A Ruined World
by Static; based on the article by Andy CollinsFor more information on the Chain of Tears, see the Shadow of the Spider Moon article from Polyhedron #151/ Dungeon #92.
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The city of Discord is found on the asteroid that bears its name.
Hamsterholme is a small asteroid that serves as a secret farm, run by the gnomes of Pyrespace, to raise giant space hamsters. Gnomes use their hamsters as beasts of burden, and, in a pinch, as a source of food. It is not a unique place, and can be used as a template for the dozens of such locations scattered across the Chain of Tears and other small bodies in the sphere. The asteroid itself is a lumpy, potato-shaped rock covered in tall grass growing amidst scattered boulders of various sizes. Amongst the rocks crawl all sorts of giant bugs. They're not giant in the monstrous sense; they're just really big compared to their "garden" varieties. A hastily constructed corral hidden amongst the rocks is used to house the dozen or so giant space hamsters, with a small shack—or a wreckship—used as living quarters for a pair gnomish hamster herders.
The reason these places are so secret is that giant space hamsters have been outlawed in Pyrespace by the elves of Perianth and humans of Quelya for over 600 years. This state of affairs occured during the early trade negotiatioins between elves and humans. The Quelyans, newcomers to the void and civilized society, needed wood and other supplies that wern't readily available on their islands; and the elves offered to trade Quelyan seafood for these supplies. The trade agreement was the first of its kind between the two peoples, and a big celebration was thrown in its honor on Perianth. People of all races were welcomed to witness the historic event.
During the ceremonies, several doppleganger jumping giant space hamsters made it past the guards, off the wreckship they were kept on, and wandered into the gathering hall. Polymorphing themselves into various elven and human dignitaries, they proceeded to put a strain on the fledgling relationship by parroting—being non-sentient, all they could do was read the subject's mind and speak random, expected responses—certain fears of betrayal held by both sides. (They also ate like pigs, and made complete fools of themselves.) The two races nearly came to blows before the matter was resolved, and an ammendment was quickly inked into the treaty calling for the extermination of all giant space hamsters—even the harmless miniature variety. From that day forth, patrols to find gnomish ranches, put down the hamster populations, and arrest the herders were sent out several times a year. A side-effect was that giff—a pair of which failed to guard the hamsters, lossing face with both elves and humans—have difficulty finding work in this sphere.
Though, today, this part of the treaty is only half-heartedly enforced, it is still common to see an elven warbird or human hammership patrolling the far reaches of Pyrespace looking these secret farms. It is an unpopular duty, so ships tend to be crewed by misfits and troublemakers that the wildspace navies want to get out of their hair for several months.
Humans, having long ago forgotten—or, at least, stopped caring about—the original slight, treat these "Hamster Hunts" as boring vacations. Some have even made contact with the herders, and provide intelligence on upcoming elven patrols. There are even a few members of this "Hamster Underground" who plan on starting a campaign to "Save the Hamsters" across Quelya and Perianth. Only time will tell how their plans turn out.
