Ecstasy

The first thing most visitors notice about Ecstasy is the plinths. Fact is, Ecstasy's known as the "City of Plinths," because the landscape's dotted with them — tall monoliths made of stone or iron. Something the Clueless might not notice is all the bodies on top of the plinths. These cutters are petitioners of Elysium, who sometimes sit up on a plinth for days, just contemplating the multiverse.

The rest of the town is pretty much like the petitioners, with no one in a great hurry to do anything. Ecstasy's a pastoral community where bodies have all they need, a town of plenty and peace. Most of the trouble comes from outsiders, and a true native of Ecstasy defines an "outsider" as "any berk who got here after I did."

As a town, Ecstasy's a sprawling, open place, with large manors and buildings grouped around the major crossroads. Gardens, orchards, and other greenery make up the rest, and, of course, plinths are everywhere. It's a mixed pot of styles and forms, but most visitors find the end result somehow very pleasing.

There's a monolith made of ivory close to the center of town, known to residents as the Bone Plinth. Cutters who make it to the top'll find a pool of quicksilver, and stepping into the pool takes a body to Amoria, on the banks of the River Oceanus. That's about a day's travel from the Elysian city of Release from Care.

The petitioners on the plinths don't usually get in a body's way. But the rest of the people are just too sodding impulsive for most visitors. They're friendly, all right, but very direct — if they're interested in something a berk's got, they're likely to grab it for a closer look. A native here figures his first impulse is the best and acts on it, without letting thought slow him down. Why should he flap his bone-box over something as airy as law versus chaos, when he could be focusing on his personal growth?

Ciphers make up a good chunk of the planar population, along with petitioners of the various deities with realms in Elysium. Evil is shunned in Ecstasy, with "evil" meaning anything that blocks a body's personal growth. Theft is a crime, but borrowing is not. Trespassing is a crime, but exploring is not. A rogue with a fast tongue can usually talk his way out of trouble, but berks like that don't stay in town long, not with curious natives always trying to find out what makes them tick.

Note: Ecstasy originally appeared in A Player's Primer to the Outlands, an accessory for the AD&D game from TSR. Its use here is for the purposes of providing context for the campaign only.