Name: Nightshade
Type: Asteroid cluster
Size: A
Escape Time: 1 turn
Satellites: none
Distance from Primary: 1600 million miles
Day Length: variable
Year Length: 260 months
Population Analysis: drow, duergar
Out from Dustbite is the small asteroid cluster of Nightshade. This asteroid cluster is hardly noticeable on most maps, as it is but two dozen small asteroids, none larger than eight miles across. The asteroids share a common atmosphere, be it a very thin atmosphere, that is about 900 miles across. Eternally tumbling very slowly, the asteroids drift inside this atmosphere but never collide with each other. They do not move in relation to one another as they orbit the Banesun.
The asteroids were ejected by the Banesun, probably several centuries ago. They are like most other asteroids in the sphere, reddish in color and laced with small, but rich, veins of ore. The asteroids of Nightshade are riddled with many caverns and caves. Most were carved out by miners, but others were tunneled out by umber hulks, purple worms, and other creatures imported by the residents.
The surfaces of the asteroids are covered by forests of mushrooms, small streams, a few ponds, and a handful of mile-wide lakes. Ruins dot the surface of each asteroid, hinting at a more ancient culture that has since disappeared. From the shape, size, and construction of the ruins, it is likely that the missing culture was a dwarvish clan that dwelled on these asteroids about a thousand years ago. The ultimate fate of this clan is unknown; they vanished centuries before the drow arrived.
Despite Nightshade's thin atmosphere, it has brutal winds. A band of high wind runs along the edge of the atmosphere, constantly shifting its position and speed. The wind in this band can reach speeds as high as 75 mph, and are very dangerous for spelljammers to cross. Any ship that crosses the band suffers d4 hull points of buffeting damage, and anyone on deck must make a strength and dexterity check or be blown off.
Nightshade is a fairly warm world. The whole world is a constant temperature that is comfortable to humans (about 70F). There is no variation from day and night, equator and pole. Winds are constant at about 10-15 mph, and can come from any direction.
From orbit, Nightshade appears as a small cluster of two dozen reddish asteroids. They tumble together in their orbit of the Banesun. The surfaces of the asteroids appear smeared brown due to the presence of the mushroom forests.
Nightshade has no water bodies large enough to break each asteroid's surface into individual continents.
The life on Nightshade is fairly simple. At the bottom of the food chain is the thousands of mushrooms that grow on the surface. The mushrooms are resilient to sunlight, but make the air musky and fouled. The air is purified by the green fletchings, a bird imported from a distant sphere. The birds are about the size and shape of ostrages, but are green in color and able to flight. When these birds fly, their feathers take in the spores of the mushrooms, cleaning the air. The birds survive on the spores, and somehow purify the air at the same time.
Animals on this world include rothe, displacer beasts, ankhegs, basilisks, beetles of all kinds, purple worms, and umber hulks. Most were imported by the drow or duergar to make the asteroids more like home, but the purple worms were introduced accidentally by a passing drow ship and the umber hulks are descendants stranded when a neogi deathspider crashed on this world.
There are two major races on Nightshade, the drow and duergar. A third, half-blood race exists as a minority, but holds great power despite their small numbers. There are other races on Nightshade, but they are all slaves to the drow and duergar.
The drow are the most numerous race on Nightshade. They established this asteroid cluster as the seat of their power, and have worked hard to turn it into a stronghold. The first drow to arrive about two centuries ago were the drow of the Wolf Spider Nation, who find their roots back in Greyspace. The Wolf Spiders discovered a sphere within which the Elvish Fleet was almost non-existent, and illithids held power. The matriarch of the nation, one Lliena, decided to establish herself in one of the remote asteroid clusters, where the illithid power was weak and the drow could build their power. Lliena's nation was very large at the time, due to a constant policy conducted by Lliena to recruit dissatisfied drow from a dozen or more drow cities. When she found a small, uninhabited asteroid cluster, she named them Nightshade and it became her home. Since then, the Wolf Spiders have broken down into a half-dozen individual clans, each of which has its own leaders, interests, and agenda. They are still loyal to Lliena, but many now secretly struggle to free themselves from her reign. Her charisma is great, which allowed her to lure two more clans of drow from Outreach to her side as well as three clans of duergar dwarves, also from Outreach.
Each drow clan lays claim to a single asteroid, where they have built their strongholds. Drow strongholds are usually located at cave mouths, where they retreat during the day. A clan of drow are usually 60-240 drow strong, including many women and children. The clans will have several dozen goblin slaves to work the fields, harvesting mushrooms and rothe for the drow to dine upon. For protection, each clan raises 2-12 void scavvar that are trained to stay close to the stronghold and attack the crew of approaching ships. Clans trade with each other but rarely engage in any sort of violence. They retain many of the cultural identity of the drow, but lack the terrible infighting that plagues so many drow settlements, probably due to in part to strong leadership from Lliena, a small population base, and abundant resources that make survival easier than in the deepearth.
One of the three duergar clans of Nightshade dwell in the city of Nightcrown, where they sell their services as mercenaries and expert weaponeer crews to the drow. Many find their way aboard drow ships. The other two duergar clans reside together on a single asteroid, which they mine for iron, copper, and nickel. They provide most of the finished goods that the drow need for their raids on ships and to fit out their warships.
Each duergar clan has 80 to 120 members, including women and children. The duergar clans are not large, and keep to themselves. They are perfectly happy making weapons for their drow allies, which are paid for with loot stolen from trade ships. Some of the younger and more adventurous duergar sign on to drow warships, serving as mercenaries and deadly weaponeers. The duergar have no ships of their own, nor do they really need any.
About eighty years ago, the drow raided the world Chaos, killing many giants and capturing several giantesses. The female giants, who where of the Sur subrace, where taken back to Nightshade and magically bred with male drow warriors. The result of those breeding programs was Clan Surt'vilien, a clan of no less than 50 half drow giants. For a time, they were used as slave laborers, but about twenty years ago, they rebelled and won their freedom in a seven week long guerilla war. Lliena quickly tired of the fight, and granted them their freedom in exchange for their complete loyalty. Since then, they have built their own compound and have started building their own culture. During their rebellion, they captured a wasp, and use it to raid shipping lanes.
Every member of this clan stands about 9 feet tall and have dusky skin and pale red hair. They have thin, almost frail, bodies, yet are surprisingly strong. They are all about as strong as ogres, but cannot hurl rocks as per giants. Instead, they use large crossbows that inflict double heavy crossbow damage and have a range of 2 hexes in wildspace. Most have 5 hit dice, but a third have mage abilities up to 5th level. It is not know if that is the upper limit of their abilities, given their limited exposure to magic.
The asteroids that make up Nightshade are poor in terms of wealth. There are several veins of iron, nickel, and copper, which are hunted by the duergar clans. The ore is carefully extracted, smelted, and forged into weapons and armor. There is more than enough ore to supply the drow and duergar for several centuries yet to come, assuming they don't grow very quickly. Food, leather, and animals are the more important resources of the asteroids. The necessities that these resources provide keep the inhabitants alive.
The inhabitants of Nightshade are pirates, and conduct little trade with other space travelers. Instead, they are parasites on the trade lanes, attacking spelljammers and raiding groundling settlements. The loot taken from such raids is either divided by the drow and duergar, but some of that loot makes its way to other ports through a network of fences and pawnbrokers. Nightshade does not trade with other drow nations, given their rebellion against the worship of Lloth. Drow ships loyal to Lloth that show up at Nightshade are often attacked in an effort to seize the ship and put the priests to the sword.
The drow have only a small fleet to conduct their piracy on Banesun. In all, they have eight wasps, six mosquitoes armed with medium ballista, a pair of tradesmen, and two Men-O-War. The drow use the tradesmen to ship stolen goods to markets in remote ports, where they sell them through a network of fences and pawnbrokers. All drow ships travel in groups of three to increase their survivability in an attack on a trade ship. The drow are not stupid, and will run from an obvious losing fight.
There is only one large settlement in Nightshade, that being the city of Nightcrown. The city is a free-floating elvish ring station, about 300' across and 9 stories tall. The station was once an elvish outpost at the outskirts of Banesun, but was abandoned twenty five decades ago after an illithid nautiloid discovered its position. The illithids held it for a time, but abandoned it at the start of the Soul Crisis. Only one illithid was left, and he sold it to the drow. Using several helms linked in series, they towed it to it's current position at the center of Nightshade.
Once a proud elvish outpost, Nightcrown now serves as Lliena's seat of power. The base has been painted a deep purple to better hide it against the night background. The interior has been decorated to her personal tastes, including rich tapestries stolen from elvish ships, statues of proud hunting cats, and floors covered with black marble veined with silver. Lliena's quarters are the richest on the station, with many paintings, golden statues, and thick carpets. The only thing that one will not find on the station is any kind of spider of depiction of spiders; Lliena has a mild case of arachnophobia and has personally decreed that all spiders are to be exterminated if they make it aboard the station. The base buzzes with activity during all hours of the day.
Nightcrown is armed with twenty one medium ballistas and seven medium catapults. Four flitters, each equipped with four deadly drow archers, are stationed around the base, and a dasmalfly has also been stationed here. If the base is attacked, the drow clans will release all of their scavvars to attack the enemy, and every drow ship will do their best to intercept approaching ships. The drow are very loyal to Lliena, and given that many have turned their backs on the rest of drow civilization, they fear that if she dies, odds are they will soon be dead as well.
There is a total of 99 drow and 63 duergar aboard the station. The drow are utterly loyal to Lliena, but the duergar are not as loyal. If battle goes against them, the duergar are just as likely to try and escape or switch sides as fight to the death.
Each weapon post on the base is always manned by at least one drow or duergar at all times. If battle breaks out, all weapons will have a three man crew. Drow will wear Helmets of Sight, which will allow them to easily withstand the light of the sun and operate the weapons normally.
Drow and duergar warriors (who are called vipers) are all dressed in gleaming black studded leather armor. They have abandoned traditional drow gear due to the restraints of wildspace and the lack of radiation that is needed to keep their equipment in good shape. They usually have medium shields, but only take them up if they engage in personal melee. Drow are usually armed with a long dagger, a short sword while duergar are armed with a warhammer and a spear. These troops will man weapons during battle.
Drow corporals, known as panthers, are equipped much like their subordinates, except they wield broadswords and hand crossbows into battle. The darts of their crossbows are often coated with void viper poison, which causes instantaneous paralysis unless a save vs. poison is made. As fighter mages, they most often have the following spells readied for battle: magic missile, sleep, and mirror image or web (50% chance of either). Duergar corporals, known as swords, are equipped like their subordinates, but wield picks and light crossbows and wear chain armor. The top duergar officers are battle axes, who are clad in chain armor and wield short swords in battle.
The dark elvish sergeants (hell hounds) are fighter/priests dressed in scale armor and armed with morning stars. All are female, and worship Zain, the drow name for the god of war. Upon their left breast is the bloody spear and shield of Zain, his holy symbol. They all have priestly spells and a minimum wisdom of 15, and have the following spells: bless, command, courage, cure light wounds x2, aid, chant, charm person or mammal, spiritual hammer, withdraw, dispel magic, and prayer. They are all carry magical morning stars that burn with magical fire, inflicting an extra d4 points of fire damage.
The top officers on the base are the three drow nightmares, a trio of very evil and powerful female warrior priests of Zain. They are the only drow on the station clad in beautiful magical armor that automatically projects 2d4 images of the user, as per mirror image spell. They use flails that are charged with electrical power, effectively causing a shocking grasp spell (as per 8th level mage) once per round. They use a variety of spells, and have a chaotic spell selection. They are assisted by drow fighter mages (griffons), who wear scale mail, use broad swords and hand crossbows, and each equipped with 1d3 magical healing potions.
Drow vipers (80): Int High; AL LE; AC 6; MV 12; HD 2; hp 13; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg d6 (short sword) or d4 (dagger); SA dancing lights, faerie fire, darkness; MR 15%; ML Elite (15); XP 420.
Duergar vipers (50): Int Average; AL LE; AC 6; MV 9; HD 1+2; hp 6; THACO 19; #AT 1; Dmg d4+1 (warhammer) or d6 (spear); SA enlarge, invisibility; ML Elite (13); XP 420.
Drow panthers (8): Int High; AL LE; AC 6; MV 12; F/M 3; hp 17; THAC0 18; #AT 1; Dmg 2d4 (broadsword); SA dancing lights, faerie fire, darkness, spells, poison; MR 15%; ML Elite (15); XP 650.
Duergar swords (8): Int Very; AL LE; AC 5; MV 12; F 2; hp 21; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg d6+1 (picks); SA enlarge, invisibility; ML Elite (14); XP 650.
Drow hell hounds (4): Int High; AL LE; AC 6; MV 12; F/P 6; hp 45; THAC0 14; #AT 3/2; Dmg 2d4+2 (morning star, sp.); SA dancing lights, faerie fire, darkness, levitate, detect magic, spells; MR 15%; ML Elite (15); XP 3,000.
Duergar battle axes (5): Int Very; AL LE; AC 5; MV 12; F 3; hp 27; THAC0 18; #AT 1; Dmg d6 (short swords); SA enlarge, invisibility; ML Elite (14); XP 975.
Drow griffons (3): Int High; AL NE; AC ; MV 12; F/M 5/4; hp 26; THAC0 15; #AT 3/2; Dmg 2d4 (morning star); SA dancing lights, faerie fire, darkness, levitate, detect magic, spells; MR 15%; ML Elite (15); XP 2,000.
Drow nightmares (3): Int High; AL NE; AC 5; MV 12; F/P 7/8; hp 43; THAC0 14; #AT 2; Dmg d6+1 (morning star); SA dancing lights, faerie fire, darkness, levitate, detect magic, spells; MR 15%; ML Elite (15); XP 4,000.
This deck is thick with plants normally found on the surfaces of earth worlds, particularly fruit trees and a few ferns. The drow don't like to come here often, but the fruit is readily devoured by the highest ranking officers on Nightcrown. Lliena likes to come here to relax and bath in the central fountain, given that few drow venture here often. The plants are kept alive by magical lights in the ceiling which can be turned on or dimmed by Lliena's command.
All of the food and goods needed to keep the base running is stored here. The deck is piled thick with crates and sacks of food. There is little here of interest other than tons of cargo.
This deck is the least decorated and the most utilitarian on the base. It has the main dining area for the base, as well as the kitchens, officer quarters, and ballista batteries. The batteries are nearly deserted normally, but buzz with activity when an alarm has been sounded. Wards protect the batteries from being boarded. The officer quarters are usually eloquent in design, with a bed, locked chest, and a wardrobe. All such quarters are magically barred to allow only the officer to enter.
The main barracks for the whole base is found on this deck. It has the least security but the greatest activity. Most of the utilitarian functions of the base are here, including the laundry, privies, prison holds, and armories. The central gathering area is often used for games of chance, darts, and even has a bar where soldiers may purchase a cool drink with their pay.
The castle deck is nearly deserted, even during battle. The duergar will man the catapults when battle breaks out, but otherwise only a few lookouts stay here for long. Four flitters are stored on the decks, half of which are on patrol at any given time. When battle breaks out, the remaining two ships will launch, giving close-range support for the station.
Very little of interest is found on this deck. The platforms have been converted into spell hurling decks, with walls that have been enchanted with glassee. Drow mages and priests gather here to hurl their spells at enemy ships and render support for the base. The central barracks is the main barracks for the duergar.
The central barracks are the secondary barracks for the duergar, with many bunks, chests, and other personal goods of the dark dwarves. Many are usually found here, cleaning their weapons and readying for battle. The platforms are the quarters for duergar officers, small and spartan. All have bunks, chests, and a few trophy weapons.
Turrets for seven medium ballista are found here, all always fully manned by duergar soldiers. The doors covering the batteries are closed and sealed, but the doors are enchanted with a one-way passwall spell, allowing the duergar to fire the weapons out into space but are protected from return fire. Spotters using spy holes keep the weapon crews informed on enemy ship position, and the weapon crews only suffer a -1 penalty to hit when firing their weapons.
The central area of the deck is a massive gallery of art, devices, and magic. Lliena keeps much of her magic here, including a crystal ball, a harp of charming, a book of infinite spells, and a mirror of life trapping. There are dozens of art objects in the room, far more than can be listed here. The room is dominated by her throne, a large chair carved from solid marble.
Lliena's personal quarters are located here, magically protected from intrusion or attack. The walls are magically reinforced, and can take double the amount of damage normally needed to breach them. Lliena has many art objects and esquisiet furniture, a tribute to her personal vanity. She has a large canopy bed, two wardrobes with her clothing, many chests, and a dresser with a massive silver mirror. Her personal magical items are kept her when she is not wearing them.
