Name: Gith's Fury
Type: Asteroid belt
Size: B
Escape Time: 2 turns
Satellites: none
Distance from Primary: 35 million miles
Day Length: varies
Year Length: 175 days
Population Analysis: gith
Gith's Fury is a massive asteroid shell built up over the ages by rocks ejected from the Banesun. Asteroids of all shapes and sizes can be found within the shell. Most are lifeless rocks that drift along, lacking atmospheres or life. Only the oldest and largest rocks have atmospheres, undoubtedly left by passing comets.
The Fury is comprised of countless asteroids. The overall number is fairly stable, but individual asteroids are not. Hundreds of asteroids are created each day by the Banesun, and likewise, hundreds fall back into the fires of the primary. Oddly enough, the largest asteroids (those over 50 miles across) have stable orbits and are immune to collisions with smaller asteroids. Just as interesting is the fact that the larger asteroids don't crash into each other. This may just be because of the huge amount of space available and that the larger asteroids that have orbits that cross have already destroyed each other.
The asteroids that make up the Fury range in size from a halfling's fist all the way up to a small moon. The vast majority of these rocks are fairly large, with the average asteroid being between 50 to 200 yards across along its major axis. The smaller asteroids are constantly crashing into each other, with the result being every asteroid having an odd shape and being covered with craters. The larger asteroids are not numerous; in total, there are perhaps five hundred asteroids over 50 miles in diameter. Even more dangerous are the clusters of tiny rocks. These clouds of rocks are usually a mile across and comprised of thousands of rocks smaller than a yard across. They are very hard to detect and can cause serious damage to passing spelljammers. Any spelljammer caught in one of these clouds takes 2d6 hull points of damage per round, and crewmen suffer the effects of a heavy jettison. Many ships have been seriously damaged or even destroyed by these deadly clouds of rock.
Only a few of these asteroids are named. Instead, the inhabitants name general regions of asteroids and those asteroids with settlements. These names are not well known and not used outside of the Fury. Generally, most travelers give the asteroid shell a wide berth.
An interesting property of all of the asteroids in the Fury is that every asteroid is a rusty red color. This is an innate property of the rock itself, as the rust-red coloration is present all the way to their cores. It is not merely a coating or a trick of the light from the Banesun. This property is undoubtedly caused because of the asteroid's birth from the fires of the Banesun.
All of the rocks that make up the Fury are very hard. One can wear out several sets of mining tools before making a sizable hole in an asteroid. Interestingly, the asteroids are particularly vulnerable to sonic attacks. In other words, the rock crumbles under the effects of shatter, shout, and other such spells. The resident gith use this property to their advantage; their wizards hollow out tunnels and chambers with relative ease with the casting of a few spells.
Water is very rare in the Fury. The gith value it above all, and horde away any water they find. Fortunately, another property of the asteroids of the Fury is that they will not absorb water. Instead, any water to be found on an asteroid will collect in underground pools. Any of the larger asteroids has a 15% chance of hiding away water while smaller rocks have a mere 1% chance of having a secret water cache. Any such water cache has a 50% chance of being known by the gith. In case of caches on large asteroids, these are most likely the location of a gith settlement. On smaller asteroids, these indicate either caches that the gith are preparing to move to a larger asteroid or water being left as a trap.
Because the vast majority of the asteroids of the Fury are void of air, they completely lack weather patterns. Even the larger asteroids that have stable atmospheres lack weather. None of the asteroids have gaseous water; thus there will never be precipitation. Even if an asteroid has an atmosphere, the air will be hot, dry, and still. Wind is not easily found on an asteroid. Since the asteroids move very erratically, the asteroids are generally heated evenly and thus do not generate much wind.
In all cases, the climate of the asteroids is very hot and dry. On average, the temperature of an asteroid is roughly 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Some of the inner asteroids (those closest to the Banesun) have temperatures that soar as high as 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Gith's Fury appears as a great reddish blur from space. Closer in, individual asteroids can be made out. In all cases, the asteroids are rusty red and have odd shapes.
As Gith's Fury is an asteroid shell, it has no continents. Indeed, none of the asteroid has enough water on them to form pools, much less break the surfaces into discernable landmasses.
Despite the hostile climate and lack of water, life can still be found here. Most of the common life forms were imported by the gith when they first took up residence in the Fury, while a few were in place long before the gith ever arrived.
Plant life is rare in the Fury. With the exception of mushrooms and other plants used in gith settlements, plants are impossible to find. Plant life does not take to the area well, and no plant can grow on the rocks. Those plants that kept by the gith grow in imported soil specially suited for that plant. The gith prefer to keep mushrooms, lichens, and various grasses. The gith do not feast on these plants; instead, they feed the livestock that the gith feast upon. Herds maintained by the gith include sheep, rothe, and flocks of chickens. All of these herd animals were imported and cared for by the gith.
Other animals brought in by the gith include gavislayers, feesu, and skullbirds. The most dangerous creatures brought in by the gith were the gravislayers. At great cost, the gith secured several young gravislayers centuries ago, and released them to drift along with the asteroids. Through use of powerful spells and magical devices, the gith have tracked the movements of the gravislayers, and don't hesitate to use them as traps for pursuing ships. More than one ship has been destroyed when the gith lured it into the domain of a gravislayer, much to the benefit of the gith.
The feesu are still fairly rare. They are mostly kept near the gith outpost as an early warning beacon. If a ship approaches, the feesu will swarm it, flittering around light sources, and begin glowing brightly. When this happens, the gith prepare their fleet and swarm out themselves to deal with the invader. Those pirate bands that maintain skullbird flocks (see below) also keep large herds of feesu as prey for their pets.
Skullbirds are among the rarest life forms of the Fury. Gith captains often keep them as pets and mascots, much like any other pirate captain would keep a parrot. The gith see the creatures as perfectly suited for their violent personalities. Many ships have small flocks of the creatures as a fast attack strike force. Bold gith pirates ride the creatures into battle, wielding great spears, crossbows, and sharp short swords. Such flocks usually number d4+2 birds and are only found on ships heavier than 50 tons.
Life forms that were present long before the arrival of the gith are few. They include murderoids, firebirds, and the slow moving sish schools. The sish are space fish that dwell in the asteroid shell. They form schools of d8x100 sish and form the dominant prey animal of space. The gith and firebirds consume them by the hundreds. It is unknown how the sish survive or gain nourishment, but their numbers are large and a welcomed sight by space travelers.
The firebirds have dwelled within the asteroid shell for ages. It is unknown how they came to dwell among the asteroids, but most sages are unwilling to risk life and limb to find out. The gith give the creatures a wide berth, preferring to avoid them at all costs. Firebird rookeries are especially dangerous places to visit as small hordes of the creatures will swarm out and attack passing spelljammers.
By far the most dangerous creatures dwelling in the asteroid shell are the two hundred or so murderoids. These foul creatures have established a colony of sorts, communicating with each other via telepathy spells. Though many sport the remains of spelljammers on their surfaces, the murderoids mostly keep to themselves. They will not actively attract spelljammers (such ships are far too few for them to bother wasting energy on illusionary spells to lure them in), but will not pass up a meal if one presents itself. The murderoids have gathered near the "northern pole" of the asteroid shell, where they maintain tight orbits about the sun. The gith know of this area and keep their distance; they do not want to anger the murderoids.
On final creature is native to the Fury; a dreamslayer. This creature is the bane of the gith, who fear it greatly. Many gith die at the claws of this creature. For some reason, this particular dreamslayer differs greatly from his normal kin. His attacks are far more powerful; during a dream attack, each time he slays a dreamfolk, he drains away four points of intelligence rather than two. For every attack he makes against the dreamer, his claws likewise drain away four points of intelligence per strike. Those slain by the dreamslayer have their souls drained away for the creature to feast upon. In addition to its enhanced attacks, the dreamslayer has the abilities of a 25th level psionist. It will not hesitate to use its psionic attacks to weaken a creature before it goes in for the final kill.
This creature has caused the deaths of countless gith over the centuries. Despite numerous expeditions mounted by the gith, they have not been able to find its astral lair. Nor have they been able to find the dreamslayer. Many of these expeditions perish at the hands of the dreamslayer itself or suffer brutal deaths at the hands of their cousins, the githyanki.
The only intelligent race in the Fury is the pirates of gith. This dominance is more a reflection on the harsh living conditions of the asteroids rather than due to the gith military. The gith are not numerous; the average population of their settlements is about one thousand. The gith only settle the largest asteroids; the smaller asteroids are too unstable for their tastes. A gith settlement is always located deep underground and accessed through a heavily defended tunnel. Any gith settlement will have a dry dock, a large water supply, several defensive residential buildings, and numerous storehouses of stolen goods. If possible, the gith will construct their buildings out of materials imported from outside the Fury. They prefer to steal stone and strong woods for constructing buildings because they are not so vulnerable to sonic attacks.
At the heart of any community is its fleet. Every community has a fleet of d6+2 spelljammers. These ships will be of types favored by pirates; the most common ships include wasps, battle-rigged tradesmen, squidships, and the occasional hammership. Very rarely, a community will have an elvish Man-O-War. These precious ships are always the backbone of any fleet because of their astral shunting abilities. The gith will use these ships to strike from literally nowhere and fade at will. They would rather retreat from a fight than risk loosing these rare and precious ships. Even more dangerous are the small swarms of flitters that the gith occasionally get their hands on. These small craft are used by the gith to slip past enemy fire while the enemy ship is engaged with larger gith ships. Once the flitters have gotten close enough to the enemy ship, the gith will unload hordes of boarders, who quickly overrun the crew. Many ships have been taken with this strategy, and it has become a favorite among certain gith communities.
Gith settlements are heavily defended. Every building is built with defense in mind, and many hide secret armories. Many areas are booby-trapped to discourage thieves and invaders. The last time the illithids tried to invade a community, they suffered the loss of four nautiloids and over eight hundred slaves. In return, they destroyed a mere two pirate ships and slew just under a hundred gith. It is because of losses like that that the illithids give the area a wide berth.
The gith are notoriously territorial. They will attack any ship that is bold enough to enter their territory. As a rule of thumb, any ship that enters the Fury can expect to be attacked by pirate ships that total twice its tonnage. If the battle goes against the gith, they will not hesitate to flee, either to get reinforcements or to lure the enemy ship into a trap. These attacks are so fierce that the whole area has been given a bad name and most spelljammers will go to great lengths to avoid the shell. On the bright side, the gith will attack illithid ships above all, and the area is a good place to shake pursuit by illithids.
For the most part, the asteroids of Gith's Fury are mostly rock and lack any usable resources. The vast majority of the asteroids lack any metal content, and thus ignored by everyone. The larger asteroids may have some deposits of iron, nickel, and other like resources near their cores. These valuable metals are mined by the gith, who put them to use in the form of swords and other weapons. Very rarely, an asteroid will have a deposit of gemstones at its heart. The discoveries of such deposits quickly start bloody battles over them as various gith factions battle each other for control of such valuables. Many gith die during such wars.
The spelljamming ships are very important to the lifestyle of the gith; their entire economy is based on pirate raids carried out by these ships. Everything they need is stolen from other ships or worlds; the gith produce nothing of their own. They are parasites in the sphere, taking what they want and giving nothing back. The only good thing that they do is keep the illithids off balanced and tie up large numbers of their forces.
As stated above, water is the most precious resource among the asteroids. It is very rare and is almost never found in large quantities. The gith have secured most of the water that is to be found among the asteroids, but there are still some hidden caches. Like gemstones, the discoveries of major caches of water are enough to start small wars within the gith people.
As the gith don't welcome strangers, there are no ports open to traders. However, the gith do maintain a small port for themselves. This common port is hidden deep within the asteroids and almost never found. The gith keep the port as a neutral zone for the various factions and a place for them to muster their forces if the entire area is threatened.
Port Cutthroat is both the largest and most prosperous of the gith ports. Hidden behind several large asteroids and powerful illusions, Port Cutthroat is the only gith spaceport that is not buried deep in an asteroid. It is an odd collection of smaller asteroids connected via an infinity vine. The vine is magically kept away from the docks (the outermost ring of asteroids) and the palace (at the center of the mess), but is allowed to crawl over everything else. The vine is flexible enough to keep the port from being destroyed by collisions with other asteroids and keeps the air fresh. The gith cope with the constant growths of the infinity vine with brute force. They hack away plants that get in their way. Magic has been cast on the vine so that any chunk cut away from the main vines whither and dies.
The port is heavily defended against attack. In addition to the protective asteroids, over a dozen ships are always located in dock. The port has an official defense force of five squidships and twenty flitters. If enemy ships get past these defenses, the gith are well prepared to defend the city. Many mages and priests call the city home, and they will not hesitate to use their powers on approaching ships.
