves go within hours of arriving, others hold on for years (as the Primes reckon them).

Many Native peoples who hold with their old ways spend their after lives in the Beastlands. Among that number, those who prefer mid-day gravitate toward and settle on Krigala.

It is Krigala where Thorn's maternal line, with a few generations skipped here and there, settled after the ending of their lives. Because of this, the redneck visits the Plane at least once a year, though her visits are usually more frequent than that.

The Golden Vale

The Vale is a five story building in one of the many Skin Districts in Sigil. The building was built to wrap around a massive courtyard which has been covered over with clear sheets of glass strong enough and thick enough to support the weight of forest like gardens, and resilient enough to survive countless feet, hooves, paws, etc. scampering over its surface in pursuit of delight.

The ground floor of the Vale was designed as meeting rooms, dining halls, gathering places both large and small. The feasts served here are superb and well worth the price for those who had the jink in their pockets to cover it.

Above the ground floor, well the Vale is a brothel that caters to an extremely wide variety of tastes among a select clientele. If a patron wishes it, it will be provided, no matter the cost.

Despite the exorbitant fees commanded of its patrons for an evening's entertainment, the Vale is always busy. And always discreet. While many of its competitors trade in secrets and gossip, the Vale keeps what happens behind closed doors, silent.

With membership, even a visitor's pass, requiring a token, a personal introduction from a member in good standing, and the initial fee of-- well putting a numerical value on an evening of exactly what you want, exactly the way you want it, exactly when you want it is a bit, gauche don't you think? With these standards in place, it is exceedingly rare that a reveler finds their evening disrupted.

Though it has been known to happen. The disposal of the offending party, or parties, is a service provided free of charge of course.

Kaos Coffee


General Info

Hours of operation: Mid-morning 'til well after midnight. Seven days a week. Closed on all Major Rhy'din Holidays.

Layout

Rather than a traditional coffee shop Kaos is set up in an old storefront, which means that the service floor is a long rectangle from front to back.

The floors are old and scuffed wood, honey colored pine under the varnish. There's a walk-way down the middle of the lounge wide enough for four adult men to walk side by side comfortably that leads back to the "bar." Against the walls on either side of this "corridor" are groupings of couches, loveseats, and overstuffed arm chairs around coffee tables.

Each grouping is set up rather like someone's living room; the chair with its back against the wall facing inward, couch and loveseat facing each other over the low coffee table set conveniently in between. There's about three to five inches of space between each "section", and the sections march all the way back to the bar.
The accoustics are such that even when the lounge is packed it's possible to have a private conversation with one or more people without having to raise your voice, or lean close enough to whisper back and forth. The atmosphere is laid back but not lazy. For the most part the customer base falls into the categories of; young, upwardly mobile, beatnik-ish, trendy, moderately alternative, and centered.

As the lounge is set on the edge of what used to be a "hub" for an upper-middle class neighborhood (but is now more tuned toward those with an artistic or fringe bend), the feel is in keeping, and makes sense.
Kaos is the type of place you might bring a friend after catching a play in one of the 'Houses nearby, or meet up with friends for a quiet no-clean up evening out, or for that matter meet up with someone for one of those first date outings. Some patrons choose to settle back with a book, others bring their laptops to catch up on homework or some project or another for work, or simply to email family and friends.

The overall feel is very close to the living room of a friend, with a coffee bar at the back of course.

To the right of the front door is a small raised stage with two mid-sized speakers to be used for Tuesday nights' open mic/poetry reading event. To the left is an old upright piano, the veneer is fading and flaking here and there but it's kept perfectly in tune and damn well cared for. In the back, beside the short hall that leads to the restrooms is a pool table, a quarter a game if you feel like dealing with warped sticks.

No alcoholic drinks are served at Kaos. No food is served here. Just excellent coffee made the way you want it made, and Italian Sodas (which really are just flavored syrups and carbonated water, most often fruit of some sort, served in heavy, lead free vases instead of glasses). None of the furniture matches, none of the cups match, and none of the vases for the sodas match. There are no uniforms for the staff; only the dress code which states - tasteful please! and nothing more.

Customers bus their own tables, and order their own drinks, and no one complains about this arrangement as it keeps the cost of said drinks down to very reasonable instead of outrageous as in some other, larger establishments.

Staff

Derek, Manager. At twenty nine, and a Rhy'din native, Derek knows his way around the block, and a couple over too. Doesn't mean he's going to do anything stupid any time soon though. The boy loves his job, and totally digs the vibe the place has going on. Easily recognized by his rainbow dreads and smiling green eyes, the day shift is his domain.

Staria, Assistant Manager. A little heavy, a little cheery, and a lot nerdy, Staria has a lot going on inside that red head of hers, and isn't afraid to share her opinion when called upon to do so. From Dr. Who to Harry Potter, she wasn't afraid of being wrong, neither was she afraid of being right. Brown eyed, fair skinned, with dark red hair and a smattering of freckles across her nose, the twenty-three year old had a lot of life to live, and a lot of living in her. The evening shifts were hers and she was just as likely to be gaming at a side table as she was to be studying behind the counter.

Terri, Mid-shift. With pale blue eyes, and the foolishly arrogant attitude of most young humans, Terri looked at life like an adventure. Though that adventure might one day be the end of her. She has a ready laugh, a warm heart, and an open mind as well as a work ethic that just won't quit. While she might be the type of person to take the pill you find in your couch and tell you what it does when she's off the clock, at work she's all about her customers. Bleached blonde hair and barely more hip than a boy, tanned skin and knobby knees. She favors flowing skirts and what's come to be known as the Boho style.

Sky, Mid-Shift floater. Young, and confident with it. He's barely old enough to buy a beer after work, and had one too many arguments with Captain Morgan to ever want to drink Rum again. Not quite six feet tall, with deep blue-grey eyes and dirty blond hair. A heavy build that requires some upkeep to keep from going to seed, and a pair of dimples that just won't quit. He's good natured, and slow to rile. Though his mouth does have a tendency to run away with him when he's finally decided he's been pushed too far.

(Since Kaos is a hangout type place, and there's neither booze nor food involved, I think it'd be best if it was a violence free zone. Arguments are one thing, but all out fights should be taken "outside." Player staff are more than welcome to flesh out the four NPCs I have listed here, just ask. Feel free to use. Please don't maim, wreck, kill, slaughter, wound, trash, destroy or cause harm to. )

The Tiefling's Den

Hours of Operation: West Bar: Breakfast through Dinner. East Bar: Dinner past Midnight.

Layout

The Tiefling's Den is actually two buildings connected by a canopied breezeway the patrons have begun calling a porch. Behind the complex, in the middle of a large grassy area is a pool that is always kept sparkling clean, and is always the perfect temperature (even in the middle of the winter).

The Den caters to persons with more ... exotic tastes in refreshment. A seedy establishment where information can be exchanged over a meal that may or may not have been someone's favored pet (in pretty much any connotation of the term) an hour or two before. Slicked over with the sort of gloss and shine that had tourists, and more than a few locals wondering whether or not the rumors were truth or fiction.

Anything, everything quite nearly, available in the Multiverse for the right price, can be acquired through contacts made over a truly excellent steak, or a glass of superb wine.

The Porch


Nestled between the blacktop of the parking lot, the pool behind and both east and west bars stood the porch. A few tables scattered around. Two wooden swinging benches, two stationary ones and a couch made from leather, the pattern was odd so please don't ask what it was from you might not like it. A bit sheltered as there was a translucent canopy stretching from end to end. Service windows from both Bars at the northern end.

The walls of the front of both bars having a black rod iron lining the stone. A spiraling and chaotic pattern on either side. The stone of the ground would hold the same pattern as well etched into its surface though great care had been taken to fill in the etching with white marble and solidified so there there were no gouges or tripping hazards.

West Bar


The west bar's interior looks like natural formed stone and feels like it as well.
Low set tables and wide cushioned chairs adorning each. Booths set along the walls only broken by two hearths.
A swinging door to the far end just behind a wood grained bar on the north side of the room.
Behind the bar menus stood aplenty and ranging from the most plain to exotic tastes. Not too much on the drink though it looked like all that was served here was food and lighter drinks.
Small glowing stones held in reflective holders along the ceiling making the place a rather warm and hospitable setting.
To the west end of the bar stood another door marked bathrooms. Though you might think that is the place to relieve yourself it is not.
Inside the room you would find a communal tub tiled in light blue for those that are tired to soak in and relax.

Staff

Joran - Half elf Male, Tender. 5'5" 130 pounds Red hair green eyes tanned, around thirty years old.
Daritariax - Cambion Male, Chef. 6'1" 290 White hair black eyes pock marked black skin, around sixty years old.
Zovarath - Steam mephit, Cooking Assistant. 4'1" tall 80 pounds. Grey eyes, dark blue skin.
Vax - Fire mephit, Cooking Assistant. 4'3" tall 100 pounds. Black eyes brick red skin.
Sarah - Human Female, Waitress. 5'9" 140 pounds around twenty-seven years old. Blond hair and blue eyes.
Brandon - Centaur Male, Waiter/Bouncer. 6'8" tall around thirty-five years old. Black roan, black hair and green eyes.
Jenny - Human Female, Waitress. 5'3" tall 97 pounds around twenty-seven years old. Red hair and green eyes.
Verin - Human Female, Waitress. 5'6" tall 190 pounds around forty-two years old. Brown hair and hazel eyes.

East Bar


Through the east doors is what everyone seems to want.
A large room with tables and chairs everywhere spread almost haphazardly.
A center hearth in the middle of the room and two others at the north wall and one on the south.
A bar against the east wall running the length of the tavern.
The back bar is stocked with shelves of beer and liquor containers showing off what the place had.
Hanging tapestries adorning the walls of battles and hunts, not to mention a few that looked like a knight in courtly love with the one he wasn't supposed to be in love with.
Wide double doors on the northern wall next to the hearth marked lavatory.
The lighting in the place was dim though not hard to see in as there were those glow stones around the ceiling though no reflective surfaces and not as many as the West Bar.

Staff

Zuu - Gnome Female, Tenderess. 4'3" tall, 83 pounds around sixty years old. Brown hair, and brown eyes.
Rochelle - Half-Giant Half-Human Female, Bouncer. 7'6" tall 250 pounds around twenty-nine years old. Blond hair, and blue eyes.
Gemeni - Half-Elf Male, Server 5'9" tall 160 pounds around twenty-three years old. Multi-colored hair (green, blue, white, and red), with silver eyes.
Arran - Elf Female, Server. 5' tall 80 pounds around one hundred and forty years old. Silver hair, and green eyes.
Goran - Hill Dwarf Male, Server. 4'6" 170 pounds around fifty years old. Brown hair, and brow eyes.
Felicia - Half Drow Female, Server. 4'8" tall 95 pounds around seventy years old. White hair, and red eyes.

(If you'd like your character to work at the Den, in either bar, feel free to drop me a line and we'll get it set up. Feel free to use. Please don't destroy or wreck the place or kill or maim or wound the staff.)

Garden Of Thorns Catering

Operating out of the basement kitchens of the Pub which shares the same name, the Garden Of Thorns Catering company has been in business well over a decade.

Originally operating out of the kitchen of a private home, over the years the Garden has grown its customer base steadily one wildly successful event at a time.

From an afternoon tea for three to a formal Wedding dinner for two hundred, no job is too big, or too small for the staff to handle. Fully inclusive everything from table linens and flatware to servers and bar-staff can be included in any event.

(Mostly staffed by NPCs, the Garden is available for pretty much any event. If a player prefers, their character can contact Thorn directly for a more detailed meeting. Feel free to, respectfully, use the Garden.)

The Black Sands Inn and Tavern

Located well outside the city proper, the Black Sands has been considered by more than a few a destination location.

A venerable old building, well loved by generations of proprietors and patrons alike, the Inn is a three storied affair situated on the eastern shore of a large lake, from which the Inn gets its name. Sugar fine, the sands are volcanic black, and the water perfectly clear to a depth of twenty feet.

The grounds surrounding the Inn have been left predominantly in tact, with only the most skillful of taming and training, and the bare minimum of clearing when needed. A wide, paved lane leads from the main road, curving back into the woods to lead to the Inn's yard.

Made of the same rock and wood construction as the Inn itself the stables are always manned, with stableboys on hand to settle your mount or team after a thorough cooling out and rubbing down.

The common room is kept scrupulously clean, with staff meandering about with a purpose to keep their custom's evenings as worry free, and positive as possible. A river stone heard takes up the corner of two walls, the bar takes up two thirds of the wall opposite that. Chairs and tables, dark with age and shining with loving care, are scattered throughout the room. Stairs lead up to the upper-stories for those with rooms, or those who simply wish to freshen up after a hard day of travel in the bathing rooms.

By special request, or arrangement, the Grand Ball Room can be used for private parties of just about any sort.

Located down a long stone walled and torch lit hall beneath the wine cellars, the Grand Ball Room lives up to its name. Past the bronze banded oak door the room opens up into a Ball Room fit for a High Feast. The walls are lovingly worked pale grey stone, perfectly cut to fit cheek-by-jowl with its neighbor, and rubbed and polished silk smooth. Sconces and chandeliers loaded with torches and candles offer plenty of warm, golden light when lit. Even then, however, there's an ethereal, otherworldly quality to the room's ambient light.

The ceiling in the center of the room is glass. Thick as hell, and tempered masterfully to readily, easily, withstand the pressure of the lake overhead. Starlight and moonlight filter down through the perfectly clear waters overhead, adding their rippling dappled shadows to the candles and torches. When the moons are full, a party has the unique perspective of watching them travel the sky from underwater.

Booked well in advance, reservations are required for the Ball Room, please inquire within.

(Staffed by NPCs, I'll try to flesh them out later. Feel free to use. If your character'd like to work at the 'Sands, drop me a line and we'll get it set up. Please don't maim, wreck, kill, slaughter, wound, trash, destroy or cause harm to.)