Parent Pages: Locations of Note : Tatters

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World Well

The World Well is a small, rocky island in the Tatters, with a single cave leading deep underground.

The Main Chamber

The entrance cave eventually leads to a massive circular chamber (1 mile diameter) filled with water, huge lily pads and stepping stones.

Frog People

There are friendly frog-like people living in the water. They can occasionally be seen sitting on lily pads, grabbing fish from the water with their tongues. They never walk on the stepping stones, believing them to be a source of evil magic.

The Portals

Each stepping stone functions as a portal to places on other planes, keyed to a specific, spoken word. When spoken, anyone standing on the stone will be tossed lightly from the portal's other side, arriving in a stunned, disoriented state.

The other side of every portal is keyed to open when someone that has passed through it approaches. This attenuation of an individual to a portal lasts until another is used.

Each portal slowly drifts from one location to another in a set sequence, spending varying time connected to each. The period of stability for each portal varies from portal to portal, but does not vary in length.

For example, there is a portal keyed to the word “food” in Latin that drifts through a series of twenty locations, including farmer's fields, orchards, hunting grounds and more than one kitchen. This portal has a period of one month between shifts.

However, it should also be noted that the meaning of many of the words has become corrupted and the word that activates any given portal may have no real connection to the locations it leads to.

The Side Caves

There are a number of caves branching off the main chamber.

The Mage's Chamber

This is the home of the wizard that accidentally created the portals. He's unable to speak or understand any kind of language, as the portions of his mind associated with words have been spread throughout the Main Chamber as stepping stones. Since they're part of his mind he can sense when any portal is used.

Despite the fact that he's human, he hasn't aged since the accident. He's also effectively immortal, as his existence is tied to the existence of the portals. The only way to kill him is to destroy all of the portals; this would return each missing word to his mind. With the destruction of the last portal, he'll collapse and die.

He keeps a collection of mundane cooking supplies (despite the fact that he doesn't have to eat) and a bed roll. He long ago used his spell book to keep his cooking fire going, since he didn't understand it anymore.

He cannot use the portals and cannot leave the island. The Planewalkers occasionally give him food.

The Planewalkers

There was once a door to the Infinite Staircase tucked away in the corner of this chamber. Shortly after it was discovered and used by a group of exploring Planewalkers Guild members, it vanished, trapping them here.

They spent a few years looking for a stable way back to the Infinite Staircase, but eventually gave up and decided to stay.

They've fully mapped several hundred portals, but have yet to determine exactly where they are, despite the fact that they've been here for twenty years. They've tried to leave the island several times, but those sent out never returned.

The Sky

The walls reach upward to an open sky that cannot be reached, because it's actually an infinite distance away. However, the top of the walls always appear to be about a thousand feet up, regardless of actual position.

The sky is identical to that of the Archipelago, except that it's moonless. Thus, the nights can be quite dark.

Origin of the World Well

The World Well is the result of a Dimension Gate spell gone awry at the hands of a Wild Mage. He experienced a wild surge that left him completely unable to understand or speak any kind of language.

Each word he knew in every language he understood was bound to different locations on different planes. Each word became a stepping stone in the main chamber.

Originally, the portals all connected to places associated with the word that activates them. Unfortunately, the magic soon lost it's focus and each portal now slowly drifts from one location to another. Many portals now have no connection between their word and the locations it can connect to.

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