Entry in the Original SJ Lairs Challenge.
In the asteroid empire there is a well known asteroid that's often pointed out as one of the dangers of not searching ships for improper cargo or having a strong space fleet. The asteroid, once known as Linwerd's Isle, is now a monsterous battleground between three groups of creatures that survive in an odd symbiosis. All three groups were introduced by smugglers, in fact, by one smuggler, who was hoping to sell them as slaves and curiosities. Instead, the smuggler and his crew brought about the deaths of over 1000 people and led to the asteroid's being interdicted by the Imperial Navy. High above the asteroid, out of its gravity, now floats a simple base: a spelljamming barge with housing for the crew of an imperial dragonfly set here to warn other ships away from the asteroid.
Asteroid at War:
The three forces of destruction that have somehow become precariously
balanced are a group of aartuk, a group of syllix, and slinkers. The
syllix are terrible foes, breeding rapidly and eating only meat. They
need people of some sort to provide the brains for an eruption,
however, and have been unable to get any since the asteroid was
overrun. The aartuk live for war and so are quite happy to battle the
syllix, which they need to breed anyway. As omnivores, they're willing
ot eat anything and live off the asteroid's plant life as well as
syllix bodies. They need the syullix to grab a person and form
mage-stars for an eruption to escape the asteroid and so are just as
stuck as their enemies. The slinkers have becoem the breeding stock of
the syllix. As the aartuk are plants, the syllix cannot eat them.
However, the slinkers are omnivorous and enjoy an aartuk meal. The
slinkers reproduce amazingly fast, providing all the food the syllix
need.
Linwerd's Isle was originally a very prosperous asteroid. While not located on any notable trade routes, it already had a natural spin that provides a 33 hour day cycle, it had water, plants, and even bugs and small animals (nothing bigger than a field mouse). More importantly, the bulbous asteroid had a central gravity well like a planet rather than a gravity plane (this appears to just be another anomaly of wildspace and nothing more) than made all of its fertile surface useful for farming. The asteroid has inches of fertile soil of most of its surface with a few small creeks and ponds. The are also a few natural caves that are neither deep nor large. Besides this, there is no other natural geography (another interesting aspect of the asteroid is that it has a hollow core and things reaching this core, like water, are forced upward, creating a natural water cycle as water bubbles up from springs and then seeps back into the ground).
The people that first settled it were poor farmers but with high hopes. They knew if they could plant good crops and sell them they could make a decent income and slowly improve themselves. They planned for the future. Orchards, groves, vineyards, rows of berry-producing bushes, and plenty of food crops were brought in and planted. With 10 years the colonists had not only paid for their initial expenses but found other settlers seeking a new life that wished to move in. Since the amount of work the burgeoning asteroid was creating was increasing with the size of the harvests they were happy to accept and so a small town with a couple merchants and dedicated craftsman had also formed.
Being off the beaten path the colonists now took a wrong turn. The Imperial presence was minor, members of local families either through marriage or brith, the colonial marines saw their incomes from the Empire more as way to supplement the colony's income than as a binding obligation to service. Since the colony had never been raided and had few visitors (the lack of a dock and significant water prevented many ships from stopping by that couldn't land on land) their complacency was understandable. So it was that they agreed to allow their colony to be a stopover for smugglers and their contacts. They even excavated some secret cellars for holding smuggled goods, areas they referred to locally as "the smugglers warehouses". In essence they became a transhipment point for several minor smugglers, a waystation where cargoes could be transferred for shipment elsewhere in the empire. Since the records were maintained and taxes collected and turned in no imperial officials were the wiser (of course, a couple bribes helped keeped the suspicious satisfied as well).
All that changed when one of the smugglers arrived with a cargo of prisoners he thought could be sold as curiosities or perhpas to gladiatorial events. With their penchant for fighting they might even be used as slave troops. His intentions really didn't matter, since the colonists weren't worried about what he was carrying as long as it was monsters and not people and he kept them locked up, which he did. His ship also brought something unplanned, an infestation of slinkers, but no one noticed at the time (the colonists had a large number of cats and had gone to great pains to keep their asteroid clear of rats). The captain, however, didn't realize the trouble he was really bringing as one of the aartuk was in fact just finishing becoming an elder.
The aartuk cages were hidden in a separate cellar from the syllix cages to ensure the two groups didn't bother each other and a thin silk net was kept over the aartuk cages, carefully fastened down, to prevent the aartuk from using their pellets. Now able to cast spells, however, the aartuk elder was quickly able to free his people by the simple expedient of charming the guard sent to feed them. Then the freed aartuk slew the guard and entered the town, where they attacked the inhabitants, most of whom were sleeping. The attack was startling and the aartuk slew many townsfolk before they could organize resistance. The complacent colonial marines weren't numerous enough to stop the aartuk and so the smuggler captain ordered his men to free the syllix, hoping they would deal with the aartuk. The syllix were freed and did begin to gather what weapons they could (mostly makeshift items like clubs) to go to war but they were not intent on the aartuk, and in fact ignored the plant monsters as they sought out the humans who were retreating to the couple ships they had present to try to hole up and wait out the expected battle of the aartuk and syllix. It was then that fate intervened on the side of the colonists as an Imperial patrol ship showed up to collect the taxes. The imperials saw the massacre that was occurring as the syllix trapped many colonists and their children between them and the aartuk and charged in to help. Their arrival caused the syllix and aartuk to retreat for cover and the imperials helped the survivors flee.
The colonists and the surviving smugglers did not enjoy their safety, however, as exactly what had happened was soon discovered and all but the youngest children were put to death for smuggling, treason, and murder. The imperial navy gathered forces to return but like the colonists hoped the two foes would slay each other and so took their time. When they returned several months later, however, they realized their error. The syllix had eaten all the animals they could find on the asteroid and the aartuk had infected a large number of the original colonists who had now joined their ranks. The entire area was heavily overrun by slinkers that both sides fed off of and the syllix and aartuk had fortified buildings in the town as well as taking their war out into the countryside. The syllix still mostly used makeshift weapons but they were capable and smart and had made shields to protect themselves against aartuk missiles and so the war had already reached a stalemate. The syllix had also begun breeding slinkers as they'd recognized the vermin as their own steady food source and their expanding population needed all the food it could get. The slinkers were happy to ravage the asteroid, eating any food they could find, and so were perfect for sustaining the syllix who the aartuk had come to see as their only means of breeding. The Imperial navy deciced that for now, for such an out of the way asteroid, they would not waste the troops to clear it and instead would leave it as an example of what folly people can bring on themselves.
Aartuk (U): AC 6; MV 6; HD 2+1; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8; SA shoots a pellet with the range of a sling bullet, tongue attack to 30' (causes entanglement and immobility unless a Dex check made, a strength check must be made each round with a cumulative -1 penalty to break free, will draw entangled victim to self and crush for 1-8 damage/round with arms), infect victim by touching pen wound with tongue for 3 rounds (victim's flesh turns to jelly in 6 days, victim thereafter loses 1-6 Con/day until dead or cured with cure disease, new aartuk emerges from jelly in one month); SD as a plant is only affected by plant-based spells; SW may not shoot pellets when tongue in use; AL LE; THAC0 16
Aartuk Elder (1): AC 5; MV 5; HD 5+1; hp 25; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8; SA shoots a pellet with twice the range of a sling bullet that sparks on impact, tongue attack to 30' (causes entanglement and immobility unless a Dex check made, a strength check must be made each round with a cumulative -1 penalty to break free, will draw entangled victim to self and crush for 1-8 damage/round with arms); SD as a plant is only affected by plant-based spells; SW may not shoot pellets when tongue in use; AL LE; THAC0 16; W 14; C spells: 5L1, 2L2 spheres: animal, plant, combat, divination, charm, protection, war, law, weather*, elemental*
Slinker (U): AC 7; MV 15; HD 1/2; #AT 1; Dmg 1; SA swarm by every slinker in pack attacking same target (target must make Dex check or fall down, Dex check is at -1 for every slinker over the Dex score fo the victim); AL N; THAC0 20
Syllix (U): AC 7; MV 12; HD 3+1; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon; SA +2 morale and +1 to hit if in Eruption stage; AL LE; THAC0 16
Notes:
