Ecstasy was the gate-town leading to the Blessed Fields of Elysium from the Outlands.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Description[]
The town was sometimes called the City of Plinths, because it contained hundreds of monolithic pedestals, scattered about like trees.[2][3][4] Some looked liked standing stones; others were intricately carved or sculpted.[3] Most plinths were made of stone or iron, but the most important was made of polished ivory.[2][3] The Bone Plinth rose from the center of town, and at top was located the gate, or portal, to Elysium, in the form of a pool of quicksilver.[2][3] Everything around the Bone Plinth seemed somehow brighter and more vibrant, and those standing nearby felt a powerful sense of peace.[3] Entering into the pool, travelers would find themselves on the layer of Amoria, on the banks of the River Oceanus, a few hours, by foot, from the guardinal settlement of Release-From-Care.[2][3]
The town had many open spaces filled with gardens, orchards, and parks. The manors and buildings were clustered around the towns crossroads. The town had a wide range of architectural styles, but most found that it all blended together quite nicely.[2]
Like all gate-towns, Ecstasy was strongly influenced by the nature of the plane to which it was linked, Elysium, yet it exhibited enough distinctions to prevent it from being pulled into that Outer Plane. The populace of Ecstasy believed in the virtues of happiness and personal evolution into better people.[3] The citizens were never in any rush to do anything, and the town provided for all of their needs. If they had anything against them, it was that they tended to be very impulsive and direct.[2]
Visitors to Ecstasy found a rural settlement where people lived a life of peaceful whimsy and simplicity, yet ever striving for personal betterment through contemplation.[3] Many petitioners would spend time sitting atop the plinths, deep in thought,[2][3] sometimes for days on end.[2]
Geography[]
An illustrated map of Ecstasy.
Ecstasy was located about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from the Spire, between the gate-towns of Faunel and Tradegate.[3] It took a traveller about three to eighteen days to reach the Flowering Hill heading spireward from Ecstasy.[2]
Government[]
The government of Ecstasy was not a standard type of government. It was ruled by two different figures, one for the day and night cycles of the Outlands. The daylight leader was called the Sun Master—even though the Outlands had no sun[7]—while the nightime leader was called the Dark Hunter.[2][3] These two mortals defended and judged the town, but the settlement had few actual laws beyond the rule, "Do no evil."[3] "Evil" in the citizens eyes was anything that prevented someone from growing in virtue.[2] Theft and trespassing were illegal, but such events were often excused as "borrowing" or "exploring".[2] The two rulers let the citizens deal with most matters, in quickly gathered people's courts, and usually only needed to deal with more dangerous matters.[2]
In the later 14th century DR, by Faerûnean counting, the Sun Master of Ecstasy was a human woman named Regialia Tonn. The Dark Hunter at that time was an aasimar man called Karo Janter.[2][3]
Notable Locations[]
A map of Ecstasy.
Counterclockwise from the Bone Plinth and within view of the town center stood the Solrise Tower. This was the court of the Sun Master. The tower was covered in amber mosaics and sparkled in the light of the day.[3]
At night, the gates to the Solrise Tower were barred, and those of the Moondark Tower were opened.[2][3] This stone tower with glittering silver patterns of light served as the court of the Dark Hunter. It was located opposite the Bone Plinth from the Sunrise Tower.[3]
The town also contained a large marble amphitheater called the Philosopher's Court.[3] Led by the Philosopher King, the Court was a place where philosophers, religious followers, and factions argued their world views and strove to gain converts through heated debate.[2][3] Petitioners tried to convince the listeners to act more in line with ways of Elysium, so that the town might some day be merged with that other realm.[2][3] The Philosopher King was charged with moderating the debates, and, in fact, he possessed an unknown power that somehow prevented any violence from occuring, no matter how heated the debates became.[2][3] The Philosopher's Court was covered in symbolism from the cultures of the guardinals and the rilmani. It was located anti-spireward from the town center.[3]
Vigorous debate in the Philosopher's Court.
The Philosopher King was at one time a wizard named Kagorius,[2][3] but he was later replaced by a reformed ultroloth by the moniker Felthis ap Jerran.[3]
The town of Ecstasy included a Temple District[2][3] that included a shrine to the Cadence[3] and a temple to the Faerûnian sun god Lathander,[2][3] as well as sites of worship to Isis, Enlil, Majere, and Mishakal.[2]
The most famous tavern in the town was called the Revelhome.[2][3] At least one famous sage of Toril once called it "the ultimate festhall".[2] It was owned by a veiled and hooded[2][3] medusa[3] named Madame Millanni.[2][3] The tavern was a place for exotic delights, rich wines, and delicious food,[2][3] but the threat of being turned into stone prevented any debauched hedonism from occuring.[3] Indeed, the garden outside the tavern was full of humanoid statues.[2][3]
The World Serpent Inn, which had connections to many locations in the multiverse, including to an inn in Arabel called The Wild Goose,[8][9] exited to a tiny cottage on the counterclockwise edge[note 2] of the town.[3]
A portal to Sigil was also found in the town, spireward of the Revelhome. This gate appeared as a granite archway. The portal key was a flower blossom, which only functioned if the the bearer smiled. This gate was the source of most of the town's merchants and mortals both but also a source of most of its problems, as those opposed to the town's outlook could easily enter.[3]
Inhabitants[]
Three in ten inhabitants of the town were full-blooded human, but another 20% were planetouched.[3] Three in ten were petitioners,[3] and ten percent were halflings,[3] because of how close the town was to Sheela Peryroyl's divine realm.[2] The remaining populace were bariaurs, guardinals, rilmani, and other races.[3] Most of the petitioners were followers of Ishtar, Majere, Mishakal, Chauntea, and Lathander in life.[2]
Beyond the town leaders already mentioned, the daughter of avoral Duke Windheir of Elysium, Morningwind served as an ambassador from that Upper Plane. The high priest of the shrine of the Cadence was an aasimer named Joseph Arisek; the head of the temple of Lathandar was a human cleric named Bartol the Dawnsinger.[3]
The faction of the Transcendent Order had a large amount of influence in Ecstasy,[2][3] more influence than anywhere else in the multiverse save Sigil and Elysium,[3] particularly among the planar inhabitants.[2]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ This value is reported in A Player's Primer to the Outlands, an earlier source, as 25,000.
- ↑ The source says "western edge", but this is nonsensical. Directions on the Outlands are always in reference to the Spire. There is no sun, and there is no magnetic north.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 David "Zeb" Cook, Robert Lazzaretti (1994). Planescape Campaign Setting, Map: Planescape Cosmographical Tables. Edited by David Wise. (TSR, Inc). ISBN 978-1560768340.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.35 Jeff Grubb (May 1995). A Player's Primer to the Outlands. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 13–14. ISBN 0-7869-0121-7.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.30 3.31 3.32 3.33 3.34 3.35 3.36 3.37 3.38 3.39 3.40 3.41 3.42 3.43 3.44 3.45 3.46 Amber Stewart (January 2007). “The Gatetown of Ecstasy”. In Erik Mona ed. Dragon #351 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), pp. 50–53.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Monte Cook (1996). The Planewalker's Handbook. Edited by Michele Carter. (TSR), p. 10. ISBN 978-0786904600.
- ↑ Jeff Grubb, Bruce R. Cordell, David Noonan (September 2001). Manual of the Planes 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 149. ISBN 0-7869-1850-8.
- ↑ Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins, James Wyatt (December 2014). Dungeon Master's Guide 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 67. ISBN 978-0-7869-6562-5.
- ↑ Monte Cook (1996). The Planewalker's Handbook. Edited by Michele Carter. (TSR), p. 5. ISBN 978-0786904600.
- ↑ Jeff Grubb and Ed Greenwood (1990). Forgotten Realms Adventures. (TSR, Inc), pp. 74–75. ISBN 0-8803-8828-5.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (July 1995). Volo's Guide to Cormyr. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 68–71. ISBN 0-7869-0151-9.
Connections[]
Caverns of Thought • Court of Light • Dwarvish Mountain (Deepshaft Hall • Soot Hall • Strongale Hall) • Flowering Hill • Gzemnid's Realm • Hidden Realm • Labyrinth of Life • Marketplace Eternal • Mausoleum of Chronepsis • Palace of Judgement • Semuanya's Bog • Sigil • Sleeping Lands • Tir na Og (Deep Forest • the Great Smithy • House of Knowledge • the Pinnacle • Tir fo Thuinn) • Thoth's Estate • Wonderhome
Gate-towns
Automata • Bedlam • Curst • Ecstasy • Excelsior • Faunel • Fortitude • Glorium • Hopeless • Plague-Mort • Ribcage • Rigus • Sylvania • Torch • Tradegate • Xaos