Name: Dustbite
Type: Spherical Air Body
Size: F
Escape Time: 12 turns
Satellites: 3
Distance from Primary: 1200 million miles
Day Length: 65 hours
Year Length: 180 months
Population Analysis: none known
This gas giant is second largest planet in the Banesun system. It is a dusty sphere about 30,000 miles across and has a circumference of about 94,200 miles. Because there is little polar flattening, the polar circumference is almost identical, about 94,100 miles. Dustbite revolves fairly slowly, completing only on rotation every 65 hours. It has an axial tilt of about 45 degrees, so the planet has seasons.
The whole world is air, with nothing at the inner core, such as a world or fire body. It does have several continent-sized floating bodies in its boundaries, about thirty in all. Each of these continents has an elliptical orbit about the center, drifting from 1,000 miles from the center to 12,000 miles from the center. These islands are very small, less than 200 miles across each, and very difficult to find in the dusty atmosphere.
The planet's air is breathable, but heavily polluted with dust and ash particles. Breathing without a filter of some kind would be extremely difficult for humans. If a human were to try to breathe the atmosphere without a filter, he would eventually die as his lungs became filled with dust. A human can only last 2d6 rounds in the atmosphere before the dust accumulating in his lungs kills him; dwarves are slightly sturdier and capable of surviving 2d8. The clouds of this world are comprised of ash, not water vapor. As a result, the clouds appear as slate gray, not white. The rest of the atmosphere has a light tan color, and visibility is rarely over a mile distant.
Gravity on Dustbite is very light. It is only a quarter of that of "normal" gravity. Thus, all missile weapons will fly four times farther than normal and falling damage is adjusted. For every 40' that one falls on Dustbite, one suffers d6 points of damage, to a maximum of 8d6 points of damage.
Dustbite is a world of violent weather and extreme temperature changes. At the point at which the atmosphere meets wildspace, the temperature is about 65F. At the equator, the average temperature is about 120F from wildspace to about 2,500 miles down. The poles are much colder, only about 35F during the summer months and -15F during the winter. Again, this temperature goes to a depth of about 2,500 miles. Beyond this point, the temperature takes on a uniform 95F temperature, with a gradual increase or decrease as one leaves this area. This uniform temperature goes straight to the core.
Violent storms of dust and ash wrack the planet on an hourly basis. These wind storms kick up a great deal of ash, but involve no rainfall. Instead, ash falls back down as the wind dies down, only to be whipped back up by the next passing wind. The winds can be quite strong, up to 300 mph. There is little variance in wind speed between the poles and the equator.
Dustbite appears as a great light tan sphere with gray clouds stripping its surface. The clouds are small dots of gray on its surface, all following similar paths across Dustbite's sky. There are seventeen bands of gray clouds stretching across Dustbite's surface.
There are no true continents on Dustbite, but there are thirty large islands drifting in the sky. Each is less than 200 miles across and appear as oddly-shaped boulders tumbling through the sky. Sand and ash have worn away most of the hard edges, leaving rounded surfaces. The gravity on these islands is directed towards the center of the island, and is about half of "normal" gravity. The gravity on these islands is strong enough to override the overall gravity on Dustbite, to a distance of about 100' above the islands' surfaces. The islands occasionally collide with each other, causing many rumblings and earthquakes across both islands. There is little actual damage to the islands themselves as they simply bounce off each other and settle into a new orbit.. The rock of these islands are very hard and not easily damaged.
Each island makes one complete revolution around the central point of Dustball once every 4-8 days. There is no difference between day and night, as light cannot filter down past about 200 miles from the atmosphere's edge. Only two of the islands are able to reach an altitude to receive light enough to see one's hand in front of one's face. Such visits to the world of light are very short, lasting only an hour or so.
As a world of dust, ash, and complete darkness, Dustbite has little that could support normal life. About the only thing that can survive here are the dust-diamonds, a shelled creature about 5 inches long. These creatures are able to fly by gathering air through two small holes in their front and expelled through an even smaller hole at their rear. The creature has a double shell of quartz crystals, making it sparkle in sunlight. These creatures survive through a diet of quartz crystals and feldspar. Somehow, they can survive on such a strange diet. Conversely, only creatures that can devour stone can feast on the dust-diamonds. They have the overall appearance of a headless turtle with a very narrow rear. They have four thin fins that they use as rudders to guide them through the skies. A complete shell of one of these creatures could fetch up to 500 gp to a collector in such a place as Bral or Waterdeep. All dust-diamonds are found within 100 miles of the edge of the atmosphere.
The islands are completely barren and utterly lifeless. The lack of light, water, and breathable air has impaired any life from taking hold. A few sandlings and xorn have been banished here from their home plane of elemental earth. They probably somehow offended the rulers of that plane and were banished here as a result. Most have gone insane from the loneliness and solace of the islands.
Dustbite has no known native intelligent races. The xorn and sandlings are not native, and they are too few to be considered important in any way. It is not known exactly what lurks at the depths of the sand-choked, utter darkness found at the core of this world.
None known. The islands may be rich in mineral wealth, but the hassles of retrieving that wealth would far outweigh the gains. Instead, the moons of this world are far more important as trade centers.
The moons are inhabited by dwarves, beholders, and a few goblins. Most of the beholder clans are busy fighting each other, but one has risen above the others and dominates a clan of dwarves. Trade is brisk and heavy, as these moons receive almost all of the inbound traffic from other spheres. Most trade ships from other spheres would rather stop at Dustbite's moons than risk the dangers of the inner system, most notably the illithid navy and the pirates of gith. The dwarves are more than happy to act as intermediaries of the sphere, buying up goods from other spheres to sell elsewhere in the Banesun sphere.
None. Only the moons have any ports of any note.
Dustbite has three minor moons and a ring of asteroids. The major moon is home to no less than seven beholder clans that constantly war with one another. The three minor moons are claimed by the dwarves and used as ports of call. The asteroids are poor in mineral wealth, but some are farmed with wheat and bean fields predominating.
The inner most moon is K'g'th, which has the appearance of a giant beholder in space. It is about 75 miles across and has a classic beholder shape. Massive scales cover a round, stony body and ten eyestalks rise into the sky, each about a mile high and have a needle-like appearance. Small, round boulders rest atop these eyestalks. The central "eye" is a massive, deep lake about 15 miles across and almost 2000' deep. The "mouth" is closed but contorted, as if in pain.
K'g'th is riddled with caverns and caves. These caves are mostly accessed near the central lake, but a few entrances are found near the eyestalks. The primary inhabitants of these caves are goblins, nagas, and unsurprisingly, beholders. The goblins are the slaves and servants of the nagas and beholders, too terrified of the floating "gods" to act against them. They work vast fungi farms and building defenses for their masters. They dwell in isolated huts of 4-12 goblins, patrolled by their naga overseers. The nagas were servants of the beholders when they were a unified nation, and continue to act as overseers, keeping the goblin slaves in line for their masters. The nagas have no loyalty to any particular clan, and have little to do with the interracial fighting that the beholders are now suffering. They are more than willing to switch loyalties if one clan is defeated, offering their services as overseers to the victors. For the most part, the beholders take little notice of their snake-like allies.
The seven beholder clans are undoubtedly the unquestioned masters of K'g'th. The moon was named for them, as K'g'th was the original name of their nation. They rule over the lesser races with ruthless tyranny, but years of warfare have reduced their power. Once, they were a real threat to wildspace, but are now but a shadow of their former glory. Clan holdings are found in gigantic columns, with entrances found near the roof. Spherical caves run the length of the column, containing personal residences, treasure vaults, feeding pits, and the royal hall of the hive mother. Each hive mother rules over a small clan of 5-20 true beholders, 1-6 directors, usually an examiner, 10-40 nagas, and 100-600 goblins. For some reason, these beholders are unable to produce orbus and thus confined to their rocky homes. Each clan holds a small slice of territory in the caverns and constantly try to expand their territory at the expense of their neighboring clans. These battles are most often made by their goblin slaves instead of by the beholders themselves.
According the beholder myth, they immigrated to the sphere from a distant sphere that suffered a natural disaster of some type that destroyed their primary food supply. They were forced to migrate to another sphere, constantly harassed by the Elvish Fleet. Eventually, they settled in the Banesun sphere, where their enemies were few and they had time to rest. Within this sphere, the ultimate of the K'g'th nation found a source of great divine energy, and the ultimate was determined to exploit that energy source. The ultimate built a magical artifact to harness the energy, channeling it into its own form and give it the power to become a demigod. Fortunately, the energy was too much for the beholder to take, and his body exploded to gigantic proportions. Screaming in pain, the ultimate solidified and became stone, and the moon of K'g'th was born. The rest of the nation, shocked by the destruction of their ultimate, were forced to take refuge in the newly born moon as their orbus died of a mysterious disease somehow linked to the death of the ultimate. Random mutations eventually took hold, and race wars broke out within a few years of their settling on K'g'th.
The beholders are trapped on K'g'th. They cannot produce orbus and tend to keep away from the surface. Most are found at least a mile deep, and a clan or two is trying to reach the core in an effort to find a great source of power. Great distances separated each individual clan, so actual fighting is sporadic at best.
Type: irregular earth body
Size: 22 miles
Population: 2,100
Primary Inhabitants: dwarves
Natural Resources: Water, vegetables, wood
Exports: Water, food, tools, armor, weapons
Imports: Clothing, food, spelljamming equipment
The second moon of Dustbite is little more than an asteroid with a fairly stable atmosphere. It is a dwarvish citadel, founded about fifty years ago when the Morningstar and Battleblade clans decided to take advantage of the growing trade between the dracons and the other spheres in the Maelstrom. They established a town on this moon where tradesmen may dock and resupply their cargo holds. Very quickly the town grew in importance after several merchant ships were lost to pirate attacks and illithid slavers. Merchants were willing to trade with the sphere, but did not want to lose their ships to pirates or slavers, so they made Bordis a stopping point in their trade lines and trade their goods with merchants from the inner system, who were more willing to take risks and better able to elude pirates.
Bordis is mainly a town of dwarvish merchants and vendors, selling food, water, and weapons to tradesmen from both the inner system and those from other spheres. There is always d4+1 trade ships in the docks at any given time, and the port is protected at all times by a small fleet of two squidships and a hammership. Though Bordis lacks a ship construction facility, it does have a pair of dry docks where they can repair spelljammers for reasonable rates.
The town is run, surprisingly, by a clan of beholders from K'g'th. The Nuth clan escaped the wars by charming a passing ship of dwarves, and forced them to transport them to the nearest settlement. When the beholders arrived, they set about setting themselves up as mob bosses. Fortunately, while they proved horrible criminal bosses, their money-making and management skills were not lost on the dwarves. Eventually, they came out of the shadows and won several elections, mainly due to a massive propaganda campaign. The kings of the two dwarvish clans still rule the town, but the beholders hold important positions such as treasurer, port manager, and magistrate. The beholders have actually become honest over the last decade, knowing that Bordis' prosperity is their prosperity. They are not above charming a few dwarves to get their way, but do this only when necessary. The hive mother of this clan controls 12 beholders but have no other beholder-kin under her control.
The beholders of clan Nuth are actually fairly different than normal beholders. They have a classic beholder, but their bodies have a black, glassy appearance. They appear as black, spherical mirrors with a bright blue central eye. The marble-like top eyes sit upon short, metal-like eyestalks. Because of their unusual bodies, clan Nuth have a natural gaze reflection ability. This natural defense is exceptionally dangerous against other beholder clans, who cannot hurt them by any means other than physical attacks. These beholders now lean towards lawful neutral in alignment.
Type: Irregular earth body
Size: 34 miles
Population: 500
Primary Inhabitants: Dwarves
Natural Resources: Iron, wood, water.
Exports: Clothing, weapons, wood.
Imports: Food, tools.
Second of the minor moons of Dustbite, Bladebite is a major industrial center for the dwarves. It has many resources that are needed for the construction of iron weapons, which is its chief export. The asteroid is covered with an ancient forest that has, over the centuries, created a thick coal deposit. Deeper, iron is common in numerous veins, including rare iron that is stronger than normal iron, commonly referred to by groundlings as star metal. The rocky slopes, while too rugged for crops, is ideal for sheep and goat herds, which are by far the dominant herbivores on this moon.
Bladebite was settled about forty years ago when the prosperity of Bordis prompted the dwarves to expand. Through much deal making and special promises, the dwarves of the Suncrystal Clan settled down on Bladebite as weaponsmiths and sheep herders. The dwarves have only one settlement, where they collect coal and iron for processing. The sheep and goats are allowed to roam the hills surrounding the town, but many have gone wild. The town, also called Bladebite, is a busy and industrious place where smiths work hard on crafting weapons and other metal goods needed by the town of Bordis. Meat is also shipped to Bordis for consumption by the hungry dwarves. The town lacks a formal marshal or law, but can muster a militia if needed.
Type: Asteroid ring
Size: 1-5 miles diameter each
Population: 450
Primary Inhabitants: Dwarves
Natural Resources: Food, wood.
Exports: Food, wood.
Imports: All necessities.
The last of the moons is a thin asteroid ring of about 300 asteroids. These rocks are very small and sparsely spaced, each with a thin atmosphere and a few plants. A handful of these asteroids are farmed by the dwarves of the Flairshield clan, who raise wheat and beans on about a dozen asteroids. They keep small communities on these asteroids where they store wheat for shipment to Bordis. Though the communities are vulnerable to attacks by pirate or slaver ships, the dwarves have thick, well-protected shelters to hide if they are attacked. A pair of wasps owned by the Flairshield clan keeps watch over the asteroids, travelling together to hunt for pirates or slavers.
