Adventuring in the Demonweb Pits, the gypsy Rhennee Tzeliobas found himself in a world partially absorbed by Lolth’s web. In this world, it was called the “world wide web” or www, a part of the 666th layer of the Abyss. Curiously, in a language similar to the common tongue, he found this document with his name inside. They found the name of the world, Earth, similar to theirs, Oerth, and he realized that the world itself had similarities to the one that his people came from by accident, Aerth. Moreover, in the document there was information that, being vassal to Tenser, he deemed necessary to inform him.
The Platonic Solids
By: Tzelios (b_steelio@hotmail.com )
(Used with Permission. Do not repost without obtaining prior permission from the author.) There are countless Platonic Solids in the multiverse, although the prototype artifact is speculated to reside inside the plane of Concordant Opposition. In nature, they appear in crystals, viruses and radiolaria, although, they have to be connected to life in general. They were known to the curious ancient race of the Greeks or Hellenes of Earth. They were described by one of their most important representatives, Plato, in his work Timaeus.
They are polyhedra with identical facets regular polygons (i.e., convex equilateral polygons). There are only five Platonic Solids: the tetrahedron, the cube or hexahedron, the octahedron, the dodecahedron, and the icosahedron. On the macro level they are usually wooden, although, at the time Tzeliobas landed Earth, there was abound of plastic ones.
The main power of the Platonic Solids is the creation of reality and alternate realities and the change of the reality. Powers that promote stasis are opposed to their existence, and somehow harmed by them. Many worlds, like the one of Oerth and Aerth, have been created with the help of the Platonic Solids. All player characters and non-player characters owe their existence to them. Somehow four of them are connected with the four elemental planes. The tetrahedron is connected with fire, the cube with earth, the icosahedron with water, and the octahedron with air. The dodecahedron is connected with ether and the stuff of which the outer planes are made.
At the beginning all there were was nothing. As Lord Entropy, a.k.a. All and Nothing, became aware of his existence big bangs happened. Out of nothing the inner planes started to exist and fueled the construction of the various primes, out of which possibilities and time existed. An ordering and placing of things was mandated. And thus, there were three: Lord Entropy, Lady Tolerance who was Possibility, and Proctor Chronos who was Regulation. Chronos, within the limits of Tolerance, and secretly from Lord Entropy, constructed the prototype quintet of Platonic Solids. Crystals formed on the prime material planes and Modrons crawled forth on the outer planes. Next, primitive life forms and viruses evolved. As is the nature of Lord Entropy to be nothing and do nothing, another primal power was born to return All to the initial condition of nothingness, viz. Tharizdun of matter at rest and decay of energy. All human, demihuman and humanoid powers are born later.
Plato, a resident of Earth, during one of his many visits to the outer planes or “the world of ideas”, as he used to call them, confronted the quintet at the plane of Concordant Opposition. From then on, he was quested to study the quintet. After his death, the quest passed from him to the mathematician Euclid. Zagyg is said, that with all his madness, convinced Chronos to grant him access to using the quintet at will. A quintet of Platonic Solids, with lesser power than the prototype, is said to reside inside Greyhawk Castle, at the Greek Mythology level. This particular one quintet has the power to drastically modify humans, monsters and demons alike, within their racial limitations. It is brought to use by one of the hero-deities (for example Kelanen), whenever of PC who lacks originality appears into the castle. A hero-deity of the same class with the unoriginal character will perform the task. The hero-deity will let the PC to choose between tossing the dices or duel with his possible original self, and if he survives he gains his right to be unoriginal. For example, suppose that you have a player that every new character he plays is the same with his previous characters or even is the same with another character that appeared in previous campaigns with a different name. Have him confront the hero-deity with the quintet, and then make all changes that you want.
There is no known curse connected to Platonic Solids, although a side effect of consistently using one such quintet is that you live in an imaginary world, unable to see real world and its problems, thus unable help those in need. Therefore, lawful good deities do not bless, and may even do actions to hinder the use of it. Initially, Entropy didn’t seem to disagree with the quintet, but now he is angry about its existence. Tharizdun and all the demons and devils that vow to him would do their best to destroy the stupid regular and elegant solids. All other powers seem to realize the dependence of their existence on the quintet, and hence, are allies with it.
In order to destroy the prototype Platonic Solids, all life forms should first be exterminated.
