Radiance: The Secret Craft of Destiny
by Nathan EllingThe radiance is not a template (as the other crafts) but it lies outside the normal character and prestige class system providing a bridge to a new Immortals system and a philosophical bridge with other published works like Culthulu, The Magic of Incarnum, Planescape, Ravenloft and gives purpose to the Astral Plane and a revised 3.5e cosmology.
First a little history and revision of the standard 3.5e cosmos:
The True Cosmos
The clueless Primes got it all wrong as usual, always thinking the world revolves around them! They think the Prime Material is the centre of the universe. It’s exactly the opposite way around.
The centre is Sigil, surrounded by a magically dead zone because the ring (“sigil” is an ancient name for a ring, btw) is absorbing all the energy to power a spell ancient beyond remembering called the Song of Creation which maintains the Astral Sphere. It was written by the TELL (four races, Titan, Eladrin, Linnorm and Loth[1]) who were once slaves to the Great Old Ones but have escaped for a time behind the shield of the Astral Plane. Next are the Outer Planes (actually innermost planes), in another ring around the Sigil. These used to rotate serenely around the Sigil until ages past a war with the Obyriths[2] broke it at The Grey Waste, the battle there shattering a whole plane in two and stopping the ring (the Modrons[3] continue to march around the ring because they’re programmed to need a complete rotation of the outer ring to repair it but are too mechanistic to realise that it no longer rotates because it needs repair itself). The Obyriths were also able to lay some of their eggs into the Sigil, one of which hatched into the Lady of Pain, since then razor vine has grown in the city and the Song was subtly corrupted. Beyond the Outer Planes are the Inner Planes (actually outer planes), remnants of enormous energies and matter and ether hurled by the Great Old Ones towards the bubble of the Astral Sphere when it was forming but caught fast by time and unable to harm the newly escaped slaves (the TELL actually mined it to build the Outer Planes). The Inner Planes are imperceptibly encroaching upon the Outer Planes but it will be billions or trillions of years hence before they touch. Then come the Prime Material worlds, whole worlds tossed against the sphere when their weapons of energy and matter did not work for the Great Old Ones or stuck in the bubble of the Astral Plane as it expanded giving the lowly mortals upon them a chance to live in peace free from the unending oppression of the Great Old Ones. Last comes the Plane of Shadow, touching the outside of the Astral Plane (a huge sphere) with it’s dark kiss, corrupting and spoiling all that it meets with but the tiniest fraction of the dark power of the Great Old Ones which lurks beyond it’s veil. It is from this plane that nightmare is spawned and it is here that the realm of Ravenloft truly lies. The imperceptible energy from the plane of shadow leaches into mortal lives and causes some to become evil but somehow the power of true souls converts it, makes it safe, and by harvesting this source of energy some of the TELL were able to ascend to godhood (while others distilled it unconverted and became corrupted by it’s power, the devils and Loth - now called yugoloths[4], meaning “Loth created from taint”). Beyond is the Far Realm, an insane place, a place of unendurable madness and unfathomable contradiction. This is the real universe that encompasses all else (including the Astral Plane). This is the home of the Great Old Ones, beings that each alone would dwarf all the Immortals combined. Ultimately the Astral Sphere will be popped like a bubble and the Great Old Ones will again enslave everyone there ever was but right now the paradox of time gives us a perspective that we are free and safe, also some of the Gods (Immortals) have ascended further, who knows if they have truly escaped?
The Nucleus of the Spheres, the Sigil and the Nature of Magic
The Nucleus of the Spheres (unbeknownst to anyone but some of the Immortals and some of the original TELL, very few of whom still live) was actually created by agents of the Great Old Ones to break the Sigil and defeat their erstwhile slaves’ rebellion so that they can again savour the agony of all souls. The Sigil and the Song were created by the TELL (Titan, Eladrin, Linnorm and Loth) to escape their perpetual slavery and suffering at the hands of the Great Old Ones by creating a bubble of time (which the Old Ones cannot fathom or abide) in which they would be safe. Many of the TELL died in it’s creation but it lives on as the city called Sigil at the true heart of the multiverse. The Plane of Shadow is actually the thinning border of the Astral Plane as it touches the Far Realms. Through this plane comes nightmare but also the power of the Great Old Ones leaks through as energy which is harnessed and processed and renewed as soul energy by the living beings on the outer edges of the Astral Sphere, the mortals of the Prime Material Plane. True soul energy or Incarnum is self-sustaining and life giving and generates magic as a by-product. Long ago some of the TELL learned to harness this energy and ascend to the ranks of Immortals and become Gods. However, the Radiance is different, more like the energy of demons, which the Loth and Devils (really living constructs that have gained independent sentience and life) have learned to harness without distillation into evil power for their war. It corrupts, and the true purpose of the Nucleus of the Spheres is to shatter the barrier between worlds and open a way for the Great Old Ones to rise again and enslave in stark raving soul-crushing agony every single living thing in the multiverse beyond the bounds of time and beyond all hope. The Nucleus works like a Mythallar (Forgotten Realms) in that it draws in energy which can then be used as power for spells for those people or items attuned to it. The same energy is normally processed by mortal souls from the plane of Shadow and becomes Incarnum, which is the basis of all magic. The Nucleus, however, draws it directly from the plane of Shadow, thus stealing that same energy from the souls of mortals, leaving them without magic in their life and creating a reservoir of Rads that it can use to protect itself. Eventually it will draw in such an amount of soul energy that it will become a sort of black hole, punching it’s way into the Far Realms and allowing the agents of the Old Ones to use it as a transit point. Such spheres were built on many Prime Worlds, in the Suel empire on Oerth, in Netheril on Faerun and other places. All were thought destroyed, but one created by the Blackmoor survived and can now no longer be destroyed even by the Immortals (it has absorbed too much power, shielded itself too strongly with magic that can change the outcome of attacks against it). It waits to be wakened, to be turned on by the Inheritors of Sigil. Four beings from each of the TELL races, (constantly reborn as mortals, for humility) capable of wielding the Sigils of the Sigil (4 artifacts, rings of legacy that can direct the Sigil and wield the full Song of Creation against any threat). If it can ensnare all 4 then it can unmake the Sigil and then nothing will stop the Old Ones, even if it can’t, if the Nucleus is detonated then it will create another breach in the fabric of the Astral Sphere like the Abyss and more obyriths and demons will pour in to overwhelm the Prime Material planes, but if the Inheritors are somehow killed then no being will remain who can sing the true Song of Creation and use it to save the multiverse. The Nucleus can be fully controlled by attaching the Infernal 5 Handed Wand to the Nucleus and using Donnard’s Doom (a gauntlet capable of changing fate) to adjust it. If all 4 of the Inheritors and one of the representatives[5] of the Great Old Ones or one Immortal use these artifacts they can control the Sphere in this manner they can direct it’s energy to heal breaches or create them, strengthen the Sigil or destroy it, or 5 of the representatives of the Great Old Ones can detonate it the same way when it builds up enough charge.
Radiance
Radiance is the energy of the souls of Mystara but subtly changed and corrupted by the Nucleus of the Spheres and more corrosive in nature. It can be absorbed into the chakras and manipulated using techniques similar to the magic of Incarnum. However, because of it’s very unique nature it has the potential to destroy it’s hosts (mortals were not really meant to have this power). Any time a person interacts with the radiance there is a 1% chance per point of radiance of catching the radiance disease. This disease affects all creatures, even undead, constructs or creatures with a natural resistance to disease by affecting that creatures chakras, in effect closing them off to normal use. Remaining within 1 mile radius of the Nucleus or 500 ft. radius of a crystal sphere (below) give a 1% chance/day of catching the disease. Using the ritual Retain Power gives a 1% chance per point retained of catching the disease, rolled 1/day for the average power retained rounded up (i.e. if the user uses all the power in one day then the average is ½ the total power for that day, if the user retained 25 points and spent it all, then the average is 12.5 or 13 rounded up. If they retain points but don’t spend them all then the average is ½(the total power retained + points not spent), if 10 points were not spent from the original 25 then the average is ½(25+10) = 17.5 or 18 rounded up). Remaining in a Saturated area gives a 5% chance of catching the disease.
• If your chakra becomes diseased magic ceases to function for that chakra point and you cannot retain any radiance in that chakra until it is healed.
• To heal a chakra you must retain 50 radiance points for 24 hours, which will both regenerate the chakra and open it, but still has the chance (50%) of causing another chakra to become diseased or
• You can also maintain 5 points of incarnum in the same chakra for 10 days (it cannot be used for anything else), then the chakra will heal but it is no longer attuned to radiance, just to incarnum. You must have a way to access Incarnum. For these purposes a character with Incarnum can “loan” you theirs but then they don’t have access to the points they “lend” during the 10 day process.
Chakras
All chakras correspond to at least one of the 10 magical item locations (below). If a chakra is blocked the associated body part withers and worn magic items cease to function (held items, such as wands/staves/rods and swords/etc., continue to function normally), and no magic, soul melds/incarnum, or Radiance can be bound to the affected chakra.
Withering
Only one limb withers at a time, roll d10 to see which is affected:
(Chakra - Personal Magic Item location,)
1. Crown† - Headband/Hat/Helmet/Phylactery
2. Brow*† - Lenses/Goggles
3. Throat - Amulet/Broach/Medallion/Necklace/Periapt/Scarab
4. Heart*† - Vest/Vestment/Shirt + Robe/Armour
5. Waist - Belt
6. Shoulders - Cloak/Cape/Mantle
7. Arms* - Bracers/Bracelets
8. Hands* - Glove/Gauntlet
9. Soul*† - Rings
10. Feet - Boots/Shoes
*2 points: Several chakras as noted have 2 actual chakra points on the body, there are 2 eyes or hands for instance, these points do not become completely useless both body points are withered.
• Brow, Shoulders, Arms, Hands, Feet - reduce any numerical benefit, such as AC for Bracers to ½) or
• only one item will function, Soul - only 1 ring will function, Heart - can wear armour but not vest, etc.
† special, The Head, Heart and Soul must wither twice to become permanently impaired. They only wither after all other chakras are withered, so count this roll as a save, no withering and do not roll again unless all other limbs are impaired.
• Head: The head only withers when the Crown and both Brows are both withered, the character looks undead (but isn’t).
• Heart: When the Heart withers twice the creature becomes an undead slave under the Nucleus’ control.
• Soul: When the Soul withers twice the creature is unmade and cast into the far realms as a vestige.
Accessing the Radiance:
A character must construct a crystal sphere[6] of surpassing purity (50,000 gp) enchanted to receive the energy of the radiance (you must have the feat Craft Wondrous Item). You must also perform the Ritual of Attunement to attune yourself to this new energy source. This sphere must remain within 20 miles of Glantri City (within the borders of Glantri, the country, basically) and on the Mystara Prime plane of existence or it will not function (it cannot be moved to the Astral Plane or Ethereal plane for instance). Rituals must take place on the Prime Plane of Mystara (and within the specified limits of the ritual or within Glantri city) but radiance retained via Retain Power remains with the individual regardless of planar travel or distance.
Benefits of The Radiance:
• Create Quasi-Magic Items: You can create a quasi-magic item similar in every way to a real magic item, except that it must remain within 100 ft./level radius of your crystal sphere or it ceases to function.
• You must possess the normal item creation feat to create a quasi-magic item.
• The cost, time and XP for creating these items are 1/10th the cost, time and XP of creating a normal item of this type or you can create 10 of the exact same item for the normal costs in one ritual.
• Quasi-Magic items only function within 100 ft./level of the crystal sphere they are attuned to and only on the same plane of existence and they also function in the walled part of Glantri (the city).
• You cannot create charged or held quasi-magic items like scrolls, potions, swords, wands, staves or rods, they must be linked to chakra point (see below).
• For another person to use your quasi-magic items they have to perform the Ritual of Attunement for your crystal sphere and have a healthy chakra to receive the item. A person can only be attuned to one sphere at a time.
• You can only wear as many quasi-magic items as you have healthy chakras.
• If you have learned the ritual, Call Upon Radiance, you can temporarily reforge the connection between your crystal sphere and your quasi-magic item. This ritual allows one quasi-magic item touched to work properly as far away as 1 mile/level from the crystal sphere for 1 minute/level.
• Aura: If you have retained radiance points with the Retain Power ritual these affects are active as long as you retain 1 radiance point.
• You radiate magic (universal) as a magic item of the same level as your HD.
• If your HD are higher than 15 then you also have a Frightful Presence. Creatures within 120 ft. must succeed on a Will save (DC17 + your Cha modifier) or they become panicked (4HD or less) or shaken (5HD or more). You can turn this effect on or off at will. You are immune to Frightful Presence from another source.
• Radiance: If you have retained radiance points with the Retain Power ritual these affects are active as long as you retain 10 radiance points. You also have a constant blue glow around you equal to Faerie Fire
• All of your spells act as if Heightened and now have a DC of 5 levels higher they actually are without using a higher slot.
• Your natural attacks and unarmed attacks are now considered magic for DR purposes.
Expending Radiance:
• Metamagic: If you have learned the Retain Power ritual You can expend radiance you have retained to create any metamagic effects. This must be done as you’re casting the spell and before you roll to attack or for any checks so the radiance points are lost regardless if your spell succeeds. You can add any metamagic effect except epic metamagic effects, if you have the corresponding metamagic feat. You do not have to prepare a spell to use this metamagic, it can be cast ‘on the fly’ as a Sorcerer and it does not affect your daily use limit if you use the feat in conjunction with the radiance. The cost is 1 point of radiance per spell slot the metamagic feat would normally take up. (e.g. you would spend 3 points of radiance to Maximise a spell or 2 points to Empower it). The affected spell does not take up a higher slot and you can combine feats as long as you have the radiance points to expend.
• Discharge: If you have learned the Discharge ritual you can cast a silvery-blue fireball-like effect (use the same stats from the spell for everything but damage) which does 1d6 damage per 2 points of radiance expended (maximum 20d6). This damage is purely radiance so is not blocked by DR/magic and can affect Ethereal targets (without the normal 50% miss chance). It also ignores the hardness of any (even magical) object and always does full damage, even to ethereal objects.
• Saturate: If you learn the Saturate ritual you can expend 20 points of radiance you have retained via the Retain Power ritual for the following effects within 20 ft. radius of the caster (area cannot be moved once created but caster can move from the spot freely without ending the effect). These effects last for 1 minute/level:
• All SR in the area drops by 10 points.
• All anti-magic, disjunction, and dispel effects (but not counterspells or globes of invulnerability) within the area are cancelled.
• Any Aberrations, Constructs, Dragons, Elementals, Fey, Giants, Magical Beasts, Outsiders or Undead within the area (including summoned ones) gain 2 HD.
• All spells in the area are Quickened as if the caster were on the Astral Plane.
• Quasi-Magic items and Radiance Constructs work within the Saturated area as if affected by Call Upon Radiance.
• Open Chakras: You can learn to open your chakras to the power of the radiance or close the chakras of others, cutting them off from their own magical items. By learning the Transcend ritual you can open a chakra to the Radiance by expending 10 radiance points retained via the Retain Power ritual.
• Quasi-Magical items now always work on opened chakras, regardless of distance from the radiance, including planar distance.
• Regular magic items work on opened chakras despite anti-magic or dead magic and their effects cannot be dispelled via Dispel or Disjunction spells (but could be counterspelled).
• Create Constructs
• You can power magical constructs if you open one chakra point on an item by expending 10 radiance points retained via the Retain Power ritual (if you manage to open ten chakras on an item it becomes fully alive and aware and capable of reproduction and independent thought). You must have the Craft Construct feat and the constructs must have a special receptacle for the energy (which, if destroyed, in turn destroys the construct). This special receptacle fades and becomes the “soul” of new lifeforms created by opening 10 chakras. Constructs created in this way cost 1/10th normal costs but only work within the boundaries of the crystal sphere or Glantri City or via a Call Upon Radiance ritual.
• Close Chakras: By expending 20 radiance points (retained via the Retain Power ritual) you can close another’s chakra as a ranged touch attack if you perform the Sever The Tie ritual. The target must be within line of sight of you when you perform this short ritual.
• The target gains all the effect of the radiance disease on one limb (see Withering above) that you specify in the spell (no save). You cannot affect the heart or soul chakra until all other chakra points are affected.
• If a person loses all heart chakra points to you then they become an NPC lich under your control. With all the characteristics of that template but only whatever level they reached before you closed their chakras - this is a Tainted and Evil act.
• If you destroy their soul chakra points then they are removed from the multiverse and become a vestige (usually bent on your destruction). They can never return to life under any circumstances.
Beginning Ascension:
• All 10 of your chakras must be opened to begin ascension (but they can still become diseased).
• Must maintain 50 radiance points for 24 hours to gain one permanent rad point, no more than 1 permanent rad point may be gained for 1 24 hour period (so holding 100 points of radiance won’t gain you 2 points of rad, only 1 would be gained and you’d automatically get diseased). Radiance retained to gain rad points has the same 1%/day chance of causing the radiance disease.
• Each chakra that is damaged by the radiance disease must be healed to continue the process.
• You now generate 1 point of radiance/round/permanent rad point and always have an Aura, radiance points generated from your store of rad points deteriorate after 1 round, so you will only ever have as many radiance points as you have rads by this method (you can still retain more for longer with the Retain Power ritual). These generated points do not count towards disease, but the retained ones do.
Benefits of Rad Points:
• Heal: you automatically gain Fast Healing/rad points unused each round.
• Regenerate: rad can also grow back limbs (yourself only) at the cost of 20 rad points per limb. It might take more than one round to restore a limb and it’s a painful process, a -4 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks and ability checks while regenerating. You essentially become immortal because you will constantly regenerate and your rad points cannot be destroyed once gained. It costs 200 points to regenerate a whole body (treat as helpless until the entire body is regenerated). Bodiless chakras can fly at 200 ft./round (perfect), cannot cast spells or interact with creatures or items (treat as invisible and incorporeal) but can create soul melds, although they are also invisible and incorporeal. Creating soul melds in this way is the only way to delay your regeneration until you get to a safe place.
• Restoration: rads can restore lost levels or ability scores (yourself) at the cost of 10 rad points per level or ability score point, including those lost to crafts.
• Shape Soul Melds: The character can research any Incarnum feats such as Shape Soul Meld and use rad points to fuel soul melds in exactly the same way as Incarnum is used (except they are not affected by attacks that affect Incarnum directly). Rad points expended for soul melds are considered ‘tied up’ and cannot be used for other purposes (such as healing) in the same round. Characters can gain this feat multiple times and each time it applies to a new soul meld. Unlike regular Incarnum rules the character already has chakras open so any soul meld can automatically be bound to any open chakra (but not a closed or diseased one). Also, if the character has more than 1 Soul Meld available then he can unshape any soul meld and convert it to another as Rapid Meld shaping (p. 22 Magic of Incarnum) as a full round action (provokes AoO) 1/day.
• The character radiates both of his alignment vectors and now all unarmed, natural and soul meld attacks are also considered aligned as well as magic for purposes of DR.
Benefits of Ascension:
• Must gain 10 permanent rad points (1 for each chakra) to ascend.
• All Hit Dice are now d12 and your hit points are recalculated, you also gain an extra 2 HD.
• All your chakra points are now ‘locked’ open and cannot be shut, you can move radiance around them freely 1/round.
• Can no longer age and can no longer be magically aged. You no longer suffer physical penalties for aging but do gain the benefits to intelligence, wisdom and charisma due to age.
• You no longer need to sleep, eat or breathe.
• You are constantly and immediately aware of all magic auras, their number, strength, and school in a 100 ft. radius
• Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns) and morale.
• Immune to ability drain, energy drain, sleep effects, paralysis, petrification, polymorph (except from your own spells), stunning, or death effects.
• Not subject to critical hits or non-lethal damage. Immune to damage on all ability scores as well as fatigue and exhaustion effects. Not at risk from massive damage.
• You may continue to gain permanent rad points at the rate of 1 per 24 hours if you retain at least 50 radiance points as above but without the risk of the radiance disease.
• Your body is now saturated, your spells are quickened as if you were on the Astral Plane, anti-magic, disjunction and dispel effects do not work on you or items worn on a chakra, your quasi-magic items always work when in direct contact with you and due to your constant exposure to rad energy you gain SR 20 even in Saturated areas. Rad points dedicated for a specific use do not generate radiance for other purposes although you may ‘regain’ Rad points so used and rededicate them or generalise them 1/day.
• Radiance: You constantly have the effects of radiance (as above).
• Metamagic: You can now use radiance to fuel any epic metamagic feat or combination of feats at a cost of 1 point of radiance/spell slot the metamagic would use (as above).
• Discharge: you can apply radiance points to a pure radiance energy attack exactly as above but there is no longer a limit on the number of hit dice in the discharge. You now have more control and can attack as a sphere (from a hand, the fireball above), cone (from the mouth, with a range of 30 ft long), or ray (from a finger or eyes, with a range of 5 inch high, 5 inch wide and 60 ft. long). You can also use radiance as a wall, or hemisphere to defend, treat as a wall of force at the cost of 1 radiance points/10 sq. ft (wall), or 5 ft. radius (hemisphere)/round. It does not affect damage from radiance attacks (above) and allows them to pass through as if the wall wasn’t there. Once the wall is created you no longer need to concentrate to maintain it as long as you pay the point cost per round, you are free to take other actions but cannot move further than 100 ft./level from the wall or to another plane or it will collapse.
• Innate Spells: You can bind spells to you, making them innate (supernatural) by paying the level of the spell in rads. You must always retain the 10 rads for your ascension so you must have 10 + spell level rads to spend on making a spell innate. It takes one day to form each innate bound spell. You can form up to 10 innate bound spells (one per chakra), this does not count toward your limit on any other innate spells you might get from another source. 1st - 3rd level spells become useable at will, 4th - 6th level spells are useable 3/day, and 7th - 9th level spells are useable 1/day. These rads are ‘lost’, actually bound to the spell, so you cannot use them to power anything else. You may unbind them and regain the rads 1/day.
100 Rad Points
Once you reach 100 rad points you undergo a second ascension, essentially gaining the template of a deity and gaining 1 divine rank for each 100 rad points you gain. Use the book Deities and Demigods p. 25-56 to figure out powers and effects for your new deity, your portfolio should always be magic or energy (and possibly something else).
Rad points can also be used to grant other beings spells. For every rad point you have you can now grant 1 level of spells per round. A deity with 100 rad points could spend them all per round granting his followers 100 levels of spells per round (divine spells). A being with less than 500 rads can only have adepts as clerics (assume 90-390 rads used to grant spells per round, although the new being can withhold all rads for personal use but then may lose a clergy when their spells don’t function regularly), after 500 rads the being can support a regular clergy (assume 400 points per round for a regular clergy of lesser god status to 1000 points per round for a clergy of greater god status). You can also cast divine spells now by expending radiance point for point for the level of divine spell you wish to cast, most deities use something like 100 points of divine spells per day doing deity like things such as answering follower’s prayers or just keeping up with their portfolio, they may use more during a gods war or something of that nature which can disrupt all spells for their clerics.
Remember, that as the Nucleus of the Sphere’s siphons off energy it reduces the instance of magic in the world. Deities (or any being with a divine rank of 1 or higher) can still use magic as normal, although lesser beings may not be able to (because they generate their own internal magical energies) until the destruction of the sphere ends all magic. When the Nucleus siphons off 5000 rads it will explode, destroying the entire world, ending magic forever on the Mystaran Prime plane, even for deities, and allow the Great Old Ones to enter the universe (whereupon they’ll probably just destroy every plane, but then again their logic is alien. However you can stop this from happening temporarily by diverting generalised radiance to the sphere to keep it from having any effects. For instance, if you had absorbed 2000 rad points you would be a 20th ranked God but then magic would become very rare. You could expend 1500 of your radiance points generated every round back to the sphere and it would be as if only 500 radiance points were missing (1 week each year magic would not function). However you couldn’t use any of these 1500 radiance points you expended back to power any other magical effects, including giving followers spells (above)
The only way to really gain divine ascension is to gain Incarnum points of the same quantities with opened chakras. Incarnum is constantly replaced by dead souls, petitioners that give up their energy to their gods whereupon their souls are reincarnated again on the prime planes to repeat the process over and over again. That’s why deities need a constant stream of worshipers ready to sacrifice everything and why devils and demons covet souls as an energy source (although a coerced soul is only 1/10th as powerful as a willing one, meaning very few demons or devils ever become gods (thank goodness!).
[1] The TELL are the true progenitor races. Titans are responsible for the birth of giants and humans and most gods, Eladrin are the progenitors of all fey, Linnorms are the progenitors of all draconic, lizard and snake folk, and the Loth helped to corrupt the Devils and both help and work against the Demons. The Loth are the only ones who did not (cannot) procreate. All of the others interbred as well, creating all the creatures in the cosmos. Originally they were one single race but were distorted by the Great Old Ones for their pleasure. The Titans were merely food stock, the Linnorms were warriors and messengers, the Eladrin were entertainment (they make “fun” sounds when they are tortured) and the Loth were the major-domos and clerks charged most of all with holding the twisted knowledge of the Great Old Ones (which has tainted them all and driven them all insane).
[2] Demons and Obyriths are agents of the Great Old Ones that have broken through into the multiverse.
[3] Modrons and Devils and most Yugoloths are living constructs designed to repair the Outer Planes and fight the Bloodwar, respectively, that are now completely “alive”, the Devils were constructed by the higher planes and corrupted by some factions of the Loth.
[4] Yugoloths were created directly from the taint of true Loth souls and physical material. The only real Loth that survive are the Norns and Baernoloths (name comes from the brothers Bano and Bern that consumed each other’s essence to remain alive but there are several that so far live).
[5] Obyriths, Demons, and any Aberration such as the Aboleth (who come from the Far Realm and wish to return to it) would qualify as a representative, as would creatures from Yog-Sothoth and other entities.
[6] Similar to the Mythallar of Forgotten Realms’ Netheril but considerably smaller this crystal sphere serves as direct link to the Nucleus and draws upon it’s ability to create rads, an alternate source of energy from the Far Realms.