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in: Demiplanes, Planes of existence

Gray, the

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The Gray is one of two planes directly touching the Material Plane of Athas, the other being the Black.

Characteristics[]

The Gray is a dreary domain and best described as an endless space of ashen haze containing the souls of Athasians who have passed on from their mortal bodies. It exists in parallel to the Material Plane and surrounds Athas completely, and while in the Gray one is able to view Athas as through a hazy mist while remaining invisible to anyone on the other side of the planar divide.

Lost in the Gray[]

One of the most prominent effects the Gray has on Athas is how it functions as a barrier between the Material and Astral Planes, as the Gray impedes planar travel in both directions, making any such ventures extremely difficult. This has resulted in the Outer Planes seeming nearly unreachable to Athasian mages. What few Athasians who have traversed beyond the Gray to the Outer Planes have reportedly found little more than desolate ruins and terrible abominations. The Ethereal Plane, on the other hand, is far more easily reached from Athas, as are the Inner Planes.

Those who attempt to travel to or from Athas via magical means run the risk of getting lost in the Gray, unable to pass through to the plane they intended to reach. In such cases, a person has a limited amount of time to try and find their way back to their plane of origin, or be lost to the Gray forever, as the life-sapping powers of the Gray begin to take its toll. A person who fails to return to the plane where they began their journey will ultimately succumb to the deathly energies, and be absorbed by the Gray. Those who do manage to return are nearly irreversibly weakened, and only powerful magic is able to return their lifeforce to them.

The reason behind these factors are unknown to most Athasians, but the most learned have reached the conclusion that the spiritual conduits that connect the Outer Planes to Athas have long-since been shattered, if they ever existed at all, while the elemental conduits connecting Athas to the four Elemental Planes remain intact. Because of this, elemental clerics are still able to draw power from their patrons on the Elemental Planes.

Inhabitants[]

The Gray is the plane of the dead, and as such, many undead spirits can be found within the ashen haze of the realm. However, not all spirits that linger in the Gray can be labelled “true undead”, indeed, a majority of the souls here exist in a state of near-perpetual uncertainty, floating aimlessly in the ether, unable to affect anything, not even their own existence – mere whispers of a life that once was. Sooner or later, though, the spirits begin to dissolve completely and are absorbed into the Gray itself, much like their mortal flesh was once obliterated by the rot and decay on Athas.

Beyond these lost souls, incorporeal undead such as ghosts and wraiths are known to haunt the Gray, and are even able to pass through it to enter the Material Plane, something that those mired in the ashen haze are unable to do. Undead that leave the Gray cannot remain in the Material Plane indefinitely, and must return to the Gray to sustain themselves.

Corporeal undead such as the kaisharga are unable to enter the Gray, but can still draw energy from it, as do necromancers who pull from the Gray to cast their spells. Creatures with such a connection to the Gray often carry an aura of uneasiness and death about them that hang of them as a spectral burial shroud, making most people feel ill at ease in their presence. To those who know the signs, the look of death upon necromancers marks them as death wizards.

Publication History[]

At the time of the Dark Sun setting’s original release during AD&D 2nd edition, the Gray was described as being the same as the Border Ethereal of other worlds. All of this was echoed in the description of the Black found in the pages of issue 110 of Dungeon Magazine as part of Paizo’s mini-revival of the Dark Sun campaign setting. That game guide also makes mention that the most distant areas of the Gray are said to contain great cosmic wellsprings of positive energy, causing these areas to acts as a Positive Energy Plane.

Sweeping changes were made to the nature of the planes as the World Axis cosmology became the default for all campaign settings during the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. This shakeup saw the outright removal of the Ethereal Plane from the cosmology, and it being replaced by the Shadowfell which was described as a dark reflection of the Material Plane and the place were departed souls went before moving on into the unknown. As a result of this, the core concepts of the Gray were merged with those of the Black in the 4th edition Dark Sun Campaign Setting, creating an amalgamated realm of shadows and ghostly spirits known simply as “the Gray”.

Ravenloft and Kalidnay[]

The lost city of Kalidnay, once located in the southern Tyr Region of Athas, is only lost to the people of Athas, for it still remains as a Domain of Dread within the realm of Ravenloft. However, Ravenloft's, and therefore Kalidnay's, place in the greater cosmology of D&D isn't concretely defined throughout the editions.

According to the lore of AD&D 2nd edition, as well as 3rd edition sourcebooks, the realm of Ravenloft lays within the Ethereal Plane, which in Athasian terms means the Gray. As the 4th edition did away with the Ethereal Plane altogether, Ravenloft was instead shifted to be a distant part of the newly manifested Shadowfell. As discussed above, this meant Ravenloft was still technically located within the Gray, despite the fact that this version of the Gray was also based on the Black.

The reintroduction of the Great Wheel cosmology in 5th edition saw the return of the Ethereal Plane, however, it also kept the Shadowfell as a separate plane of existence. According to additional 5th edition sourcebooks, Ravenloft still remains a part of the Shadowfell in this edition. For this reason, it could be argued that Kalidnay, along with the other Domains of Dread, can be regarded as floating in the vast darkness of the Black for any 5th edition home-games or possible future Dark Sun releases.

Sources[]

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