For a long time now, people have argued about what lies in the mysterious Hinterlands beyond the gate-towns. Many ideas have been offered, some of them false, some probably true, some undecided. I have chosen to present my findings in the style of the Player's Primer to the Outlands, in which the Hinterlands' complete orthodox description (two paragraphs) is listed.

The Hinterlands are that part of the Outlands which lie outside (and, by common consensus, more than a day's travel) beyond the ring of gate-towns. Although contiguous with the rest of the Land, the difficulty of reaching them makes the Hinterlands like a separate layer. Just like the rest of the Outlands, the Hinterlands represent neutrality. It seems that it's here that the less famous realms of the neutral powers end up, although that may all change. One thing the traveller notices in the Hinterlands (once he's got there, of course: see below) is that it takes longer to get from A to B there than in the inner Land. Travel between adjacent destinations takes not 3-18 days, but 5-30 days. And as usual, riding a horse or flying a spelljammer or whatever doesn't make the time pass any quicker.

Reaching the Hinterlands is harder than it looks. A berk might think that he could just walk away from the spire and get there. And the thing is, he could. But what holds people back is doubt. You have to beleieve that your method of reaching the Hinterlands works. The Xaoticians believe that where you've been in the Land already makes a difference, and so for them it does. Others hold that you must know where you're going. Whatever the truth, you have to believe in and practice your theory in order to arrive. One thing is certain: Walking past the gate-towns does not put you in the first layer of another plane. Of course, you could always take a portal from Sigil: They're there, all you have to do is look.

Just as approaching the Spire weakens magic, so moving away strengthens it. There are more rings, perhaps infinitely many, outside the gate-towns. By the time a body reaches the locations numbered on the map below, she's in the tenth ring, where tenth-level spells work. These powerful sorceries (not to be confused with true dweomers, which are like magical works of art) were banned from many prime worlds long ago, following the lead of the Torillian powers, after one of their number was nearly usurped by an ambitious mage who found a way around the 'only powers kill powers' rule with a twelfth level spell. In the eleventh ring, which starts just outward of Spare Wheel, eleventh-level spells work. And far, far away, is the twelfth ring, where no power ever goes, because there the spell Karsus' Avatar* succeeds (assuming its hideously rare components can be found), and no god worth his or her salt leaves themself open to that. Whether yet-more-powerful magics become available beyond is unknown, because although the tenth ring is 5-30 days' walk from the ninth, and the eleventh and twelfth each about twice that from the last, no-one has ever walked further than that and known it (or come back).

*Karsus' Avatar can be found under 'Karsus' in Powers and Pantheons.

At the moment, this tour contains the eleven locations numbered on the map above. However, I may replace the map with a more detailed one, and add more locations. If you have any suggestions, mail me. Note that the circle in the centre of the map above represents the Outlands as shown on the maps in the Player's Primer and the Planescape boxed set. The realm of Xiuhtecuhtli of the Aztec pantheon is not shown, lying near the Pyriphlegethon off the left-hand edge of the map. In fact, Xiuh's place is dangerously near the twelfth ring, but the Old God must know his own business.

If the Beastlands represent nature as idealised by people, then it's areas like the Wild Woods that represent it as left to its own devices. Hidden in this endless tract of dense woodland are many sacred druidical groves, and if you look hard enough, you may find the realms of druidical powers, although they're mighty secretive. But probably the best-known realm in the Wild Woods (which ain't saying an awful lot) is the Eternal Carnutes, held by many to be the realm of the Gaulish powers. Those who think they understand say that the Gaulish pantheon includes Toutatis, Belisama, Belenos and Lugus. But in fact, there ain't no such powers. The whole thing's a scam. But it has in mind a just purpose. See, Dispater, Lord of the Second Hell, had an ancient claim on the Gauls. In order to stop him from converting them all to his worship, an act which would put Dispater in good form to challenge the other Lords of the Nine, the Celtic and Greek gods got together, with a little help from the Norse, and created a way of diverting all that belief energy to themselves. Dispater is livid, but the number of greater powers in on the deal prevents him from doing anything. And so the big secret of the Gauls is kept. Toutatis is a compound of Zeus and Thor, Belisama is probably Minerva, Belenos is Belenus (it's amazing no-one's twigged that one) and Lugus is Lugh. Even those Gauls who honour Dispater still are not getting what they expect because Hades and Arawn are siphoning off most of that worship. Major proxies in the realm include Glaritix (Px/male human/D17/N) and Concuria (Px/female human/D19/N).

Travel in the Wild Woods is difficult. Although it's no slower than anywhere else in the Hinterlands, it's much more uncomfortable, because of the sharp thorns that lash a body cutting through the woods and the somewhat ferocious local wildlife, which includes fhorges (roast fhorge is considered a delicacy by the Gaulish petitioners, who think the Celts have no idea how to cook), lots of spiders, and at least a few shambling mounds and sussuri. Packs of wolves roam here too, especially on the slopes of the Mountains of Midgard.

Getting to the Wild Woods from the inner Outlands is easy, if you know what you're doing. Just walk away from the Spire, starting at Sylvania or Faunel. But if you don't know they're there, you'll simply get bashed about a lot in the woods, and be about a day's walk from the gate-towns still.

The Hintersee is the sea that comes up to Glorium. Cold and stormy, it's not much fun for the sailors who try to cross it. Every time the Modron Procession reaches Glorium, a longship sets out to explore the Hintersee. Or at least, that's what's said. It's more likely to be coincidence than anything else, especially as the people of Glorium don't keep very reliable records. Out in the middle of the Hintersee, a traveller finds the Frozen Reaches, an area which puts bloods in mind of Stygia for its coldness and hostility. But it's all perfectly natural, and the Inuit who dwell here seem to cope all right. There may be dry land somewhere beneath the ice cap, but no-one's ever seen it. Ruling over the whole lot are three powers, the Sea Spirit, the Moon Spirit and the Air Spirit. (see the separate reference here) The people around here have to be careful, because polar bears and other, nastier creatures hide amongst the ice floes. No-one quite knows what's beyond the Frozen Reaches, but at least one story says that the Land runs clean into elemental Water here. (see also the Mountains of Midgard, the Long Valley and the Freezing Steppes)

The freezing steppes start about five days' walk out from soXa, and continue more or less forever. Myriad tribes of barbarian horsemen ride aimlessly here, pinching each other's horses and killing the local yaks. In life, the petitioners were ancestor-worshippers. Now they are as dead as their ancestors, and roam the steppes as they wish, freed from their ancient responsibilities. It is said that each can only merge with the plane by obtaining more horses than anyone else, but this is not certain. The same berks who say that the Hintersee leads to elemental water say that the steppes eventually come to elemental Air, on account of the harsh cold wind that whips toward the Spire across the chilly plain. This is probably untrue, and as the locals huddle around horse-dung fires in their yurts, they couldn't give a yugoloth. Foremost amongst these bloods is Mogwai Khan (Pe/male half-orc/F 23/Fated/N), possibly the most powerful petitioner in the known multiverse. Quite how he got that powerful is not clear, but his tribe's ideals involve striving for physical improvement, and he has never lost the urge to try harder.

"Like Pluton but not quite as depressing" is how Zerozobbb the Scarred, a blood who knows all about wastes, described the Wasteland. Whilst just as amoral and neutral as the rest of the Land, the Wasteland is tainted by the fact that the fiends think of it as a dandy change of scene for fighting the Blood War. Wrecks of infernal war engines lie scattered about, and every now and then a particularly popular battlefield will go slumping into Oinos. Anywhere from Torch around to Curst overlooks the Wasteland, although its character varies as you work along. Near to Torch, the Wasteland is riddled with trenches and sinkholes, many of which lead to portals to the Grey Waste and Gehenna. Closer to Hopeless, the terrain becomes boggy and unstable, as Semuanya's Bog drains this way. Strange slimy beasts roam around, howling in the night. As Curst is reached and passed, the land dries up, and becomes dusty and barren.

As one moves spireward along the Vale of the Spine from Ribcage, the terrain grows more hospitable approaching the river Ma'at. Going the other way, a berk can walk forever and still be within a day's march of Ribcage, unless he knows about the Long Valley. Beyond Ribcage, the Vale of the Spine emerges into a large canyon, with rocks in the walls that look blood-red. A huge gateway, perhaps two hundred yards wide, stands at the Spireward end. The gates are locked, and none has ever passed them. No mortal magic seems to open them, and the chant is that it's the back door of Nessus in Baator. In the outward direction, the canyon runs nearly straight more or less forever. Here and there a crack in the floor reveals lava flows beneath, ample to keep berks' minds on other things. A well-worn road runs along the bottom of the canyon, crossing the lava on iron bridges. The road looks like it sees a lot of use, but no-one knows what actually uses it. A good month's walk from Ribcage the Valley is crossed by the Crossroads Road, which winds down the half-mile canyon walls on a broad stone staircase. Working toward Automata, the road goes to Crossroads. Working the other way, it gets lost on the outward side of the Wasteland. After the junction with the Crossroads Road the canyon is joined on the right-hand side by the River Pyriphlegethon (see the Dark Forest for details). Rumour has it that the Long Valley eventually reaches the planes of Fire and Magma, but this is what is known as an economy of the truth, i.e. very likely a lie.

Crossroads is the site where the road outward from Automata crosses the road known mainly as the Crossroads Road. There's a small town here, selling supplies to those heading out into the Hinterlands. In charge is the tenarimar Pointdexter the Mauve (planar male tenarimar/W7/Free League/N), who wears robes the colour of an illithid's scalp from head to toe, and only ever shows his horns, nose and beard. He is pretty cagey about his origins, and tends to go inside when unmortals approach, as he fears that if he had one of the fits that plague his race, he would reveal his true appearance by accident. The locals are understandably wary of him, although he seems a reasonable enough chap. His tower stands right at the crossroads, and on each floor a window looks out in each of the four directions. There are always modrons in town, usually on their way to study the area around Spare Wheel. Pointdexter hates them, and has banned them from coming within 100 yards of his tower. The River Pyriphlegethon (see the Dark Forest) passes about a day and a half's walk Out-by-leftwards of the town. No-one much goes that way, and it's considered ill-omened by the locals.

The eponymous cog at Spare Wheel can be seen from about halfway between Crossroads and the village. Rumour has it that the cog is either one that was thrown out of Mechanus for some invisible imperfection, or has yet to be fitted, or fell out by accident. The cog is enormous, measuring several days' walk across, and a gap of this size in Mechanus would soon be noticed, one assumes. It stands half-buried in the ground, and on the Spireward side, about halfway across, stands the village of Spare Wheel. The village is small, standing mostly on the ground, although a few enterprising souls have bolted warehouses and suchlike to the cog itself. It is always shady in Spare Wheel, as during the day the focus of the Land's ambient light is behind the cog. This is just as well, as the town's main merchant interests are controlled by Dark Louis, a vampire (planar male former human vampire/Psi 14/Dustmen/LN) who does his best to subsist on pigs' blood (there are a large number of livestock farms in the area), but whose business enemies tend to be found dead with pale faces. Other important figures include Lisa the Square (planar female rogue modron/P (Tvashtri) 3/Guvner/LG), a rogue modron that styles herself as female, and has had dresses specially tailored by Nogog Guthmicrol (planar male githzerai/0-level/Free League/CN) the local tailor. She runs a popular antique and junk shop in the village centre, and is an expert rumour-monger. Almost every week, modrons arrive in town to examine the cog. They don't speak to anyone, much less reveal their aims, but rumours abound.

Beyond Spare Wheel, the Automata road, having detoured around the cog, continues haphazardly into the Hinterlands, crossing the Pyriphlegethon on a bridge of giants' bones. It is said that it leads to a new set of gate-towns. Opinions vary as to what planes these visit. Some say that they lead to the same planes as the more familiar set, but to far-distant reaches of them. Others claim that they lead to the conceptual planes, of which Time and Shadow are two. Another popular tale is that a totally new set of planes is being stored out here in preparation for the advancement of powers to new levels of existence. The Godsmen are trying very hard to find out the truth of these tales.

The Mountains of Midgard climb steeply behind Excelsior and Ecstasy. Beyond Tradegate, a comparatively small wood creeps over Timberline Ridge to the Wild Woods. In the mountains are all manner of things. Best-known are the Meditative Monasteries, where the greatest thinkers of oriental and other philosophical groups come. Some are actually owned by the Ciphers, who welcome a bit of peace away from the violent stimuli of the rest of the Multiverse. The Ciphers there do meditate, but they do it whilst also exercising their bodies. They think that by limbering up mind, body and spirit at once they can approach their ideal of unity of the three. Also in the mountains are, amongst other things, a root of Yggdrasil, a possible opening to Mount Olympus, and many silent caves. Those who know of the Rilmani believe that a secret race of Rilmani devoted to the Hinterlands live there. Dubbed the Wolframachs, these beings allegedly study the far reaches of the Land, looking for possible sources of imbalance in the cosmos. Those who insist that the Hinterlands are linked to the elemental planes claim that the Mountains of Midgard harbour access to the plane of Earth.

The Caves of Ug-Thog are in fact part of a larger cave system rumoured to go everywhere beneath the Land and to connect with the Caverns of Thought, the Dwarven Mountain and Gzemnid's Realm, as well as the caves below Rigus. Here, there is a broad range of stony, uncultivated hills. The caves have many entrances, and it is here that those petitioners who in life were cave-dwellers in primitive cultures come. Their lifestyle was one of true neutrality, and the landscape hereabouts amply supports it, with goodly supplies of meat and wild vegetables, and mammoths, smilodons, wooly rhinos and fhorges are common here. Odd clumps of pine tress grow on the higher hills, and small fresh streams run in the valleys. No-one has ever successfully traced any of these streams to its end. Travellers to the area are advised to come well-armed and with spells to communicate with the locals, whose culture, while sophisticated in some respects, does not yet entail the learning of such foreign tongues as Common. It is said that some of the cave-paintings in the area are truly remarkable, and the Society of Sensation are thought to be sponsoring expeditions to the area.

The Dark Forest bars the way to the Other World (see below). Although the map shows it Spireward of the Other World, the dark of it is that to get to the Other World you must always pass through the Forest. Just to complicate matters, as shown on the map, the River Pyriphlegethon runs around the Forest. Here the river resembles a broad trench full of unquenchable flames. In order to cross, one must have a means of flight and preferably some protection against fire. The Forest itself is full of terrors. Why doesn't it slip into a lower plane? Because all the terrors are natural: wolves, bears, spiders and crawling things infest the woods, and the shades of mad Slavs roam aimlessly. The principal danger is starvation however: the traveller must know of his destination, and even then the Forest takes 3-18 days to cross.

The Other World is a famed spook-house of Slavic myth. Full of steep mountains and deep valleys, and ringed around by the Dark Forest (despite the map; the strange topology of this area is impossible to draw), no-one would normally come here, except for the gold. No-one knows where it comes from, but the simple truth is the the Jinx is more common here than anywhere else in the land. Mind you, it's not easy to get hold of. Dragons lair here, and rocs, who fiercely guard the treasure. Also here are gold and silver palaces, home to enigmatic spirits that don't take kindly to greedy visitors. In some places in the Other World the mountains rise so high that the only way to proceed is through deep tunnels. But the thing which most amazes people who come here is that as soon as you emerge from the Forest, you can no longer see the Spire! This phenomenon is unexplained, and likely to remain so. The Other World is also called the Thrice Tenth Kingdom. This name is of unknown origin, but bubbers in Crossroads'll give a body seventy answers. It's also rumoured that the land beneath the Other World harbours a sleeping god of enormous powers who cares nothing for good and evil, law or chaos, but seeks only to do its alien works.