Belierin, sometimes called the Forgotten Layer, was the third and least known layer of Elysium. An endless land of swamps and marshes covered by an eerily luminous mist, it was also rumored to be the prison of an ancient legendary hydra and possibly other powerful entities.[2][4] The layer also contained the divine realm of Nut.[5]
Geography
Edit
The River Oceanus flowed slowly through Belierin in a tangle of channels that braided around sandbars and mangrove forests. In some places, rocky ridges rose above the bog, making for stable terrain. A few communities and towns were located in those places, usually built around lighthouses that served as navigation beacons to aid travelers.[4]
Geographical FeaturesEdit
Despite the generally desolate nature of the layer, the good influence of Elysium could still be felt in Belierin, in the form of the shiny nature of the fog itself and a luminous vapor that surrounded every light source.[4]
HistoryEdit
In ancient times, the guardinals encountered a legendary hydra in one of their quests, thought to be the mythical unique individual that spawned all other hydras. Unable to defeat it, the guardinals used a teleport spell to move the hydra to Belierin, after which they closed all portals that led out of the layer and sealed it off from divination magic. This effectively turned the layer into an infinite cage, from which the only exit was the Oceanus itself, whose blessed waters the hydra could not touch.[2]
Rumors & LegendsEdit
It was rumored that other powerful entities shared the prison with the hydra. The number and nature of the other prisoners was not known, but rumors existed of a creature similar to the tarrasque, a legendary black dragon, a captured archdevil, a demon lord, an archomental, or even a wounded deity.[2][4]
Notable LocationsEdit
- Nillis-thur, hidden aasimon fortress of old.[2]
- Quesar's Birthplace, where the mysterious celestials named quesars were originally formed.[2]
- Refuge of Night, realm of Nut, wife of Geb and mother of Osiris from the Mulhorandi pantheon, after she fled from Heliopolis.[5]
- Rubicon, the last surviving guardinal outpost of the layer, located on an island in the middle of Oceanus near the point where the river flowed into Eronia.[2]
AppendixEdit
ReferencesEdit
- ↑ Jeff Grubb (April 1987). “Plane Speaking: Tuning in to the Outer Planes”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Dragon #120 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 42–43.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Dale Donovan (December 1995). “Liber Benevolentiae”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Conflict (TSR, Inc.), pp. 61–63. ISBN 0-7869-0309-0.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins (1999-08-27). Quesar (ASP). Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2018-12-23.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Jeff Grubb, Bruce R. Cordell, David Noonan (September 2001). Manual of the Planes 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 138–141. ISBN 0-7869-1850-8.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Colin McComb (1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc), pp. 90,173. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
