Type: Spherical air body
Size: F
Escape Time: varies
Satellites: 4 moons
Distance from Primary: 80 million miles
Day Length: 8 hours
Year Length: 300 days
Population Analysis: Centaurs
The first world in the Tyrspace system is Thaoul, a poisonous air world. It is a huge world, over 35,000 miles in diameter. It rotates rapidly, there is a great deal of polar flattening. It has a equatorial circumference of over 130,000 miles, while it's polar circumference of about 98,000 miles. The days are very short, with the planet completing one rotation every eight hours. The axis has a fairly large tilt, about 35%, so it seems to tumble along its orbital path. The seasons on Thaoul tend to be extreme.
At the core of this world is a black and purple vortex. Where the vortex leads is unknown, as no ship has ever successfully approached it and survived. The vortex itself is only a mile in diameter but is only one hundred feet thick. Despite its small size, the storms it creates are viewable from space because of the fairly clear atmosphere. While the vortex is small, its effects on the rest of Thaoul is enormous. The dark vortex creates vast, fiery thunderstorms that circle it for a distance of more than 5000 miles in all directions. The thunderstorms are black and crimson in appearance, and rotate rapidly. Huge lightning bolts spark between individual clouds often, which generate fireballs that rip through the atmosphere. Such lightning bolts and fireballs are beyond the power of any mortal magic, an can destroy any spelljammer with a mere glancing strike.
The rest of the planet is fairly calm. Beyond the vortex and its surrounding thunderstorms, there are five layers of differing atmospheres that make up the rest of Thaoul. Each has a different characteristic and some are inhabited. All are about 1,000 to 5,000 miles thick, with an zone of about 50 miles between each layer. The zones are where two connecting layers interact, and are usually fairly violent. Winds are extreme at these points and tend to create pockets of poisonous air that can kill the crew of an unwary spelljammer. Cyclones and tornadoes are also a major threat in the connecting zones.
The outermost layer is a region of thin air. It is the largest of the zones, about 5,000 miles thick. This region suffers from high velocity winds, but said winds are not too dangerous because there is not enough force behind them to batter ships. The air is far too thin for humans to breathe, but fortunately, it is thin enough that a spelljamming helm will retain it's air envelope. This heated area is haunted by Impailers, who come here to hunt for their favorite food, Bloatbags. Spelljammers traveling through this area can do so at full tactical speed.
The next layer down is an area of fluffy blue clouds. The clouds drift about at a much slower speed than the rest of the planet, making one complete rotation only every sixty hours. Cloud cover is not absolute, and on average, only 30% of the surface area of this layer is blocked by clouds. Most of the clouds are several hundred miles high but only a few miles across. Many have the general appearance of great columns in the sky. An unusual aspect of these clouds is that they are solid in texture, supporting wood, stone, and flesh, but all metal will fall straight through a cloud. The air is breathable here, and many clouds support strange ruins on their tops, relics from another age and from some forgotten culture.
The third layer is super hot and is constantly torn by violent winds. The winds carry a great deal of sand with them, creating one gigantic sand storm inside Thaoul. The sand inside of this layer can strip a person to bone in seconds, while the heat is enough to ignite paper and cause burn damage to humans. The destructive winds of this layer have claimed more than one visiting spelljammer.
The fourth layer is a stark contrast to the layer above it. The air is so thick that it takes on liquid qualities, which is poisonous to normal creatures. The pressure in this layer is uniform throughout and is slightly less than that of 5' deep water. Swimming is possible in this layer if special magics are used to allow for visitors to breathe the air. Many bizarre creatures can be found in this layer.
The final layer before the vortex-generated storms is a dark and strange layer. The air is poisonous for humans to breathe, but bubbles of clean air drift about. The air of this layer have properties of air, water, and earth all in one. Though the air of the level has the density of thin water or very thick air, giant storm masses thousands of miles across act like tectonic plates on an earth world. Where two plates collide, bubbles of clean air rise to the top of the layer, vanishing into the fourth layer. Where one plate vanishes under another, bubbles of clean air are taken downward towards the vortex. Sages are at a complete loss to explain this phenomena.
Each layer of Thaoul has its own unique climate and weather patterns. In all cases, the winters are cool and the summers are extremely hot. Thaoul has two seasons, summer and winter. Both last 150 standard days. The summers tend to be marked by many storms and stronger winds, while the winters are calmer and have few storms.
The top most layer is has the most extreme changes from summer to winter. In the summer, the temperature rises to 200 degrees F, be it day or night. The days are so fast that the air does not have a chance to cool down at night. Wind speeds can reach 100 miles an hour, but the thin air has no force behind it and does not cause damage to spelljammers. During the winter, the temperature drops to -20 degrees F day or night. The winds vanish, however, and the air is still most of the time.
The next layer down has less dramatic seasonal changes. The summer has an average daytime high of about 80 degrees F, and the nights dip down to about 50 degrees F. Winds can reach 40 miles per hour during a storm, but average only half that speed when storms are not present. During the summer, the cloud columns common to this layer gather into groups and rain snow and hail downward, which melts as it drops. The snow and hail is pure water, some of the cleanest and purest found in Known Space. The water can actually heal small amounts of damage (d4 per gallon drunk) to injured parties, implying that it has magical qualities. During the winter, average daytime temperatures drop to 40 degrees F, while nights drop to 20 degrees F. Storms and winds both vanish.
The third layer is one giant sandstorm, be it day or night, winter or summer. The temperature is a uniform 300 degrees F. Wind speeds reach in upwards of 75 miles per hour, though gusts can be as high as 125 miles per hour.
The last two layers have no seasonal changes and have fairly uniform temperatures. The fourth layer has a uniform temperature of about 90 degrees F, while the layer below it has an average temperature of about twice that, or 180 degrees F. Neither have strong winds within them, though both have currents that reach as fast as 20 miles per hour.
From orbit, Thaoul appears as a yellow sphere speckled with tiny dots of blue. Near the equator and at the center, the storms at the core of Thaoul can be seen as an area of fuzzy gray with a generally spherical shape. The difference is not immediately obvious, and an observer often needs to look twice to notice the fuzzy center at Thaoul's core.
None. The cloud islands could count as landmasses, but none are large enough to be considered anything other than islands.
Thaoul is home to a surprising array of life. Each layer has its own semi-autonomous ecosystem. Each layer has its own unique predators and prey, completely adapted to life in it's particular ecosystem. Creatures from one layer are incapable of traveling to another layer, as they cannot survive in the alien environment. In general, all creatures on Thaoul can fly, and are dangerous to travelers.
In all layers, the bottom of the food chain is the bloatbag, a small, balloon-like creature about the size of a human. The creatures are native to the lowest layers of Thaoul, and constantly drift upwards. Most do not survive the trip through the upper layers, as predators claim many. When they reach the boundaries of space, the creatures explode in spectacular fashion, spreading seeds to the winds that will eventually become new bloatbags.
The only creature native to the upper layer is the impailer, a creature the may be somehow related to piercers. These creatures are huge, reaching 100' in length, and have the general appearance of a javelin with small fins on the sides. Impailers have small mouth on it's bottom, which is uses to catch bloatbags while in flight. The impailers never rest and are constantly hunting for food. They stay afloat by taking in air through their leading edge and expelling it with great force out tiny holes at the base of their tails. The creatures have been known for snatching crewmen off spelljammers, then vanishing into the sky.
The second layer has a greater variety of life. The clouds are inhabited by bat-like creatures, called screeches. The screeches are horrible creatures, with two bat-like heads and two pairs of wings, one behind the other. They have long, weasel-like bodies and short, stubby limbs that end in vicious claws, in addition to their wings. Screeches always attack in packs of 2-20 creatures, using their sonic attacks to confuse and disorient their prey before going in for the kill.
Another predator common to the second layer are the sapphire beetles. Blue in color, the sapphire beetles are non-flying creatures that crawl about on the cloud islands. They are actually gemstone-based life forms, somehow able to digest meat and turn it into gemstone material. Most have the general makeup of sapphires, but rare specimens are red in color. In either case, both are highly valued by gem collectors.
The sandstorm layer has no native life, but the bloatbags pass through it regularly. They seem immune to the deadly conditions of this layer.
The liquid-like fourth layer is inhabited by a number of species of skyfish. These skyfish are all fairly small, averaging only a few feet in length. They are also generally harmless, avoiding humans and other creatures larger than a dwarf. When they are hungry, schools of these fish will swarm bloatbags and tear them apart, each taking a few bites from the bag-like creatures.
More dangerous on this layer are the massive draken, huge kraken-like creatures that haunt the watery depths. A typical draken is over 50' long and has more than a dozen powerful tentacles. Unlike kraken, a draken is also capable of breathing a powerful fire breath, which it uses to slay prey that resists it's deadly grip. The creature is immune to all forms of fire and heat.
The final, semi-solid layer is unique. It has properties of primordial ooze, from which all life on Thaoul sprang. Bloatbag seeds that drop all the way here take root and will start growing. After a month's time, each seed produces a dozen or more new bloatbags that begin their year-long trip skyward. The lowest layer is the foundation for all life on Thaoul.
No life survives in the dangerous storms that surround the vortex core.
Thaoul has no native intelligent life, but a few space travelers have settled on this world. The vast majority of the few people that have settled Thaoul are centaurs, who came here two centuries ago to find out if they could exploit the resources of this world. Many that came found little to interest them. However, as the ruins were explored, some were attacked by sapphire beetles. After a short battle, the creatures were slain, and the centaurs found a new resource worth exploiting.
Most centaurs on Thaoul today are sapphire hunters. They use small spelljammers such as mosquitoes to travel to nearby cloud islands to hunt for sapphire beetles. Rarely do centaurs return from these trips with slain beetles, but every so often a centaur will get lucky and return with a bag-load of beetle bodies. The beetles are the only source of sapphire gemstones in the sphere, and as such, are highly prized. Most hunters, once they have a small chest- load of beetles, will buy passage off of Thaoul on a passing pegasus ship to sell their goods to dealers at Taur. Though most hunters either die brutal deaths or leave broke, enough centaurs have made it rich to encourage new generations of fortune hunters to travel to Thaoul to try and secure comfortable futures.
The beetles of Thaoul are the sphere's only source of sapphires and thus are extremely valuable. Only a few hundred beetles are collected every year, not nearly enough to satisfy the demand for them. However, beetle hunting is very dangerous and risky, as many maimed hunters can attest to. Some are shipped out of the sphere and sold for five times their value to collectors in distant spheres. The sapphire beetle market has become a cutthroat business as agents from other spheres have attempted to muscle in on the centaurs' business. So far, all non-centaur attempts to build colonies on Thaoul and hunt beetles have failed, usually in spectacular fashion with foreign hunters barricading themselves in the largest building of their settlement as they fight a losing battle against the creatures that call Thaoul home. Few foreign hunters ever return home.
The ruins on the cloud columns were the abodes of ancient Raer sorcerers. Each is an impressive castle-like structure of enormous size. Some are as large as small cities, with mazes of corridors and chambers. All of these ruins were used in Raer experiments to create flying creatures for use in war, such as griffons, perytons, and pegasi. They also developed numerous air-elemental spells and magical items in these sky fortresses, some of which were left behind when the Raer Empire fell. The natives of Tyrspace tend to give the ruins a wide berth. All natives have a bad feeling when they near a Raer ruin, as if one were walking on their grave. The more superstitious natives firmly believe that the ghosts of those who died horribly in Raer experiments still haunt the ruins, seeking revenge against their cruel tormentors. Many human expeditions into the ruins have vanished mysteriously, never to be seen again.
There is but one settlement on Thaoul, the town of Scarab. The town is a haven for beetle hunters, who hire out the sky hoppers to hunt for beetles. Built on one of the larger cloud columns, Scarab is a small town of about 400 hunters, dancers, sky hoppers, and other people, all seeking to make their fortune. Scarab is laid out in a roughly circular pattern, with a high wooden wall guarding its boundaries. The buildings are all build close together to prevent flying creatures from running amuck in the middle of town, and roofs are pierced in many places by long, sharp poles to discourage roosting. A magical beacon has been installed at the town's highest point to allow spelljammers to locate this tiny town in such a vast world.
The town has twelve "sky hoppers," centaurs who own mosquito spelljammers equipped with minor helms. For a modest fee, the sky hoppers can be hired to take a hunter to a cloud island so that he may hunt for beetles. Usual fees are a mere 10 gp per trip, which take about four hours time. Sky hoppers will not travel farther than six hours travel time from Scarab, as the skies are dangerous and risks are great. A hunter has but a 25% chance of returning with a single beetle, but each catch more than makes up for the costs.
The town has about sixty buildings. The largest buildings include Town Hall, the Sapphire Tavern, the Screeching Inn, and the spelljamming field. Town Hall serves both as the town's center of government and the mayor's residence. Meetings are rarely held, mainly to discuss how they should deal with foreign colonies that spring up. If the town is attacked, the building becomes a mustering point for the militia of 200 centaurs. The Sapphire Tavern is famous in the sphere for its dancing female centaurs, who provide hunters with entertainment during the hours they are not out seeking beetles. Many provide more private entertainment for those hunters with money to spend. Drinks and food is of average quality but expensive. The Screeching Inn is named for the many stuffed screeches that grace its main parlor. The Inn is the home for most hunters down on their luck and needing a place to crash for the night. The spelljamming field is a simple open area outside of the main wall. A wide, covered wooden walkway provides protected access for crewmen loading and unloading the pegasus ships that sometimes dock here.
Thaoul has four satellites. All are inhabited and controlled by a single kingdom that is really a collection of many city-states that have thrown in together for mutual interests. The city-states are collectively known as the Kingdom of Taul, named after the largest and most powerful city of Taur. Each of the moons supports at least one city-state, with one supporting three city-states. Spelljammers make regular trips between the cities and settlements throughout the rest of the sphere. The moons are unique from each other, both in terms of supported races, terrain, and overall shape of the moon. Each is given a separate entry below.
Other than their common center of orbit around Thaoul, the four moons do have some things in common. All have a subtropical climate, varying little in temperature. None experience seasons because of their stable orbits and lack of axial-tilt. All are well-watered and receive rainfall at least once a week. All have fertile soil and are most areas are excellent areas to raise crops or herds of animals. Despite these very favorable conditions, the moons are not overpopulated as of yet, and many areas are still considered wilderness and uninhabited.
Type: Spherical earth body
Size: 900 miles
Population: 290,000
Primary Inhabitants: Minotaurs &
satyrs
Natural Resources: Stone, metal ores, wood,
vegetables, sheep.
Exports: Weapons, metals, armor, tools,
mercenaries.
Imports: Jewelry, clothing,
The least populated of the four moons of Thaoul, Mithos is home to the Taulian population of minotaurs. Over seven-tenths of the moon is covered by a single large ocean, which breaks the land into two continents. The larger continent has a general, claw-like shape, while the second continent has a slight crescent shape. Dozens of small islands dot the ocean, the largest having a rough oval shape of 35 miles along it's longest axis. Mountains and hills dominate most of the land, with lowland river valleys twisting wildly through the maze of hills.
Settlements on Mithos lie scattered along the river valleys. Minotaur towns are usually small, with only 200- 800 minotaurs and 100-600 satyrs. A town makes its fortune by raising herds of sheep and growing simple vegetable gardens. Each town is completely self-sufficient but produces only enough extra food to trade for tools bought in the major city of Minis. The minotaurs are peaceful herders, but during times of war, the citizens of many towns will gather together into powerful yet wild irregular units called a Phalanx. All Phalanxes will have as many as 2,000 minotaurs, but most are a mere 500 citizens strong. The largest and most experienced minotaur will command the unit. Though many towns will have a several small watercraft, there is only a 50% chance that a town will have 1-3 moray eel spelljammers. The towns are beholden to Minis, and in times of war, all spelljammers become property of the king of Minis. In exchange for their loyalty, citizens have a voice in the Minis senate, can claim most of the loot they take, and are granted a chance to gain great honor in battle.
The major city of Minis is a maze of large buildings and narrow streets. Twenty thousand minotaurs call Minis home. The primary industries of the city is turning the metal ores from the nearby mines into tools, weapons, and armor. Minotaur blacksmiths are very skilled at creating excellent farming tools that are sold to outlying towns in exchange for food and wool. The city is also a primary supplier of spearheads, axe blades, heiken swords (treat as longswords, except heiken swords are shaped like oversized short swords and are considered piercing weapons), and javelins. Bronze is the metal of choice for the minotaur smiths, but they are capable of working with iron if they need to. The armor smiths are capable of making leather, studded leather, and bronze scale armor. They cannot make any kind of iron armor nor can they craft any sort of chain armor.
The minotaur king of Minis commands a significant army of six Phalanxes. All citizens are part of one of these six Phalanxes, but the actual standing army is much smaller. Citizenship is available to all minotaurs who were born naturally in the city and can afford to buy a suit of at least leather armor, a large bronze shield, a long spear, and a heiken sword. Lords are wealthy citizens that own suits of scale armor and have natural leadership abilities, most often put in command positions in the Phalanxes. Lord status is especially sought after since all lords have five votes each in Senate decisions and it grants higher honors. All citizens are required to serve one month out of the year, pulling duty as watchmen and patrols for the land immediately surrounding Minis. Citizens have their own homes and there are no special barracks in the city. There is a pair of small forts that guard the main gates of the city, each that serves as an armory and check point for travelers entering or leaving the city.
Roughly two dozen moray eel spelljammers call Minis home. Many are off in other spheres, working as mercenaries or merchants, selling their services to a host of races. Few are found at Minis at any given time, though the docks buzz with activity. Many unaligned tradejammers, merchant ships from other cities, and even ships from other sphere make stops here to take advantage of the openness of the port. The shipyards of Minis are among the best in the sphere, capable of repairing most wooden spelljammers. They are capable of building moray eels, hammerships, lampreys and eelships for a reasonable fee.
The king of Minis is one King Cree IV, a huge, young minotaur. Though many consider King Cree to be young and brash, his herculean body hides an unusually sharp whit and wisdom far beyond his age. He often boasts to his six generals that the minotaurs could easily destroy the dominance of the centaurs, this is merely a ploy he is currently employing to discover his generals' loyalties and their competence to lead his armies in times of war. He knows fully well that the minotaurs have grown comfortable with their lucrative trade agreements that have made them wealthy, and any attack on another city could jeopardize those trade agreements. Most of the more blood-thirsty minotaurs sign into mercenary companies heading out of the sphere to seek gold and glory.
According the Mithos myth, the minotaurs here were not created by Raer sorcerers. They proudly claim that they are the descendants of the Legion of Minos, a great and powerful leader in ancient Raer. A proud man, Minos only chose the most powerful men for his army. Those that did not meet his requirements were slain for sport. Despite warnings from priests and advisors, Minos rejected the gods, claiming that with his army, he could storm the very gates of the city of the gods. Unfortunately, the gods were offended by his boasts. Since he had the temperament and strength of a bull, he should also have a face to match. His troops and camp followers were also caught in divine curse, and they were transformed. Furious, Minos led his army on a two-year long rampage across the province of Quajipic, utterly decimating and depopulating the land. Finally, Raer sorcerers managed to subdue the rampaging legion and transported them to Mithos, where they could do less harm and could be studied. The Raer would eventually use later generations of minotaurs in their legions, but kept the majority of the population on Mithos.
Type: Cluster life body
Size: 12 bodies each 200 miles across
Population: 380,000
Primary Inhabitants: Satyrs
Natural Resources: Wood, building materials,
minerals.
Exports: Clothing, exotic herbs, wood.
Imports: Weapons, tools.
The next moon out from Thaoul is Palatus, a cluster of a dozen small, flat earth worlds. The small earth bodies orbit a point at the center of their shared air envelope. Around this point, the islands form two perfect orbital rings. The first ring has four islands, while the outer ring has eight islands, all islands in a ring orbiting at roughly the same speed. A thin sea, floating in the common gravity plane, connects the islands. The sea is about 1000 miles across, but a mere 50 feet deep. At the edge of the gravity plane, the water slowly turns to vapor to find its way as storm clouds to the islands. The islands are heavily wooded and have a mild but wet subtropical climate. At the center of all of the islands is usually a range of low mountains, where rainfall is the greatest. Water cascades down from these mountains in a series of rushing waterfalls before reaching lowland plains and finally the sea.
The primary inhabitants are satyrs. The woods are thick with the creatures, who spend their time hunting small animals, logging trees, and gathering medical herbs that are shipped to other worlds in the sphere. For every tree the satyrs cut down, they plant two more seedlings so that they do not deplete the forests. The herbs are highly sought after by centaur and minotaur healers, who claim that the herbs of Palatus have magical qualities. The hill lands surrounding the mountain ranges are home to numerous goats and sheep. The goats and sheep are rounded up every six weeks or so to be sheered. The wool is then woven into clothing, some of which is sold to the minotaurs and centaurs. Minotaurs are the biggest consumer of satyr- crafted clothing, as their hands are too often too clumsy to craft anything other than very coarse clothes. Many satyr tailors travel to Mithos to sell their services to minotaurs eager for fine clothing.
Satyr dwell in small towns throughout all of the islands. A typical satyr town will have 50-200 satyrs and a quarter of the towns have 10-20 centaurs or minotaurs. Each town is has a roughly equal number of hunters and herders. Centaurs most often have settled in the area to help herding efforts, which the minotaurs are smiths or merchants that are passing through, selling metal wears or repairing metal tools and equipment that has become damaged. Relations between the three races is good, and the satyrs welcome contact with their allies. All towns have small inns that cater to visiting centaurs and minotaurs, with higher ceilings, broad doorways, and all facilities on one level. Festivals are held once every month, and everyone in town is invited. A typical festival will involve a great deal of feasting, drinking liqueur to excess, dancing, and generally having a good time. Even the normally stoic minotaurs enjoy the festivities and most often find themselves waking up the next morning under a table after a long night of dancing and drinking.
The woodland towns have few defenses against spelljammers. In most cases, the towns are well-hidden in the trees and difficult to spot from above. Given the lush vegetation surrounding satyr settlements, any spelljammer would have a difficult time finding a suitable landing spot anywhere near the town it wishes to visit/raid. In the event of an attack, the satyrs will disappear into the woods and fight back by sniping enemy soldiers with their short bows and setting traps. Women and children are spirited off to hidden caves, where they are safest from invaders. Runners are sent out to warn other towns, who then gather militias to help deal with invaders.
Palatus has a mere two large settlements, the cities of Triplous and Macada. Both are fairly small cities by human standards, and they are located on opposite sides of Palatus. Triplous is the larger city, with fifteen thousand residents while Macada has about twelve thousand citizens. Both are ruled by kings, independent of each other, and they sometimes feud with over territory, trade rights, or disputes, but such feuds never spill over into violence. The satyr kings resolve their differences in a series of games and contests, with winner decided by a panel of five impartial judges from neutral towns. Losers are also compensated, so there is little bad blood between the two cities.
The city of Triplous is a major hub for spelljammers in the Taulian Kingdom. Most townsmen bring their wares to this city to be sold to the highest bidder. Several merchant cartels constantly compete with one another to get the best deals and make the most money. The king imposes a light tax on all transactions, which helps pay for the navy. The Royal Navy of Triplous consists of seven coasters for conventional travel and five moray eels that keep the skies safe from attack. The docks are nearly always busy with merchant activity. Only at times of festival do they close down for a day, for even city- dwelling satyrs enjoy the fun of monthly festivals. Anyone caught in an act of theft during a festival is dealt with harshly, as satyrs see such activity during a festival to be an affront to their religious beliefs and an insult to the gods.
Macada, the other satyr city, is a less active place. The king of the city is much more interesting in military action than mercantilism. His city boasts a large spelljamming force, but almost no conventional navy. Only three moray eels are ever found in the city itself, but the king claims to have four more at his disposal. The four missing ships are usually elsewhere in Known Space, serving as mercenary ships the Elvish Fleet. All of the ships are commanded by the king's younger sons, and are completely loyal to him. They serve two-year tours of duty with an elven task force before returning home to rotate crews, tell stories, and enjoy festivals. The satyrs are well- paid for their services, which allows Macada to keep up with its rival city of Triplous in terms of wealth and prestige.
Satyr myth speak little of the time of the Raer. The satyrs have long wished to forget that time of cruelty, when their race took their first steps into the light. Legends speak of great hunters from this time, who cleansed the forests of Palatus of great monsters that could eat satyrs whole. By winning Palatus from the beasts, the ancient hunters created a haven for satyrs to hide from the tyranny of Raer masters. Why, exactly the Raer created satyrs is not known, as they have little military value. The most likely answer is that the satyrs were the result of random breeding programs and were cast aside like many other experiments. The ancient satyrs stole some powerful magical items and then used them to clear Palatus of the vicious beasts inhabiting it so that their descendants could survive and prosper.
Type: Flat earth body
Size: 1,000
Population: 500,000
Primary Inhabitants: Centaurs
Natural Resources: Wood, gold, food, vegetables,
silver, cotton.
Exports: Gold, food, building materials,
jewelry, wine.
Imports: Weapons, magical items.
By far the most populous world, Ithian is a flat, round world. It has the general appearance of a green coin with small lakes and broad rivers as its most defining features. Both sides are green with forests and fields, and the edge is rounded so that one can travel across it to the other side. Though Ithian is a thousand miles across, it is only ten miles thick. The crossover point is noted for its rocky hills and bareness. The rest of the moon is rich in wildlife, from open plains to lush hill forests. Each side has at least one range of low mountains. The "upper" side has the tallest mountain, Mt. Shalath, which rises to a height of over 6,000 feet. The slopes of Mt. Shalath are of importance because they hide the only known gold mines in the sphere. So far, the mines have proven quite rich, with most of the gold near the surface in large nuggets. Using the wealth of the mines, the centaurs have managed to rise to the heights of power.
The wide open fields and deep forests are home to hundreds of centaur towns and villages. Centaurs prefer to build permanent structures of brick. Their buildings are sturdily built with brick then covered by a layer of plaster that is most often richly decorated with elaborate fresco works. All buildings are one story tall, as centaurs have a difficult time navigating stairwells. Roofs are either thatch or stone shingles for those families that can afford them. All buildings have large windows and doors to allow breezes to pass through the straight corridors easily. Most buildings have few rooms, for the centaur families often sleep in the same room. Streets tend to be straight and broad to allow for several centaurs to pass at any given time. Roads are made of pack dirt and connect all the major cities and towns together. The roads of Ithian are some of the best in the whole Taulian Kingdom.
Centaurs make their living in a variety of ways. Some work the gold, silver, and copper mines while others act as smiths and craftsmen. Most of the centaur smiths are gold and jewel smiths, crafting wonderful jewelry sold around the sphere for a healthy profit. There are also a number of stone mason centaurs, who, after centuries of work, have made the infrastructure of Ithian the best in the sphere. All roads are in good condition and no building is left uninhabited. They have built an aqueduct system that brings water from mountain springs to cities a hundred miles away. Food is grown in lowland farms, which raise bountiful crops of wheat, vegetables, and fruit trees. Olives and grape crops are particularly valued and command high price at market.
Much like the horses of the Plains of Gordale, female centaurs outnumber male centaurs by a ratio of two to one. Thus, it is not uncommon for a male centaur to take two, three, or even four wives. Centaur society is not, however, male-dominated. Instead, the females work just has hard as their mates and some have separate jobs. It is not uncommon for a male goldsmith to have wives that are stonemasons, miners, bakers, farmers, or even warriors. Only when raising a fold does a female become more concerned with staying at home rather than working. Usually, one female, usually the youngest, will be responsible for raising all children in a household. Sometimes, though rare, a male will fulfill that role rather than a female.
The largest city on Ithian is the capital of the Taulian Kingdom and the seat of King Kell's power is Taur. Nestled in a river valley created by four broad, rolling hills, the city of Taur is a center of commerce and trade. It has a population of forty thousand citizens, most of whom are centaurs, and another ten thousand guests, visitors from other cities, and other non-citizens. Minotaurs and satyrs are also welcomed, and many can be seen roaming the streets. Surprisingly, there is also a substantial elvish population, most of whom are visiting merchants hawking magical wares to the centaurs in exchange for gold trinkets and artwork. The city is most noted for its incredible art and sculptures and it's magnificent temples. All gates into the city are colossus statues of past centaur heroes, carved out of white marble and gleam in sunlight. On the northern end of the city, a rocky hill has been completely converted into an open aired temple, dedicated to all of the gods the centaurs worship, particularly Therina, Allura, and Cretus. Massive statues of these deities are found in the great temple complex, who watch over the people as the make offerings and sacrifices to the gods.
Like the minotaurs of Mithos, citizenship for the centaurs is earned through military service. Almost all centaurs can afford the leather armor, shield, spear, and short sword required to serve in the military. As with the minotaurs, lordship is granted to those who can afford a suit of bronze scale armor, a lance, and a short bow. Citizenship grants a voice in government and is considered a high honor. Lordship is even more prestigious, allowing the centaur in question to serve on the Senate, command positions, and opportunities to serve as officers on spelljammers. All citizens and lords must serve two months a year or lose their citizenship. Because of this heavy military requirement, the centaurs have a large number of troops readily available, and could easily muster their entire army quickly in time of war.
Taur is a major industrial center, where the best gold and jewel smiths live and practice their trade. Street patrols of leather-clad centaur warriors keep the peace as much as an outward display of force, reminding all visitors why Taur is the capital of the kingdom. The King's Palace is easily visible, being the only three-story building in the city. It is a broad structure, with wide passages and thick walls. The king makes regular appearances before the people to announce new policies, laws, or to a celebration of some kinds. No less than thirty moray eels and twelve pegasus ships are found here at once, and if attacked, the city could bring in reinforcements quickly. Rumors state that the elves maintain a small garrison as well, to protect their embassy from attackers.
The next largest city is the city of Cannis. A bustling town of twenty thousand, Cannis is also a major hub of trade and commerce. Though not as large or as wealthy as its neighbor, Cannis does enjoy a monopoly on certain fine wines that are in high demand everywhere in the sphere. Most of the citizens are tied to the wine market somehow, either directly making or selling the wines or supporting those that do. Even elven merchants arrive every few months to purchase cases of the wine to be sold in distant spheres that the centaurs have never heard of. Because of the wealth generated by the wine market, the king of Cannis is nothing more than a puppet for the wine merchants. They use him to keep the peace and pass laws that keep the sales of their wines high. In an effort to save money to give tax breaks to the wine merchants, the king has allowed the military to fall into deplorable conditions, and only two pegasus ships remain in his service. Most of the better officers long ago left for positions with the ships stationed at Taur or elsewhere in the sphere.
The final city on Ithian is the mining city of Athica, built on the foothills surrounding Mt. Shalath. Athica is important because it protects the gold mines from attack. Though only fifteen thousand centaurs actually live in Athica, another ten thousand live in towns within twenty miles of the city. Of the three centaur cities, Athica is the most heavily guarded and protected, with almost one thousand armed guards in and patrolling around the city and mines. Additionally, five moray eels and two pegasus ships are based in an old mine that has been expanded to accommodate the large, winged ships. The base, about two miles from the city, is protected by fair sized citadel within which most of the troops are based. Athica is unique of the centaur cities in that it is ruled by a queen instead of a king, and the majority of the soldiers are female. Males are actually discouraged from learning to fight. Rather, most males become miners or smiths. Due to the tight security around Mt. Shalath, races other than centaurs are discouraged from making casual visits.
Myths about the birth of the centaur races usually center around a legion of horsemen. These horsemen were among the best in the ancient Raer Empire, but Raer sorcerers wished to improve their performance by merging man and horse. From these experiments was born the greatest cavalry ever witnessed in the Empire. The centaurs were breed in great numbers to create mighty armies sent to fight wars in a dozen other spheres. Most of these armies were destroyed at the fall of the Raer Empire, but a single legion was left on Ithian. That legion became the forefathers of the Ithian centaurs. The centaurs would eventually rise to dominate the Taulian Kingdom, forging an alliance of city-states into a single, cohesive realm. The centaurs are able to keep the various races together by meshing the races together through trade deals and by making everyone an equal citizen of the kingdom.
Type: flat water body
Size: 5,000 miles
Population: 220,000
Primary Inhabitants: Centaurs & satyrs
Natural Resources: Food, gemstones, stone.
Exports: Gemstones, food.
Imports: Weapons, tools, wine, people.
The final moon of Thaoul is Rethe, a flat water world. Largest of the Thaoulian moons, Rethe stretches over 5,000 miles across and is about ten miles thick. Most of moon is water, but the edge is a gigantic ring of rock. The ring continent is about 100 miles wide and twelve miles thick when mountains and hills are accounted for. The edge of the moon is marked by sheer cliffs, impassable terrain, and severe storms. The edge lands are rocky hills with forests carpeting the lowlands. In general, the land is very rocky and difficult to travel through. The ocean, on the other hand, are smooth and easy to travel. Hundreds of tiny islands dot the ocean, most of which are stable. Some of the smaller islands are not stable, drifting freely in the ocean. How the heavy rock floats on water is one of the mysteries of Rethe. At the very center of Rethe is a gigantic whirlpool, a mile across, that crosses the gravity plane and connects the two sides of Rethe. Though the whirlpool is dangerous, it is the only way to cross the gravity plane of Rethe without aide of a spelljammer.
The moon has only recently been settled, mostly by centaurs and satyrs. Currently, settlements are coastal communities; the interior of the islands and the ringing continent are not populated or even much explored. Most of the moon is considered unknown and unexplored. Those few brave adventurers that sometimes journey deep into the unknown lands report finding ancient ruins overgrown by forest growth. Artifacts recovered from said ruins are of unusual make and design. While some appear to be from ancient Raer, others are much more alien and unusual in design. A popular theme on some architecture is that of a feathered serpent not unlike a couatl, but all such designs depict the couatl in the shape of a ring, eating it's own tail. Other prominent features of the ruins include steep, four-sided pyramids, deep catacombs, and black-stone statues of many types of animals and birds. Many are worn or broken with age.
Centaur and satyr communities are coastal ports. Trade is conducted through extensive shipping lanes. Coasters and Cogs ply these trade lanes, visiting various ports every few days. Most hug the coastlines and avoid most of the interior islands. Thus, towns are mostly scattered along the coast of the ring continent. The majority of the towns are found within two days travel of one of the moon's two cities. The cities are separated from each other by two thousand miles distance, but still maintain contact and friendly relations.
The towns themselves are fairly large. Most range from 100 to 1000 citizens, with roughly equal populations of centaurs and satyrs. Minotaurs are much rarer, making up only 5-10% of the population of any given town, but make their presence known through their blacksmith shops, weapon and armor craftsmen, and in the largest villages, ship builders. Most civilians make are self-sufficient, growing enough crops to feed themselves with little left for export. Money is generated from the gemstones that are found near the towns. The gemstone mines of Rethe yield fair amounts of quartz crystals, bluestones, amethysts, peridots, and topaz. The mines are not rich, with veins usually playing out after only a few dozen feet or so. The town folk use the gemstones to enrich their lives but are not dependant upon them. All of the mines are owned by rich noble families that pay their miners well. In general, the nobles are genuinely concerned about the future of their towns. They realize that Rethe is a vast, untapped treasure-trove with vast amounts of land to be won from the wilderness and civilized. Many of the nobles are fairly young and eager to carve their fortunes from the land through hard work and dedication. Rethe's main growth in population comes from immigration as younger families travel to this moon to build farms or mine gemstones. Rethe towns have a frontier edge to them, with farmers rubbing shoulders with gem miners and adventurers. Though most of the towns own no spelljammers, a few of the richer nobles keep their spelljammers docked at the larger towns. No town has more than two moray eels, nor are they capable of supporting more craft. Immigration is not a severe problem, and it will be many centuries before Rethe begins to feel the pains of overcrowding, if ever.
The largest city on Rethe is Lycenus, a city built on a rocky shelf at the end of a protected, semi-circular harbor. Twelve thousand citizens call Lycenus home, roughly evenly divided between the three races of the Taul. Lycenus is a key spelljamming port and trade hub, shipping raw gemstones off-world in exchange for wines and weapons brought in from other moons. The city is a rough and tumble place with little law and a great deal of rowdiness. Taverns and inns are common and open all hours of the day or night. What sets Lycenus apart from other cities is the presence of an organized thieves' guild. The thieves have become noted for their gem heists, but are little more than a nuisance. They have managed to cast themselves in a romantic light, liberating the wealthy of their burden of gemstones and redistribute that wealth to the needy. Truth is, they keep most of the wealth for themselves, but they do think of themselves as romantic heroes. The guildmaster holds to tradition and bars his thieves from stealing during festivals, as such an act would surely turn the people against his guild. The king of the city is a rich satyr gem merchant who is encouraging growth in the gem markets in other cities. He has considered putting quotas on how many gems can be sold off-world to help inflate the price of the gemstones. Due to the importance of the gem mines, the Taul have stationed three pegasus ships here to protect the city.
The other city of Rethe is Nautis, the island city. Nautis is located on an island within an hour travel from the shore. It is a small city of ten thousand citizens but is experiencing a period of growth. Twenty years ago it was a large town, but an increase in the demand for the island's rich supply of topazes has caused the town to double in population. Growth has slowed down, but the town is still growing. The minotaur king of the city is attempting to expand the city's economy into other areas, especially ship building. The ship yards of Nautis will be the largest on Rethe inside of a year once a new dry dock is finished. The majority of the ships built at Nautis are ocean-travelling coasters and cogs, but the port can also build hammerships, pegasus ships, and eel ships. So far, the demand for new spelljammers is low, but as the Taulian Kingdom grows in the sphere, so will the demand for more spelljammers. Two pegasus ships and a hammership protect Nautis from attack. The ships are based in a citadel at the summit of an extinct volcano at the island's center. In addition to the crews of the spelljammers, the citadel has one hundred armed guards to man the walls and keep the spelljammers in excellent condition.
Few myths surround Rethe and it is has not been long settled. Most of the myths and legends of Rethe are about the ruins. Centaur adventurers speculate that Rethe was once home to a powerful humanoid race that predates the Raer Empire by thousands of years. Satyrs disagree, believing the ruins to be from the time of the Raer, either home to contemporaries or rivals of the Raer sorcerers. Minotaurs merely grunt and avoid the ruins altogether.
Type: Irregular earth body
Size: A (900' across by 300' tall)
Population: 900
Primary Inhabitants: Centaurs, minotaurs,
satyrs
Natural Resources: None
Exports: None
Imports: All
A small asteroid orbiting Rethe, Cerbus is a base for the Taulian Fleet. It is a great slab of dark granite stone that orbits about 1,200 miles above Rethe's surface and it has an elliptical orbit. Cerbus has an atmosphere provided by several hundred small trees that cling to the surface, finding soil in small cracks and crevasses. A strong citadel surmounts the highest point on Cerbus, made of solid granite. The citadel is quite strong, with barracks, armories, storage bins, and granaries bored into the solid rock. It was built by hired dwarves when the kings of the largest cities agreed that a strongpoint was needed as an added safeguard in the event of war. The asteroid of Cerbus was chosen as the new base, which would be manned and paid for by all of the cities in the Taulian Kingdom. Though units are rotated every two months or so, the current residents of Cerbus are the Starmane Grand Lance (centaurs), the Harbringer Phalanx (minotaurs), and the Wildstar Irregulars (satyrs). All are responsible for manning the weapons hidden throughout the base and maintaining the six moray eel ships that are based here.
Though the base has enough supplies to survive for six months, ships make regular stops to unload food and extra supplies. Everything is paid for by the combined wealth of the Taulian Kingdom.
The current garrison stationed at Cerbus are all at least 3rd level fighters. Lords are all at least 5th level, some achieving as high as 8th level. Additionally, there are always at least 20 mages and priests at Cerbus at any given time of all three races, ranging in levels from 3rd to 10th. The exact number and level of the spellcasters varies from month to month. Service at Cerbus is particularly prized by priests, as it gives them a captive audience of soldiers to convert to their religion. Mages are proud to serve in the military, and put their time to good use by enchanting one-use magical items like javelins, arrows, potions, and scrolls. Many of these items are stockpiled in storage chambers at the center of Cerbus. The commander of Cerbus is the centaur Trilis, a daughter of the King of Taur. The assignment fell to her because she was the least threatening of the offspring of King Kell. The other kings thought that she with her in command, the garrison units would retain their individual leadership and utter loyalty to their kings. While this was the case at first, Trilis was more than up to the task and fought tooth and hoof to earn the respect of the men and women serving under her. She is now probably the best commander the base could ever need.
