Name: Thrikos
Type: Spherical Earth Body
Size: E
Escape Time: 4 turns
Satellites: 1 moon
Distance from Primary: 85 million miles
Day Length: 45 hours
Year Length: 300 days
Population Analysis: Dracons
The first true world of the Banesun sphere is Thrikos, a barren and blasted desert world. Most of the world is uninhabitable; the atmosphere is deadly except at the poles. The surface of Thrikos is a wasteland, peppered with craters from countless collisions with asteroids ejected from the Banesun. The thin atmosphere could possibly be breathable by humans and their kin, but there is so much sulfur, methane, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that makes it poisonous to humans. Humans who land anywhere but the poles must save vs. death every round with a -5 penalty or expire from the poisonous atmosphere. Activity of any kind increases this penalty to -10.
The world has a diameter of 7,500 miles and a resulting circumference of 23,550 miles. There is some polar flattening, but is not significantly measurable. As Thrikos has no volcanoes, earthquakes, or tectonic movement, it is likely that this is a tectonically dead world. It is probably solid rock all the way to the core, with little or no hidden magma chambers and no mantle of molten rock. The planet does not have an axial tilt, thus does not have seasons. The poles are shrouded in eternal twilight.
The poles of Thrikos are much more habitable. Though the most habitable areas are vast, sweeping prairies, the air is thicker and less contaminated by deadly gases. Craters are far less common, and the land is open plains. The grasses that grow at the poles seem to filer out the poisonous material in the atmosphere, making it somewhat more breathable if dry and hot.
The moon is a mirror image of Thrikos, except that it does not have habitable poles. The atmosphere is even thinner and completely unbreathable. It is nothing more than a lifeless rock of no value or importance.
Water is found only at the poles, usually trapped in the ground. The atmosphere is too dry for any kind of participation. There are no clouds.
Thrikos has little variance in its weather pattern. It is always hot and dry, with very little wind. At the equator, the temperature can rise to as high as 300 degrees, which is hot enough to badly burn humans. The heat gradually decreases as one approaches the poles. The whole arctic circle is roughly 100 F evenly throughout the poles from the 75 degree latitude line to the pole.
A cold gray sphere peppered with craters pretty much describes Thrikos' appearance. There really is nothing that distinguishes Thrikos from other dead worlds except for the poles. A tiny circle about the poles is green and inviting, with open, grassy plains. The poles have a very light green color, almost brown in color. It is easy to miss the more habitable area that the poles offer.
None. There is no standing water on Thrikos, so there is no real way to divide the planet into continents. The native dracons have named three broad regions on Thrikos, one for each of the poles and the rest of the planet. The area between the poles is called the Vinc-Irfel, the Bane Lands. The north pole is Vinc-Othim, the Shadow Lands, while the south is the Vinc-Andusk, the South Lands. The north pole is slightly more habitable than the south.
The planet has little life, most of which was likely imported thousands of years ago in an effort to make it more habitable. There is fossil evidence that suggest that many animals were imported in, including bison, goats, and wild cats. None of those creatures exist on Thrikos today. In fact, the only animals that exist on Thrikos is a type of small bird that survives on seeds and small leaf stalks. The north pole birds are brightly colored, with long, brightly colored tail feathers. The south birds have lost the ability to fly; instead, they are quick runners.
The only major plant life is a breed of short grass that grows to a height of about 4 feet. It has a gray-green color, and a shape similar to wheat. It provides nutrition to the birds and dracons that dwell at the poles, but is inedible by humans.
There is no life in the area between the poles, and it is unlikely to be able to support it.
There is but a single intelligent species on Thrikos is the dracon race. They are not numerous, nor do they have any real intention of increasing their numbers. They discovered the habitable areas about a century ago when the Dracon Emirate was in its infancy, and decided to put a waystation there. Using a decanter of endless water, they created a watering post for dracon ships in need of food and water. The waystation used to service only dracon ships, but recently opened its doors to other races. Only beholders, illithids, and neogi are barred from the waystation, but the place has nothing to offer them in any case.
Some dracons, no more than two herds total, wander the north pole. They enjoy the freedom that the plains offer, and wander about exploring and discovering the secrets the planet offers.
The southern pole is also important to dracons, but for a much different reason. When the dracons discovered Thrikos' poles, it was because they were led there by a radiant dragon. Unfortunately, the dragon was viciously attacked by illithids at that time. Though the dragon destroyed the pair of attacking nautiloids, the dragon was so badly injured that his own death was assured. Dying, he managed a controlled crash at the south pole, where he gasped his last words to the dracons hiding there. They would return a year later to build a temple around his bones, holding them sacred and holy. The temple is protected by the Holy Guardians herd, a very small herd of 65 dracons. Two other dracons wander the south pole, providing their support if needed.
There is almost nothing that Thrikos has that would interest traders. Water offered at the wayport is the only real resource that the planet has that would be of any use. Dracon ships pull into the wayport to buy food as well, but dracon fare does not interest humans.
There is but a single port on Thrikos, the dracon wayport of Dragonclaw. The temple at the south pole is off-limits to all but dracons.
This century-old wayport has a permanent population of just under 80 dracons. It has no value for anything other than providing food and water for travelers. The food it provides is grass harvested from the nearby plains, thus useless to anyone but dracons. The water is more important, and is sold at a cost of 10 gp per barrel. The waypoint itself consist of twelve residential buildings, an inn, a small clearing for spelljammers, and an underground well. The inn was built with dracons in mind, but with the recent opening of the port to outside races, is slowly being adapted to accommodate humanoid races. The well is where water magically created by the dracons' decanter is stored until it is needed. The clearing is large enough for two spelljammers to land, but there is no special areas for water-landing craft.
The port is run by Kaba Ll'keen (LG dracon male F6), kin of Sorika. He is a strong leader and is fully capable of unifying all of the dracons on the planet behind him if the need arises. This assignment is a retirement post for him, as he is getting on in age. He has no less than 3 shallas of 4th level to support his decisions. They provide spiritual leadership for the community, but defer to the Kaba for any worldly leadership and guidance.
