Plane of Mirrors

From Greyhawk Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
Greyhawk Plane
Plane of Mirrors
Type Transitive plane
Layers Unlimited number of "constellations."
Alignment Mildly neutral-aligned. A particular constellation of mirrors may have a different alignment trait.
Native Inhabitants Nerra, mirror mephit,
mirror-self
Greyhawk Powers None

Plane of Mirrors is a transitive plane that exists in the space behind reflective surfaces.

Description

With the proper spell or magic item (for example, the mirror walking spell), a traveler can pass through the glass of a mirror or other reflective surface and enter the strange realm beyond.

Once in the Plane of Mirrors, the traveler sees a "window" leading back to the plane and a long corridor leading both right and left. Along the corridor are other "windows" that represent the "backs" of other mirrors in other planes and places. Most of these corridors have links to 5-20 other mirrors; a group of mirrors linked by the Plane of Mirrors is known as a constellation.

Time, gravity, magic, and the elements are generally the same in the Plane of Mirrors as they are on the Prime Material Plane, although spells that contact other transitive planes, such as the Astral Plane, Ethereal Plane, and Plane of Shadow, do not work; the only way in and out is through one of the mirror-portals.

Inhabitants

Natives of the Plane of Mirrors include the enigmatic nerras and mirror mephits. Spell weavers, who are allied with the nerras, sometimes use the Plane of Mirrors to travel between the "nodes" they call home.

Non-natives who enter the Plane of Mirrors face a significant drawback to this mode of travel. When they enter, a mirror version of the traveler is created somewhere else on the plane. The mirror-self is identical to the intruder in most respects except its alignment is the opposite of its counterpart (a neutral character spawns a neutral mirror-self; a chaotic good character spawns a lawful evil mirror-self), its handedness is reversed, the mirror-self is considered to be of the "outsider" type, and the mirror-self can see in the dark, whether or not the original could. If the original has a mirror in his or her possession, this is not duplicated, but other equipment is. The mirror-self is aware of the location of the original at all times, although the reverse is not true. The mirror-self is consumed with the desire to slay its original, then exit the portal from which the original came and take over its victim's life.

Known constellations (and similar examples of mirror magic)

  • The Book of Flesh and Mirrors is a book on mirror magic and the Plane of Mirrors thought to have been written by Rhyxali, who hoped to corrupt the Plane of Mirrors and draw it into the Abyss (Expedition to the Demonweb Pits, 176).
  • The Constellation of Eyes is a massive sphere (supposedly in the Astral Plane) made of reflective crystal, around which orbit countless curved mirrors. Images from everywhere there are mirrors are reflected, and these are recorded by the nerras who make up the primary inhabitants of the Constellation. From the Constellation of Eyes, the nerras use mirrors to travel to other worlds to abduct victims and replace them with their mirror-selves (Monster Manual 3 (2010), 144).
  • In Castle Greyhawk, on the level known as Zagig's Crypt, is a silvery-black mirror that transports those who touch it to a demiplane known as the Land Beyond the Magic Mirror. This mirror is in the room labeled Z632 in Greyhawk Ruins. This mirror transports the characters directly into the Collection Room in the Magic Mirror House on this demiplane rather than forcing them to walk through the Plane of Mirrors first.
  • Glimmerpane is a sentient mirror of opposition driven to dominate its environment, persecute spellcasters, and prevent itself from being enslaved at all costs. (Dungeon #127)
  • The Great Mirror is a corrupted mirror brought by Graz'zt into the Council Chamber in the Demonweb Pits. It connects to a Plane of Mirrors constellation that joins to mirrors in twelve different locations: two mirrors in the Demonweb Pits, two mirrors in Graz'zt's own palace, a mirror in the Styx Oarsman bar in Sigil, a mirror in Graz'zt's city of Zelatar, a red dragon's lair, a handheld mirror in the possession of a drow priestess, a mirror in the possession of Orcus, a mirror in the possession of Rhyxali, and a mirror on the Prime Material Plane. The constellation is inhabited by mirror mephits in the service of Graz'zt (Expedition to the Demonweb Pits, 120).
  • The Mirror Dance is a ritual involving three gold-framed mirrors that allows travelers to access the shadow of Vecna's ancient library (Vecna Reborn, 47-50).
  • The mask of diamond tears was a magic item created by the ethergaunts, in collusion with their nerra allies, that allowed them to summon evil doubles of their enemies through the Plane of Mirrors to fight for them in wars across the planes (Dungeon #143).
  • The mirror of life trapping is a magic item that imprisons those who gaze into it in a mirror plane with 13-18 rooms and no exits (2e Dungeon Master's Guide, 174).
  • The mirror of mental prowess is a magic item that enables its user to scry into other places and to use the mirror as a portal to visit them (2e Dungeon Master's Guide, 175.
  • The mirror of opposition is a magic item that summons a mirror-self in much the same way as the Plane of Mirrors does (2e Dungeon Master's Guide, 175).
  • The Starry Mirror is a magic item created by the spell weavers of Vaprak's Voice. It resembles a pentagon-shaped mirror that distorts that which it reflects in an unsettling way, dotted with shimmering patches of star-like lights. It connects to the Plane of Mirrors and, originally, to a constellation of four other mirrors, although only one of the portals within still works today. The Starry Mirror can be passed through by anyone; it feels like a vertical surface of cold liquid. The spell weavers used the device to travel between five different locations in their ancient empire (Dungeon #104, 72-76).
  • Timaresh, also known as the Mirrored Library, is a library built near the Spire in the Outlands by an ancient, forgotten race known as the kamerel and subsequently seized by the rilmani. Because the library extends into a plane of mirrors, it contains an infinite number of rooms within it, each connected by mirrors to the others in an unending series of constellations. The infinite rooms in the main library are mirror images of one another, but they each contain different books created by a magic item called the bindery of Hallonac, which can make copies of any book in the multiverse whose author intended to be read. When the rilmani conquered their city and seized the library, the kamerel fled the library and the known multiverse to inhabit the Plane of Mirrors, where they became trapped (Tales From the Infinite Staircase, 98-113).

Bibliography

  • Cook, David. Dungeon Master's Guide. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1989.
  • Cook, Monte. Tales From the Infinite Staircase. Renton, WA: TSR, 1998.
  • -----. Vecna Reborn. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1998.
  • Logue, Nicholas. "Mask of Diamond Tears." Dungeon #143. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2007.
  • Maclean, Hal. "Glimmerpane." Dungeon #127. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2005.
  • Mearls, Mike, Greg Bilsland, and Robert J. Schwalb. Monster Manual 3. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2010.
  • Mobley, Blake, and Timothy B. Brown. Greyhawk Ruins. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990.
Retrieved from "https://ghwiki.greyparticle.com/index.php?title=Plane_of_Mirrors&oldid=22472"