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What are the Para-Elemental Planes?

Where the major Inner Planes meet, they form the para-elemental planes, minor planes of existence that combine the materials of two different major elements into a single plane. These planes are Ice, a minor plane of Air and Water; Magma, a minor plane of Earth and Fire; Ooze, a minor plane of Earth and Water; and Smoke, a minor plane of Air and Fire. They are considered minor because of the difficulty of reaching these planes, and the smaller number of inhabitants that reside on them.
These planes, while minor, are far more dangerous than the major planes they adjoin, one of the reasons why they are so scarcely populated. Despite the danger of visiting such places, they each hold unique locales and treasures within their depths.

History

The para-elemental planes are first introduced in the Manual of the Planes (1987) where their foundations are first laid. It’s not until The Inner Planes (1998) that additional detail is provided on the inhabitants, specifics to the planes, and locations to visit. These planes’ paraelementals are the only creatures that are referenced in 3rd edition and in 4th edition, and while these planes are touched on in 5th edition’s Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014), very little is revealed on them, though Smoke is renamed to Ash.

An Outsider’s Perspective

These minor planes are as varied from each other as the major planes that make them up. For outsiders, these planes are dangerous, but for those who have learned their secrets, can hold hidden treasures unable to be found anywhere else in the planes. Each of these para-elemental planes presents unique challenges to be overcome.

Ice

Between the Plane of Air and the Plane of Water, the Plane of Ice is a realm of freezing temperatures where everything freezes eventually. Water, flesh, blood, stone, metal, ice, and even words and thoughts freeze in this plane the closer one travels to the center of it. The entire plane is covered in freezing ice, creating twisting caverns and tunnels, with large chasms that shrink and grow as the ice moves throughout the plane. Those who visit this plane do so to find frozen thoughts in the center of the plane, or to hunt the monsters who roam this plane, like yetis, animentals, ice mephits, and more.

Magma

Between the Plane of Earth and the Plane of Fire, the Plane of Magma is a flowing realm of super-heated rock. Large islands of obsidian float across the magma floes, with subterranean lava tubes that run throughout the plane like a spider web and is heavily used by traders and travelers as it is protected from the burning magma. Visitors are often searching across the plane for gems that form from the intense pressure and heat of this plane, as well as powerful wizards who have formed towers to study the elemental power of magma.

Ooze

Adjoining the Plane of Earth and the Plane of Water, the Plane of Ooze is a horrible realm of stinking gases and caustic muck that floods across the plane. Few visitors willingly travel to this plane, and it seems as if even the inhabitants of this plane want out from the slime, sludge, and muck of this world. Visitors of the plane have difficulty with the sludge-like caustic mud, searching through the wastes of Sigil for valuables, for ooze-gems, strange and rare gems that fetch a high price so long as they are thoroughly cleaned before being taken to market, as well as searching for hidden prisons of ancient creatures bound to Ooze.

Smoke

Between the Plane of Air and the Plane of Fire, the Plane of Smoke is a large fog bank of smog and smoke, of caustic fumes and burning embers that choke the lungs of those who try to breathe it. Visitors of this plane are often the djinn and efreet who wage a war across this plane, treating it as a vast and bloody battlefield as they attempt to gain elemental ground against the other side. Others who visit this plane do so either as mercenaries or as explorers searching through the smoke-laden air for rare gases that can provide healing, offer new experiences, as well as horrible poisons for assassins.

A Native’s Perspective

The majority of those who are willing to reside and inhabit this plane are the paraelementals and mephits who are formed from their plane. There are other races and creatures of these planes, though they are sparse and many have long ago left these planes for more hospitable planes like the major Inner Planes or the Material Plane. Almost no true powers claim any parts of these planes, though many are working towards taking on the mantle of archomental, primordial, and even godhood.

Ice

Freezing cold. Freezing chill. Miles upon miles of frozen caverns slowly freezing over and then re-freezing again. The inhabitants are cold just like their plane, uncaring for others who hate the cold and ice, looking with cool gazes at those who try to survive in this freezing realm. The inhabitants of this plane are largely the paraelementals who are ruled over by an up and coming archomental known as Cryonax. Cryonax rules from his icy fortress known as the Chiseled Estate and is focused on expanding his empire of ice and has imprisoned hundreds of wizards, some are even water and ice genasi, to help bolster his strengths and see him to victory.

Magma

Bubbling molten rock forms vast oceans of churning magma that threatens to burn everything that touches it. Those who live here must struggle against the burning rocks and caustic air of toxic fumes. While there are few settlements on this plane, at least visitable by outsiders, many of them are ruled over by individuals who are researching or hiding. The true rulers of this plane, the mephits, are vicious and cruel, they enjoy dominating any creature who comes to this plane, and by sheer numbers alone, can overtake any others on this plane. They are ruled over by a powerful magma mephit known as Chilimba, who insists that others call him the Searing Emperor, the First General of the Cauldron, and the Master of All Mephits. The mephits rarely negotiate and are seen as pests by outsiders like the efreet and dao who often meet on this plane.

Ooze

Probably the least inhabited of any of the para-elemental planes, the Plane of Ooze is often thought to be the most inhospitable of the planes, including the quasi-elemental plane of Vacuum or the Negative Energy Plane. It’s not that Ooze kills so quickly, which it does, but because it is such a horrible, stench-ridden, caustic ocean of muck, mud, and other rotting things. Inhabitants of this plane always seem to be wanting to leave, with even the ooze mephits searching desperately for ways off the plane even though they are formed from the plane itself.
While the ooze mephits are the largest group of inhabitants, they have never built settlements on this plane and instead travel in nomadic groups, hunting for outsiders to drown in the murky depths of this plane. Paraelementals often stick to the darkest depths of this plane, while the animentals, animals of elemental form, are as disgusting as the plane itself. Ooze dogs still behave like dogs, but if they try to lick your face, their saliva is like caustic acid that melts through flesh, bone, and armor.

Smoke

Burning and acidic air, stinging smoke laden with ash, and endless expanses of foul gases make up this plane and hide dark secrets in their clouds. Several creatures claim this plane as their home, though their true numbers are hidden throughout the smoke and gases. The largest presence are the smoke mephits who follow Ehkahk, a simple smoke mephit who has decided that he has the powers of a true archomental, even if he has no special powers. After them, in almost equal numbers, are the smoke paraelementals who ignore the mephits that try to push their insane ruler on them. Instead, these paraelementals follow their Smoke Dukes, powerful paraelementals who rule over settlements and regions.

Atmosphere

The atmospheres on each of these planes are heavily influenced by the major elemental planes that they adjoin, combining them and bringing in new hazards. Not every plane is breathable, and each plane has unique hazards that make it difficult to survive traversing them. These planes can support life, but it is a life that has evolved in an alien way to overcome the dangers of each plane.

Ice

With its freezing air, the Plane of Ice is aptly named. This plane exists without light except what outsiders and inhabitants create for themselves, and no heat can be squeezed out of this plane. Freezing bodies might form the largest population on this plane, though if rumors are to be believed, those individuals are still alive, you just have to unthaw them. Similar to Earth, Ice is made up of a massive glacier of ice that has tunnels crisscrossing throughout it. There is breathable air throughout the plane, though if travelers end up inside of the ice sheets, or the ice forms up around them, they’ll quickly be cut off and begin suffocation.

Magma

Magma has a definite gravity, and thus has a surface to it that most are forced to wade through or sail on an obsidian vessel. The air is sometimes breathable, though it is laced with the burning smoke of fires and magma. To survive these toxic fumes, the air must be filtered or magically treated to make it safe to breathe for those who require it. Trying to peer through this burning haze is largely restricted by the ever-present smoke and foul gases, making it difficult to make out any details from further away than 100 feet.

Ooze

Similar to the Plane of Water, this entire plane is consumed by the murky mud of ooze, its caustic nature destroying and consuming anything that touches it. The closer one travels to Earth, the thicker the muck grows, making it almost impossible to swim or wade through as if it was made of large chunks of solid-mud, while the closer one travels to Water, the looser and more liquid it gets until its like swamp water, but made of powerful toxic waste. Spells and creatures who can normally breathe water are capable of breathing this filth, though it does nothing to stop it from being toxic and poisonous. Trying to breathe the air is difficult as it is just as toxic as the muck of this plane.

Smoke

While there is no risk of drowning, like there is on Magma or Ooze, this plane is just as dangerous to breathe in. Filled with the burning embers of long extinguished fires and toxic gases that are highly combustible, this plane is dangerous to breathe in. Those who breathe the fumes of this plane in, unfiltered and unprotected, immediately begin suffocating and dying as their lungs begin bleeding and burning away.

Traits

Travel to the Plane

Most people who are looking to travel to these planes are often asked why they would ever do that, doubly so for those who wish to visit the Plane of Ooze. Despite any misgivings a traveler may have of journeying to these planes, it is not extremely difficult for those who are keen on visiting. There are portals in Sigil, the Outlands, and other places across the multiverse that offer ways of arriving in these portals. Sigil has several portals in its sewers and in the Hive that offer connections to the Plane of Ooze, as well as portals to the other planes at random locations as the Lady of Pain sees fit to create them.
Portals to the Plane of Smoke can be found on Bytopia that requires the breath of a gnome to open, and as if they shouldn’t be outdone, Moradin, the god over dwarves, built his portal on the slopes of Mount Celestia in his realm. Ooze has portals on many of the layers of the Abyss, like the 222nd layer where the kingdom of Juiblex is said to be. It’s little surprise that a demon prince of oozes might have some interest in such a horrible and mucky place like Ooze.
If you are trying to get to Magma, there is a well-known portal in a remote portion of the Outlands built of basalt. No one knows who built the portal, and many believe it was quite a small creature who did so as most humanoids have to squeeze through, making it almost impossible for large creatures to access it. Instead, if a traveler is hoping to get to Ice, there are portals known to exist on Cania, the eighth layer of Baator, though that is a difficult portal to access if one isn’t a devil. There is also a portal on Muspelheim, a fiery layer located on Ysgard, though no one is quite sure how it formed or for what purpose.
Portals to these planes can spring up anywhere their specific elements come together in sufficient quantities. Freezing cold oceans on the Material Plane may link to the Plane of Ice, just as the centers of volcanoes may hold a portal to the Plane of Magma. Smoke is often found above large forest fires where toxic air clings to itself, while Ooze portals can often be found in places of swampy detritus and rotted corpses.
Since these planes adjoin the borders of the major elemental planes, they can also be walked to on any of the adjoining planes. This requires a guide, as each of these planes are infinite by their very nature, making it difficult for outsiders to truly understand where these borders are located.

Traversing the Plane

Only those who understand what dangers exist on these planes can truly be prepared for what they face. Traversing any of these planes is no simple task and requires magic, strength, and luck to survive them.

Ice

Depending on where a traveler is on the plane, they may have it quite easy or very difficult. In the areas near the Plane of Air, in a region known as Precipice, it is a sheer cliff that must be traversed up to get closer to the center of the plane. Spiked shoes, rope, pickaxes, and more are required to scale these cliffs, or one risks slipping on a slick piece of ice and plummeting to their freezing death hundreds of miles below them. As they journey towards the center of the plane, they must have access to some way to nullify the cold, though even that isn’t enough. Creatures immune to the cold, like white dragons and even creatures of ice, find the cold so painful that even they begin freezing. It isn’t unheard of to come across the frozen body of a creature in the twisting caverns of Ice.
As a traveler moves closer to the Plane of Water, the massive block of ice that forms most of this plane soon gives way to a freezing cold ocean. Icebergs float across the dark oceans, and some swear that the water itself is far colder than even the ice of this plane.

Magma

Luckily for travelers, gravity exists on this plane and makes getting around it somewhat simple. Those who can fly can easily soar above the burning magma, though they still must deal with the toxic fumes that rise to meet them. Those who lack such an ability have a few other options. They can try and trudge through the magma, half walking and half swimming through the burning magma. This is a slow and painful process as the sticky fire burns anything within it that isn’t protected.
Another option is to hire a dao obsidian ship that can sail across the churning sludge of Magma. These ships aren’t cheap but have natural bubbles of breathable air that are maintained around it with magic, making it the safest and easiest ride across the plane. The dao aren’t to be trusted as they have been known to make slaves of those who would hire their ships. Beyond simply swimming through the magma, there is also a complex lava tube network that spans the entire plane. In these hollow tubes, a traveler is protected from the sizzling magma, though the tubes do nothing to cleanse the air. Large trading caravans and explorers rely on these tubes to safely travel from Earth to Fire.

Ooze

Depending on where a traveler is on the plane, it may require them to swim through the thin muds of the plane, or they have to half-dig, half-swim through the thick muck. The ooze-mud near Water is liquidy enough to easily swim through, though the caustic nature of the plane means any swimmers must have some spells to stop them from being dissolved by the acidic muck. Closer to Earth, the muck gets thicker and harder to bypass, forcing those to dig and channel their way through the marshes of acidic mud. A traveler could also remain still and just allow the currents of muck that move through this plane to carry them off, moving wherever the languid currents carry them.

Smoke

Traveling across this plane is virtually identical to traveling on the Plane of Air, one must simply determine their ‘down’ and fall in that direction. There is no gravity on this plane, and most visitors who visit this plane find it easy to use the same tricks they’d use on the Plane of Air, here. One of the biggest differences though is that visibility is greatly reduced and typically travelers can only see up to 30 feet in front of them. This means they have to be constantly focused on what they are falling towards as earth motes can suddenly appear, and if they aren't fast enough, they may splat into it.

Locations

These planes adjoin the major elemental planes, as well as border several quasi-elemental planes. Each plane has six borders that behave slightly differently than the core of the plane, providing new hazards and dangers for travelers. Most settlements often form up around the most hospitable borders, leaving other borders devoid of life if it is too dangerous to reside there.

Ice

Ice shares borders with the Plane of Air, Lightning, Steam, Water, Salt, and Vacuum, each creating a unique interaction with the blistering cold of ice. Lightning and Ice creates a field of soft snow, blowing pleasantly across the landscape in a realm known as the Shimmering Drifts. While it may seem pleasant at first, if these electrical-charged snowflakes touch a creature, it can cause the creature to lose their wits and act as if they are under the effects of a confusion spell. Steam and Ice create the realm of the Fog of Unyielding Frost, a place of super-cold vapors that if breathed can freeze your lungs solid. While it is survivable in this realm, those who reside or travel through here must always have some sort of protection from the cold.
Traveling towards Air is the region known as Precipice, this is at the very ‘top’ of Ice where snow-capped mountains and sheer ice cliffs creak and groan as the ice continues to grow. No sun illuminates this realm, making it so that to climb atop these cliffs or mountains, one must travel in the pitch-black of night. Moving downward, through the frozen ground towards Water, it eventually turns into the frigid place known as the Sea of Frozen Lives, a surfaceless ocean of suspended icebergs. It is said that even the water is colder than the ice that holds it and that the icebergs that float in this liquid were once travelers who succumb to the cold.
Salt and Ice form a realm known as the Stinging Storm, a raging tempest of salt-water and acrid crystals that hail across the realm. Those who get caught in a storm are forced to contend with crystals of all sizes hailing down in a devastating bludgeoning cacophony of pain and acidic burns. Where Ice reaches Vacuum, it creates the Frigid Void, a realm free of ice and snow but it still retains its painful cold as well as the deadly void of nothing.
There are only a few sites on Ice, for if you stop moving on this plane, you are likely to join the frozen statues. Traveling through the ice channels, even the warmth of a fire is a danger as it can melt some of the ice around you, turning it into a chilling liquid that splashes down on you and then instantly refreezes with you in the center of this ice block. It is best to travel with a magically-created light spell and protect oneself from the cold using magic.

Arcolantha

Thought to be the place that every visitor should see, at a spot deep in the ice is a strange world that is unaffected by the growing realm of ice. It appears like a massive sphere with its ice-walls perfectly polished to a high sheen, making it easy to peer through the ice for hundreds of feet. There is even a large light in the center of this sphere that illuminates the entire structure in a brilliant light, but the beauty of ice isn’t the reason to visit. That reason is the thousands of creatures that are ‘buried’ in the ice, these creatures, and even humanoids, have been taken from all across the multiverse and stored in the solid ice here.
No one knows who is doing this, or for what reason, but travelers from all over who study specific creatures often venture here for a chance to look at one of their specimens up close through the ice.

The Chiseled Estate

Located on Precipice is the icy fortress of Cryonax, a colossal structure that extends well over a mile above the surface of the ice, and stretches far below in a vast underground network. In the very center lies a throne room where Cryonax rules from, watching over his realm and forming his plans on extending his power over ice and pushing the freezing reach of Ice onto other planes. Found throughout his twisting fortress are yetis, frost-covered umber hulks, snowy ropers made of ice, and massive dire-beasts formed of ice and snow who safeguard his fortress from intruders.

Magma

Magma shares borders with the Plane of Fire, Ash, Dust, Earth, Mineral, and Radiance, each creating a unique interaction with the bubbling and churning mass of molten rock. Radiance and Magma create the realm known as the Glowing Dunes, often thought to be one of the deadliest places in all the Inner Planes. Rolling hills are made of volcanic ash, and as one travels closer to Radiance the dust becomes metallic and radiates out energy and light. Those who travel across the hills risk catching a horrible disease or curse, no one truly knows what exactly it is but even those who are immune to such things can catch it. This disease or curse causes blistering skin, blindness, baldness, and hundreds of other symptoms before the eventual death. On the border of Mineral and Magma is the realm of the Obsidian Forest, with massive spires of volcanic glass and crystals that rise out of the burning wasteland. Its thought that evil creatures of stone reside here, having fleed from a powerful archomental known as Ogremoch located on the Plane of Earth.
Traveling towards Earth, the magma thickens and creates an area of basalt cliffs and spires that overlook rivers and lakes of lava known as the Scorched Wastes, this area is largely devoid of life except for firenewts and salamanders. In the opposite direction, heading towards Fire is a realm known as the Searing Mists where fires erupt in massive explosions across the almost liquid-like magma that flows quickly across the surface like a massive churning ocean. At the very edge of the border against the Plane of Fire is a curtain of searing droplets of molten stone that form a fog-like haze separating the two planes.
Traveling towards the Negative Energy Plane presents the two options of Ash and Dust. Where Ash and Magma meet is the region known as the Chalk Islands where islands of chalk rise up surrounded by rivers and oceans of magma. The islands are freezing cold and filled with the choking ash of their plane, while the magma creates rivers of boiling heat, making it quite difficult for travelers to contend with such extremes. Dust and Magma form the Sands, a realm of desert-like qualities, though it is the coolest place on Magma. Moving through the sands, the particles slowly become more and more powder-like, wreaking havoc on metal and mechanical items that begin rusting and corroding.
Few settlements have formed up on Magma, as it is quite a dangerous place to spend too much time thanks to the sudden jets of flame that explode across the surface. A few cities are known to exist on the surface of this realm, as well as more than a few laboratories and magical towers manned by sages and wizards who wish to be left alone so they might work on their magic in peace.

Fields of Nevermore

On the surface of this plane is a cool crust of stone that has grown thick enough to be used as the foundation of a city. While typically such stone would melt into the magma, there is a great and powerful artifact at the center of this city known as the chillsword which has been planted in the magma itself as an attempt to destroy this artifact in ancient times. Unfortunately for the wielder, not even the melting magma of this plane could destroy the artifact, and instead the blade formed a cooled area where a settlement would eventually rise around. While the air is still dangerous and filled with toxins, ambitious travelers who are searching for a respite from this plane took a liking to the area and eventually formed a large city, creating strange breathing devices that transform the toxins of this plane into breathable air.

Targath’s Tower

While not a wizard himself, Targath Reniume had commissioned over a dozen powerful wizards to construct for him a tower on Magma. Some believe that he paid them with illicit goods that he had acquired, with the most unbelievable rumors that he had stolen the moaning diamond and gave it to them. This tower is made out of permanent walls of force, making it an invisible tower in the churning magma. It rises several stories above the plane of Magma and far below it where it is anchored to the lava tube network that crisscrosses the plane.
He is happy to allow visitors to rest at his home, often only requiring news of the world outside for a comfortable bed and a lavish supper. No one is quite sure how Targath moves from his tower and out into the many worlds outside, but he seems to be able to travel with a care-free demeanor and can almost will himself to appear anywhere in the multiverse.

Ooze

The Plane of Ooze shares borders with the Plane of Earth, Dust, Salt, Water, Steam, and Mineral, each creating a unique realm as it interacts with the stench swamps of Ooze. At the borders of Steam and Ooze, it creates the realm of the Choking Gale, where the ooze and muck grow thin and eventually turns into strong winds that spray oily poisons over those who journey here. Rolling clouds of toxic vapor twist and pummel visitors across this realm, choking and burning even those who are immune to poison, its vapors clinging to skin and causing horrific burns. Between Ooze and Mineral, the ooze is said to congeal into a molasses-like substance that grows thicker and thicker the closer one travels to Mineral. This realm, known as the Slag Marshes, has a thin atmosphere, that is at least breathable, but it tastes of metal and the sludge of this marsh eats its way through clothes, skin, and even bone.
Traveling towards Earth, the muck and ooze thicken until it becomes a thick mud that sucks at your feet as you move through it. This realm, known as the Muckmire, often solidifies and hardens around those who move through it, as there is little moisture here. This hardened muck quickly freezes travelers in place much like amber sap from a tree that freezes around an insect. It's not uncommon for motes of this hardened material to float to the surface with a horrified, and long-dead, creature trapped within it. On the opposite side of this plane, as one travels to Water, the muck and ooze grow thin in a region known as the Bile Sea where the ‘water’ clings to the skin like caustic acid. There are a few fish that have come over from Water, though they are horrible creatures with most slowly rotting in the ocean, making it that much more unappealing to visitors.
Moving off to the Negative Energy Plane, Ooze shares borders with Salt and Dust. Traveling towards the borders of Salt and Ooze, the ooze thickens and becomes briny, with muck so caustic it corrodes metal almost immediately. Even magically protected weapons and armor begin to rust away into the Stagnant Sea. At the border of Dust and Ooze, is the realm known as the Oasis of Filth, a place so thick with disease that creatures concoct a massive variety of plagues, illnesses, and fevers that can only be found on this plane.
It's no surprise that even the inhabitants of this realm seem to be seeking any way out of this plane. It is almost unheard of to find any traveler that has ever had a positive experience in this plane, making it so that few have any reason of setting up a permanent settlement on the sucking muds of this plane.

The Trash Heap

Sigil might have the largest concentration of portals to Ooze, but that is because it needs a place to put its waste material as there is nowhere in the city. Instead, it gets pumped through one of their portals, often requiring the dabus to clear out any clogs, and ends up in Ooze. Miles upon miles of junk litter this plane, rotting food, weapons, and even the occasional body, sometimes still alive, floats across this area. While many might turn their nose up, the trash heap is inhabited by dozens of individuals looking through the junk as sometimes there are treasures and lost items of high value worth living out here for.

The Cysts

This plane is quite useful for those who wish to entomb and entrap creatures using powerful magics to sink targets into the muck. These trapped creatures create cysts in the mire, and they are preserved, like living fossils. While cysts are impossible to see through, making it difficult to tell what is on the other side, they can provide some clues as a giant will form a cyst that is 15 feet or more in length, while a kobold may only create one a few feet tall. Occasionally these cysts might rupture, spilling forth their contents onto the plane, and while many might drown on the filth around them, several have escaped their confines, driven insane by the untold eons trapped on this plane. On rare occasions, travelers have walked on cysts that have risen to the surface, accidentally rupturing the cyst and spilling out whatever creature had been locked away.

Smoke

The Plane of Smoke shares borders with the Plane of Air, Lightning, Radiance, Fire, Ash, and Vacuum, each creating unique interactions with the choking gases of this plane. Lightning forms the darkened realm known as the Aurora, where brilliant waves of colors rip across the sky like lightning. It is said to be one of the natural wonders of the multiverse, a place that all must-see for its pure beauty. Next to this realm is the border of Radiance and Smoke, creating a realm known as the Sea of Stars that is also a vast expanse of darkness, but this one holds flakes of light and energy that zip and move across the expanse like lightning bugs. This glistening, radiant energy is dangerous to touch, but another wonder to behold for its beauty.
Traveling to the Plane of Air, the smoke and heat begin decreasing on this plane but before one can reach the purified air of the self-named plane, they must enter through a gloom known as the Eternal Haze. This realm is completely poisonous with stranges gases and toxins not seen, or breathed, anywhere else in the multiverse. In the opposite direction, as one heads towards the border of the Plane of Fire and Smoke, is the realm known as the Scaled. This area is so hot that, while there are no flames, it is just as hot as Fire with smoke so thick that a traveler can’t see more than a few feet, if that, in front of them. It is said that all the smoke from Fire travels to this area, and gathers up in thick clouds that are impassable unless led by an efreet.
Heading towards the Negative Energy Plane are the planes of Ash and Vacuum. At the border of Smoke and Ash is a place known as the Ember where flakes of super-heated ash move across the lit sky like from a campfire. This ash sears and blisters whatever it touches, making it a dangerous realm to stay for long in. At the borders of Vacuum and Smoke is the horrible realm of the Gray Way that is as deadly as it is subtle. The air here is not toxic, but it is still dangerous to breathe in as the vapors cause hallucinations and madness in all. Those who breathe in this realm, even for a short time, begin losing themselves in the madness, forgetting what it is to be alive and unalive, what is good vs evil, and becoming brutal and kind in the same moment. This horrible condition is thought to be only removed by a powerful restoration spell, but it's said that those who survive such a condition are forever changed.
Unlike many of the other para-planes, this plane is often traveled though many of its travelers are efreet soldiers and djinn warriors who wage their battles across the entire plane.

The Choking Palace

Ehkahk, a semi-what powerful mephit, lays claim to this floating castle made of black iron that drifts across the plane. His palace holds a large library filled with a jumbled mess of esoteric lore, for Ehkahk prizes himself as a scholar and has gathered up any type of book or piece of lore that he can, filling his shelves with strange knowledge that may be best locked away. Hundreds of mephit scribes are sent across the plane, and beyond, searching for more knowledge to fill Ehkahk’s shelves. The Great Ehkahk is even quite a writer himself as he writes massive amounts in his journals that he stores in his libraries, though no one is quite sure why he does so. While Ehkahk, the Smoldering Duke, has made no moves against the other planes, many wonder if he is simply biding his time and growing his power so that he might truly become an archomental.

The Hidden City

Secreted somewhere in the plane, this massive city is built atop a natural spring of water, the only one like it in all the plane of smoke. Magic and smoke help to make this city almost impossible to find, safeguarding it from opposing forces that would like nothing more than to destroy the city or take it over as a large fortification. Djinn and efreet and are interested in finding and securing this city, with the djinn wanting to create an alliance with the city to house their armies, while the efreet wishes to enslave the occupants and transform the city into their fortress. Even the Smoldering Duke, the tyrant mephit, wishes to control the town, though it is more out of jealously that something could be hidden in the smokes that he so dearly loves.
The rulers of the Hidden City are always twin heirs, at least for the past eight generations, and go to great lengths to ensure that those worthy travelers who need food and shelter can find the city. They are always open to those who are running away from the oppression of the genies, helping outsiders so long as they can find the city and are worthy of their protection.

Factions & People

Genies

The genies don’t reside on the para-elemental planes but do wage their wars across them. The djinn and efreet, from the planes of Air and Fire respectively, wage their war across Smoke. The dao and marid, from the planes of Earth and Water respectively, wage their war across Ooze. Dao and efreet often meet secretly on Magma, conducting trade missions as well as planning their attacks on their hated enemies. While the djinn and marid meet on Ice, neither much care for the freezing temperatures and, while they are not hostile with each other, rarely take to planning engagements against their enemies.
The genies also use these planes as hunting grounds, moving across the planes in search of elemental animals of these planes, or hunting the mephits and paraelementals. The genies see the mephits as nothing more than vermin and pests, slaughtering large numbers of them like they would rodents.

The Powers

No true power lays claim to any portion of these planes, this might be because these planes are so difficult to get to or that they are just too hazardous for outsiders to visit that the gods have decided it isn’t worth the effort. There are a wide variety of individuals who believe themselves to be gods, archomentals, or primordials, though few, if any, truly hold such power.

Cryonax

On Ice is an individual that is the closest to becoming a true archomental, also known as a primordial. Standing at 15-feet tall and covered in white fur, he is often said to resemble that of a powerful yeti or a massive polar bear that stands on its hind legs. Cryonax often thinks of himself as a deity already, though he has yet to prove his true power against others, something many believe he aims to fix. He is hoping to expand his rule to the entire plane of Ice, and even for Ice to replace one of the major Inner Planes in importance. Some say he dreams of a day where he can freeze over the entire multiverse, ruling it with a freezing fist.

Paraelementals

The elementals of these planes are known as the paraelementals and include mephits and elementals. They are thought to be the plane given sentience and are summoned by spellcasters looking to trap elemental energies or control them in battle. While the elementals often have unique names to describe themselves, rarely if ever going by the title of paraelemental or mephit, they are categorized as such by scholars who study such creatures and beings.
The paraelementals of these planes are wary and unfriendly, treating others with extreme caution and even hostility. Their planes are often turned into large battlefields between the warring genie factions who fight and slaughter other creatures indiscriminately across the plane. They can still be treated with, though they are typically only swayed by goods that they see as valuable. Smoke elementals value rare gases and strange perfumes while an ice elemental may value magical items that deal with the cold and create cold spells.

Encounters

Ehkahk's Books - A rumor in Sigil has been making the rounds, that there is an insane mephit on the Plane of Smoke searching for hidden books and lost knowledge to fill his shelves. Claims to be paying top coin and, those who can bring him valuable knowledge will be given large expanses of land, or smoke as the case might be, in the Plane of Smoke. They may even be elevated to the prestige of being a noble among the mephits, a questionable title if ever there was one.
Frozen Thoughts - At the very center of the Plane of Ice, even thoughts freeze into crystals of unique forms. Scavengers and explorers brave these painfully cold realms in search of hidden information and ancient knowledge, selling these ideas to the highest bidders. Rumors are that the true name of a demon prince might be found in its frozen form, frozen on the lips of someone long dead.
Lost Dabus - The Lady of Pain’s dabus are in charge of the operations of Sigil, which means they have to unclog the sewers from time-to-time that lead into the Plane of Ooze. Unfortunately, a temporary closed on a dabus doing such maintenance and is wandering the planes seeking a way back to Sigil.
Obsidian Sails - Travel across the Plane of Magma is quite easy for those willing to pay for passage on one of the dao's obsidian ships. Unfortunately, many of these vessels have been commandeered by pirates, and while the magma pirates are incredibly rare, they aren't unheard of on the flowing oceans of lava.
The Zoo - The mysterious caretaker of the Arcolantha is hiring a group of adventurers to bring several creatures to its realm so that it might freeze them inside of its walls for all to enjoy. These creatures are rare and difficult to find or might be incredibly deadly, but the pay is good, and it's a chance to find out who actually owns the Arcolantha.

Resources & Further Reading

Manual of the Planes (1st edition) / For more information on the introduction of the Para-Elemental Planes.
The Inner Planes (2nd edition) / For more information on the locations and people in the Para-Elemental Planes.

I lived in a fairly rural area. I worked an hour away from home. The drive never really bothered me though. It always gave me time to think about my day. In the morning, I had time to think about what I had to do. At night, I had time to unwind from being in “work-mode.”
Back then, I had just purchased my first home. I was 29, fresh out of college, and found a great job. Granted, I was in a great deal of debt. I had just graduated medical school with a speciality in infectious disease. None of that mattered though at the time, the debt I mean. I was a young doctor. I was proud, but undeniably naïve.
Everything seemed perfect. It was perfect. The hour each way to work was a small price to pay for what I had accomplished. There was hospital that was more local, but it wasn’t the kind of hospital that you’d willingly go to. Also, they didn’t have a department for my specialty.
It was a fairly easy route. I got on the highway and it was basically a straight shot. By the end of my first week, I had the route completely memorized. For the first year, I was confident and full of pride. Things were good. Things were normal.
About a year and some change into my new life, I noticed one morning on my way to work that the state was repaving the highway. They were only working on the oncoming side, the way I took on my way home. Irritated, I looked up alternative routes on how to get home on my lunch break. There weren’t many, and the ones there were seemed to add on an extra 45 minutes. One hour to get home was one thing. Two hours to get home was ridiculous. I thought they usually gave people a warning before they started construction? I remember thinking to myself that it was “whatever”, and I’d just use the gps on my phone.
It was around nine at night when I left the hospital. I settled into my car, put my phone onto the bolted stand on the dashboard, and typed in my address. It automatically gave me a different route to take, already taking the roadwork into account. I clicked start, and off I went.
The beginning of the route took me through a little town and a couple of well-off neighborhoods. Seemed nice enough. I hadn’t known it even existed. It wasn’t on the map I was looking at when I was at work. Maybe it was just too small? At least that’s what I told myself.
Around a half hour into the route, it started to become more rural, and narrow. I loved a scenic view, hence why I moved to rural a place. It was way to dark to appreciate the scenery though. The road narrowed so tight, it felt like a one way. If another car were to come speeding in the opposite direction, we’d collide indefinitely. I went slow, kept my brights on, and stayed as straight as I could.
Every ten minutes, it felt like I was seeing the same thing. I felt like I was going in circles. It was so dark. No street lights or houses. Only trees leading into a cliff with a dainty guardrail as protection. The other side went uphill and led into extremely dense forest. That side didn’t have a guard rail. I was laser focused on getting home. I didn’t care how long it took me.
Upon coming around a fairly sharp bend, I saw something scatter in my peripheral vision. When I fully made the bend, I slowed down. I couldn’t really see anything, so if an animal was in the road, I was easily going to hit it. I drove for about five minutes before I saw a figure in the distance. I couldn’t quite make out if it was a man or a woman, but I could tell they had their thumb out. They were, hitchhiking? Here? I hadn’t seen a single car the entire time. When I started to get closer, I could tell it was a woman. She was young. She seemed maybe in her early twenties.
Her head was down and her long blonde hair covered her face. She seemed lost. I know you should never really stop for a hitchhiker, for safety reasons, but this was just too weird. If she needed help, who knows when the next car would go by. My doctor senses kicked in. I pulled over and rolled down my window.
“Hello? Miss? Are you in need of medical attention? I’m a doctor.” My voice came out more concerning than I expected.
“No. Thank you for stopping.” Her voice was quiet. I could barely hear her.
“Yeah, no problem. Do you-“ I stuttered.
“Do need help getting somewhere?” Before I could even finish talking, she fled.
She descended into the woods so fast. It was like she vanished right in front of my eyes. The forest was so dense and dark. All it took was a quick sprint and she was completely out of my range of vision.
Now, I tried to call the police. There was zero service, as you could imagine. I decided I would call them when I got home. I wasn’t stopping again, and I was freaked the hell out.
I did manage to make it home, 3 hours after I initially left. I tried to look up how long the road work would take, but I couldn’t find anything online. Peeved, I emailed one of my co-workers if they could fill in for me for next three days. I hadn’t taken a day off since I started working there, and he was happy to oblige. I figured the road work would’ve been done by then, and I could actually have a few days to myself.
After that, I made myself something quick to eat, got in the shower, and went to bed. I had completely forgotten about my encounter with the woman. I was exhausted. I fell asleep thinking about all of the free time I was about to have. I was pretty excited.
Around 2:15AM, I was awoken by a scratching sound. It sounded like mice crawling all throughout the walls. The sound was sharp and deep. At first I thought I was still sleeping and it was just a dream. Then I heard a crash from the kitchen. I sat up immediately.
When I bought my home, I also purchased a gun for protection. I never actually planned on using it and knew the bare minimum about owning a firearm. I only got it because I was going to be living alone. It made me feel safe. I kept it in a box underneath my bed.
Well, this was the first time I had felt extremely uneasy. I quietly got out of bed and pulled the box out from underneath. I tried to load the gun as quickly and quietly as I could. Once it was done, I listened.
No footsteps. No banging or crashing. Just silence.
I made my way down the hall. My steps went down in circular motion. It wasn’t quite a spiral, and it had a landing in the middle. Directly down my stairs, my kitchen was in direct front view. I had my phone’s flashlight pointing with one hand, and the weapon in the other.
Walking down the stairs felt dreadful. Like walking down to get reprimanded by your parents but more sinister. I walked down slow, trying not to make any noise. When I got to the landing, I spun around and pointed my flashlight towards the kitchen. I couldn’t see anything, so I went the whole way down. Upon walking into my kitchen, nothing seemed out of place. I walked around the island that sat in the middle of the kitchen and stepped on a something sharp.
I shined my flashlight toward the ground. It was one of my grandmother’s antique ceramic plates. I kept them locked in a glass cabinet, and I never took them out. They were more for show than actual use. I flipped on the light switch. Tears filled my eyes as I made my way to the closet that I kept the broom in. Upon walking up to the closet, something else caught my attention.
My front porch light was on. Which wouldn’t have been weird if it wasn’t motion activated. Someone or something would’ve had to physically come onto my porch to trigger the light. I checked my door. It was still locked.
I looked out of my window for a few minutes, continuously looking behind me. After I felt like no one was outside, I grabbed the broom and flicked on every light on my way back to the kitchen. I swept up the broken pieces and threw them away. I put the broom back, checked the rest of the house, and ended up sleeping on the couch with my gun on the coffee table.
The next day went completely normal. I actually had time to paint, which I never got to do anymore. I caught up on some reading, did some cleaning, and basically just lounged around. It wasn’t until after dinner I remembered the weird night I had previously. It had completely slipped my mind, even though the gun was still in plain view. I hadn’t even thought of how the plate got out of a locked cabinet, or why my porch light was on. It all came rushing back, along with the memory of the woman on the side of the road.
I realized I had never called the police. I really had meant to. The memory of my weird night became drowned out by the thought of that woman. I wondered if she was okay. I remember thinking how I should’ve called the police. If something happened to her, I’d feel partially responsible. I decided it would be best to just let it go, as I didn’t want to deal with the police. I figured they would think I imagined it from working such long hours.
That night, I went to bed like any other night. This time I was awoken by a slight cry. In my half asleep state, it almost sounded like distant sobbing. It got louder, and I was fully awoken when it turned into a scream.
I sat up and looked at my phone. 2:15AM.
“Weird.” I thought to myself but said audibly. I know I heard a scream, and I thought I heard crying? The air felt still. It was so quiet you could hear a needle drop.
Then I heard it. I heard crying. Like that of a grieving widow, or the mourning of a loss of a child. It was a soft, but gut wrenching cry. It sounded like it was coming from either within the house, or right outside. I went to grab the box under my bed before I remembered I left the gun out. It was still on the table.
“Oh no. No no no no no.” I whispered.
I sat on the floor and racked my brain on the next logical move. I grabbed my phone and turned on the flashlight. This time, I was much quieter and moved methodically. The crying became clearer as I moved towards the steps. It sounded like it was coming from the front the house.
I finally made it to the living room and grabbed the gun off of the coffee table. Now feeling much more confident, I made my way to front door. I could see the porch light shining through the curtains. The crying was loud.
I checked the door. It was still locked. Finally, I moved my curtains. It was the girl from the road. Her clothes were the same, but much more tattered. Her eyes were completely bloodshot. Tears were flowing from her eyes. A small stream of blood flowed from the side of her head. Her blonde hair was partly matted and bloodied. She was smiling, but it didn’t match the emotion in her eyes. She wasn’t blinking. She wasn’t even making any sort of motion, but she was crying. It was ear piercing. She was crying but she stood as still as a mannequin. She was so close to the window, her breath was creating condensation on the glass. I just stood there, staring at her.
She lifted up a tape recorder and clicked a button. It let out an ear piercing cry. It was pre-recorded. Horror washed over my body as I watched the tears continue to flow her eyes as I heard the recorded cry.
“What the hell?” I mumbled under my breath.
I kept eye contact as I reached for my door knob. As soon as I looked away to make sure the door was still locked, she fled. I watched her run down my front porch steps and into the woods that surrounded the right side of my house.
I watched out of my window for maybe another hour until I felt safe again. I returned to the living room and sat on the couch. Replaying everything that just happened over in my head, I felt a shiver go down my spine. I knew her. Before I saw her on the road, before that night. I just couldn’t remember where. I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night.
I called the police around seven in the morning. I told them what had happened, and surprisingly they believed me. I wasn’t sure why they were being so understanding. They told me to keep my doors locked and they’d give me a call later that day.
While I waited for their call, I couldn’t get her face out of my brain. That’s when it dawned on me.
There was a lady who escaped the psychiatric unit of the hospital I worked at. I had come into contact with her multiple times, as she had contracted an infection during an unfortunate miscarriage. The loss of her baby is what led her to be committed to the psychiatric unit.
I called the hospital and asked for her name. My co-worker seemed confused.
“Hey, are you okay? I heard the police came by your house this morning. They’re out looking for her now. You’re not hurt are you?” My coworker sounded worried.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I think I saw her last night. Weird things have been going on. I don’t know what to make of it. I think she’s been in my house, but I can’t be sure. Why do you sound so panicked?” I tried to remain my composure.
“They found a note on her bed, man. She thinks you’re responsible for the loss of her baby. I thought that’s why you took those days off, to stay safe until they found her?” His voice now more confused than worried.
“No. I didn’t know. No one told me? That doesn’t even make any sense. I only treated her infection?” I probably sounded frantic at this point.
“No one told you this? Even the police knew. You need to go stay with your parents or something. Especially if she’s been at your house. I’ll cover you, just stay safe. I got to go. Call me soon.” His voice was stern.
“Yeah, okay. Thank you. I’ll talk to you to soon” my voice was faint. I hung up the phone.
I packed all of my things and went to load everything into my car. I called the police and told them I’d be leaving until she was caught. They recommended that was the safest course of action.
I ended up selling the house and quitting my job. I relocated closer to my parents and found a job at the local hospital there. The police did finally catch her though.
The last phone call I received about the situation was from the police. They found her inside of my house inside of the attic. She had scratched profanity into the floor boards and was found with a gun. My gun.
She had replaced my gun with a fake. The bullets were fake too. She found my house key under the front door mat. She supposedly found my house following the wooded area, and once she saw my car, she knew she was headed the right direction. They say if I would’ve stayed one more day, I probably wouldn’t have made it.
It’s been years, and I still can’t bring myself to have another three day weekend.

/ Disclaimer: This trip was at the beginning of July. The daily Covid-19 deaths in my country where around 0 and excess mortality was actually negative. In Iceland there were no active Covid-19 cases. To be allowed to travel to Iceland you had to do a Covid-test at the border that had to be negative and you had to be from an approved country.
/ Poto Album: All pictures from the report
/ Lighterpack: Lighterpack link
/ Overview: Trip route
--- INTRODUCTION TO HORNSTRANDIR ---
After landing in Reykjavik you travel to a small airport - not much larger than a bus stop - to step in a small Bombardier turboprop plane that brings you to the Westfjords. The northwestern peninsula of Iceland is about the size of Belgium but has a mere 7000 inhabitants. Our reason to go there is because on the edge of the Westfjords you can find Hornstrandir. Shut off from the outside world by a large glacier Hornstrandir is the most northern part of Iceland. It hugs the Arctic Circle and has been abandoned by its last occupants in the 50’s. The small peninsula is often regarded to be Europe’s last wilderness; where the sun doesn’t set in the summer and fails to rise in winter.
From the window of the propeller plane the Westfjords seem… desolate. A beautiful monotony without settlements, trees or even bushes. A barren landscape consisting of shades of brown and dark green with patches of ice and small lakes. It’s not as overwhelming as the Norwegian fjords or Italian Dolomites, it just looks completely different. Almost alien like. The plane lands in the capital of the Westfjords, a humongous city called Ísafjörður housing a staggering 2500 people. From there a boat takes you to Hornstrandir. With the beach in sight we jump in a small rubber Zodiac and a through and through Icelandic man with a skin that looks like leather drops us off on the rocks; “good luck! Don’t die”.
--- THE REPORT ---
/ Day 1 Landing
With your feet on the ground Hornstrandir looks completely different then it does from the sky. All the different mosses, high grass and a large variety of yellow, purple and white flowers make it far more lively than a view from the sky suggests. Small streams that spring from tunnels in the ice cross your path constantly and there is always a waterfall in sight. We decided to start on the western coast of Hornstrandir at a place called Latrar which consists of a couple of empty houses and work our way north to the Horn before going southwards to Veiðileysufjörður (try to say that three times in a row).
/ Day 2 Latrar to Fljótavatn
Before long we realize that the routes on the map and our Inreach are merely a suggestion. The window to hike on Hornstrandir is very short, only the months of July and August are deemed safe (and fun), and being the third of July it is still very early in the season so there are no footsteps for us to follow or a beaten path that we can see in the distance. That means progress is relatively slow due to a lot of pathfinding and rough terrain. Hornstrandir’s mountains aren’t very high, it seems like God used a big scythe to cut them all off at 600 meters(2000 feet) but they are steep and there is no going around them so you constantly move from sea level to the top and back down again. On the first hiking day we climb over some very steep snow patches where microspikes would have been great, but we kick steps in the hard snow and make steady progress, we face sharp rocky descends and climb over enormous boulders, but the weather is calm and beautiful so it is very doable and we are rewarded with beautiful views.
The day ends with a walk through a valley where the wind roars endlessly and your feet constantly sink in the swampy ground. Our campground is on the other side of Fljótavatn, a balls deep water that can be described as half river, half lake. The crossing is about 500 meter(1600 feet) long but luckily the water isn’t freezing. It is difficult to find a flat and dry spot on the other bank and the wind beats on our small pyramid tents constantly. Because the sun doesn’t set the temperature doesn’t really drop at night, but that doesn’t mean Hornstrandir welcomes you with comfortable summer weather. The moment you stop moving the Arctic wind is strong and icy cold and cuts through everything. So at the end of the day you’ll quickly dive into your bag and sit in the vestibule for dinner, whiskey and some reading.
By the way, this might be a good moment to mention that this is my hiking partner's very first hike. He’s not the outdoorsy type but always open to new experiences, so when I invited him to hike Hornstrandir with me I didn’t expect him to say yes, and he didn’t know what to expect at all. As an Icelandic mountain guide we’d meet later on would say; ‘You choose this as your first hike? Whew, trial by fire!’
/ Day 3 Fljótavatn to Hlöðuvík
This island has some weird fucking terrain going on. No matter how steep the side of the mountain is, no matter how high or low we walk our feet are constantly wet. The banks of the Fljótavatn lake that we have to follow to the east consist of stinky marshland concealed as beautiful green fields. The waterfalls we cross become larger and more spectacular and the climbs steeper. The map suggests we climb out of the valley over a 150 meter high slope at a 60° angle with little to nothing to hold onto. Eventually the safest way up seems to be through a calmly seeping waterfall that offered us good stepping stones and enough places to rest your feet. Later on the Icelandic man with leather skin from the boat would tell us that this is a ridiculous path to take and he doesn’t know why the maps would suggest it, he usually hikes on for another 2 kilometers where you can take a nice switchback to get up.
After the last steps on the waterfall we peek over the top and look onto a mountain plateau with clear sight of the highest pass we would have to cross today. It looked like a 300 meter high wall, luckily it ended up indeed being a 300 meter high wall without a path, consisting of loose gravel and rock at a steep angle. We were again happy with the great weather since this is the kind of mountain pass that is simply not possible in a storm. I was also happy this wasn’t my second day of hiking ever (ahum, my hiking partner). An hour of scrambling later the ridge offered great views of both the grey, icy and rocky mountain plateau we came from and the green valley filled with birds we would descend into. The amazing thing of all these short but steep climbs is that you’re treated with a completely new view and micro climate several times a day.
And this day offered us something else! Since we're getting closer to the more popular locations of the island (Hesteyri, Hlöðuvík, Höfn and Latravik seem to be the favored destinations) halfway through the day a distinguishable path opened up before us. Cairns over the passes and even wooden sticks to guide the way! And on top of that we see a small path zig-zagging up the last mountain pass of the day. With our feet horizontal for the first time, a more gradual climb and no worries about taking the right route our speed increases as well as our confidence. We even find the first signs of life other than birds; the tail of an Arctic fox. The apex predator of the peninsula, no bigger than a large house cat but in this unforgiving environment the largest predator nonetheless. According to the stories they are quite fearless and will walk right up to you, but so far we had seen no signs of the animal.
The campsite at Hlöðuvík was clearly more often visited. A wooden latrine, a weather-beaten orange emergency shelter for the shipwrecked and flat dry ground to pitch your tent right at the beach. We were soon joined by a group of four Icelandic mountain guides and a lone French photographer who tells us about his struggles to get over a practically vertical wall he had to climb over that day. Luckily there was a rope there but still it took him a good half an hour to figure out a safe way to get over it. The day was long and sometimes sketchy, but right now the sun shines, people around us and a path to follow, life is good.
/ Day 4 Hlöðuvík to Höfn
It doesn’t get dark, there isn’t even twilight. So… why are we getting up early? Usually you do this to make good use of the available daylight but right here you could go over the mountain passes in the middle of the night without issue. So we sleep until we don’t want to anymore. Eat some breakfast while looking at the sea and take some well earned time on the very clean and not all that stinky latrine. The first river we have to cross has a big tree to use as a bridge. We see a bunch of seals chilling on pointy rocks in the sea and while the climbs are steep they aren’t sketchy. This is our fourth day on Hornstrandir and we haven’t had a drop of rain yet.
On the downhill we meet an Irishman and a Dutchie (why the fuck do you walk into a Dutch person in every country, on every mountain and in every godforsaken hole in the ground), they’ve seen plenty of Arctic Foxes and apparently there will be a path everywhere we go from now. Not 10 minutes after we spot a little fox on the trot, meandering through the landscape. We sit down on the soft, cushion-like moss and it curiously comes closer. Remnants of its thick white winter coat peak through the brown fur, it makes the small animal look old and wise. It stays a little more than an arms length away at all times but has no problem chilling around us, probably used to the fact that the humans that cross its path might have something to eat.
We follow a small stream that leads us to the ocean where another fox is hunting on the beaches. Quite successfully might I add. Within a minute it has a seagull in its jaws that’s practically as big as it is itself. The last true obstacle of the day is the 6 meter(20 feet) tall wall on the beach that the French photographer talked about. But some of the scrambling we’ve been doing on the first two days was just as steep, loads higher and didn’t have a nice rope for support. The wall turned out to be a breeze, but the narrow trail right on the edge of a cliff that follows has me more worried. Parts of it are crumbled and even the path itself has a sharp angle.
The end of the day is a beach walk over large rocks towards Höfn, the most popular camping spot of Hornstrandir. The contrast with the first days is quite stark. There are picnic tables here, water taps, a toilet building with real flushing toilets and even a ranger hut that is manned in July and August. There are at least 6 other trekker tents here and a huge hot tent with couches and a barbecue that forms the base camp for organized expeditions to the Hörn.
/ Day 5 Höfn to the Hörn
Today is Hörn day. This is the reason most people visit Hornstrandir. The Hörn is a huge bowl with jagged cliffs on three sides. Puffins make their nests on these cliffs and foxes hunt for birds and eggs. This is also the reason that the closer you get to the Hörn, the more civilized the peninsula becomes with nice flat camp spots, visible trails and well, water taps. Today is an out-and-back hike so we don’t have to take down our campsite and only take my backpack for the day. The hike to the top is nothing less than scenic all the way. We cross crystal clear and ice cold rivers, beautiful waterfalls, wildflowers up to your belly button and piles of driftwood on the beaches. There is a steady path all the way up that passes a well-maintained house where an Icelandic family is nicely settled for a summer holiday (descendants of the last inhabitants of the island are allowed to maintain the wooden homes and be there in the summer).
The Hörn is charming but it isn’t necessarily the culmination of the trip. This might be due to the fact that we spot exactly zero puffins, but I think it has more to do with the fact that we’ve had views at least as beautiful on this hike where it felt like we were alone in the world. More rugged, more desolate. Views that felt more… earned. On the way down we take a shortcut over the beach that you can only take at low tide. Sandpipers happily race over the sand from seashell to seashell, but we aren’t sandpipers and there are situations where we sink into the sand thigh deep. Perhaps don’t do this one if you are on your own.
While sipping on our last drops of rum (don’t worry there is still some whisky left) we decide to skip our hike to the lighthouse of Látravik tomorrow and immediately go to our final location in the bay of Veiðileysufjörður. A boat is supposed to pick us up there on the 8th of July and since there is no cellular connection on the whole island we’ve got a little bit of anxiety about missing the boat and getting stuck there.
/ Day 6 Höfn to Veiðileysufjörður
Just one more peak to bag today! While we climb out of the valley we hear a small one propeller plane approach. On the ground we see four tiny figures waiting, so we sit down on the mountain side with a snack, I’m trading some bland nut mix for dried apricots. The plane lands in the mud perfectly next to the people and seems to drop off some supplies before taking to the skies again. That is what a holiday on Hornstrandir looks like when you’re not hiking.
The last mountain provides a now familiar rhythm. From a green valley you climb up a steep mountain side with moss and small flowers. At about 200m you reach a plateau where the green disappears and you hike over rocky terrain and cross meltwater rivers. Then, in the shadow of the peak, ice and snow starts to cover the rocks and you climb another 200 meter wall that consists of a combination of rocks, loose gravel and snow. The other side is different though, this time there is an amazing pristine snowpack readily available for us to glissade down. When I reach the bottom I turn around and look up to see my hiking partner coming at me at blistering speed, hiking poles fully extended. He bounces to a standstill at the bottom of his involuntary glissade. An amazing ending to our last climb.
The last campsite is more like those of the first days. Not a flat piece of ground to pitch your tent and not a person in sight. We wash some clothes so we’ll be a little less stinky on the boat and back in Ísafjörður. I screw my stove on the gas canister and pull out my food bag to prepare the last dinner. It is quite light now, and you might wonder; why hasn’t he told us anything about what he ate on this trip? This guy prides himself on making awesome backpacking meals, what happened? Well… I was supposed to walk the PCT in 2020 and filled my food bag for the first time in the US during the hoarding that was happening in March 2020. The shelves were half empty and I had never gone grocery shopping in the States before. The trip was cancelled the day after and I took the food home. That exact food bag is what I took with me to Iceland. And daiumn did I make some mistakes! Knorr Sides? Gross, too gross! MiO Lemon Lime electrolytes, brrrrr. I accidentally bought a huge bag of unroasted, unsalted nut mix. Boring as hell. So while my hiking partner was eating self dried Kimchi and peanut noodle soup I was reluctantly chewing on fake pasta sides. Two positives: The Epic Lemon bars and RX Bars I had for breakfast were great.
/ Day 7 Veiðileysufjörður
Maximum relaxation. Curled in our sleeping bags with an e-reader we drink hot chocolate and enjoy the last sun and great weather while we wait for the boat to arrive. Iceland is awesome. It isn’t Europe, it isn’t America. It is an island with a character of its own. But it is also a gamble! We had great weather but a week of sunshine here is more unique than a week filled with rain and storms. And the first couple of days had some climbs and descends that I perhaps wouldn't have dared in bad weather. You really need an emergency communicator in case you’ve got to abort or change plans.
From far away Hornstrandir might look monotonous, but the beauty of the island is to be found in its micro climates, and the miniature landscapes you find all around you. The peninsula offers a grand and craggy landscape that still feels flat and smooth because it is so empty, there simply is no tree or bush to be found on the island. If you really want to feel that emptiness, you’ve got to be in the northwestern or southeastern part. The farther you are from the Hornbjarg the lonelier it is. But, that also means it is going to be harder and you're more at the mercy of the weather gods. Hornstrandir? Plan it, do it and be flexible!
--- GEAR NOTES ---
You can check out my lighterpack here. I’ve highlighted the big 4 in below as well as some surprises or lesser known items. If you want to know something about a piece of gear on my lighterpack that I don’t talk about here please let me know and I’ll add it.
/ Backpack: Atom+ 40L DCF Great pack, no surprises. The little improvements over my old 35L Atom+ are great (post comparing the old and new pack). With a sub 9lb base weight and 6.5 days of food I went without the hip belt. No complaints.
/ Tent: Zpacks pocket tarp w/ doors + bathtub floor Yeah about that. Just don’t do it. I planned to take the pocket tarp with 3F UL Lanshan inner but I ended up lending the whole 3F UL (inner and outer) Lanshan to my hiking partner so went with the most barebone setup possible. This isn’t the place to do so. We were so, so lucky with the weather. Most times there isn’t a flat spot to be found and the pocket tarp is tiny so a hand or foot would constantly slip out if I didn’t pay attention. It would have been possible in bad weather but truly miserable. I also constantly had to pitch it lower because of the strong winds. If you take a tarp, take a large, stormworthy one with loads of room like the MLD Trailstar. If you have loads of downtime due to bad weather you want a little more room to live and dry stuff. I think a double walled dual pole setup with loads of vestibule space like the Dan Durston X-mid 1p would have been great here!
/ Quilt: Cumulus Quilt 350 Temperatures at night between 1C(32f) and 4C(40f) with a strong chilly wind. Perfect for the Cumulus 350 in combination with the Thermarest Uberlite, never wanted more. I usually sleep in boxer shorts and a base layer top when using a quilt, so in case I create a short draft while tossing and turning I don’t instantly get cold. The Cumulus has an insulating baffle behind the footbox zipper and footbox draw cord as well as at the top. Combined with the pad attachment system this eliminates drafts better than most quilts.
/ Sleeping pad: Therm-a-rest NeoAir UberLite Hornstrandir is a great place for the UberLite. You camp in the valleys with soft grass and moss as your surface. That means it is more than warm enough for me and the risk of a puncture is very small.
/ Shoes: Nike Wildhorse 6 The Wildhorse 5 was already my favorite trail runner and the 6 is better in every way. The ankle collar works like a gaiter and keeps water and debris out. The new outer sole is better on wet stone and wood but this is still the weak spot of the Wildhorse, Sticky Vibram is miles better. The middle sole is comfy af and the upper fits so well you almost don’t have to tie your laces. The 6 is a bit narrower than the 5 though. This isn’t your shoe if you’ve got wide feet. Oh, and you look totally fly in these!
/ Socks: Injinji liner socks Your feet will get wet here. Rivers, swamps, beaches and rain. You will get wet. Merino liner toe socks prevent blisters in those cases and keep your feet warm.
/ Pants: Ministry of Supply Kinetic pants Comfy, warm, quick drying and very stretchy. No unnecessary pockets, buttons or zippers and afterwards you can use them to drink beer in Reykjavik. Awesome.
/ Shirt: Ministry of Supply Apollo 3 This shirt is awesome at keeping you comfortable in a wide range of temperatures. I don’t know what kind of magic is happening here but it works like a charm. But it was clearly not designed for backpacks. I’ve got the brushed version of the shirt and it started pilling around the sternum strap after 5 days, I’ve ordered a non brushed version and am eager to find out if that one doesn’t pill.
/ Stove: BRS-3000T We know two things: 1. Hornstrandir is windy without cover and 2. the BRS-3000 sucks in the wind. So the conclusion would be; don’t take the BRS. I still did it though… Why? Well because my hiking partner borrowed my MSR Windburner so I had quite an awesome backup stove and also because I never had problems with the BRS before while cooking in the vestibule. And that is also my experience here. On the most windy days it would become a little slower but still worked without a problem. But if you like a hot coffee or soup for lunch when you can’t use your tent as a windbreaker the BRS would totally suck.
/ Communicator: Garmin Inreach mini Take. An. Emergency. Communicator. We saw no one during our first two days and didn’t have any cellular connection at all on the island. This is a place where you can feel that it has the possibility of going south fast. Just take one and be safe. Also you have to catch a boat on a very specific predetermined location to get back to civilization. This isn’t a ferry arriving every hour. IF you miss your appointment you want the possibility to contact someone about it.
/ E-reader: Kobo Clara HD We didn't know how fast our progress would be and how hard hiking on Hornstrandir would turn out to be, so I predicted more down time than I’m used to. I was right, and reading was awesome.

This guy told me ''everyone's having a hard time in 2020.'' And started listing other people's difficult situations. Couples who fight, people with lots of children, families who are sick of eachother. And I said: you're right, that's true, I can't imagine how hard that must be. And now I wish I wouldn't have been so quick to push my own feelings and issues aside, just because he did.
I know other people are having a hard time this year. But I would never say ''at least you have company'' if someone complained about their controlling boyfriend. If you've been homeschooling your children, and come to me to vent, I wouldn't tell you to cherish your time with them. I wouldn't say: at least you're not at home alone. If you've realized your friends are pretty shitty, I wouldn't say: at least you have friends. I'm not perfect, I mess up, but I think I give people room to feel what they feel.
But I am told it could be worse. And it's the only way some people know how to deal with pain, I know. Push it aside, bury it. That doesn't make it okay though. The one time I'm honest about how rough this year's been, explain how tough it is when you already had issues, the one time I get into what isolation does to your brain, in real life instead of through a screen, I get invalidation. Minimization. He compared it to his own experience – he's single and lives alone too, and he's fine. He's been doing great, he says – it's all about your attitude. I also happen to know he has kind, very involved parents, pets, and a lot of friends, and he has a job that requires him to be around people.
It's not even a little bit the same. And I also have my doubts, when someone claims to always be doing well. I know I shouldn't listen to him, I wish it didn't get to me, but it did – pretending that it didn't hasn't helped.
I'm not doing well. I've been alone. And so lonely. I had a dream last night, where I begged people from my past to hold me. I know you have a girlfriend now, it isn't like that, I just need human touch, can I sleep next to you? They were indifferent, wouldn't make room for me, I walked around for the entirety of my dream, asking. It reflects how I feel now that I'm awake so perfectly.
And I feel terrible for complaining, and posting again. But I'm trying – with my Christmas tree, my self care, my cooking, I'm really trying to make something of this year anyway. But sometimes I just need to feel what I feel – and I feel lonely, this year. I feel the tears streaming down my face and it feels good. Sharing my feelings is so hard, even here, there's so much shame and fear no one reads it or comments, but it feels good to let go of this heavy feeling.
I'm having trouble decorating my tree, because right now I keep thinking: I'm the only one who'll see it. I've focused on superificial stuff... and underneath, I feel miserable. And now I'm letting myself feel it and express it.
No one was prepared for this year, and I was getting ready to go to school and make friends, to create a support system. And then I was on island, suddenly, involuntarily, and I still am.
I had to reach out to my abusive mother when someone died last week because I needed to talk to someone and she's all I have. And it made me feel so much worse and way lonelier. Now she keeps texting me, constantly, and it's the last thing I wanted.
And the people I feel the safest with, including this guy I confided in, made me feel lonelier too. It's so strange to me, still, how having certain people around can make you feel waaay lonelier than you do when you're on your own.
I do just wish I had a friend who would tell me: ''I'm sorry, that sucks. I don't have a solution for you, but I'm here if you want to talk.'' Sitting with someone while they're in pain is just everything. Not trying to fix it or make it go away. If you can hold someone's hand while they cry and let it out... that's everything. I think a lot of the time, that's all we need.
And I'll try to do it for myself now. No forcing myself to have a nice time and a great Christmas when that's just not how I feel. But I also recognize it's not the same thing as actually having someone hold your hand.

So the main reason this game got so much hate is because people dislike Abby. The main reason for disliking her is because of what she did to Joel and the events involving her and Ellie that follow afterwards. I feel the redemption character arc for Abby could have been liked if it didn’t involve two beloved characters being harmed in the process. In this alternate version of TLOU2, it is a standalone game set in the same universe and it is only about Abby.
Note: I am writing it in chronological order but it would probably switch between flashbacks and the maim events similar to the actual game.
Instead of being part of the fireflies, the game begins by introducing Abby as part of a peaceful community of survivors who are massacred following an attack by a group of hunters led by a vicious leader who sort of replaces Joel’s role in Abby’s story. Abby’s family is killed during the attack which gives her justification to seek revenge. She is one of the only survivors along with Owen, Mel, Nora, Manny and the other guys. It shows them joining the WLF and we see some more development between Abby and her friends and get to know and like their characters better. We also see the conflict between the WLF and the Seraphites fleshed out more and maybe give Issac some more screen time to avoid wasting Jeffery Wright.
Eventually they get a tip of where the hunter leader responsible for destroying their old community is located and they travel there. They discover he is living in a community similar to Jackson but not Jackson. He has retired from the hunter life and is a changed man similar to Joel who cares for his people. Abby still craves revenge and beats the hunter leader to death but feels regret after killing him and feels empty despite having the revenge she has wanted for 4 years. Some people from the community that were loyal to the former hunter leader witness the murder, which will come back to haunt Abby later.
The 3 days in Seattle play out more or less the same. Abby is having regrets for what she did and feels empty. On Day 1 she goes to find Owen after the Danny incident. She is captured by the scars and rescued by Yara and Lev and then finds Owen. She later goes back for the kids on Day 2 and gets the medical supplies for Mel to help Yara’s arm from the hospital. She find a new purpose in trying to help others in order to redeem herself.
On Day 3 Lev runs away to the island to find his Mom and her and Yara go after him. At the Marina they run into Manny and the sniper sequence happens. Manny still gets killed. It’s not Tommy but rather someone else from the Hunter Leaders community that Abby met when she was there (The leaders right hand man in my mind) She actually kills him in order to defend herself but fears he was did not come alone.
They go to the island and the whole section plays out the same with them getting Lev and the Wolves attacking while Yara gets killed saving them from Issac. They come back to the aquarium find Owen and Mel dead and a small group of people from the Hunter Leaders community waiting for them. Following a fight, Abby and Lev kill most of them in a shootout until there is one left. This person is the leaders daughter who wants revenge the most. She has led the group all the way to Seattle and killed all of Abby’s friends. Abby is disarmed and we get a stealth boss fight where Abby wins and she still spares the daughter at Lev’s insistence.
The next several hours of the game covers Abby and Lev’s journey to Santa Barbara, which mirrors Ellie and Joel’s journey a little bit. They still get the tip that the fireflies are regrouping and decide their safest bet is to join them, even though this version of Abby was never part of them before. They still get captured by the rattlers and are tortured. The final mission is Abby escaping, fighting through rattlers and rescuing Lev in a similar fashion as Joel saving Ellie in the first game. They get to the boat and escape (The daughter doesn’t come for them. Her part in the story is done)
The epilogue has them reach the island where the fireflies are located and they are welcomed in. Abby saved Lev and her story of redemption is complete.
This would be an alternate version of the game. Even if people didn’t like it, Joel and Ellie’s story wouldn’t be affected since they are not in the game. So the legacy of the first game wouldn’t be hurt even if people still didn’t like this one. What are your thoughts on it?

Regardless of how you would rate the show/storyline of The Wilds (on Amazon prime), I found it really interesting how each one of the girls seemed pretty clearly to be a different enneagram number (with the exception of Jeannette whose personality isn't fleshed out as much as the others). All the girls are sent to the island because their parents or other figures view them as in distress and in need of a life changing "retreat", and because of this i think they mostly exhibit what each number looks like in stress or unhealth. I wrote a little blurb on why I think each girl is a certain number and would love to hear what others think. Because they are all in some state of stress or unhealth I hope it doesn't seem like I'm painting any particular number in a negative light when I find so many things beautiful about each number.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Shelby - type 1
1s learned early on that there are clear lines between what is right and good and what is wrong and bad. They learned that they must under any circumstance choose what is right and good, or they face the wrath of their inner critic. Shelby picked this up from her father and Christianity, who encourage her to be the perfect southern belle without flaw which we see play out in their relationship and her pageantry.
While this could be mistaken as a 3, Shelby doesn't seem to want this success for herself but rather because it has been impressed upon her that its the right thing to do. When toni challenges her as being homophobic, Shelby does not try to convince the others of anything but simply says that she was raised this way, she only wants good for others, and this is her way of pushing someone towards what is good and right. She is a good friend to Martha before this incident and overly optimistic because of her compulsion to be a 'good' person but the others see this way of living as inauthentic. Non-ones aren't governed by the same rules of what is "good" and what is "bad" so they see that Shelby is not following her true inner voice but rather the voice of Southern baptism.
In health 1s adopt the positive qualities of a 7, becoming more free-spirited and fun, which we see her try to do when she gets drunk. Unhealthy 1s adopt the unhealthy qualities of a 4, becoming sullen and withdraw which we definitely see with Shelby on the island. 4s often feel misunderstood, and we see this in Shelby when she feels her good intentions /Christianity being misunderstood. From shelbys 1 mind she might be thinking "why won't everyone just play by the rules? I'm playing by the rules... so why am I the outcast?" And ultimately she pulls a quintessential 4 move of shaving her head. After this she appears both a bit enlightened and a bit off her rocker while being interviewed in the flashforwards- no long can she hide her flaws or being "bad" because its outwardly apparent, but on the flip side because of this she isn't contained to always be "good".
1s fear that that are secretly and deeply "bad". Shelby feels that her tooth flipper and lesbianism deeply flaw her and brand her as "bad" even though others outside her family do not feel this way. 1s ruthless inner critic often make it hard to hear when others affirm or encourage them. When the weight of their inner critic and rules become too much, they may lash out in anger (being in the 8-9-1 anger triad) at someone who has allowed themselves to feel freedom to live outside their rules or what they view as right and wrong. When her lesbian friend at home seeks forgiveness Shelby lashes out, taking out her personal frustration with her fathers constraints on her out on her friend. This reflects an unhealthy 1's temptation to choose what is "right" over coddling the feelings of others.
When her friend ultimately commits suicide, this fuels Shelbys inner critic even more. There is no type that struggles with self-forgiveness like a type 1, and she carries the weight of this heavily. Shelby has only begun the path of healing for a 1 in the last episode- to begin to accept that not everything is black and white and that its actually okay to choose what you feel rather than what is "right".
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Dot - Type 2
Dot's backstory is quite 2ish, she is the caretaker of her sick dad, thus her life at home revolves around considering his needs above her own. On the island she serves the others by keeping an inventory and is often the one to step up to try to resolve things. Having been in stress for most of what we see of her on the show, her somewhat domineering outward demeanor reflect the 8 qualities 2s pick up in stress after they've worked so hard to meet others needs and no one has worked as hard to meet theirs.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Rachel - Type 3
Star athlete headed to Stanford who will do anything necessary to be seen as successful? Yup, Rachel is our resident 3. Threes heard the message, "you are only lovable if you are successful," and we see just how difficult it is to bear the weight of this message. As a small child we see Rachel not able to understand (or be successful at) the word game her parents and nora would play at dinner. After this she finds an outlet totally different from Nora that would allow her to be successful at something.
When her coach declares that her potential is limited, that her body is not the right type, and that she should give up, this punches her inner child wound saying "you aren't successful and you never will be". Threes have incredible determination and are able to see what they need to do in order for them to reach their goals. We see Rachel grind herself down through exercise and bulimia (threes are prone to shortcuts if it gets them where they need to go, whereas a 1 would only go about things the "right" way) and eventually achieve success.
When the group climbs the mountain with the mirror, Rachel needs to be ahead of the group and does not want to stop for breaks which would prove she/they are not successful physically. When she reaches the top of the mountain she looks out and realizes there isn't a prize waiting for her- they are just trapped on an empty island. This is unsettling to her because it challenges her paradigm of self-worth, just as a 4 finding out they are just like everyone else or a 1 breaking a rule would cause them to feel unworthy.
Threes are image conscious, fearing if they aren't seen as successful then they won't be loved, but the satisfaction does not come from the success itself but rather how they are perceived. When Nora reveals to the group that Rachel isn't headed for Stanford and that her diving career has come to a halting stop, Rachel is devastated. After this she sees that the group doesn't really view her differently, and she's able to feel a peace through acceptance that she hasn't in years. She eats until she's full for the first time in years and feels good and satisfied rather than unsuccessful at being skinny. Eventually she is able to enter the water "just to float" which would have been impossible for her before, because the water had been just a means to her success and subsequent acceptance.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Jeanette?? - Type 4
I dont think Jeannette's backstory is fleshed out or linear enough to really make a judgment about what number she could be... this was simply the last number left. I guess you could say her reaction during the study when she was supposed to go along with the flow and give the wrong answer "to encourage conformity" but instead speaks up could represent her "black sheep" mindset and need to be unique which is quite 4ish. She is also uniquely different within the group as she is working with the enemy, and she makes her Jeannette persona so extremely basic which could be totally opposite of her unique personality. Furthermore, she really strongly wants to know who the other operative on the island is, maybe because they are the only other unique or special person.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Nora - Type 5
5s often view the world and people as too draining and retreat to conserve and store energy. They use their head to process the world rather than their heart or their gut, and by disconnecting from their emotions and following what is rational they are able to conserve their energy and protect themselves. This often causes 5s to become brainiacs knowing lots of facts about everything, which we see as Nora's main character trait for the first few episodes. She knows the most about tides and nature in factoids that have come from books and documentaries.
5s are also renowned for their deep inner worlds. 5s aren't famous for their party sociability, but they are anything but dull. If they let you into their inner world you will find it immensely deep and full of different pockets of interests. We see this when the interviewer spends an episode diving into her diary which is full of thoughts, feelings, and drawings of what is going on on the island. Per 5 fashion, nora is withdrawn and observes what is going on rather than participating in the action which would be much more draining. We also see this in the storyline with her boyfriend. The two bond over interesting topics of discussion and have an objective, rational way of viewing things which is reflected in their discussion before sex and how they count down before taking off their clothes.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Leah- Type 6
6s learned to excessively worry or question the safety, stability, or trustworthiness of people and things in order to protect themselves by only trusting what has passed their intense vetting process, and boy does this define Leah. She is the most suspicious of what is going on, she's suspicious of her interviewer (who describes her mind as prone to spiraling and worry) and suspicious of Shelby being connecting to whatever brought them here after she finds a bag of supplies that seems too good to be true. She thinks of tons of possibilities of what Shelby could be doing when she's not with the others, and she admits that a lot of these scenarios are irrational. When she does find a friend in Fatin, she is deeply loyal and trusts her with her irrational thoughts above the others (per 6, the Loyalist, fashion).
Where did Leah pick this up? Her background doesn't show us much of her childhood or home situation, but the incident with her author-boyfriend serves as a wound which seems to incite most of her distrust. She directly asks the author if their love is real, and he seemingly honestly says it is. However, he swiftly breaks away from her after finding out her age (a swift break is not possible from a 6 Loyalist, who is on your side til death do you part) and then Fatin brings up that based on what he writes about he probably liked her for more perverted, pedophilic reasons. Both of these instill a sense of distrust in people. When another boy shows he likes her while they are camping, her distrust causes her to attack and accuse him. Ultimately this distrust serves her well because she detects that something is afoot on the island, is the one to discover nora is the spy, and the one to detect that the interviewers do not have their best interest in mind.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Fatin - Type 7
While Fatin's backstory having two type 1 parents pushing her into a life of perfectionism might seem to paint her as a 1, inside she functions more like a 7. 7s during their developmental years felt the message, "you are on your own" through some kind of abandonment and stepped up to the plate to provide for themselves. We see this when fatin feels her one true ally, her father (unhealthy 1s being most prone to infidelity), cheats on her mom and then chooses to support her mom rather than her. Fatin hates the life she is trapped in- a life shackled to her mom's desires. Most people would hate this, but 7s feel the weight of being tied down as threatening to their wellbeing. We see this in fatin's disdain for her current life, despite being very successful she is not free and craves the possibilities that would come with freedom.
7s learned they had to create their own fun and thus become masters of living life to the fullest. In unhealth this turns into their chief sin, gluttony (or seeking pleasure to excess). Fatin shamelessly throws herself into a 7s chief defense mechanism and sleeps with whoever she feels can give her pleasure to escape.
Her bag is the first to be found and she gladly shares her clothes (shirts with funny tag lines showing she values a good time over fitting in) with everyone else. While 7s value abundance, they tend to be very generous and want others to enjoy life abundantly as well, so she had no problem sharing what she has. On the beach we see her tanning and having a good time while the others work. Seeing as we know how capable and not-lazy fatin is from her life off the island, this reads more as wanting to avoid the negative feelings associated with facing the fact that they are trapped on this island and do need to work to make a shelter. To a 7, being trapped in any sense is felt as much more intensely negative than it does to any type so rather than acknowledge they are trapped, she avoids thinking about this by enjoying herself.
When the girls are sitting in a row pretending to be on a post-rescue talk show she has the group roaring in laughter, entertaining the group as 7s do (7s are often called The Entertainer). The others are surprised when Fatin mentions she plans to move somewhere else and start a new life after they are rescued, but she views this as quite normal. 7s are future focused and always looking for the next thrill, so it makes sense she'd already be dreaming of what was to come rather than dwell on past mistakes or focus on the current problems they have on the island.
Fatin comes across a little bitchy at first, but often its just people mistaking her humor for distasteful when she's just trying to make light of things. After everyone accepts her way of living (a little more openly crass than the others), she is friendly to all the girls and often tries to cheer people up in her own way. When Leah is spiraling in fear, fatin tries to brighten her up her by saying, "I hear you, I really do, but is it best to let one past trauma dictate your actions now and in the future?" This upsets Leah, who as a 6 very strongly wants to wade through all the possibilities in order to decide what's safest. Fatin as a 7 is future-focused and in the optimistic triad (7, 9, 2) and hoped to show Leah how to move forward in a more optimistic way so that she wouldn't be dragged around some burdens from the past.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Toni - Type 8
Aggressive, confrontational lesbian who challenges those who disagree with her or those who threaten her and her tight inner circle... 8 much? Eights learned that the world is a hostile place where only the strong survive and the weak get taken advantage or bullied. This is a common feeling amongst through growing up gay, and this experience is amplified for toni growing up in the foster system on reservations as someone without a birth family to protect her and be on her side, and carrying the wound of native Americans being taken advantage of in history. She learned to be so strong to the point of being aggressive toprotect herself, but we see this conflict with both Martha's need to keep the peace and Tonu accidently hitting her girlfriend when boys confront them outside a movie theatre. 8s don't perceive themselves as aggressive and angry as everyone else does, because in Toni's mind she was standing up for others in love in both situations.
8s fear betrayal and manipulation above all else which results in a thorny exterior that only lets those truly trustworthy in. Martha proved herself to toni as trustworthy, taking her in when she had no where else to turn, and so we see toni reveal her soft, nurturing side to her. I find 8s often have a soft spot for 9s because both have something the other need, and we eventually see toni encourage Martha to be more 8ish. 8s are realists and do not sugarcoat things. When the group is looking for the goat toni challenges Martha (much to a 9s dismay) to not view the world through rose-colored glasses all the time and see that they need this to survive. While Martha sees this conflict as extreme and aggressive upon her, in Toni's mind im sure she thought she was lightly whispering caring sentiments to her.
8s are the defender of the weak. When Shelby seems homophobic, toni is quick to put up her defenses. But when it becomes clear that Shelby is gay and needs protection from the world as she figures that out toni is quick to stand up strong as her defender. Shelby is vulnerable with her and also says she's not ready to talk about some things, which toni gets. 8s disdain vulnerability more than anything else because it gives others a chance to betray or manipulate them, so toni is very understanding of Shelbys need to not be anymore vulnerable than she has already been.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Martha - Type 9
While 9s naturally don't enjoy being the center of attention even in health, Martha is a bit of a wallflower for most of the show to the point of being a 9 in unhealth. 9s absorbed the message "your presence and thoughts don't matter", and we see this in Martha. She gently accommodates and supports her 8 sister for most of the show. 9s abhor conflict, feeling that if they rock the boat at all then others will leave them so when Toni gets confrontational with the other girls it deeply upsets martha. When she does speak up it is usually highlighting her self-doubting and self forgetting nature, which is evidenced when she asks Fatin if boys would be into her when they get off the island. Fatin quickly replies with positive affirmation, it being obvious to her, but to Martha cannot see herself as clearly as others can.
The Martha-centric episode really showcases her 9ness. As toni, shelby, and Martha hike up to find the goat toni comments on how Martha views the world through rose-colored glasses, lost in her own world seeing only the good. We see her empathize with the feelings of the goat more than her own need for survival, supreme stubbornness when her wish to protect the goat is not honored by her sister and Shelby, and her volcanic anger when she decides to release a lifetime of pent up rage on the goat.
9s believe that if they were to truly express their anger it would injure or destroy someone else, and that by taking up the space required to express anger they are no longer lovable. Given that we see her anger result in killing the goat, it makes sense when she sinks into a catatonic slothness (spiritual sloth being a 9s sin) for the rest of the episode.
Nines choose to keep silent in most disagreements, so when they finally do express a need and it is not honored they are offended, stubbornly will not move, and in unhealth will express their frustrations passive aggressively because they fear direct conflict will cause the other person to leave them. When the other two demand Martha stop defending the goat, we see a side to her that we haven't seen before. As a part of the gut triad (8s 9s and 1s), Martha doesn't use her mind or heart to make decisions, she uses her gut intuition. In marthas gut she's feeling, "i havent asked for anything the entire time on the island. I've been a team player, I've stayed out of the way, I haven't been a burden, and Ive made my needs so small so that we can attend to everyone elses- and now the one small thing I'm asking for, the only thing I've asked for, you can't honor? Fuck you." But the other two are thinking logically about survival and thus have trouble considering why Martha would be feeling how she does, and had martha expressed her unspoken needs in earlier situations instead if keeping silent then this incident would not be so incendiary
9s will often say they had a good childhood when it wasn't the case to avoid being a burden. We see this clearly Martha's flashbacks with her dance instructor. She won't speak up against her dance instructor even when it's so clear that he did abuse her and she's wetting the bed as a teenager due to the stress. The dance instructor paying specific attention to her interests and hobbies and telling her that he saw her as "capable of anything" satisfied what 9s long to hear the most- that their presence matters. This possibly explains why she took so long to speak up (on top of the fact that 9s naturally don't want to rock the boat).

Regardless of how you would rate the show/storyline of The Wilds (on Amazon prime), I found it really interesting how each one of the girls seemed pretty clearly to be a different enneagram number (with the exception of Jeannette whose personality isn't fleshed out as much as the others). All the girls are sent to the island because their parents or other figures view them as in distress and in need of a life changing "retreat", and because of this i think they mostly exhibit what each number looks like in stress or unhealth. I wrote a little blurb on why I think each girl is a certain number and would love to hear what others think. Because they are all in some state of stress or unhealth I hope it doesn't seem like I'm painting any particular number in a negative light when I find so many things beautiful about each number.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Shelby - type 1
1s learned early on that there are clear lines between what is right and good and what is wrong and bad. They learned that they must under any circumstance choose what is right and good, or they face the wrath of their inner critic. Shelby picked this up from her father and Christianity, who encourage her to be the perfect southern belle without flaw which we see play out in their relationship and her pageantry.
While this could be mistaken as a 3, Shelby doesn't seem to want this success for herself but rather because it has been impressed upon her that its the right thing to do. When toni challenges her as being homophobic, Shelby does not try to convince the others of anything but simply says that she was raised this way, she only wants good for others, and this is her way of pushing someone towards what is good and right. She is a good friend to Martha before this incident and overly optimistic because of her compulsion to be a 'good' person but the others see this way of living as inauthentic. Non-ones aren't governed by the same rules of what is "good" and what is "bad" so they see that Shelby is not following her true inner voice but rather the voice of Southern baptism.
In health 1s adopt the positive qualities of a 7, becoming more free-spirited and fun, which we see her try to do when she gets drunk. Unhealthy 1s adopt the unhealthy qualities of a 4, becoming sullen and withdraw which we definitely see with Shelby on the island. 4s often feel misunderstood, and we see this in Shelby when she feels her good intentions /Christianity being misunderstood. From shelbys 1 mind she might be thinking "why won't everyone just play by the rules? I'm playing by the rules... so why am I the outcast?" And ultimately she pulls a quintessential 4 move of shaving her head. After this she appears both a bit enlightened and a bit off her rocker while being interviewed in the flashforwards- no long can she hide her flaws or being "bad" because its outwardly apparent, but on the flip side because of this she isn't contained to always be "good".
1s fear that that are secretly and deeply "bad". Shelby feels that her tooth flipper and lesbianism deeply flaw her and brand her as "bad" even though others outside her family do not feel this way. 1s ruthless inner critic often make it hard to hear when others affirm or encourage them. When the weight of their inner critic and rules become too much, they may lash out in anger (being in the 8-9-1 anger triad) at someone who has allowed themselves to feel freedom to live outside their rules or what they view as right and wrong. When her lesbian friend at home seeks forgiveness Shelby lashes out, taking out her personal frustration with her fathers constraints on her out on her friend. This reflects an unhealthy 1's temptation to choose what is "right" over coddling the feelings of others.
When her friend ultimately commits suicide, this fuels Shelbys inner critic even more. There is no type that struggles with self-forgiveness like a type 1, and she carries the weight of this heavily. Shelby has only begun the path of healing for a 1 in the last episode- to begin to accept that not everything is black and white and that its actually okay to choose what you feel rather than what is "right".
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Dot - Type 2
Dot's backstory is quite 2ish, she is the caretaker of her sick dad, thus her life at home revolves around considering his needs above her own. On the island she serves the others by keeping an inventory and is often the one to step up to try to resolve things. Having been in stress for most of what we see of her on the show, her somewhat domineering outward demeanor reflect the 8 qualities 2s pick up in stress after they've worked so hard to meet others needs and no one has worked as hard to meet theirs.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Rachel - Type 3
Star athlete headed to Stanford who will do anything necessary to be seen as successful? Yup, Rachel is our resident 3. Threes heard the message, "you are only lovable if you are successful," and we see just how difficult it is to bear the weight of this message. As a small child we see Rachel not able to understand (or be successful at) the word game her parents and nora would play at dinner. After this she finds an outlet totally different from Nora that would allow her to be successful at something.
When her coach declares that her potential is limited, that her body is not the right type, and that she should give up, this punches her inner child wound saying "you aren't successful and you never will be". Threes have incredible determination and are able to see what they need to do in order for them to reach their goals. We see Rachel grind herself down through exercise and bulimia (threes are prone to shortcuts if it gets them where they need to go, whereas a 1 would only go about things the "right" way) and eventually achieve success.
When the group climbs the mountain with the mirror, Rachel needs to be ahead of the group and does not want to stop for breaks which would prove she/they are not successful physically. When she reaches the top of the mountain she looks out and realizes there isn't a prize waiting for her- they are just trapped on an empty island. This is unsettling to her because it challenges her paradigm of self-worth, just as a 4 finding out they are just like everyone else or a 1 breaking a rule would cause them to feel unworthy.
Threes are image conscious, fearing if they aren't seen as successful then they won't be loved, but the satisfaction does not come from the success itself but rather how they are perceived. When Nora reveals to the group that Rachel isn't headed for Stanford and that her diving career has come to a halting stop, Rachel is devastated. After this she sees that the group doesn't really view her differently, and she's able to feel a peace through acceptance that she hasn't in years. She eats until she's full for the first time in years and feels good and satisfied rather than unsuccessful at being skinny. Eventually she is able to enter the water "just to float" which would have been impossible for her before, because the water had been just a means to her success and subsequent acceptance.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Jeanette?? - Type 4
I dont think Jeannette's backstory is fleshed out or linear enough to really make a judgment about what number she could be... this was simply the last number left. I guess you could say her reaction during the study when she was supposed to go along with the flow and give the wrong answer "to encourage conformity" but instead speaks up could represent her "black sheep" mindset and need to be unique which is quite 4ish. She is also uniquely different within the group as she is working with the enemy, and she makes her Jeannette persona so extremely basic which could be totally opposite of her unique personality. Furthermore, she really strongly wants to know who the other operative on the island is, maybe because they are the only other unique or special person.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Nora - Type 5
5s often view the world and people as too draining and retreat to conserve and store energy. They use their head to process the world rather than their heart or their gut, and by disconnecting from their emotions and following what is rational they are able to conserve their energy and protect themselves. This often causes 5s to become brainiacs knowing lots of facts about everything, which we see as Nora's main character trait for the first few episodes. She knows the most about tides and nature in factoids that have come from books and documentaries.
5s are also renowned for their deep inner worlds. 5s aren't famous for their party sociability, but they are anything but dull. If they let you into their inner world you will find it immensely deep and full of different pockets of interests. We see this when the interviewer spends an episode diving into her diary which is full of thoughts, feelings, and drawings of what is going on on the island. Per 5 fashion, nora is withdrawn and observes what is going on rather than participating in the action which would be much more draining. We also see this in the storyline with her boyfriend. The two bond over interesting topics of discussion and have an objective, rational way of viewing things which is reflected in their discussion before sex and how they count down before taking off their clothes.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Leah- Type 6
6s learned to excessively worry or question the safety, stability, or trustworthiness of people and things in order to protect themselves by only trusting what has passed their intense vetting process, and boy does this define Leah. She is the most suspicious of what is going on, she's suspicious of her interviewer (who describes her mind as prone to spiraling and worry) and suspicious of Shelby being connecting to whatever brought them here after she finds a bag of supplies that seems too good to be true. She thinks of tons of possibilities of what Shelby could be doing when she's not with the others, and she admits that a lot of these scenarios are irrational. When she does find a friend in Fatin, she is deeply loyal and trusts her with her irrational thoughts above the others (per 6, the Loyalist, fashion).
Where did Leah pick this up? Her background doesn't show us much of her childhood or home situation, but the incident with her author-boyfriend serves as a wound which seems to incite most of her distrust. She directly asks the author if their love is real, and he seemingly honestly says it is. However, he swiftly breaks away from her after finding out her age (a swift break is not possible from a 6 Loyalist, who is on your side til death do you part) and then Fatin brings up that based on what he writes about he probably liked her for more perverted, pedophilic reasons. Both of these instill a sense of distrust in people. When another boy shows he likes her while they are camping, her distrust causes her to attack and accuse him. Ultimately this distrust serves her well because she detects that something is afoot on the island, is the one to discover nora is the spy, and the one to detect that the interviewers do not have their best interest in mind.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Fatin - Type 7
While Fatin's backstory having two type 1 parents pushing her into a life of perfectionism might seem to paint her as a 1, inside she functions more like a 7. 7s during their developmental years felt the message, "you are on your own" through some kind of abandonment and stepped up to the plate to provide for themselves. We see this when fatin feels her one true ally, her father (unhealthy 1s being most prone to infidelity), cheats on her mom and then chooses to support her mom rather than her. Fatin hates the life she is trapped in- a life shackled to her mom's desires. Most people would hate this, but 7s feel the weight of being tied down as threatening to their wellbeing. We see this in fatin's disdain for her current life, despite being very successful she is not free and craves the possibilities that would come with freedom.
7s learned they had to create their own fun and thus become masters of living life to the fullest. In unhealth this turns into their chief sin, gluttony (or seeking pleasure to excess). Fatin shamelessly throws herself into a 7s chief defense mechanism and sleeps with whoever she feels can give her pleasure to escape.
Her bag is the first to be found and she gladly shares her clothes (shirts with funny tag lines showing she values a good time over fitting in) with everyone else. While 7s value abundance, they tend to be very generous and want others to enjoy life abundantly as well, so she had no problem sharing what she has. On the beach we see her tanning and having a good time while the others work. Seeing as we know how capable and not-lazy fatin is from her life off the island, this reads more as wanting to avoid the negative feelings associated with facing the fact that they are trapped on this island and do need to work to make a shelter. To a 7, being trapped in any sense is felt as much more intensely negative than it does to any type so rather than acknowledge they are trapped, she avoids thinking about this by enjoying herself.
When the girls are sitting in a row pretending to be on a post-rescue talk show she has the group roaring in laughter, entertaining the group as 7s do (7s are often called The Entertainer). The others are surprised when Fatin mentions she plans to move somewhere else and start a new life after they are rescued, but she views this as quite normal. 7s are future focused and always looking for the next thrill, so it makes sense she'd already be dreaming of what was to come rather than dwell on past mistakes or focus on the current problems they have on the island.
Fatin comes across a little bitchy at first, but often its just people mistaking her humor for distasteful when she's just trying to make light of things. After everyone accepts her way of living (a little more openly crass than the others), she is friendly to all the girls and often tries to cheer people up in her own way. When Leah is spiraling in fear, fatin tries to brighten her up her by saying, "I hear you, I really do, but is it best to let one past trauma dictate your actions now and in the future?" This upsets Leah, who as a 6 very strongly wants to wade through all the possibilities in order to decide what's safest. Fatin as a 7 is future-focused and in the optimistic triad (7, 9, 2) and hoped to show Leah how to move forward in a more optimistic way so that she wouldn't be dragged around some burdens from the past.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Toni - Type 8
Aggressive, confrontational lesbian who challenges those who disagree with her or those who threaten her and her tight inner circle... 8 much? Eights learned that the world is a hostile place where only the strong survive and the weak get taken advantage or bullied. This is a common feeling amongst through growing up gay, and this experience is amplified for toni growing up in the foster system on reservations as someone without a birth family to protect her and be on her side, and carrying the wound of native Americans being taken advantage of in history. She learned to be so strong to the point of being aggressive toprotect herself, but we see this conflict with both Martha's need to keep the peace and Tonu accidently hitting her girlfriend when boys confront them outside a movie theatre. 8s don't perceive themselves as aggressive and angry as everyone else does, because in Toni's mind she was standing up for others in love in both situations.
8s fear betrayal and manipulation above all else which results in a thorny exterior that only lets those truly trustworthy in. Martha proved herself to toni as trustworthy, taking her in when she had no where else to turn, and so we see toni reveal her soft, nurturing side to her. I find 8s often have a soft spot for 9s because both have something the other need, and we eventually see toni encourage Martha to be more 8ish. 8s are realists and do not sugarcoat things. When the group is looking for the goat toni challenges Martha (much to a 9s dismay) to not view the world through rose-colored glasses all the time and see that they need this to survive. While Martha sees this conflict as extreme and aggressive upon her, in Toni's mind im sure she thought she was lightly whispering caring sentiments to her.
8s are the defender of the weak. When Shelby seems homophobic, toni is quick to put up her defenses. But when it becomes clear that Shelby is gay and needs protection from the world as she figures that out toni is quick to stand up strong as her defender. Shelby is vulnerable with her and also says she's not ready to talk about some things, which toni gets. 8s disdain vulnerability more than anything else because it gives others a chance to betray or manipulate them, so toni is very understanding of Shelbys need to not be anymore vulnerable than she has already been.
-‐------------------------------------------------------ Martha - Type 9
While 9s naturally don't enjoy being the center of attention even in health, Martha is a bit of a wallflower for most of the show to the point of being a 9 in unhealth. 9s absorbed the message "your presence and thoughts don't matter", and we see this in Martha. She gently accommodates and supports her 8 sister for most of the show. 9s abhor conflict, feeling that if they rock the boat at all then others will leave them so when Toni gets confrontational with the other girls it deeply upsets martha. When she does speak up it is usually highlighting her self-doubting and self forgetting nature, which is evidenced when she asks Fatin if boys would be into her when they get off the island. Fatin quickly replies with positive affirmation, it being obvious to her, but to Martha cannot see herself as clearly as others can.
The Martha-centric episode really showcases her 9ness. As toni, shelby, and Martha hike up to find the goat toni comments on how Martha views the world through rose-colored glasses, lost in her own world seeing only the good. We see her empathize with the feelings of the goat more than her own need for survival, supreme stubbornness when her wish to protect the goat is not honored by her sister and Shelby, and her volcanic anger when she decides to release a lifetime of pent up rage on the goat.
9s believe that if they were to truly express their anger it would injure or destroy someone else, and that by taking up the space required to express anger they are no longer lovable. Given that we see her anger result in killing the goat, it makes sense when she sinks into a catatonic slothness (spiritual sloth being a 9s sin) for the rest of the episode.
Nines choose to keep silent in most disagreements, so when they finally do express a need and it is not honored they are offended, stubbornly will not move, and in unhealth will express their frustrations passive aggressively because they fear direct conflict will cause the other person to leave them. When the other two demand Martha stop defending the goat, we see a side to her that we haven't seen before. As a part of the gut triad (8s 9s and 1s), Martha doesn't use her mind or heart to make decisions, she uses her gut intuition. In marthas gut she's feeling, "i havent asked for anything the entire time on the island. I've been a team player, I've stayed out of the way, I haven't been a burden, and Ive made my needs so small so that we can attend to everyone elses- and now the one small thing I'm asking for, the only thing I've asked for, you can't honor? Fuck you." But the other two are thinking logically about survival and thus have trouble considering why Martha would be feeling how she does, and had martha expressed her unspoken needs in earlier situations instead if keeling silent then this incident would not be so incendiary
9s will often say they had a good childhood when it wasn't the case to avoid being a burden. We see this clearly Martha's flashbacks with her dance instructor. She won't speak up against her dance instructor even when it's so clear that he did abuse her and she's wetting the bed as a teenager due to the stress. The dance instructor paying specific attention to her interests and hobbies and telling her that he saw her as "capable of anything" satisfied what 9s long to hear the most- that their presence matters. This possibly explains why she took so long to speak up (on top of the fact that 9s naturally don't want to rock the boat).