The Planes: Arcadia
Our next stop in The Planes series is Arcadia - where order and good unite.
What is Arcadia?
Manual of the Planes, 2000 WotC
Known as the Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia, it is a plane of law and order all for the greater good. Chaos is strictly regulated, if not immediately asked to leave the plane, while evil is immediately eliminated from the plane by the patrolling guards. Located between Mechanus and Mount Celestia, the inhabitants believe that absolute order and law should help the greater good, that evil has no place on the plane.
Little is known about the layers of this plane, as visitors are only allowed on the top layer, Abellio. The second layer, Buxenos, has rarely been seen by outsiders, and those who do see it are politely asked to leave immediately and the inhabitants aren’t above using force to ensure their orders are followed. The third layer, Menausus, is entirely wrapped in mystery with few even know what it looks like or who can be found on the layer. Despite all of its secrecy, rumors have escaped from this plane that the third layer has drifted off to another plane, most likely Mechanus and that the inhabitants are trying to cover up their loss.
History
Introduced in the Manual of the Planes (1987), Arcadia started out with very little information and the book simply states that it’s layers are unknown and mysterious. In 2nd edition, the book Planes of Law (1995) provides more information about the plane, including locations found on the different layers and revealing that not all is good on the plane. 3rd edition expands only slightly on this lore, adding little more to the plane. 4th edition removes the plane, though an Astral Dominion known as Hestavar shares some of its traits, though not many. 5e brings back the plane, though fails to mention how many layers there are or touch on much of what makes the plane unique.
An Outsider’s Perspective
Planes of Law, 1995 TSR Inc.
Ordered and good, the plane appears to be immaculately laid out. Forests of trees appear to be more like orchards in perfect rows. Sweeping planes of grass never grow too high but rather grow to the same uniformed height with flowers laid out in perfect grids all colors grouped together. Wandering the plane, outsiders must stick to the gridwork of roads or be treated with suspicion, with patrols of guards and petitioners making sure that anyone straying from the road, and breaking the law, has a specific and good reason to do so.
Outsiders are rarely trusted and greeted with suspicion until they can prove themselves. This can take months or years for an outsider to become trusted, and even then petitioners might still reserve full trust until a mortal dies and their soul becomes a petitioner on the plane. Even long time petitioners, of high authority, can have suspicion cast upon them, especially recently as the entire plane of inhabitants seem to be stressed about something, though asking about it simply makes you a suspect.
A Native’s Perspective
Planes of Law, 1995 TSR Inc.
Order for the greater good is the greatest belief of those who live here. This plane is thought to be the safest and most secure of all the planes for laws must be followed and those laws are for the benefit of all. Mortals from the Material Plane are more likely to settle on Arcadia than any of the other planes, and the petitioners make sure to inspect every outsider before allowing them to stay here. Every petitioner on this plane can automatically detect another creature’s alignment unless that creature has somehow obscured it with a magic item or spell. If an inhabitant finds an evil creature on this plane, they attack immediately with little care for their own life. For the greater good, it is better to fight and die against evil than to stand idly by.
It’s not just petitioners and mortals from the Material Plane that call this plane their home, but also archons, aasimar, devas, formians, dire-beasts, hollyphants, and more. Any entity that aligns themselves with the focus of the greater good finds a secure home on this plane and can be accepted, with a little suspicion. Even the large-sized beasts and insects found throughout Arcadia are peaceful and focused on the greatest good they can offer to the plane. Bees, wasps, and ants happily build their nests in the best locations, bees allow anyone access to their honey without stinging and wasps never attack anyone unless they are evil and destroying the order of the plane.
The plane is about harmony with good and order. The layers themselves exemplify this goodness and order everywhere. Forests are neat rows of trees, farmlands have perfectly square plots of corn, wheat, and more, all kept neat, tidy, and not inter-mingling with other plants or crops. Inhabitants are expected to keep to order as well, cities should be arranged in neat rows with buildings all conforming to each other. Inhabitants are expected to get along with each other and to be working towards the greater good, willing to give themselves completely over to the cause. Those who refuse to follow the laws and do good are not individuals that will last long in this plane, either being killed for their evilness or, if they are simply neutral, kicked out of the plane quite forcibly into the Outlands and Arcadia’s gate-town of Fortitude.
Atmosphere
Arcadia’s weather and seasons follow the strict order of this plane. Every day is 24 hours with 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night with no sunrise or sunset. There are 27 days per month and three months per season. There are four seasons with weather that, while abrupt, is mild. Winter is a sheet of snow that covers everything that should be covered, spring brings blooming flowers and the omnipresent smell of flowers, summer is warm, but not aggressively hot, while autumn is cool with the unmistakable presence of sadness and hope for a new year. The first two layers experience opposite seasons, so when it is summer in Abellio, in Buxenos it is in the grips of winter. No one is sure what the third layer experiences during this time as so few are ever allowed to travel to it.
Traits
Travel to the Plane
Traveling to this plane is easy, and because so many see it as a safe place to settle down, the ways here are well documented and traveled. Saffron colors pools on the Astral Plane take travelers to the pastoral lands of Arcadia, just as the gate-town of Fortitude, located on the Outlands, is happy to allow outsiders in… so long as they aren’t evil or filled with ill-intentions. You can also travel to this plane from its neighbor planes of Mechanus and Mount Celestia through portals that link the two. Portals to those planes take on the form of white ivory or black steel with different curtains of color denoting where they lead to; white curtains lead to Mount Celestia, black to the Outlands, and silver to Mechanus.
Rumors also mention that if you are on Mechanus, and you locate the third layer of Arcadia there, which is well guarded by dwarves, modrons, and more, you can travel to the second layer of Arcadia. These rumors are largely unsubstantiated but planeswalkers from all over are interested in investigating and learning the truth of it.
Planes of Law, 1995 TSR Inc.
Traversing the Plane
Traveling across the plane is quite simple, especially for those with a lawful bent. Roads lead from every important place to other important places, crisscrossing across the plane in a neat and ordered fashion. The top layer, Abellio holds the Orb of Day and Night, which rotates at the top of the highest peak causing night and day to sweet across the plane. The Orb acts as the sun and moon for this plane and can be seen anywhere on the plane, acting as a guide. Travelers use the Orb the same as the spire on the Outlands, navigating across the land and using it as a large landmark.
While walking across the plane is simple, it isn’t without its dangers. Groups of petitioner militia, called einheriar patrols, move in full force across the layers, ensuring that any visitors are following the laws. If travelers are found off the road, they must have a very good reason for it, and lately, the patrols have been more strict than usual, interrogating farmers tending to their fields. You can’t be too sure that travelers or a farmer are not simply disguised demons or chaotic creatures trying to pass themselves off as lawful and good.
The top layer, Abellio, is laid out neatly and orderly. Rows of trees appear like well-maintained groves, in neat rows with no leaves that have fallen to the ground. The trees themselves are actually quite special with metallic bark made of copper, gold, iron, or silver. The leaves are a brilliant color ranging from dark green to oranges and yellows like the tree leaves get during the Material Plane’s fall, though these leaves never fall. Some trees even have special fruits that always spoil after a week that replicate the effects of magical potions, though these trees are highly guarded and protected.
The rest of Abellio is also as well laid out as the forests with city blocks carefully planned, rivers crossing the cities in straight lines and roads leading to all the important places in the plane, though that doesn’t mean all the places. The Storm Kings, four powerful beings who control cloud, lightning, rain, and wind; have fortresses at the four ‘cardinal’ directions on this plane and no road leads to their lairs.
The petitioners of Arcadia are on journeys of enlightenment, much like the petitioners of Mount Celestia, except they are not looking to the self for enlightenment, but looking to the greater good. Those that reach the next step in their journey are allowed access to the second layer, Buxenos. Outsiders can try and enter that layer, as the conduits are well documents, but also well guarded and protected by those attempting to keep the plane pure. Large stone arches and giant plinths act as the conduits that bring travelers from the first layer down to the second and fortifications have been built on top of all the known ones.
Planes of Law, 1995 TSR Inc.
The Orb of Day and Night
Spinning on top of the highest peak in Abellio, it’s light shines down into the second layer, acting as the sun and moon. Half of this orb is a brilliant white that provides bright daylight to the plane while the other half gives the dull glow of a moon and provides the illumination of stars in the sky above. There is no transition between night and day, the orb is constantly in motion, providing a perfect 12 hour day followed by a perfect 12 hour night. Travelers can see this transition happen in real-time, especially if they are standing on top of a cliff or mountain as the orb rotates and night can be seen sweeping across the land. Because there is no transition, it can be disorienting for visitors as they are immediately plunged into bright light from darkness, or vice versa, with little warning. This has the effect that half the layer is always in bright light and the other half in darkness with the night sky.
Twinkling high above the plane are stars, though most people have no idea what those stars are meant to be. Some think that they are the domains of powers that have settled on the plane while others think they are different layers. Some sages have tried studying the stars and then using magic to teleport themselves up there but no one has heard any stories of them returning.
Locations
Known as the Land of Perfect Good, the plane follows the orders and laws of the multiverse. There are three layers, in accordance with the Rule of Three, with each lying beneath the other. The layers are inhabited by the petitioners who have begun their journey to good and law. As the petitioners continue their journey, they appear older and older with the first layer made up of petitioners as early adults, for humans it would appear that they are in their 20s. The second layer’s petitioners are adults, and if they were human they would appear in their 30s. The third layer’s petitioners are the oldest, at least as far as anyone knows, and appear as if they are 40 to 50 in human terms.
Abellio
Largely flat with mountains and hills arranged in an orderly fashion, this layer is largely taken over by fields of grass and farming, forests, lakes, and more. Food is plentiful and even the beasts are focused on the good of all. Petitioners of this layer seek peace and freedom through service and belief, which is why so many of them make up the guard patrols of this layer.
Mandible
Planes of Law, 1995 TSR Inc.
Buildings set upon a hill in perfect order, travelers are welcomed to the surface level of the city, which has made the city a popular destination for trading goods. The strangest part of this city though is that it is created and ruled over by the formians, ant-centaurs, who work diligently in their hives for the greater good of their society. Like all formian cities, the surface layer features buildings, like a typical city, while below the surface is the true city. The different wards for the workers can be found in these underground tunnels as well as the Queen Mother’s chambers and the Place of Eggs hidden securely in the center where it is almost impossible to find them.
There is only one ruler, the Queen Mother K’l’tk’thra (called Clarity by outsiders), though she has three immature queens who are in charge of running the day to day affairs of the city. Each takes over a third of the tasks and every year they trade-off so that they have experience in every aspect of the city. Once they have learned to properly run a city, the Queen Mother will send them off with formian workers and myrmarches so that they can start their own city.
Mount Clangeddin
Planes of Law, 1995 TSR Inc.
A mountain in the shape of a perfect cone rises from the ground, towering over thirty thousand feet, piercing the clouds high above. The dwarven god of battle, Clangeddin Silverbeard, oversees this realm, ensuring the order of the dwarves within. The interior is carefully and exactly cut from the stone within, forming great halls, forges, and the homes for dwarves. Large training yards can be found in the mountain along with forges that produce weapons of master quality.
The dwarf petitioners are expected to spend half their day practicing their fighting skills, in honor of Clangeddin, and spend the other half working on their devices for the good of all in Clangeddin. These dwarves are said to be the greatest warriors of the plane and no one would dare to attack the mountain and expect to win. Mortals from all over journey to the mountain for if they can plead their case to Clangeddin, or one of his advisors, then a legion of dwarves can be hired to help them. Most of these causes must have something to do with the dwarves, though for special and good circumstances, the dwarves will happily take part as they don’t fear dying off their plane.
Buxenus
While Buxenus appears much like Abellio, it is well guarded and protected from outsiders entering it. Those that somehow make it to this layer must hide from the einheriar patrols or be kicked out of the plane forcibly, unless they are evil, in which case they are attacked immediately. Despite all the precautions that the inhabitants of this plane have gone through, rumors come out of this layer that it is being turned into a large training camp, that the forces of good are hoping to return the third layer, Menausus, to its rightful place in Arcadia.
Heliopolis
Planes of Law, 1995 TSR Inc.
This domain is ruled over by Ra, Isis, Osiris, and Horus who have created a triangular realm. The triangle is split into three equal pieces with each piece ruled over by a different power with Horus wandering the realm and too chaotic to create a realm. These four powers work together when needed but represent different aspects that are sometimes at odds with each other, like Ra oversees the destruction of the undead while Osiris is the protector of the dead, including the non-destructive undead.
Each of the three realms that make up the domain has cities under the rule of the respective power and the laws for each realm are different. Undead are immediately destroyed upon arriving in Ra’s realm of burning days and cool nights. Isis land is considered moderate and the source of all beasts in Heliopolis, while Osiris’ land occupies the surface as well as below for the souls of the dead are interred in his realm. Horus travels from city to city in this domain, an avenging spirit that strikes down those that need to be brought down.
Training Camps
Hidden from the multiverse are the training camps used by the Harmonium to further their case of law and harmony. They ‘borrow’ outsiders from all across the multiverse of chaotic or neutral alignment and bring them to these camps to teach them about law and order. They are hoping to bring more people into law and good, unfortunately the success rate is incredibly low and, while the Harmonium do it for the ‘greater good’, many see it as an evil act committed with the best intentions.
Menausus
Once the third layer of Arcadia, it now resides on Mechanus as the training camps by the Harmonium forced the bottom layer to become aligned with evil. Massive layer changes rarely happen in the multiverse, and this is the first one that anyone can remember happening. Smaller pieces of a plane, the size of a city or smaller, are constantly shifting around as the inhabitants re-align their alignments, causing that plot of land to no longer fit in the plane. The fact that the Harmonium caused an entire layer to shift from one plane to the next has a lot of people worried, though this closely guarded secret hasn’t yet been proven to the rest of the multiverse.
Those that do know about the Harmonium and the role they’ve played with Menausus are worried that they are going to cause more of Arcadia to slip into Mechanus. Already some think that Buxenus is beginning to shift, though this has only made the Harmonium cling tighter to their training camps, hoping to convert more to law and good, even though what they are doing is evil.
Factions & People
Beasts
The beasts of this plane are much like their cousins on the Material Plane, with several differences. They are much larger than a normal beast, though they lack the ability to speak like those found on the Beastlands. The Arcadian beasts are also quite strange as many of them have metallic-like fur; foxes have fur of gold, hares with copper, and sheep with silver-wool. The beasts are not vicious and are more likely to simply leave petitioners and outsiders alone unless they detect someone is evil, in which case they drive them out of the plane with force.
The beasts all have the natural ability to see through illusions, which makes them ideal guard animals for places outside of this plane and thus they are highly sought after for their unique abilities.
Formians
Arcadia is the home of the formians, though they have recently been found on Mechanus where they are attempting to colonize every gear. While in Arcadia, they have no drive for conquering territories but focus on growing their communities and working for the greater good of the hive. As ant-centaurs, they can be quite large, standing 7 to 8 feet tall and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Workers are the smallest of the formians and have three-fingered hands that allow them to do some fine motor control with them. Above the workers are the warriors and taskmasters who handle carry out the orders of the queen and ensure the protection of the hive is maintained. Myrmarches are above them and act as the royal guards of the queen, protecting her with their life. At the top of the hive is the queen who is in charge of the hive and produces over a hundred eggs a day.
The Harmonium
Planescape Campaign Setting, 1992 TSR Inc.
Often nicknamed The Hardheads, the Harmonium is a faction in the multiverse with the belief that once the entire multiverse is in harmony, only then can there be a new golden age. Their motto is, “The Harmonium is always right,” and they refuse to adjust from there. They often act as the guard force of Sigil and Arcadia, where they have made their headquarters, and seek to bring law and harmony everywhere. Of course, their actions on Arcadia are leading many to believe that the Harmonium are too blinded by their own philosophy of it’s their way or no way, seeing as how they lost a layer because they made it evil. The Harmonium refuse to see things that way though, for them, it was a conspiracy against them by the chaotic folk who want nothing more than to destroy all the hard and good work they’ve done to make the multiverse a better place.
Storm Kings
Planes of Law, 1995 TSR Inc.
There are four kings who hold sway over the weather on Arcadia, each of the kings controls one of the aspects of weather; clouds, lightning, rain, and wind. These four work together to create storms that rage across Arcadia on specific time tables and based on ancient laws that they agreed to during the creation of the multiverse. While these individuals are especially powerful, often thought to be demi-gods, they can be defeated and there have been so many storm kings that no one can keep track of it all, in fact, two of the kings are actually queens, but because they have always been called kings, they’ve kept the moniker.
Each king has a fortress of stone surrounded by the element they control, massive clouds cover the Cloud King’s domain, while walls of lightning protect the Lightning King. Each has a small group of individuals that they train to replace them if they are ever defeated or die of old age. This ensures that storms, wind, rain, and clouds will always follow the order of the plane, for if one of these elements was ever removed, it would spell disaster for the plane.
Encounters
Greater Good - A village is worried about the new arrivals and thinks they might be spies sent by the forces of chaos! Unfortunately for the party, they are thought to be those spies. The town has decided that, for the greater good, the party must be run off the plane for fear of disrupting the place.
Harmonium’s Camps - Chaos must be replaced with order, and you find yourself being kidnapped by the Harmonium. Whether they succeed or not, you learn that they are hoping to re-align you into a lawful and orderly creature, all for the benefit of the greater good.
Mixed Reception - The party has been stolen from by an anarchist that has escaped Sigil and made their way onto Arcadia. The Harmonium refuses to believe that the individual in question is a thief, as that individual has been an upstanding citizen for years. If the party wants their items back, they’re gonna have to figure out how to do it without drawing attention to themselves.
Trouble in Mandile - An immature queen formian has defected from the Queen Mother and has taken half of the formians of the city. The Harmonium wants to know what happened and if there is someone spreading dissent and chaos in the city.
Resources & Further Reading
Manual of the Planes (1st edition)
For more information on Arcadia in 1st edition.
Planes of Conflict (2nd edition)
For more information on creatures, locations, and inhabitants of Arcadia.
Manual of the Planes (3rd edition)
For some additional information on Arcadia.
Like what we are doing here?
Support us on Patreon!
You’ll get early access to deep dives, our Homebrew Hoard, monster stat blocks and more!
Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on everything we talk about!
