Planet Name: Artimis
Planet Type: Spherical air body
Planet Size: F
Escape Time: 6 turns
Satellites: 6
Distance from Primary: 1,000 million miles
Day Length: 40 hours
Year Length: 370 months
Population Analysis: Human, aarakocra
Artimis is a giant airworld of great importance. Great mystery shrouds the planet, and spelljammers seem unable to enter it. Or rather, they seem incapable of exiting it, as nothing that enters the atmosphere has ever left it. Even the gods have remained silent about this great, gas giant.
Artimis has a diameter of about 75,000 miles. Its coloration depends upon the distance one views it from. From a distance of 10 million miles or more, it is a dull orange. As one travels closer to the planet, it gradually darkens and shifts in color, until it becomes a dull blue sphere. This has sometimes is maddening to newtime spacefarers. At spelljamming speeds, the shift is so sudden that some crews have panicked, believing that they have somehow been teleported to another world.
The atmosphere of Artimis is breathable by humans, with a standard nitrogen/oxygen mixture. Despite it's great distance from the sun, Artimis is a very warm, humid planet. Very rarely, the clouds break and a large fire body can be seen, high in the atmosphere. There are probably at least a score of such bodies, each being roughly 75 miles across. In addition, on extremely rare occasions has an orbiting ship caught a glimpse of a large, floating landmass. There are probably hundreds of such landmasses throughout the whole planet, as typical for most air worlds. Who lives on those landmasses is completely unknown to space travelers.
Though the interior of this world is unexplored, some conclusions about its inner reaches can be made. The atmosphere is cloudy but breathable. The hot fire bodies that roll around in the interior warm the planet to tropical levels, as well as heating the nearby moons. The air is assumed to be breathable all the way to the core like most air worlds. Large landmasses, up to 500 miles across, drift in the air currents of this world. Powerful storms (easily seen from orbit) rock the planet, releasing lightning bolts powerful enough to fry small moons, race across the outer atmosphere at breakneck speeds.
Artimis has 5 large moons. In addition, Artimis has a system of rings, which are composed of ice-coated rocks. The rings start 10,000 miles above the topmost cloud deck, and stretch out to more than 50,000 miles above Artimis' surface. The rings are almost a mile thick but are not dense. The whole of the rings is encased in a breathable atmosphere. Each of the moons is described below.
Artimis is a hot, wet air world. Due to the massive inner heating created by the fire bodies, the atmosphere is a constant 80 degrees F throughout (except within a mile or so of the fire bodies, where it heats up quite quickly). There is no variation in temperature as one travels deeper into the world, nor is there a difference between day and night. In fact, the upper cloud decks are so thick that it is doubtful that the interior even experiences a "day" or a "night." In addition, there is only a very slight temperature difference between the equator and the poles, and diffraction is only in the upper cloud decks.
The truth of Artimis' interior is that it is that the clouds thin considerably, forming a hollow-like shell about Artimis' inner portions. Inside, the air is far clearer and one can see for several hundred miles. Where as on the outside the sky is a blue-white, the interior has a hellishly reddish hue sky.
Storms in the exterior are extremely violent. All wind speeds are at hurricane force at least. Turbulence is deadly too nearly any spelljammer that tries to enter the planet (in fact, most approaching spelljammers are destroyed by the turbulence alone). Lightning strikes are common, which have the effects of a lightning bolt spell. Note that those strikes are the least of the lightning strikes. Rarely, perhaps once every hour, there is a great lightning strike between two particularly tight cluster of clouds. These strikes have the power to fry a small moon, so damage is not presented (rather pointless, really). These strikes often set off a new wave of storms.
Ironically, the interior parts of Artimis are peaceful and quiet. The worse weather under the upper cloud deck is equal to a mild summer storm. No planet-shattering lightning strikes occur here, and travel is safe (in relative terms).
There are, surprisingly, less than 10 large land masses floating in the stormy upper cloud deck of Artimis. All are roughly 100 to 600 miles across, and float at roughly the same altitude. The rocks drift almost at random, lazily floating from place to place. All of the rocks are covered with dense forests, jungles, or high mountains. In all cases, the rocks are circular and flat; there are no truly irregular rocks. Small lakes and streams crisscross each landmass.
In addition to the land masses, 20 fiery bodies fly though the atmosphere. They fly at an altitude that is higher than the land masses, so there is no chance of collisions. The fire bodies are all spherical and have a hellishly red hue.
Inside the cloud "shell" of Artimis is a large, living world. Roughly 6000 miles across, this world is an earth body covered with tangled, steamy jungles. The whole world is one mass; there are no noticeable oceans or water bodies larger than a mile across. It does sport a massive number of mountains.
The storm tossed upper cloud deck is known to hold only a single native life form: a species of creatures very similar to a lightning mephits that seem to naturally develop here. These malevolent creatures flirt about the storms, trying to stay alive. The average lifespan of these creatures is about one minute, so they have not developed anything that resembles culture or a society. These creatures are created by lightning strikes, with the super strikes sometimes creating millions of these hateful creatures.
The islands drifting in the atmosphere are host to many hardy plants that are capable of surviving the many storms that ravish them on an hourly basis. Animal life tends to be equally hardy; the largest animal is a 5' long locus which is hunted by a small 2-legged dinosaur that hunts them. These creatures, while unnamed, are about 3' tall, and have a reddish color. They have the following statistics: Int low; #APP 2-12; AC 6; MV 12; HD 2+2; THAC0 19; #ATT 3; DMG 1-2, 1-2, 1-4; Sz S; XP 120.
The lower levels of the cloud deck is far less stormy and turbulent, and is home to a few unique creatures. The most prevalent creatures include a form of legless giant eagle with a 50' wingspread that attacks using a powerful screech (sonic vibrations, causing 4d6 points of damage), a deadly barrage of spores, which explode into clouds that resemble the Cloudkill spell, and a wing buffet that unleashes a Gust of Wind. These eagles, which have a reddish color, hunt the giant, sky dwelling jelly fish. The jelly fish are about 30' across and well over 100' long. They use magic to defend themselves (the skyeagles are immune to those defenses, but explorers are not). The jelly fish can use the following spell-like powers, each once an hour: darkness 75', shocking grasp (at 15th level), and lightning bolt (also at 15th level, 8d8 damage).
The inner planet is radically different. The whole planet is tangled with plant life; almost any kind of tropical plant can easily be found here, both normal and monstrous. Upon the slopes of the mountains grow plants more akin to temperate climates, including ash and oak trees. Thornslingers, hangman trees, and quickwoods are the most prevalent monstrous plants dwelling on the slopes of the mountains.
Animal life on the central world is fairly primitive; giant insects are very common. Fish swim about lazily in the pools and lakes, while the lands are haunted by lizards and crocodiles. The interior is inhabited by insects of all sorts and small birds, but no other large predators. Treants watch over the forests, ensuring the health of all plants and animals. Diseases and blights are dealt with quickly and efficiently.
The inhabitants of drifting islands are all normal human, demi-humans, and several mighty dragons. So what's the big secret? It's that all of these beings are of very high levels. In fact, Artimis is a sort of "secret hideaway" for high level adventurers, powerful dragons, and other powerful beings. They all sleep in stasis in the caves that honeycomb the islands, brought here by the gods. There are many heroes here, hailing from all across the sphere and even other spheres. All served the gods at one time, and were whisked away to secret caverns at the moment of their death. In the caverns, they are healed and put into stasis. Almost all have magical weapons, armor, and gear. The caverns are guarded by golems, spectator beholders, and the fierce storms that make approach all but impossible.
These caverns were established roughly a thousand years ago, in the wake of the devastating Nemesis War. The foul deity Nemesis managed to catch the other gods off guard, and almost conquered several spheres. There was much destruction, and the dead were so numerous that all but a few could not be buried. In the years following the war, the gods gathered together and discussed what they could do help mortals to survive, and more importantly, what they could do to prevent such a disaster again. The plan they hit upon was to gather thousands of heroes and store them, in stasis, until they are needed. The heroes would be gathered slowly, and put in secret hideaways across the spheres. Artimis, with its turbulent atmosphere, was chosen as the main storehouse. Today, there are thousands of heroes waiting for the day of Nemesis' promised return.
The aarakocra are more ancient inhabitants of Artimis. They have dwelled here since the fall of the last of the ancient lizardmen empires. They live fairly primitive lives, hunting insects and dwelling in cliff caverns or high nests in the forests. Most life their lives content with hunting, mating, and soaring in the endless skies of Artimis. For the most part, they live in blissful ignorance of their history, heritage, or what their potential truly is. However, a small handful know the full extent of their history. These aarakocra are a small sect of guardians of the only large ruin found on the planet, which takes the form of a tiny mountain hollowed with ancient tunnels and chambers.
These sages have many secrets of their own. They are, in fact, the immortal last mages from the ancient lizardman empire, but have slowly evolved from lizard form to bird-like. They are the ones that originally created the world at the heart of Artimis, using a variant of the Dimensional Seed spell. By combining their tremendous abilities, they crafted a tropical world in the ether, then shifted it to the prime. The ruins originally served as their base for the seed, but now serves as the last deposit of their knowledge. Inside, the walls are covered with glyphs depicting everyday life in the ancient empire. Inner rooms show the creation of the world, and the birth of the aarakorca race. Later scenes show the growth of the race and other events that the sages deem important. The Nemesis War, for example, is given great detail, despite their non-involvement in that war. Scrolls in the innermost rooms hold the sages' magical knowledge, with is considerable by even divine standards. In all, there are 25 sages left (but a quarter of their number at the creation of Artimis' central world), all of whom have the abilities of 20th level priests and 25th level mages. Though all have magical staffs, the powers of each individual staff is tremendous. The weakest has the powers of a staff of magi, staff of power, and a staff of striking.
Rarely, a few tribes will be transported by the sages to other worlds. The reason behind these forced migrations are unknown, but the sages apparently have their reasons. The aarakorca found in nearby spheres and worlds all have their origins inside of Artimis. Few of these tribes are numerous, nor are they common. Despite the great distance that the off-world tribes have to roam and grow, their numbers combined do not equal a fraction of the many millions of aarakorca in Artimis.
Artimis lack normal, mundane resources. Instead, the rocks hold powerful magical metals, gemstones, and other such important resources in the crafting of magical items. The development of such magical resources were undoubtedly came about because of the planet's closeness with the ether plane. The aarakorca sages occasionally gather these resources for their own uses. Sometimes, especially when they secretly travel to other worlds, they will trade these resources with the outside universe, usually to buy the services of adventurers to accomplish their arcane goals. Almost any resource needed to craft a magical item can be found here.
There are no ports of call in Artimis.
Type: Sphere, water
Size: (C) 400 (roughly) mile diameter
Primary Inhabitants: Merfolk, troglodytes
Exports: Water, air, coral, food
Imports: metal goods
A small world of seawater and drifting islands, Dolphus is filled with life. Its waters are teeming with fish of all sorts. "Land," as it were, consists of giant turtles, floating coral islands, and huge beds of kelp and seaweed. For the most part, the majority of Dolphus is open water, dotted with thousands of tiny islands. Dolphins and small whales thrive in great numbers here.
The largest city is Driftshell, a troglodyte port. It is a colony of refugee troglodytes who stole a spelljammer centuries ago and established a settlement here. Built of the shells of dozens of giant sea turtles, Driftshell is the only spaceport of Dolphus. Towers of coral rise from the largest shells, which serve as homes for the most powerful troglodyte citizens of the city. At the center of the city is a small coral keep, perhaps 60' a side, which is the only large governmental building. In addition to the many hundreds of troglodytes, the aquatic race of mermen are also encountered here in fair numbers. They dwell in the "under city," the maze-like caverns that were once the inner parts of the giant turtles. The dock facilities are not extensive, as the troglodytes have only a few spelljammers. The spelljammers that they do have are used to trade with the other moons. The merchant houses use ten wasps as their trade ships, which are actually owned by the ruler of Driftshell, but are rented by the merchants for trading missions. The ruler also has three turtle ships that serve as the military defensive force of the city.
During the reign of the Kingdom of Five Moons, this world was a major fishing ground. Humans were magically transformed into merfolk to make harvesting fish easier. When that land fell, the merfolk were little affected, having long become accustomed to dwelling underwater.
Type: Sphere, earth
Size: (C) 450 (roughly) mile diameter
Primary Inhabitants: Tabaxi
Exports: Clothing, raw materials, herbs
Imports: Colonists, weapons
Once largely uninhabited, New Ahlanna is a plains world. Its wide open prairies and windswept plains had little appeal to human farmers or elvish foresters. At the height of the reign of the Kingdom of Five Worlds, it was simply a great grazing land for Imperial Horses. Cattle have a hard time in this environment. After the collapse of the kingdom, the moon was quickly abandoned for safer lands.
The situation changed roughly two centuries ago, when a portal opened and many tribes of cat people, calling themselves tabaxi, came through. The tribes spread out, claiming the world and naming it for their lost homeland, Ahlanna. It is not known what type of world or plane Ahlanna was, but the tabaxi describe it as a place of winding rivers, endless game animals, and fantastic magic.
The tabaxi of New Ahlanna are much different than those found on other worlds. Physically, they are shorter, averaging only 5' tall, but their features are more feral and cat-like. Unlike standard tabaxi, they have fur patterns other than spots (50% chance for a solid color, 25% stripped, 25% spotted). And most of all, the tabaxi of New Ahlanna are fantastic magic users. They have a natural ability with magic; even a cub can make use of cantrips. They can become mages, achieving up to 15th level. Others can be more mundane classes, such as fighters or thieves (maximum advancement to 11th level in both fields). However, all tabaxi have certain innate abilities. These powers are as follows: feather fall 3/day, light 1/turn, change self 1/day (gained at 5th level), and mirror image 1/day (gained at 9th level). Because of their inexperience at weaving magic and learning in this world, tabaxi characters suffer a 25% penalty to their experience gains.
No large cities yet dot the surface of the moon, but the tabaxi have built a handful of towns and large villages. The largest town is the fast-growing Huntkir, the moon's only spelljamming port. It is a bustling town of just under 2000 tabaxi. The facilities are primitive, but steadily improving. There are piers enough to handle up to six spelljamming ships, and the town is base to the tabaxi's defensive fleet of three warship-modified tradesmen. Two are docked in town at all times, while the third is out on patrol. If they encounter ships with crews other than tabaxi, they will try to avoid them or lead them away from New Ahlanna. So far, only the Five Stars trading company has managed to secure a trade deal with the tabaxi. The creatures are notoriously shy, and are usually uncomfortable around humans. They also don't want too many visitors on the moon until they are well established. Despite this, they saw fit to provide Aba Hawksguard, Lord Mayor of Greywolf and leader of the Five Stars with a tabaxi bodyguard. Her duties are to protect his life, for he saved that of the chief of the tabaxi, and to learn all she can about humans. So far, her reports have proved invaluable in tabaxi dealings with humans.
New Ahlanna itself is a subtropical, featureless world. Plains cover 80% of the surface, with the rest being covered by shallow seas, lakes, and rivers. It is a dangerous place, where many wild animals roam and monsters are more numerous than civilized people are.
Type: Sphere, earth
Size: (C) 500 (roughly) mile diameter
Primary Inhabitants: Humans, elves, dwarves, goblin-kin, giant-kin
Exports: Food, fine woods, spelljammers
Imports: Magical items, weapons, raw minerals
Wolven, the third moon, is famous for the city of Greywolf, the chief spelljamming center for the whole of the moons. The city of Greywolf has recently moved aggressively into the spelljamming markets, becoming the first city of the moons to do so in over 600 years. It quickly built up a decent sized fleet of mid-sized traders and exploration ships. The city is now the primary spelljamming power of the moons.
Greywolf has a fleet of 6 of their unique sealships, which fills many roles. They ply the trade routes between the various moons, holding a near-monopoly on the market. This has generated much revenue for the Greywolf, which has gone into improving the city as well as building an even bigger space fleet. The ships are being built at the rate of one a year, with a wait list a decade long. Greywolf has a population of some 24,000 beings, a standard melting pot city with humans, elves, dwarves, tabaxi, and a handful of others races represented. It is fast becoming a popular port.
The rest of the moon is a land of city states and tiny kingdoms. Greywolf's closest rival is the city of Duskwood, ruled by the Lady in Green (actually a green dragon). Other lands include the elvish nation of Ithil, the dwarves of the Crown Peaks, and many more tiny realms.
Type: Sphere, earth
Size: (C) 600 (roughly) mile diameter
Primary Inhabitants: Humans, elves, dwarves, goblin-kin, giant-kin
Exports: Weapons, armor, food
Imports: Furs, raw material
This world is probably the last remnant of the ancient Kingdom of Five Worlds that can be easily identified. The moon is divided between two major kingdoms and a half dozen petty kingdoms. The larger kingdom is the human Kingdom of the Bright Lance, ruled by the young and inexperienced Prince Loric, a Paladin of Solran. He shakily rules his kingdom, trying to keep the nobles in line while fighting a crusade against the other large kingdom, that of the fiendish Dalacon. A creature reputed to have claims to the royal line of the last Emperor of the Five Worlds, Dalacon rules a realm of goblins and hobgoblins, held together by bloodthirsty nobles who become wolf-warriors in the heat of battle. His kingdom is a nightmare land where few journey to and fewer still return from.
Type: Sphere, earth
Size: (C) 700 (roughly) mile diameter
Primary Inhabitants: Humans, elves, dwarves
Exports: Furs, weapons, raw materials
Imports: Wood, magical items
Kzundra, one of the farthest moons, is a cold and dark place. Most of the planet is a giant tundra. Only in the equator is the place considered "pleasant." The equatorial forests and inland seas are places of great conflict, as the inhabitants battle each other for the right to live in the warmer lands. The beings here are far stronger than normal, and "barbarians" accurately describes the people.
On the northern shores of the largest sea stands the largest city of the planet, Clyn Shoal. The city is dug into a tiny valley, which protects it from the elements as well as nomad attacks. Spelljammers are allowed to land at Clyn Shoal, so long as they have proper permits. Such permits are given to trade vessels, mostly out of Greywolf. Roughly 8,900 people live within the walls of the city, many of which are considered part of the militia. Though Clyn Shoal has little money to afford spelljammers, they still own and operate a single seal ship, which is used to defend the city from ground attacks.
Shaped like a vast wagon wheel in space, Blackwheel once served as the capital city of the Kingdom of Five Worlds. An ancient city, it predated that realm by many thousands of years, its true architects unknown. It has an eccentric orbit about Artimis, which takes it in closer than Dolphus and swings out twice the distance of Kzundra. The inner sphere held a city on its inner surface, with gravity oriented outward. Eight mighty spokes, each ten miles long, connected the city to the great ring, which held many farms and other buildings. Portals connected the city with the five moons of Artimis, which held the kingdom together. Today, the city is a ruin and the farms are overrun by savage monsters. The ruins are the haunt of a terrible lich, said to be the last of the Kingdom's Emperors. The portals are now used by goblins and worst to connect lairs on multiple moons. Only the strong come here to sift among the wreckage of a long dead empire.
