Name: The Gauntlet
Type: Belt of Asteroids
Size: A
Escape Time: Varies
Satellites: Varies
Distance from Primary: 500 million miles
Day Length: Varies
Year Length: 70 months
Population Analysis: Mixed
The Gauntlet is a mildly unusual asteroid belt in the fact that it is littered with a half dozen minor worlds along its inner edge. These small worlds orbit 100,000 miles closer to the sun than the rest of the asteroids. However, because of the small distance between these worlds and the main asteroid belt, they are considered as part of the same asteroid belt.
The asteroid belt itself is dense, filled with mostly "junk" asteroids with no real value. The asteroids are all roughly 10 miles across or less. The vast majority of the asteroids are 5 miles across. Few have atmospheres; those that do hold atmospheres have a 50% chance of being occupied by one force or another.
A large number of smaller asteroids drift close to the larger asteroids. These smaller asteroids average only a few yards across, but can be quite dangerous to approaching spelljammers. Because of their small size, they are very hard to detect. A few spelljammers have been destroyed when they failed to notice the incoming asteroid. Because of these dangers, the asteroid belt has earned its name.
None. The few asteroids that have an atmosphere are not large enough to generate weather patterns. Most are hot and dry places where water is difficult to find and desert-like conditions prevail.
The Gauntlet appears as a dark ribbon of points of light in the sky. The points of light are the larger asteroids reflecting light from the Banesun. Each individual asteroid is an oddly-shaped piece of rock that drifts in space. Most are covered with impact craters from collisions with smaller asteroids spawned by the Banesun itself.
None. No asteroid or worldlet has enough water to break the land up into noticeable continents.
The vast majority of the asteroids have absolutely no life what so ever. The lack of air and water is a major detriment to the development of any kind of life. The rare asteroids that do have air and water have primitive ecosystems, with the bottom of the food chain being filled by a lichen that requires lots of sunlight and little water. Next up is the greytail, a small rodent that subsist on the lichen. The final link in the food chain is several hundred astereaters. These mutant beholders lurk along popular space lanes, ambushing ships and dominating the crew. Some have overrun the smaller settlements on the asteroids.
The six inner worldlets have slightly more advanced ecosystems. All have vegetation as advanced as small trees and bushes. The largest trees found in the Gauntlet are small dogwoods that grow no taller than 20' tall. Bushes are very common, covering most of the available land. Animal life is still somewhat primitive, with the largest animal being a deer that is no bigger than a wolf (about 3' long). There are four major species of these deer, identified by the various antlers they have. Predators are also small; the only noteworthy predator is the red-tailed fox.
The only native species to the Gauntlet is the small, bird-like albari. These chaotic birds use a natural ability to shunt through the Astral Plane to travel great distances quickly. The albari flock around the more habitable areas, feeding on the rodents before heading off into deep space to cause chaos and mayhem. The albari view the Gauntlet as their mating grounds, where they cluster to procreate and interact with each other. For the most part, the albari keep to themselves when in the Gauntlet and will lure away spelljammers if they get too close. The creatures are much hated throughout the sphere for the mischief they cause, but there is little that anyone can really do about them.
The worldlets and some of the habitable asteroids are home to various nations and baronies of humans, beholders, elves, and dwarves. Most were established as illithid slave colonies many centuries ago, but won their freedom in the Soul Crisis that caused the illithid empire to crumble. When the illithid ships rushed home to deal with the chaos and confusion caused by that Crisis, the colonies were left to tend for themselves. They quickly broke away and established their own nations, free of illithid tyranny.
Most of the minor worldlets is the center of a small barony and there are probably no more than two dozen smaller settlements scattered throughout the Gauntlet. Most of the old illithid bases were abandoned as the people migrated to the relatively safety of the larger baronies. None of the smaller settlements have populations larger than 500 souls. Each of the larger baronies is detailed below.
The vast majority of the asteroids in the Gauntlet are airless, lifeless earth bodies that cannot easily be mined. Past mining attempts of these asteroids, which have been costly affairs, turned up veins of iron, nickel, copper, some silver, and a few deposits of opals and fire opals. Few of these mind yielded enough wealth to justify the costs for any but the illithids, who cared not for the safety of their slaves. The hollow shells of these long abandoned mines can be found in the form of air-tight metal or glass domes on the side of a few asteroids.
The worldlets have a variety of resources, ranging from food to wood to mineral resources to spelljamming trade. Most spelljammers either heading into the inner system or heading out to the outer system make stopovers at one of the ports found here to restock on food, water, and other supplies. Some merchants make regular stops at the more important space ports in the Gauntlet.
Five of the worldlets are detailed below, as is the largest city in the Gauntlet.
Type: Irregular, earth
Size: 4 miles
Population: 10,500
Primary Inhabitants: Humans
Natural Resources: Water, industry, iron, gemstones
Exports: Spelljammers, jewelry, ale
Imports: Food, wood, other metals
The asteroid city of Dazzle was built in an old, abandoned mine about a century ago by refugees fleeing illithid tyranny. At first, they hid in the mines, hoping for rescue by their one spelljammer, which was sent out for help. It soon became apparent that rescue was not forthcoming and that they had been betrayed, so they made the best of their situation. They expanded some tunnels for living quarters while searching for food and water. The refugees almost gave up hope when they broke into a previously unknown chamber, from which water flooded out of, drenching the miners in life-giving water. A quick survey revealed a magical pool that created water in great quantities, which became the refugees' salvation. With a steady supply of water, they turned to other matters. At first, their dwellings were rude caves, but months of hard work turned them into elegant living quarters. Tunnels were expanded and lined with fitted stone and vast glass windows were built into the asteroid side. Passing spelljammers found the place and passed the word on to merchants seeking a safe port of call in the Gauntlet. Several rich merchants put their investments into the new city, and it grew by leaps and bounds. A spelljammer dry dock and construction yard was installed, while many skilled jewelers moved in to take advantage of the nearby, gem-filled asteroids. The large number of passing spelljammers encouraged the growth of a tavern and distillery industry, which now produces enough ale and rum to export.
Dazzle is now a city of about ten thousand individuals. The asteroid has twenty caverns leading into it, each of which leads to an individual dock. Each cave can be covered by a giant metal door, but these doors require 50 men to open and close them, so they are not often closed. Each dock is covered by two heavy ballista, but the garrisons for these weapons are only eight men. The docks are equipped for both simple dockings and repair work. Though each dock can handle four spelljammers of up to 60 tons in size, only two spelljammers are allowed per dock for security reasons.
Above the dock level is the market area, which consists of a long, wide corridor with two levels. Both levels are lined with shops, taverns, and inns, where almost anything can be found for sale. Many races, from humans to dracons to elves to dwarves to raspidees can be found milling about this area. Most goods commonly found in the sphere are for sale here. Each end of the market ends in a 60' wide glass window that offers a magnificent view of wildspace.
Above the market is a wheel-like residential area, where the natives dwell. The richest natives live in the innermost areas of the area, while the poorer citizens are found at the fringes. There are numerous connections to the market area below, but everyone must pass through check points manned by six trained guardsmen.
A citadel is found on the underside of the city, which serves as docks for the city's defense fleet of two hammerships and four wasps. The city's army of 800 men is based here, but only half will be here; everyone else is on duty elsewhere.
Between the docks and the citadel is a series of chambers where the magical pool is found. It feeds a vast irrigation system that provides water for many garden caverns. Plants of all kinds are grown here, including fruit trees, vegetables, and wheat. Light is magically provided by strategically placed continual light spells. These farms supplement the food needs of the city, but the city is not self-sufficient.
Type: Spherical earth body
Size: 50 miles
Population: 35,000
Primary Inhabitants: humans
Natural Resources: Food, textiles
Exports: food, clothing
Imports: tools, spices, ale
This spherical asteroid is one of the minor worldlets of the Gauntlet and is one of the strongholds of humans in the asteroid belt. There are fields of wheat, corn, and vegetables growing on most of the planet, while other areas are given to water reservoirs or forests of dogwood trees. Water is replenished daily by Bishop John Strike (NG hm P14) who casts several create water spells each day, as does his fellow priests. Slowly, water reserves are increasing in size.
The planet is devoted to the growing of food and the production of textiles, much of which is exported for sale at Dazzle (which is about a day's travel away). Kelyn is owned by Dazzle, who keep a garrison of 300 troops here to keep the peace and protect it from attack. The duchy itself has an addition force of 500 troops for patrols and police duty.
The primary food crops grown here are wheat, corn, many vegetable gardens, and potatoes. Of secondary importance is the cotton fields, which are extremely labor intensive. When harvest time for the cotton comes around, everyone is required to help out in picking it. The work is hard and grueling, but the payoff for the whole duchy is a fairly high standard of living. Since there is no seasons on Kelyn, the crops are staggered such that one crop or another is always being harvested and the duchy has a steady supply of fresh food.
People cluster about the twenty or so towns that are evenly distributed across the planet. The largest town of Pitchstar doubles as the only space port. It has two docks where Dazzle hammerships arrive every other day to trade with the natives. While Dazzle does tax the natives, it does so lightly. The asteroid is not generally well-known outside of the natives of Dazzle, and they want to keep it that way. Charts showing its location are rare.
Type: Spherical magma body
Size: 35 miles
Population: 700
Primary Inhabitants: dwarves
Natural Resources: Gemstones
Exports: Gemstones
Imports: Food, water, clothing, tools
One of the smallest worldlet, Ber'ros is laced with magma pockets. These pockets constantly shift and change their position, resulting in a highly unstable worldlet. Where magma gets trapped and slowly cools, priceless gemstones have formed. The illithids established a mining colony here centuries ago to exploit the wealth, but repeated earthquakes and magma flooding destroyed several mines. Costs were high, but the rewards were greater. Dwarves were the primary slaves of this outpost, who died by the hundreds in the days of the illithid regime. When the illithids withdrew, most of the dwarves left, but a handful remained to exploit the wealth. The mines are safer now due to dwarvish mining techniques, and the profits are higher now than ever. From the bowels of the asteroid the dwarves draw forth many sapphires, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and the ever so rare and precious black diamonds.
Ships are directed to an open field to land, which is relatively safe. Once a ship has landed, the dwarves move quickly to unload and reload the ship as quickly as possible to reduce risk that the ship might be damaged in an earthquake. The dwarves export raw, uncut gemstones in exchange for food, clothing, ale, and water. Most of the miners here have become rich off of the mines and support families back home. Several are younger dwarves, seeking their fame and fortune in the mines of this unstable planet.
Type: Cluster, Earth
Size: 15-25 miles
Population: 23,000
Primary Inhabitants: humans, dwarves
Natural Resources: smithing, industry,
food
Exports: manufactured goods
Imports: clothing, ale, gemstones, food
The Barony of Sky is somewhat unusual from the other worldlets in that it is a cluster of seven large asteroids instead of a single worldlet. The asteroids are fairly habitable, with farms of wheat and beans, but agriculture is not the primary industry of the barony. Instead, the asteroids are heavily mined for the great amount of iron, nickel, bronze, copper, silver, and even gold that turn up. Most of this wealth is turned into worked goods such as tools, weapons, and even armor and then exported to other ports elsewhere in the sphere.
The average distance between each asteroid is only a few miles and they share a common atmosphere. Travel is easily accomplished through use of hot air balloons to journey from asteroid to asteroid. The gravity is weak, so ballooning is fairly easy and requires little fuel. Larger balloons are used to transport bulk cargo from asteroid to asteroid.
Overall, the place is uninhabited. The people cluster about the dozen or so small towns that lay scattered throughout the asteroids. The towns are heavily defended against attack for fear that the illithids will return; all have thick walls and many archers to deter ground attacks. Mines are entered through tunnels that start at the towns for security reasons. If a town is attacked, the people fall back to the mines and collapse the entrance behind them. This forces the illithids to dig their intended slaves out, giving them enough time to escape through one of the many hidden side tunnels.
Much of the barony is dedicated to the crafting of metal goods. Only a small handful of humans bother to farm the nearby lands and only to grow enough food to support the people. There is some surpluses, but they are stored in deep mine storage facilities in case of invasion. More food is bought from merchants, supplementing the natives' diet and allowing them to store more food in case of invasion. Wheat, beans, potatoes, and carrots are the primary crops grown here, staggered such that there is always fresh food available.
Type: Spherical air body
Size: 800 miles
Population: 16,500
Primary Inhabitants: Humans
Natural Resources: Air, water, food
Exports: Air, water, clothing
Imports: Manufactured goods, textiles, food
The largest of the Gauntlet worldlets is a dwarf of a gas world, only as large as a fair sized moon. It is appears as any gaseous world with a solid blue color. A ring of tiny green asteroids, none bigger than a mile across, orbits this world at altitude of about 150 miles above the cloud lair. The asteroids are completely covered in small, thick forests of dogwood and cherry trees.
The interior of Windrift is open skies, white, fluffy clouds, and gentle breezes. At the center is a water body about 65 miles across, covered by thick layer of ice. The temperature gradual decreases as one descends down the atmosphere as more and more of the sunlight is blocked by clouds. The core area is almost completely dark, with only a few, short-lived beams of sunlight filtering down. Rainfall and storms do not exist in this world; the planet is uniformly heated so there is no contrasts that create storms.
The planet is home to millions of small birds and insects that are somehow held aloft with little effort. Windrift has only marginal gravity, but one eight of standard, and not much is needed to keep these creatures afloat. Some of the clouds are naturally solid, having the same texture and durability as soft wood. Many creatures nest in these clouds, and all clouds, both solid and not, have a fungus growing on them that provides food for most of the creatures here.
The larger solid clouds are lightly inhabited by humans, who maintain small villages of no more than 500 individuals. The towns survive through use of elaborate nets to catch the elken birds, a variety of duck that is the primary food for the inhabitants. Eggs are another common food commodity. The fungus is not edible by humans, so they must import vegetables and bread to survive.
Spelljammers are welcomed at most of the towns, which have become somewhat isolated with time. They trade meat, eggs, water, and feathered clothing for vegetables, bread, clothing, and tools. The natives travel between various settlements by using trained giant eagles. They also travel to the icy core, where they extract ice for drinking and washing. Only a few gallons can be gathered at a time, but used water is magically purified by priests and kept in reservoirs to limit the need for many long trips to the core.
The ring outside of Windrift is where most of the crops that the people eat is grown. Wheat, vegetables, and wood are the primary resources of the asteroids, who account for about half of the population. Air, water, and meat is imported from Windrift to the ring colonies, while bread and wood is exported back to the villages of Windrift.
Regular trade between these two groups of settlements was established two decades ago by a retiring group of adventurers who had come across a small cache of older spelljammers. They now maintain a near monopoly on Windrift trade, hauling goods back and forth between the settlements but keeping the surplus to themselves for sale elsewhere. They have become wealthy off of this deal, but not such that they can easily expand their fleet.
The adventurers are now known as the Feathers and the Wind. They fly an emblem stylized with seven feathers blowing in the wind. They typically fly their flags trimmed with bright bird feathers for extra flair and drama. The Feathers have a fleet consisting of eight tradesmen for trade purposes and a pair of warboat lampreys for planetary defense. The tradesmen are not heavy armed or crewed, typically carrying but eighteen crewmen. The lampreys have crews of twenty-two crewmen, of which three are spellcasters of 5th to 9th level.
Type: Spherical earth body
Size: 60 miles
Population: Unknown
Primary Inhabitants: Beholders
Natural Resources: Stone
Exports: none known
Imports: none known
Visin is the homeworld for the Kor'zzhen Clan of Beholders. It small clan of beholder dominate the area of space directly around their world, but little else. They have an innate need to conquer, but lack the resources to seize more than a tiny slice of space. Their armies are vast, but they have few spelljammers. They are constructing numerous tyrant ships for the time when their orbi seedlings mature and they will be able to take to the stars in great numbers.
The ultimate of this clan is a massive and highly magical creature known as Eyescourge. This monster is over 30' in diameter and has one hundred eye stalks with many magical powers. She commands a horde of several thousand directors, lensmen, and true beholders. Her hordes are commanded by a hundred overseers. She is advised in all matters by at least two dozen examiners who serve as a kind of court of mages.
Eyescourge has ambitions of her own. She seeks to destroy all other beholders in the sphere, which she is convinced are hiding from her vast armies. Once the sphere has been purged of all mutant breeds, she plans on expanding to other spheres and purging them of mutants as well. Anyone else in the way is to be either slain or enslave, it matters not to her. The many caverns of this world are hollowed out to serve as docks for their fleets of tyrant ships, which they carve from living rock with the disintegration power of their eyes. Patrols about their homeworld are heavy, with flotillas of two tyrant ships and two scout tyrants making regular patrols. The beholders claim the asteroids within half a days travel of their homeworld, but do little to enforce their claim, as the asteroids are not valuable in any conceivable way.
Before the coming of the illithids, the Gauntlet was just like any other asteroid belt: a bunch of rocks orbiting a sun. The small worlds at its inner edge were of no real importance, and the whole was largely uninhabited. When the illithids arrived, everything changed. They saw the Gauntlet as a perfect place to gain mineral wealth and establish vast slave estates. The inner worlds were colonized with many thousands of slaves, a permanent larder for the illithids. In addition to the slave plantations, great military bases were likewise established, both to keep the slaves in line as well as to serve in the war with the Raer.
The war against the Raer would last for well over two centuries, with constant raiding on both sides. These raids were far more devastating on the Gauntlet colonies than anywhere else, ultimately resulting in the abandonment of most of the colonies. When the raids finally ended, many colonies were reestablished, but not in the numbers that existed before. Later, when the gith settled the innermost asteroid shell, the Gauntlet again came under assault. For the last nine centuries, the asteroids have been a battleground between the two races. When the soul crisis flared, the bases were abandoned as illithids rushed home to takes sides in the conflict. The slaves were left to fend for themselves, who quickly established themselves as a free and independent people. The power void left by the illithids was rapidly filled by human warlords, the Kor'zzhen nation of beholders, and even the newly created city of Dazzle.
