This ancient comet has been seen for ages in the skies of Twilitespace. It makes a fifty year swing about star system, slowly making it's orbit about the sun. During the time that it is closest to the sun, it is extremely bright, easily seen from anywhere in the inner system. It's appearance in the skies of Ethwuld is considered a sign of good luck and heralds a year of good luck. Few have actually explored the Comet. Those that have report a breathable atmosphere and a surface haunted by such cold loving monsters as polar worms, white worms, and even ice mephits.
Sherall's Comet is not a natural phoneme. It is a created device, a great city in space. The comet itself is a shell of ice and gases, riddled with caverns. Those caverns can go on for miles, and end in crafted corridors. Those corridors, in turn, lead to the core, a hollowed chamber well over two miles in diameter. Lying on the "gravity plane" of the comet is a disk-shaped city, connected to the comet by eight great columns of ice, radiating out from the city like spokes on a wheel. The buildings of the city are crafted of crystal and living plants.
This is Hidden Haven, the secret base of the Imperial Elven Navy. It is here that hundreds of crewmen and officers of the Fleet keep their families safely hidden. Hidden Haven also doubles as the sphere headquarters for the fleet, and at least a third of the Twilitespace Defensive Fleet is here at all times. Many of the citizens keep busy by repairing and maintaining the ships of the Fleet, as well as improving the city. Typically, the wives, husbands, and juvenile children of crewmen and officers who are not officially part of the Fleet easily find high paying jobs that are supportive of that organization. Hidden Haven boasts an expansive garden, excellent dry docks, a large library, and other public works. Most of the city is a parkland, with the buildings crafted into the branches and the hollows of the largest trees. Magic is used to maintain the plants and animals of the city.
The population of Hidden Haven is small, only about twelve hundred beings, not counting fleet personal. As the place is a military base, there are few facilities to handle trading, travelers, or any other "civilian" trappings. The facilities to handle the military, however, are extensive and always well maintained. They include a hospital, a temple, five dry docks, barracks, a market, docks, and dozens of light to medium weapon emplacements.
Within Twilitespace, there are perhaps hundreds of spelljamming companies in operation. The most prominent and important are detailed below, but any type of ship can be encountered in the sphere. As befitting a sphere sitting upon the only flow access to several other spheres, Twilitespace sees more than its fair share of merchants and travelers. Pirates are fairly rare, given the strong militaries of the Sunflow Republic and the Elven Fleet, but those pirates that do prey upon the merchants of the sphere are usually found around the moons of Chaos.
The Company of the Chalice is a powerful military brotherhood that spans many crystal spheres and commands hundreds of spelljammers. Within the last century, the Chalice has expanded to Twilitespace at the request of the powerful Knight Mornpalar, a powerful paladin within the order. He claims that Twilitespace was his home sphere and wished to help protect it. Because of his strong personality, he was granted a commission and became Grand Knight of Twilitespace. Interestingly, he has not aged a day since then, and shows no sign of growing older. Many speculate that he has a steady supply of potions of longevity and elixirs of youth to maintain his health. Mornpalar has been with the Chalice for at least a century and a half, and was probably fifty when he first joined.
The Chalice in Twilitespace is centered on an island in the Sun's Girdle, but has bases on Celenthi, Wolven, and Shinings (a moon of Chaos). The Chalice has become very powerful under Mornpalar's watch and now thousands of civilians are under the Chalice's protection. The civilians are important to the Chalice's position by providing a tax base which allows the company to maintain its fleet. The nations of Roland, Rulingar, and Lance have all given their support to the Chalice, and many knights in those lands are either agents of the Chalice or are full members. The Chalice earns money by doing heroic acts, including pirate hunting, dragon slaying, escorting merchants ships, and providing aerial support for good nations at war. The Knights are personally wealthy and all have large estates throughout the sphere. Each ship owned by the Chalice is commanded by a full Knight of the Chalice, and usually has 2-7 lesser knights as commanding officers. Humans predominate, but dwarves, elves, giff, and half-elves can all be members as well. The rest of the crew is made up of hirelings, always of good alignment.
The headquarters for this branch of the Chalice is located in the Sun's Girdle, in the port town of Brightblade. Brightblade is a town of about 2,400 souls located in Mornpalar's personal fief. The whole fief has a population of about 15,000 beings, mostly human. They work farms and mines for their lord. The fief provides Mornpalar with a tax base from which to fund most of his operations, as do the other knights who have their own estates and fiefs. The town produces food to feed the Chalice and mine gold to pay for the operation. The base on Celenthi is a training ground for new Knights and has a dry dock to repair Chalice ships. The base is not large, and cannot dock nor repair any ship over sixty tons. The training ground is fairly extensive and boasts a small castle. The base on Shinings is another fief, but is mainly a mining and refining metal goods. The town of Longhaven is the primary settlement, with 1,900 residents. The entire fief has perhaps 3,000 beings dwelling in it, mostly miners and smiths of all kinds. The town is run by Mornpalar's second in command, Knight Ke'kran.
The Twilitespace Branch of the Chalice has the following ships at its command:
Mornpalar Quiringolos
Paladin 15
Captain of the Chalice flagship Starlance
AL: LG HP: 140 THAC0: 9 AC: -2 #AT: 3 DMG: d8+7 STR: 19 INT: 18 DEX: 15 CHA: 18 WIS: 13 CON: 17
The Grand Knight of Twilitespace, Mornpalar is a holy warrior dedicated to the Chalice. He has served for well over a century and a half, very unusual for a human. Yet, the Chalice has seen many usual things, and an ancient human is not unknown. He commands great respect from his men and those who serve him will die for him.
Mornpalar is not what he says he is. While it is true he is a paladin, he is not human nor does he worship a human god. The truth is that he is a Child of Bahamut (some detailed in Dragon #260). His mother is a planar who had a romantic encounter with the King of Dragons in one of his humanoid forms. Mornpalar was the result of that union, loved and raised by both parents. When he came of age, he adventured for a while in wildspace, eventually falling in with the Chalice. He earned the position of Grand Knight because of his great charisma and strong personality. He is a forgiving soul, but has waged war in the past, and was vital in breaking up a neogi nest fifty years ago. He is a personal friend of Admiral Leafbower and the two have worked well together in the past.
Mornpalar's humanoid form is that of a tall, handsome warrior. He has albino white hair pink eyes, and a Herculean body. His dragon form is very similar to a silver dragon, but glows with an inner radiance all his own. His scales are bright silver, but his wings are white and feathered, like those of a bird instead those of normal dragons. Because of his parentage, he has inherited an impressive array of magical abilities. From his mother, he has inherited the following powers common to many planears: continual light (1/day), dispel evil (3/day), dispel illusion (3/day), dispel magic (3/day), limited wish (1/year), flame strike (3/day), holy word (1/day), true seeing (at will), remove curse (1/day), heal (3/day), raise dead (1/day). From his father, he has inherited the following powers that are common to most silver dragons: feather fall (3/day), wall of fog (2/day), control winds (1/day) and 45% magical resistance. He can also cast spells as per an adult silver dragon and as per a 15th level paladin. This gives him the following mage access: two first level spells, two second level spells, and a third level spell. His paladin abilities gives him the following priest spell access: three first level spells, two second level spells, a third level spell, and a fourth level spell. His breath weapons are identical to those of silver dragons, and he has all the natural abilities of all dragons. His personal wealth is enormous, and is rapidly growing.
Because of his successful career, Mornpalar has the following magical items: long spear +3, bastard sword +5, plate armor +4, manual of bodily health, helm of underwater action, wand of wonder, and a chime of interruption.
In all of wildspace, few things are as surprising as the Company of the Tusk. This small group commands a fleet of trade ships that ply the space lanes of Twilitespace. They deal in weapons, armor, metal goods of all kinds, gemstones, and strange artifacts. This is not unusual for a space trading coaster. What makes the Company of the Tusk so unusual is that it is a completely goblin and hobgoblin organization.
Unlike most other goblins in wildspace, the Tuskers are honest merchants out to make a healthy profit. They work out of Silverstrike, a town on one of the moons of Chaos. At first, the Tuskers were smugglers, keeping to the less traveled routes of wildspace, often visiting other spheres. Eventually, they earned the respect of more reputable merchants in wildspace, and became more open in their dealings. The Elvish Fleet of Twilitespace has reluctantly decided to allow the Tuskers to operate without fear of attack by Elvish ships. The Tuskers were given a stern warning when the Second Unhuman War broke out: if they were caught trading with the scro, the elves would revoke their protection and hunt the Tuskers to extinction. What surprised everyone the most was when the scro attacked Twilitespace: instead of allying with the scro, the Tuskers instead turned on the scro and betrayed their position to the elves, allowing them to destroy the scro fleet.
The reasons for the Tuskers betrayal of the scro is known only to themselves. Word of their betrayal has not spread beyond their own inner circles and the highest ranks of the elves, so it is unlikely that the scro will seek revenge against them. This suits the Tuskers fine, as they have returned to trading and hauling cargoes, earning hard-earn coin. Tusker ships can be found anywhere in Twilitespace and even in other spheres of the Maelstrom.
The Company has the following ships as its fleet:
Horzark the Bold: hobgoblin male fighter 9th level, lawful neutral. Horzark is a powerful warrior with the following stats: Str 17, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 10 (18 to goblins). His personal wealth is quite impressive for any hobgoblin, and is richer than most hobgoblin kings. Because of this, he has acquired the following magical items: oil of impact, a rod of splendor, chain armor +4, a deck of illusion, and a pouch of accessibility.
Horzark is a visionary of a hobgoblin. His family has built the Company of the Tusk over the last two centuries of hard work and establishing good relations and trust with merchants around the sphere. Horzark was brought into the business years ago, before the Second Unhuman War. He worked his way through the ranks, beating out his siblings for rule over the fleet through the earning of thousands of gold pieces as captain of one of the viperships. He took the business from his father, who settled into retirement at Silverstrike.
When the Second Unhuman War broke out, Horzark saw the Company's whole universe collapsing around him. The attacks by the scro threatened to turn their contacts against them, and there was a real threat that the elves could wipe them out. Worse, there was an equal threat that the scro would conscript their ships into the main scro fleet, condemning them to a short existence of bloodletting before being killed off by the elves. Indeed, when the scro showed up in Twilitespace, their enormous fleet confiscated Tusk ships and readied them for war against the elves. Horzark knew that they were preparing to attack an elvish nation in hope of drawing the Elvish Fleet out so that they could crush them. Horzark rebelled at this prospect, as it meant the probable death of his people. Worse, it was a betrayal of a trust, something he could not bring himself to do. While the scro were preparing for their attack, Horzark got a message out to the elves and the Chalice, revealing the location of the scro fleet. An hour before the elves hit, the Tusk fleet stole out like thieves, heading into deep space. The base was destroyed, and Horzark earned a personal meeting with Admiral Rolinda and Grand Knight Mornpalar. An understanding was reached during that meeting, and Tusk ships can trade in most ports in Twilitespace.
An infamous company operating out of Ethwuld, the Emporium deal exclusively with Cruxan artifacts. The Emporium usually deals in small, portable artifacts that are easily smuggled out of the Crux valley to be sold to art dealers around the spheres. The owner, Dreamius, is a ghoulish necromancer and noted tomb robber, has few moral values and thinks nothing of stealing from the dead, including dead bodies. His contacts are equally gruesome; he deals with necromancers, nobles, and wealthy merchants all wanting relics from the past. Though he regularly raids Ethwuld's Crux valley, Dreamius is often found at the Rock of Bral, selling his illicit goods to buyers in that city.
Dreamius runs his business out of his ship, a modified vipership. He has removed the center ballista to gain some internal space and to create a large space on his deck for bulky goods such a statues. The heavy jettison has been downgraded to a medium for the extra range it gives him, but the other weapons are unmodified. The catapult has been magically augmented with a +1 value, but the other weapons are non-magical. The Emporium's hull has also been magically enchanted to repel weapon hits, giving it a +1 bonus to its armor rating (AR 4). Because of the lesser weapons, the ship can carry 20 tons worth of cargo. The ship has a crew of four humans (in addition to Dreamius), a flesh golem, and twenty skeletons. When the ship is not engaged in battle, the skeletons are stored in the cargo hold along the walls (sacrificing a mere 1 ton of space). When the Emporium enters battle, the skeletons boil out of the hold and swarm over the weapon pits. The flesh golem is always on deck, but fully armored in plate armor (which hides its true nature). The humans share one of the cabins. If battle breaks out, each is assigned to direct the crew of a weapon. Dreamius human male necromancer 9th level, lawful evil. Not a physical man, Dreamius has the following stats: Str 12, Dex 7, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 10. This vile man has the following magical items: scroll-protection from electricity, wand of magic detection, a cube of force, and a decanter of endless water.
Dreamius is captain, owner, and chief helmsman of the Emporium. He is a greedy, egotistical man who seeks only money. It was about two decades ago that he hit upon the idea of tomb raiding, and has become quite skilled at ransacking the tombs of the dead. On one of his raids, he found references to the Crux Valley, a treasure trove of ancient magic and relics. Using the wealth he had stolen, Dreamius bought the Emporium and began his raiding of the ancient tombs of Crux. Since then, he has gained a vast fortune of wealth and works for a business out of Bral that specializes in stolen ancient artifacts. Dreamius acquires the artifacts, which he takes to Bral, where they are auctioned off to the highest bidder. To help him, he has hired a crack crew of tomb raiders, thieves, and mages specialized in bypassing traps and guardians.
A fairly new company with roots on Ethwuld, the Grand Endeavors is owned by the trader Zarmic, a half elf from Lefton. He bought a spelljammer from a captain who was retiring for a quiet life in the countryside, and began exploring space with it. After a few initial trips into space to learn the art of jamming and to discover what markets are out there, Zarmic loaded his craft down with goods and began a long career of trading and profiteering. He normally runs a route taking him from the Sun's Girdle to Ethwuld to the moons of Artimis and back again, hauling all sorts of goods. He deals largely with luxury goods, given the small size of his craft, but also takes passengers for a small fee.
Zarmic has hired Kwan Vince, a warrior from the Sunflow Republic, to captain his vessel. Zarmic realizes that his own skills as captain would be useless in a battle, and has instead decided to trust his life to another. He has also hired two mages, both natives to wildspace, and a priest of Celestian to pilot his craft. The priest's faith is somewhat strange and unusual to him; he had never realized that deities exist other than those native to Twilitespace. He tolerates the priest's ceremonies and preaching because he is probably the best helmsman Zarmic has ever meet.
The Endeavor, Zarmic's pride and joy, is a modified lamprey. The grappling ram has been replaced by a blunt ram, and the bridge has been moved forward to provide extra cabins for the crew. The cargo hold has been enlarged by means of a hold of holding, allowing the ship to carry 5 additional tons, for a total of 11 tons. To improve speed, he has had the sails magically enchanted to give the ship a +1 bonus to its SR. The total crew complement of the Endeavor is 22, of which 15 are half-elves native to Lefton. The rest are humans or dwarves that have been hired sometime on the ship's many trips. Zarmic: 0-level half-elf male, lawful good. Zarmic is a middle aged merchant with the following stats: Str 10, Dex 13, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 13. Though not a warrior of any skill or mage of note, Zarmic does have own a cloak of protection +2 (which is always worn) and a potion of healing.
The owner of the Endeavor, Zarmic is a successful merchant. He has earned a great deal of money from his voyages, and has plans to retire eventually. Until then, he takes his ship from port to port, trading in goods that are rare in many parts of wildspace. Normally, he is the captain of the Endeavor, but when battle starts, Kwan takes over. The two have developed a close friendship, both recognizing each other skills. Zarmic has a wife and two grown children on Ethwuld, and will probably pass the ship on to his eldest son. Kwan Vince: human male fighter 7th level, neutral good. A young warrior from the Sunflow Republic, Kwan has the following stats: Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 14. A warrior of some ability, Kwan has won the following magical items during his career as a soldier: longsword+2, studded leather armor +1, potion of levitation, and a ring of jumping.
First mate on the Endeavor and close friend to Zarmic, Kwan is the defacto leader of the ship on the rare occasions it engages in combat. Kwan has proven to be a capable leader, managing to pull the ship out of danger on at least a half a dozen occasions. He prefers to run from a fight, not because of personal cowardice but because he does not wish to cause undo damage to the Endeavor. He feels responsible for every crewman on the ship.
Kwan is a native of the Sunflow Republic, and was the youngest son of a farmer. He joined the military when he came of age, eventually winning the rank of Bloodwing Rider. His bright career in the military was cut tragically short when a pirate spelljammer attacked the outpost he was assigned to. All of his fellow Bloodwing Riders were cut down by enemy fire; Kwan was knocked off his bloodwing but survived the fall. When he awoke, all of his fellows were dead. The pirates were dead as well, but the shock of what happened was too much for the young Kwan. He resigned, and sought work on spelljammers. After working on four spelljammers as a sailor, he hired onto the Endeavor. After a couple of months, he had become close friends with the captain, Zarmic, and was promoted to first officer after an incident with a pirate ship in which he took command when the former first officer turned stag. He is now happy with his position, and enjoys the company of everyone on the Endeavor greatly.
Much like their fellow elves in other spheres, the fleet of Twilitespace is charged with the protection of elvish colonies and nations. However, the Twilitespace division of the fleet has not suffered any major losses over recent centuries, and is now more powerful than ever. The importance of the fleet has risen greatly and the sphere is now home to the regional headquarters of the Fleet. High Admiral Rolinda is in charge of no less than six other spheres in addition to Twilitespace. She is probably one of the most powerful women in the entire sphere, and is said to have a personality to match her power. In addition, several bases vital to the support of the fleet are likewise located in this sphere.
High Admiral Rolinda Leafbower
Fighter 12
Captain the elven flagship Wildspace Warden
AL: NG HP: 21 THAC0: 9 AC: 0 #AT: 3/2 DMG: d8+1 STR: 17 INT: 15 DEX: 16 CHA: 18 WIS: 10 CON: 13
The fleet is run by High Admiral Rolinda Leafbower, who is thegranddaughter of the famous Admiral. Once, she was a feared pirate terrorizing a dozen star systems with her customized Man-O-War. Many ships were destroyed because of her attacks and she destroyed more than one town during her famous escapes. However, after a century of blood and loot, she finally hit the jackpot and raided a fully laden treasure ship. With the funds from that ship, she gave up piracy and took up a career as an officer in the Elven Navy. The fact that her secret sponsor had been the Fleet all along (which is why they never hunted her down) was lost, and she took up a new life as captain of the Man-O-War Star Storm. Captain Rolinda was still feared throughout a dozen systems; this time, however, she was the law, not an outlaw. After the former Admiral retired, he could think of no one more qualified for the position of High Admiral than Rolinda.
Admiral Rolinda, while still a wild and untamed warrior, is a competent commander and skilled leader. Under her skilled leadership, the fleet has grown and prospered. Rolinda as a woman is strongly opinionated and fiercely argumentative. Because of her skills as a leader, and her strong personality, she has managed to consolidate control of the "lesser" fleets of the other six spheres of the Maelstrom under her authority. Recruitment is at an all time high, and she has had to increase the size of her fleet by more than twenty percent.
The Twilitespace Elvish Fleet has the following ships in it:
Additionally, High Admiral Rolinda can easily conscript the fleets of the Sindiath Line and those of the elvish homeworld, Avalon. These fleets can add up to three Men-O-War, four Cutters, and more than thirty shrike ships. Of course, Admiral Rolinda has a reserve of marines and ground troops for use in war, and has almost 3000 warriors at her command in addition to her naval personal. Again, she can also conscript the armed forces almost any elvish nation in the sphere, and could easily triple her forces in a few weeks time.
The fearsome hawk-ships of the Sunflow Republic prowl the inner worlds of Twilitespace. They defend a fair realm justly ruled by the hand of a devil empress.
