Aklann
Aklann is the world closest to Twirler and due to
it's distance from the Flaming Fish, is an Ice covered Island. Mostly
Colonized by humans, there are nevertheless small colonies of bugbears,
hobgoblins, and Cave Bears (with 1 in 100 being a Were Cave Bear).
Mineral wealth on this island is sparse but the veins that exist are unusually
rich. Several small knots of Mountain dwarves subsist in the one
major mountain chain running the length of the Starbeasts back. These
mountains divide the land into two major areas. On the northern side
lay lands of much ice and snow where yeti and other ice monsters persist.
There are several inland seas on both sides, however they are almost constantly
frozen solid. On the southern side are the lands inhabited by people,
both humans and non alike. All animals here are covered with thick
shaggy pelts and there are no reptiles at all, they cannot stand the constant
cold. As the fish swims with the currents, they are far less noticeable
here and Aklann is the one worldlet that fields tremendous shipping fleets,
trading with the nomadic fishers and sea elves alike. The one city
of any size is Kilvanosh, a medium sized spelljammer port town. The
rest of this world is quite spelljammer aware however, as they've been
raided for as long as any can remember by the Vodoni. This land is
also the birthplace of The Emperor Fedral, ruler of Tidespace. There
are sweeping forests here that spring up everywhere and from these are
constructed the fisher fleets as well as the Imperial Fleet vessels.
There are few mages on Aklann, but the psionicist strain runs strong here
and 1 in 20 have wild talents with 1 in 100 being psionically endowed.
Most never learn much more than basic Psychometabolic abilities however,
using those powers to help them hunt and survive in the cold environment.
There are few wars here as most people are barely able to survive the elements,
much less covet the poverty of their neighbors. Up until the establishment
of the Empire there were frequent Vodoni raids on these lands, as the people
are hardy and good workers. There are still sporadic raids as the
Vodoni test the strengths and weaknesses of Fedral's navy. The people
here worship the Flaming Fish, a mostly fatalistic religion praying for
the day their Starbeast takes them outward to Tidespace's source of heat.
Blackash
Blackash is the largest worldlet, second
from Twirler but still oddly enough warm enough. The northern reaches
are often cold, but only in the extreme far north near the edge of the
land. Mostly temperate, the lands stretch far and wide with plains
larger than the smaller worldlets. Forests dot the land and several
large inland seas make the landscape pleasant for Spelljammer landings
of all persuasions. The land is neither rich nor poor in minerals
and several dozen large civilizations have risen here. Most are of
human orientation, but there are large kingdoms of elves, orcs, dwarves,
and even halflings here. The one main ocean holds within it several
island chains practically brimming with spelljammer aware rastipede colonies.
They have no memory of how they got where they are but they do have a small
spelljamming mercantile fleet. This fleet is a member nation of the
Empire and is subject to its price capping as well as protection so pirates
beware! Blackash is also home to tribes of hill giants. Mostly
Blackash is known as the financial support for the Empire, as they rarely
send crews into space. Only one human empire here is not a member
of the empire, they occupy the far western sub continent of Halacea, mostly
an asianesque civilization who trades extensively with Wa on Toril (there
is a small, but two way navigable flow to Realmspace, travel is slow but
their ships rarely have many crew so it matters not). They are rumored
to have constructed their own Tsunami class spelljammer as well as a myriad
of junks and traders. Quite secretive about their intentions and
desires, the KaLu don't particularly appreciate foreigners. They
did not participate in the Faith Wars, as their beliefs center not on deities
but internal harmony.
The Faith Wars
Time and again in this document and others, the
Faith Wars of Blackash have been brought up. These are collectively
a series of wars that took place over a four hundred year period of time
that culled out many a minor deity as well as several major religions on
the Eastern continent of Barada. Prior to the wars, Blackash was
the primary meddling ground for the gods (and at the time, Tidespace was
referred to as Blackspace). In fact it got to be so bad that at one
point open war broke out. At first, this war was primarily a human
war, however the elves and other races were invariably pulled in.
The nature of Tidespace and its gods is such that the more followers a
god has, the more power it has for use in other places (for undoubtedly
godly things like making palaces with crystal and music). The Faith
Wars originally began with Sivral's followers burning Neowanders temples.
This was at first looked on with amusement by the other gods, as Neowander
was an upstart anyway. It wasn't until those followers became over
zealous and began burning other temples that the other gods took notice.
Milnak, god of guardians and duty was the first to get involved and soon
the others were all fighting out old rivalries. During this time
it was not safe to worship any gods and with clerics afraid to heal people,
pestilence plagued the land. Great armies were amassed and sent against
neighbors and empires crumbled, regrew and crumbled again. Blackash
was forever changed, its kingdoms lay in ruins and the wars continued.
Near the end, several of the gods joined and rose up to war against Milnak.
They were more successful than even gods can imagine and after an entire
kingdom was burned away, there was no more Milnak at all. Immediately
the gods withdrew and halted priestly actions on Blackash, though war would
continue for 10 more years before finally coming to a stop. These
10 years are collectively known as the time of suffering, for now clerics
couldn't use healing magic. All in all 2 dozen deities were destroyed
in the Faith wars and much of the land is scorched black from the battles.
As a result, magic works strangely here and wizards are generally advised
to wait until off world before using magic. The faith wars culled
out many smaller religions, but it also cut back the major ones and any
small Blackash based religions were now on equal footing with their rivals.
Most natives of this world would rather not talk about their genocidal
past and will be distant to those who ask. The direct result of the
Faith Wars is that Jalintas is the only worldlet to possess strong clerical
tendencies, few gods have returned to Blackash to grant powers to their
faithful there.
Jalintas
Jalintas is overall a rather normal worldlet, considering
it rides on the back of a giant turtle that is. It is second only
to Blackash in size and has nearly double the population. There are
many races here, but very few evil ones as they fared poorly in wars long
past. The greatest population found here are halflings, their villages
can be found nearly everywhere. Humans are second, then follow dwarves,
elves and dragons (of only good alignment). There are three continents
on Jalintas. To the north is Jyaclict, land of dragons. The
weather across Jyaclict varies and nearly any good dragon can be found
here. There is a gate to Paddle in the northernmost mountains of
Jyaclict, but very few other than the ancient gold dragon that guards the
entrance know of it. There are in fact several halfling villages
on Jyaclict in addition to the dragons, descendants of the legendary Dragon
Riders of Harbrusan. These heroes of aided the good dragons in defeating
the forces of the evil dragons in Jyaclict as well as Pulari and Hasgarn.
The halflings live in peace with the dragons and in every generation several
are selected to become riders and thus defend all from evil (which for
some reason almost unceasingly seeks to rear it's ugly head again and again).
Pulari is the south western continent and home to Humans, Elves, Halflings,
Brownies (great tribes of them in the Hinga'ra forests and hills) and a
few hill dwarven tribes, but the overall lack of mountains and resources
makes this a mostly agricultural land and in fact has rarely seen war or
weapons. The people here are open and trusting but have little to
offer. The elves tend to shy from the plains and fill the forests
with their majestic tree cities. IEN agents can be found in these
elven nations, however they are merely envoys, the elves here don't care
for their space based brethren. They DO however care for several
families of Bionoids, leftover weapons from the inhuman wars. This
is the primary point of contention between the IEN and these groundling
elves, many of the bionoids used and then discarded were natives of this
land. Elves tend to forget few things so great as this and forgive
fewer. The human and halfling societies here are members of
the Empire. Most peoples here are spelljammer aware and wooden ships
can be repaired with great skill in either human, halfling, or elven towns.
For stone or metal working, it is advised to go to Hasgarn, a mountainous
land featuring humans, halflings, and mountain dwarves. Generally
speaking, the inhabitants of this land are docile however they are not
as trusting as those found in Pulari. This comes from the harsh realities
of their lands as there are monsters abounding throughout Hasgarn, limiting
the civilizations to the northwestern tip. This is a rather large
tip however and just to the south are the great mountains (a thoroughly
mountainous region featuring griffons, hippogriffs, and several other
nasty but sparsely located creatures) wherein one can find several mountains
full of dwarves, even a few duergar can be found here but far away from
their good brothers. Few are spelljammer aware here but they can
still repair ships of any type with great craftsmanship, it's just wise
to land far away from prying eyes before seeking aid. As a result,
the Empire is not found here and those seeking shelter from Imperial angers
can find it in this land. The rest of the continent is virtually
full of a veritable treasure trove of malignant monstrosities and there
are a few hunting safari companies that specialize in finding the right
prey for the right man (Representatives are located in Kilvrock).
Most are advised to stay north of the mountains.
Paddle
Paddle is the 4th world out from Twirler and for
several thousand years the sea turtle it rides upon has been submerged
and all the original peoples have either died or transformed themselves
into creatures more suitable for water survival. At one time a great
civilization of high elves thrived here but millenia ago the turtle
began to submerge and high tides kept getting higher when finally the elves
bid adieu to the air and became this spheres equivalent of Dargonesti.
Many fled their lands and became nomadic peoples throughout the sphere,
but more stayed and tried to fight off the Sahuagin who flowed into the
lands upon full submergance. Very few sages travel to this worldlet
anymore as it has attained quite a depth in the milennia of diving.
Few records exist of this world and it is only dimly visible during any
tide other than extreme low tide. It doesn't help that there is no
overhead light source, but it will nevertheless be found on any planetary
locater or similar device. The elves had reached a pinnacle of civilization
and treasure seekers stumbling upon old legends have been known to find
ways down to this world, several gates are rumored to exist. Few
have returned, but those who have come bearing riches beyond imagining
as the Dargonesti value different things as air breathers.
Granule
Granule is the fifth world out from Twirler
and is widely uninhabited. It has poor farmlands and dangerous indigenous
lifeforms. There are several kobold nations here, dwelling in the
subterranean caverns which spiderweb across the land. There are several
non spelljamming Mind Flayer peoples here as well, preying on the kobolds
and it is surmised that both were brought on the same vessel which crashed
and could not escape. Over all, it is a suitable world to land on
to take water, as there are no salt water lakes/inland seas on Granule,
all are freshwater. The climate is midrange and humans are comfortable
nearly all over. There is one small port town in the north called
Ha'nul on the inland sea of Fisbas, but facilities there are limited and
crews inexperienced at best. The vast majority of Granule is just
stretches of broken rock and as such one can find creatures such as xorn
and umber hulks burrowing about. They were the first denizens of
this worldlet and are responsible for the catacombs laying beneath the
surface. These catacombs are treasure rich with gold and silver,
much of which is un mined, the Xorn and/or Umber Hulks having exposed it
but found it valueless and continued on. There are entrances to these
caverns all over Granule, but most people enter via the Plains of Etoch,
the one stretch of arable land, and the only area inhabited by humans (at
the north end of which is located Ha'nul). Here adventurers often
journey down into the earth in search of treasure. The Plains of
Etoch are members in the Empire and are in fact one of the primary funders
of Fedral, who has a mining company that seeks out caches of Gold, Silver,
and Gems. The people here are polite but distant, trusting few outsiders
and many go the way of the lone hermit, disappearing from society forever
either into the Plains or down into the Catacombs.
Anavardia
Anavardia is the name given to this worldlet by
every species OTHER than those indigenous to it. The local name as
it were is MalaKali, which in the native tongue roughly translates to "Island
Heaven".
Talinthos
Talinthos is a hot, damp jungle worldlet.
It is actually 2 continents resting on the same Star Beast.
The Northern most continent is Alasar, a land of Fire Giants, Red Dragons,
and other heat loving organisms. Great Volcanoes dominate the land
showering hot lava and magma daily. Any and all animal life that
is found here is immune to all natural fire and highly resistant to magical
flames. The smoke powder refineries of Tisandel are on the southern
side of this continent and much trade between the native Fire Giants and
the Southern peoples makes this a rich continent indeed. All Imperial
smoke powder comes from the refineries that produce the high grade substance
from locally mined substances. Tisandel is the main Kingdom here,
mainly populated by fire giants, but with small enclaves of dwarves and
humans. Unlike their northern cousins, all Tisandelish Fire Giants
are Lawful neutral or even Lawful Good on occasion, as money from the Imperial
vaults never flows to those of evil alignment. Most ports along this
southern edge of Alasar are spelljammer aware, but few crews are to be
found as Fire Giants don't journey into space much (They consume much oxygen
and are somewhat afraid of the Phlogiston, scared that maybe it is a substance
sufficiently flammable to cause even them harm) Nevertheless, high
grade repairs can be found here, in addition to a fire proofing enhancement
that protects quite well against on board fires. Clean water here
is a rare thing as most water is tainted with the taste of sulfur.
The air reeks of the stuff and most adventurers dare not risk such things
in pursuit of the limited treasure found here.
Several hundred miles across the salt water ocean
spanning the Star Beasts back is the continent Salavare. Salavare
is a land filled with jungles and populated mostly by halflings, humans,
and dwarves. There are small knots of elves here as well, but they
are insular (even for elves) and avoid all contact with outsiders, including
those of elvish descent. In the southeastern portions of this continent
reside several goblin nations who have attained a rather impressive level
of civilization considering their handicaps. They are tenuously allied
with Scro forces in system and provide supplies and shelter but no more.
Relatively docile, their warlike demeanor disappeared over a thousand year
period known to them as Time of Troubles, wherein many a goblin warrior
perished fighting one another. All this bloodshed led to the more
timid Goblins living longer and thus their entire people evolved slowly
away from the average goblin. They are still capable of violence,
but are more inclined to ask questions before gnawing on someones arm.
They know of spelljamming but maintain no fleet of their own. At
one time before the time of troubles their warriors fought against the
humans and halflings, but were soundly defeated time and time again.
To the west is a barren desert plain of little water and fewer creatures.
None know why rain falls only on its borders and never within, but to go
here is to risk death. There is a large kingdom of humans that dominates
the entire northern half of Salavare. They are not entirely unified
and at times civil wars shake things up a bit. Not since the Empire
stepped in and the current kings Hayam and Julki I swore fealty to Fedral
has there been a war. Fedral watches them closely as they are the
closest humans to the wealth of smoke powder found on Alasar. Nevertheless,
trouble has been brewing and several minor skirmishes have taken place,
albeit far from the watchful eyes of Imperial spies. Their cities
are all pretty much spelljammer aware, however inland cities care little
for spelljammers, they are more concerned with crops and such. The
feudal nature of this land means few have the resources to attempt spelljamming
and those nobles that can, generally disdain it as foolish dribble.
The Crown City is one port wherein one can find any sort of goods and services
one desires, as King Julki the V has a limited moral code (This is the
source of rivalry between Hayam V and Julki V, it has been whispered in
closed circles that Julki is evil to his darkest core and as such should
be replaced as high ruler) Though rather warm and humid, this land
is still comfortable for most humans and many enjoy the beaches for their
wonderful sunsets (caused by rising clouds coming from Alasar).