What is an Elemental Plane, Anyway?

    There seems inevitably to come a time in an adventuring party's career where their travels take them beyond the earthly sphere. One of the most common examples, besides the mysterious reaches of the space-like Astral Plane, is the four realms of the fundamental elements of creation: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water (and occasionally their lesser kinfolk). These places, we are told, are composed wholly of one substance, unadulterated by the others with which it comingles in our ordinary reality. This is a frightening prospect, and one that seems wholly inimical to life: without Air we could not breathe, without Earth we would fall forever, without Fire our hearts would expire and our blood would grow cold, and without Water we would shrivel from thirst.

    Yet when those brave enough to undertake such a journey do find themselves in such places, the experience seems remarkably different from what the stated nature of a plane as wholly of one element should imply. Rather than actual expressions of nothing but Water, or Lightning, or Ooze, they seem to be reflections of our own world, merely biased (to varying degrees) towards having more of the substance with which they align. In some cases, the excuse is made that these are not actually the birthplaces of the elements, but spaces created to reflect them. Yet on other occasions, we are expected to believe that cloudbanks fill the Plane of Air (without Water?), that great mountains rise from the Plane of Fire (without Earth?), and that the Plane of Water hosts both islands and seabeds without aid from the influence of Earth. How, if these are supposed to be pure expanses of one element, from which the world only springs when they are properly mixed, do such places so resemble the conventional world of men?

"The Elemental Plane of Air". Note the presence of Water and Earth.

    The first thing you must understand is that the Elemental Planes are not physical places, as such. You could not travel in any direction and reach them, no matter how long you spent or how great your speed. Indeed, the very idea of matter and distance only exists under the precise conditions where the four elements (and the Motive Forces, Positive and Negative energy) meet to produce the world of living beings. You could not actually be 'in' the Plane of Fire, anymore than you could be bodily within mathematics or the grammar of a language or the laws of a kingdom. They are principles and expressions, energies (even Earth is an energy, though it is very slow-moving; were it not, worms could not feed upon it) known to philosophers and observable through their effects on the world. To call more of an element into the world is relatively easy, for a mage; to call a human, in all its complexity, into an Elemental Plane would be impossible.

    Yet still, there are reasons to venture there. The most notable of these is information: there are still intelligences there, though not living beings as we traditionally understand them, and as inhabitants of the spiritual world they are wise and privy to much secret knowledge. Much can be learned from the greatest of these minds, called the Fiends by men; they are variously understood as rulers, stewards, or even the manifest wills of the whole Plane itself - but whatever the case, they have great power, and could potentially offer great forgotten lore or magical formulae, if a petitioner was willing to do some service to the element they represent. Occasionally, too, a soul is bound captive in an Elemental Plane, or an obscure prophecy requires some occurrence within it; and even the story of having been to the Plane of Mist is reason enough for some.

Woodcut of Kary, Elemental Fiend of Fire.

    "Travel" to the Elemental Planes does not involve physical translocation of the body, but the elevation of the mind into them. They are higher places, from which emanations and consciousnesses flow - with proper willpower and concentration, a consciousness may flow backwards into them, for a time. Yet to envision an element in its purest unfiltered state is a difficult task for corporeal beings, and aids are thus required. Wizards intent on carrying themselves or their fellows into an Elemental Plane make liberal use of hallucinogens, mesmerism, and disassociation. The conventional descriptions of the Planes - the caverns of the Plane of Earth, the desert wastes of the Plane of Fire, and so forth - are meditative visualization exercises that guide the participants' minds into a psychedelic dream-state in which they are able to understand their time in the Plane by analogy. The magic circles used in planar travel are not for teleportation, but to sustain and protect the mindless bodies of the travelers while their spirits are abroad.

This Magic-User (Level 1d4 + 6) knows how to lead you to your Elemental Plane of choice, but... (1d6)

1. The ceremony can only be performed in a remote and dangerous location, many days' journey away.
2. You must procure a rare fruit from the distant wilderness and return it to them. Do not breathe the scent of its flesh or touch it with your bare hands!
3. By way of payment, they will be conducting arcane experiments upon your unconscious forms while you travel there. They are cagey on the details of their plans.
4. Their command of poetic imagery is somewhat inferior to that of their peers, and their creativity is lacking. There is a chance you will be sent to a nearby related Plane instead of your intended location (e.g. the Plane of Ice instead of the Plane of Water, or the Plane of Magnetism instead of the Plane of Force).
5. It is flatly illegal in this municipality/state, and they do not have any place to hide from the prying eyes of the inquisitors. Bring them to a safehouse and they will do it gladly!
6. Their alignment is in direct opposition to the party's or its leaders (if this is Neutral, they are simply very unlikeable) and they hold nothing but contempt for you personally. Why should they provide you with aid?

Returning from your vision-quest to the Elemental Plane, you find... (1d6)

1. You are slightly paranoid, and cannot tell whether you have truly returned to your native world. You are looking for signs that this is secretly another Elemental Plane.
2. You have a minor psychological compulsion relating to the Plane - lesser pyromania, a need to carefully arrange mounds of stones, strong opinions on wood.
3. The experience has profoundly altered your sense of self. Randomly swap your Intelligence, Charisma, and Wisdom ability scores (or equivalent). You may ignore ability score requirements for your class or race if this causes you no longer to meet them.
4. The protective element of the spell was subtly flawed. Some cur has done you minor harm - a street urchin has picked your pocket, or a cave rat nibbles upon your ear, or similar.
5. An elemental intelligence followed your path back, and is manifesting in the corporeal world nearby.
6. Everything went surprisingly smoothly. Too smoothly... surely magic like this doesn't come without something going wrong...

A party prepares to travel to the Elemental Plane of Air, to barter with the Fiend Orochi, under a sorcerer's direction.