Moil

The Demiplane of Moil (The City That Waits)

^{A Guide to the Ethereal Plane (1998) pp.46–47}

Graybeards speak in hushed whispers about the Demiplane of Moil. Long ago, on the prime world of Ranais, there was a city called Moil. It was a bright place of polished marble and ornate statuary, warmed by the light of the sun. But the bright radiance of the city didn’t keep its citizens from dark pursuits. In their youth, they worshiped a powerful demon-lord once known as Orcus. As their race matured, many citizens began to favor less-bloodthirsty powers, and this made Orcus angry. The demon-lord cast a magical slumber over Moil, a curse that could only be broken by the dawning of the sun. However, Orcus managed to rip the city from its normal place on the Prime and push it into a fiendishly prepared pocket demiplane.

In doing this, Orcus sealed his curse for all eternity, as the Ethereal has no dawn, noon, or sunset; the sun would never again shine upon Moil’s tall towers. Orcus never came again to the city, for he was later slain by Kiaransalee, the drow goddess of vengeance. In short order, the slumbering citizens all perished in their dark sleep, leaving the place strewn with unquiet dead and dangerous dreams. Their deaths went unmourned, for no one knew of the dark tragedy.

Centuries passed in unremarked silence, but finally an evil being rediscovered Moil’s existence. This being, called the Devourer by some, twisted the dark city toward its own ends, transforming the dead citizens into an undead work force used to build a fortress near the demiplane. It was a massive effort, and most of the undead citizens were destroyed in the construction. Fact is, few undead now reside in the city itself.

Ethereal travelers who find the area of the color curtain leading to the Demiplane of Moil should avoid entry. Like the Boundless, this pocket dimension doesn’t connect with the Border Ethereal, and any cutter who passes through the curtain arrives on the demiplane itself. Once in the demiplane, a body’s trapped, unable to return to the Deep through any method. However, Moil does possess a definitive planar boundary visible from most portions of the city. The thing is, this boundary doesn’t lead back onto the Border Ethereal or the Deep.

A writhing, black fog actually defines the boundary between the City That Waits and the Negative Energy Plane. Any sod who ventures into the black fog, willfully or after an accidental fall from a tower, plunges into the depths of the Negative Energy Plane. If a cutter tries to fly up into the lightning-lit clouds above, there is a 45% chance per round that a bolt of lightning strikes her for 10d6 hit points (a saving throw vs. breath weapon reduces the damage by half). The clouds gradually bleed into the black mists that encompass the sides and bottom of the City That Waits; traveling into them thrusts a body onto the Negative Energy Plane as described above.

The Demiplane of Moil contains only the city. The architecture of the city was warped when Orcus transferred it from its original location; Moil’s thin towers now rise from the depths of an almost endless pit. The sides and bottom of the pit are bounded in writhing black fog. In fact, the towers of the city actually rest upon these insidious mists.

Among other evil remnants that still haunt the city, the Vestige represents the worst threat by far. This creature is the combined nightmare dream of all Moil’s citizens who perished in their sleep when Orcus laid his curse. The Vestige constantly roams the chambers, bridges, and open spaces of the City That Waits looking for a body to vent its malice upon. Every four hours a cutter spends anywhere in the city, there is a 20% chance he’ll encounter the Vestige. Such is the power and hate of the undead dream that visitors should flee if they encounter it; even the Devourer himself flinched at dealing with this horrible monster. If travelers put 1,000 feet or more between the Vestige and themselves (the creature moves at Fl 6), they can escape its clutches (for the time being). Those bashers barmy enough to stand and fight the Vestige are engulfed in roiling mists from which faint cries, whispers, and ghostly music emerges. When the roiling mists move on, nothing remains of these sods.

Because Moil rests close to the Negative Energy Plane, horrible influences seep into and saturate the entire city. These affect the City That Waits as follows:

• All undead are turned as if four categories higher on the “Turning Undead” table.
• Any necromancy spell cast within the city reduces its casting time by 4 (minimum of 1).
• Any living creature of rat size or larger slain within the city has an 80% chance of spontaneously animating within ld3 rounds as an undead zombie with the same HD as the original creature.
• Healing spells are only 75% effective (round up) when cast within the confines of the City That Waits. For example, a healing spell that would normally heal 20 hit points heals only 15 hit points.
• The city radiates a supernatural chill. Visitors without cold-weather gear (furs, gloves, and caps, for example) must make a Constitution check with a −4 penalty after every 6 hours. Failure costs the character 1 hit point. Also, if a DM’s campaign uses the optional Infravision rules found in the Dungeon Master Guide, then infravision is almost useless here, as a numbing cold saturates everything.