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  1. #1
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    The Infinite Staircase...

    Here's a little something for that DM who had Elminster stranded in
    Cerilia and any other BR DMs interested in other Planes of Existence. Any
    players/non-DMs on the list might wanna stop readin...

    S

    P

    O

    I

    L

    E

    R

    I recently bought the FR adventure module For Duty & Deity. In that
    adventure the PCs have to climb the Infinite Staircase (also called the
    Celestial Staircase by those who know of its existence in Faerun, and
    also appearing in the Planescape adventure anthology Tales from the
    Infinite Staircase) in order to save Waukeen, the goddess of trade, money,
    and wealth, from the Abyss. However, I found an interesting passage in
    there, relevant to Birthright:

    "On a dark, lonely area of the Staircase, the PCs meet a troop of orogs"
    ... "equal to twice the number of characters in the PCs' party. The
    humanoids prepare to defend but do not attack. If the PCs converse with
    the orogs, the creatures claim to be servants of someone or something
    called the Gorgon. They say that they were exploring the rugged mountains
    where this Gorgon lives, searching for thieves, when they discovered and
    entered a mysterious cave. They found themselves on a landing of the
    Staircase about four hours' walk from here. They seek only to return home.
    If the lillendi remained with the PCs, they leave now to escort the orogs
    back where they came from."

    Surely, those orogs can't keep a secret that big, and the information will
    leak out. The Infinite Staircase runs through a great number of places in
    the Prime Material Planes as well as in the Outer Planes. Thus it would
    be ideal for Elminster to get home (provided he knows how to find his way
    there, but knowin Elminster, I guess that won't be much a problem). Now
    all the PCs will have to do is to safely get Elminster to the mountains of
    Kal-Saitharak. Of course, the Gorgon is bound to find out of the
    existance of the entrance to the Infinite Staircase as well and possibly
    quite sooner...

    - the Falcon

  2. #2
    Pieter Sleijpen
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    The Infinite Staircase...

    All nice and well, but I though the entrances to the stair case changed
    constantly?

    Pieter Sleijpen

  3. #3
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    The Infinite Staircase...

    > All nice and well, but I though the entrances to the stair case changed
    > constantly?

    That is correct, so they'll have to act quickly. However, I don't recall
    havin seen a general rule for how long such entrances stay around, so
    conceivably it could be around there for about anything from a day to a
    few years. Perhaps through some miraculous coincidence the entrance
    closes right after Elminster steps through, leaving the PCs with no other
    choice then to fight off the Gorgon's minions. Of course, when they get
    home, they'll find Elminster has gated in (from the safety of his home
    in Realmspace) some "small magical trinklets" of the DMs choice to reward
    them for their help. ;)

    - the Falcon

  4. #4
    Samuel Weiss
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    The Infinite Staircase...

    The entrances to the Staircase change? Where is this written? My impression
    was that once a portal forms, it stays in place until the entire structure
    it formed in is utterly destroyed. Even if the Academy of Arts fails and
    falls into ruin, the little storeroom entrance remains fforever until the
    last brick falls to dust.

    Samwise

  5. #5
    Pieter Sleijpen
    Guest

    The Infinite Staircase...

    Samuel Weiss wrote:
    >
    > The entrances to the Staircase change? Where is this written? My
    > impression was that once a portal forms, it stays in place until the
    > entire structure it formed in is utterly destroyed. Even if the
    > Academy of Arts fails and falls into ruin, the little storeroom
    > entrance remains fforever until the last brick falls to dust.
    >

    Portals are rather tricky in Planescape material. The material in the
    boxed set "Planes of Chaos" certainly does not tell of what type the
    portals to (or from) the Infinate Staircase are. It is highly suggested
    though that the gods and goddesses of the moon controll the portals.
    Meaning that on Cerilia, Rilni could block anyone the entrance. Of
    coarse, as it is written in the players booklet, this is all based on
    myth's, rumors and a little bit on facts. The only other thing said in
    the description is that the key to the portal are riddles and mysteries
    only known to the servants of the moon gods. Sometimes people get thrown
    in as a punishment by these servants. Makes you wonder how the orogs of
    that adventure offended Rilni :-)

    Anyway, since it does not say anything about the permanency of the
    portals, I would say that that is up to the DM. I am sure though, that
    know DM wants unlimited access to such a strange thing as the Infinate
    Staircase. Unless you want a campaign simmilar to the TV serie "Star
    Gate". So, you can either decide Rilni will controll access or that the
    portals are temporary and fluctuating from place to place. I could go
    into detail on how portals work in Planescape (the Rules of Three) for
    those unfamiliar to Planescape, but this is a BR mailing list. Anyone
    interested in that, should try to get a peak into the Planescape Boxed
    set.

    Pieter Sleijpen

  6. #6
    Samuel Weiss
    Guest

    The Infinite Staircase...

    Portals are not the same as the Infinite Staircase. Portals in Sigil are
    under the control of the Lady of Pain. Portals between other planes are
    sometime under the control of the local ruler, but not usually. Portals
    require specific keys to use.
    The Staircase is a completely different route across the planes. It requires
    a base in an area of creativity for its access route. Also, it apparently is
    only under one Moon Powers control, the chick from the FR. (Not IMC, but in
    the book).

    Samwise

  7. #7
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    The Infinite Staircase...

    > Portals are rather tricky in Planescape material. The material in the
    > boxed set "Planes of Chaos" certainly does not tell of what type the
    > portals to (or from) the Infinate Staircase are. It is highly suggested
    > though that the gods and goddesses of the moon controll the portals.
    > Meaning that on Cerilia, Rilni could block anyone the entrance. Of
    > coarse, as it is written in the players booklet, this is all based on
    > myth's, rumors and a little bit on facts. The only other thing said in
    > the description is that the key to the portal are riddles and mysteries
    > only known to the servants of the moon gods. Sometimes people get thrown
    > in as a punishment by these servants. Makes you wonder how the orogs of
    > that adventure offended Rilni :-)

    Considerin the fact that the base of the Infinite Staircase is located in
    the domain of Selune, the Moon Goddess of the Forgotten Realms, I'd say so
    those myths and rumors could very well be true...

    > Anyway, since it does not say anything about the permanency of the
    > portals, I would say that that is up to the DM. I am sure though, that
    > know DM wants unlimited access to such a strange thing as the Infinate
    > Staircase. Unless you want a campaign simmilar to the TV serie "Star
    > Gate". So, you can either decide Rilni will controll access or that the
    > portals are temporary and fluctuating from place to place. I could go
    > into detail on how portals work in Planescape (the Rules of Three) for
    > those unfamiliar to Planescape, but this is a BR mailing list. Anyone
    > interested in that, should try to get a peak into the Planescape Boxed
    > set.

    One other thing about the landings to the Infinite Staircase, is that they
    only occur in those parts of the planes where there is creativity...

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