I keep having some odd ideas every now and then that I will toss out and see what happens. So that I don't displace my writeup yet again (happened too many times in the past), I will post it here.
May I be forgiven, but it gives the forum some traffic.
Sun: Red, dim sun
First planet: air body (dust)
Second planet: earth body with a somewhat dim fire (second sun) and one earth moon
Dominant is a pseudo-celtic society with a high kingdom (mix in Ottonian HRE) and a couple of city states. One of the city states accidentally summoned a mercane 50 years ago and got spelljammer technology, which keeps spreading. Said technology has been successfully used to keep the high kingdom from absorbing the city states. The high kingdom has aquired two spelljammers in the last decade and is now quite eager to gain more.
At least one continent is a wasteland filled with (isolationalist) undead. Has many connections to artificial demiplanes made by a now barbaric elven society. Permanent gate to city of Brass?
Third planet: air body with 5 moons (1 water, 2 earth, 2 air)
Should be dangerous.
Fourth planet: earth body (lagely fluorescent jungle)
Inhabited by Sardior-worshipping psionic Drow (LA 0?). Made contact with the high kingdom and exchanged diplomats.
Asteroid belt: Neogi
Fifth planet: water body (Sahuagin and Aboleths)
Is currently at a long-range war with the Neogi. Tends to keep outsiders out.
Other features: at least one collosal, space-bound Aboleth.
largely because... well, let me put it this way: how many real life nations do you see that are ring-shaped? it's simply too large of a border. you can't control it all without expending way more resources than it's worth. particularly when you consider that you have to also include above and below into the equation, unlike with normal land-based societies, and even moreso when you consider the fact that there will be bajillions of individual asteroids, any of which could potentially be a base for resistance forces (and let's face it, unless these are non-standard neogi there's gonna be a lot of resistance forces)
having bases there and whatnot maybe, or controlling a large area within the belt would be fine, or even claiming control (but not actually having it) would be fine.
besides, if you have the neogi in total control, you knock out a massive potential for variety in your sphere... the asteroid belts, imo, is where spelljamming really comes to the foreground. exploring old ghost towns, establishing trading posts, building strongholds, searching for pirate lairs... all these things fit in perfectly with an asteroid belt. not to mention you could have dozens of small empires and kingdoms within the asteroid belt.
but that's just my opinion =S
I just thought that the Neogi had a lot of strongholds in there, to keep the interior planets somewhat isolated, not that they ruled the whole thing.
In any case, they would be contested by at least the Aboleths and some squadrons of the IEN (plus the ususal adventurers you keep shaking out of that armpit).
Current history outline (aka DM's dark):
Show
- First civilization on the sun: A large colony of Azers and Fire Elementals.
- Eventually war between Azers and intruders (Neogi? Humans? Those guys with the thing?)
- A spell mishap makes the sun go supernova and rapidly cooling down.
- While the elementals die off, the Azers hide in the still firy underdark of the third planet (whose one moon is by now a continuously burning piece of coal).
- Afterward a couple thousand years, the planet is colonized by elven explorers. Over the next myriad years, they start multiplying.
- The Neogi start encroaching into
- Notable conflict erupts when about half the elves are being transformed into Drow due to the events on Abeir-Toril.
- Said notable conflict leaves the world shaken. Almost all the Drow flee onto the fourth planet, where it is way darker. Most other elves hide in magi-created demiplanes and eventually fall into decadence and barbarism.
- The Drow on the fourth planet start infighting and eventually accept Sardior as new divine patron (better offer than Lloth).
- Humans start popping up, other beings come out of hiding (gods? planeshaking magic during the elven civil war?)
- Several tribes start organizing a high kingdom.
- Add more wars, yadda yadda.
- An unhappy witch accidentally summons a Mercane, proceeds to rain fire down upon a hapless village before being stopped.
- With said revelation about flying ships, the humans start reaching out to space.
- Eventually war between Azers and intruders (Neogi? Humans? Those guys with the thing?)
- A spell mishap makes the sun go supernova and rapidly cooling down.
- While the elementals die off, the Azers hide in the still firy underdark of the third planet (whose one moon is by now a continuously burning piece of coal).
- Afterward a couple thousand years, the planet is colonized by elven explorers. Over the next myriad years, they start multiplying.
- The Neogi start encroaching into
- Notable conflict erupts when about half the elves are being transformed into Drow due to the events on Abeir-Toril.
- Said notable conflict leaves the world shaken. Almost all the Drow flee onto the fourth planet, where it is way darker. Most other elves hide in magi-created demiplanes and eventually fall into decadence and barbarism.
- The Drow on the fourth planet start infighting and eventually accept Sardior as new divine patron (better offer than Lloth).
- Humans start popping up, other beings come out of hiding (gods? planeshaking magic during the elven civil war?)
- Several tribes start organizing a high kingdom.
- Add more wars, yadda yadda.
- An unhappy witch accidentally summons a Mercane, proceeds to rain fire down upon a hapless village before being stopped.
- With said revelation about flying ships, the humans start reaching out to space.
The Sun
Type: Size I Spherical Inert Fire Body
Escape Time: 24 turns
Satellites: Five planets, one asteroid belt
Distance from primary: -
Day Length: 50 hours
Year Length: -
Population: Less than 100 (mixed, mostly mephits)
Resources: Light, Heat
Commerce: None
Military: 1-2 dozen heavily armed mercenaries
A bright burning world untold millenia ago, the sun erupted in a supernova several thousand standard years ago.
After conflagating and shrinking back down, the sun has continuously cooling and dimming down.
Sages theorize that within fifty thousand years, the sun will be cool enough to settle without protection, although it will likely radiate moderate heat and light for eons to come.
Explorers and treasure hunters are already searching the ancient ruins on the surface for clues of the former inhabitants' whereabouts.
So far, only a couple of Magma mephits have surfaced; their accounts are notoriously untrustworthy, however.
Insuda
Type: Size D Spherical Ash Body
Escape Time: 3 turns
Satellites: none
Distance from primary: 20 million miles (5 hours travel)
Day Length: 63 hours
Year Length: 84 days
Population: Less than 10 (elementals)
Resources: None
Commerce: None
Military: None
A literal burnt world, one of the smallest size D bodies in the known spheres, Insuda was named after the explorer who first set foot here (and promptly died when the surface proved less stable than she anticipated).
To the knowledge of explorers and diviners, nothing lives here save perhaps one or two rogue Ash elementals. It is thought that Insuda was once an endlessly burning moon of the sun; with the sun cooling down, the planet has finally come to a rest.
Bennaugh-Dhou
Type: Size E Spherical Earth Body
Escape Time: 4 turns
Satellites: 2 moons
Distance from primary: 90 million miles (22 hours travel)
Day Length: 30 hours (per Sun) / 24 hours (per Athir)
Year Length: 365 days (per Sun) / 456 days (per Athir)
Population: 1 billion sapients (largely human)
Resources: Minerals, wood, water, air
Commerce: Export of minerals, water, and mercenaries; hiring of spelljammers with crews, smokepowder and smokepowder weapons and minerals.
Military: Several groundlings (with or without guns), sometimes allied with dragons. Two hired mercenary spelljammers with weapons.
Bennaugh-Dhou is the second most populated planet in Duskspace.
Home to the high kingdom of Cornoullais and the free city of Landreguier (both the most active spelljammer-aware groundling nations in the inner solar system), Bennaugh-Dhou has become one of the three preferred trading partners for spelljamming traders (although slaves are not well received here, few slavers dare travel into the inner system).
While Landreguier keeps its independance by having a fleet larger than its potential opponents (currently 4 ships, some even with weapons) Cornoullais not only boasts three spelljamming ports, but has started to actively form diplomatic contacts with off-world civilizations, all the while using spelljammers to found expeditions into groundling lands too far or too dangerous to explore by other means.
Bennaugh-Dhou is the only planet in Duskspace with a known Underdark; this one is however unusual, in that the core of the planet seems to be either magma or flame - the hostile and war-like civilization of Azer do not permit further research. It still leads to speculation that the planet was once a fire body as well, before or during the sun's supernova.