Trah

(aka Sunsedge)

inspired and organized by Terry Hawkins; world by Peter Mikelsons
document last updated on the 12th of August, 1999
Type: spherical earth body; mostly airless
Size: D (3500 mile diameter)
Day Length: 63 days (effective day length: 1001 days)
Year Length: 67 days

1. Physical Description

Trah, or Sunsedge as it is called by many space travelers, is a small, rocky world uncomfortably close to its system's primary fire body. Viewed from wildspace, it looks like a tan sphere streaked with black and red. On the night side, lava flows and volcanos form glowing yellow and red spots. Looking carefully, a visitor can see a blue-green band straddling the line between night and day (the "terminator").

1.1 Climate
Nights and days on Trah last quite a long time, with drastic effects on the climate. This is because the time it takes for the planet to rotate around its axis is almost the same as the time it takes for it to travel around the sun. Each "Trah-day" lasts about 1000 normal days. Areas facing the sun directly can be as hot as 160F, while the night side is generally below freezing, though seldom lower than 20F. Areas near the terminator are generally comfortable, around 70-90F. Temperatures can be somewhat higher in highly volcanic areas.

1.2 Geology
The volcanos have thrown up mountains on Trah, while the earthquakes have eroded them and created many cracks and rifts. The other main geographic feature are the massive craters on the surface, apparently left over from some ancient cataclysm. These features have hardly eroded at all, because there is virtually no atmosphere on Trah, and thus no wind and no rain.

1.2.1 Vulcanism
Volcanos and earthquakes are very common on Trah. There are hundreds of volcanos active at any time, spewing forth ash, rock, and lava. Several moderate mountain ranges have been formed by this activity. The lack of atmosphere means that ash and smoke do not travel far from their source before falling to the ground, but rocks can occasionally be projected many miles by explosive volcanos. Spelljammers traveling within 10 miles of Trah have a chance of being struck by a projectile equal to their ship's tonnage divided by 5 in percent, rounded up, per day. If struck, the ship takes 1d10-4 damage, plus it must save vs Fire at +4 or be set aflame. On the surface, minor earth tremors can be expected every day. There is a 5% chance per day of a major earthquake in any given area.

1.2.2 Mining
Trah is rich in most metals (though lacking gems), however there is little mining there. Tunneling is extremely hazardous, because the frequent earthquakes cause cave-ins. Some metal ores can be collected by surface mining, but this is made difficult by the extreme temperatures and the lack of atmosphere. As a result, only the desperate, insane, and tinker gnomes can be found mining on Trah.

1.3 Atmosphere
Trah is almost completely without atmosphere. Large objects still retain their air envelopes, exactly as they do in wildspace, even if they touch down on the surface. This mechanism seems to allow the airtrees to retain an air envelope (see below).

2. Life

2.1 Plants
Despite the harsh conditions, there is life on Trah. This is primarily centered around the Airtrees (known simply as trees by the natives). During the long nights and days on Trah, airtrees look like leathery eggs or pods, 6' to 10' in diameter. Two to three weeks before sunset, or one or two days before sunrise, the pod opens up and a tree-like plant unfurls out of it, extending to a height of 40'-80'. Its springy branches extend waxy, palm-sized leaves out to catch the sun.

As the leaves collect the first rays of sun, air begins to circulate through the open pod. If the air envelope around the tree was fouled, it will become good within 1-3 hours, depending on the intensity of sunlight. After this, the pod will fill up with clean water at about 100 gallons/minute until full. If water is removed, the pod will refill again. (Tribal elders of Trah claim that the tree uses energy from the sun to open connections to the elemental planes of air and water.) The size of the atmosphere is equivalent to that of a ship with as many tons as the tree has height in feet.

What happens next depends on whether the sun is rising or setting. If it is rising, then over the next week the tree will rapidly produce fruit. These seedy blue orbs are similar to oranges in flavor and texture, although with thinner skins. Two weeks after sunrise, the fruits will start dropping. By three weeks after sunrise, the tree will have furled itself back into its pod, and the pod will be sealed against the heat of the Trahlian "day." The air envelope remains around the tree, although if it becomes fouled the tree will not freshen it until sunset.

If the sun is setting, then the tree will produce flowers just as the last rays of sun leave it. These orchid-like blooms appear in many colors and patterns, and are considered exceptionally beautiful by many. The tree remains "up" for two to three weeks after sunset, maintaining the flowers, the air, and the water through the twilight. Then, over the course of a day or two, the tree refurls into its pod, and seals itself against the cold of night. Again, the air envelope remains but is not refreshed.

Besides airtrees, only simple, hardy plants survive on Trah. Inside the air envelope of each airtree, some grasses and weeds survive. They are watered when earthquakes shake water free of the tree pods. During the day and night, they become dormant. Outside the air envelopes, a few lichens can be found clinging to rocks.

Airtrees can be found everywhere on the planet, except within about 500 miles of the poles. They seldom grow on ridge lines, on peaks, or in deep canyons, where there is too much or too little sunlight.

2.2 Animals
Animal life is scarce on Trah. Insects can be found near trees, and small mammals, reptiles, and birds can be found near large concentrations of trees. All such animals have developed the ability to hibernate for hundreds of days, if they cannot survive the day or night.

In addition, Trah is plagued by non-corporeal undead, especially wraiths and shadows. These creatures roam wherever there is darkness on the planet. Such areas include the night side and the polar areas during winter (when the pole faces away from the sun, lasting about 17 out of every 67 days).

3. Native Peoples

Perhaps even stranger that the airtrees are the human natives of Trah. Constrained by an unbreakable curse, they travel west around Trah, endlessly chasing the sunset or fleeing the sunrise.

3.1 Background
According to their legends, the Trahlians were once a proud race that ruled the spheres. As evidence, they point to the ruined but gigantic ark ships found in the polar regions. But they committed a terrible crime against a god, so terrible that they claim not to know the crime or the god any more. As punishment, the ancestors of the natives were imprisoned on Trah. If they or any of their descendants were to leave the planet, they would perish.

This curse seems to still hold. If any Trahlian leaves the gravity well of Trah for more than 24 hours, he (or she) loses 1/7th of his hit points (round up). Every 24 hours, he loses another 1/7th. This loss cannot be healed. Once zero hp are reached, the Trahlian dies and cannot be restored to life, except on Trah. Hit point loss can be healed normally on Trah.

3.2 Attributes
Trahlians are normal humans, except for their curse, their exceptionally harsh environment, and their good looks. To survive their environment, they must be tough, so Trahlian characters receive a +2 bonus to constitution (maximum 18). All Trahlians have the non-weapon proficiency Survival: Trah. Their appearance is often judged beautiful by outsiders. They have deep brown skin, curly black hair, and little excess hair besides. Height is 2" above average for humans. Their skin is usually smooth and free of blemishes, even among the elderly. Eye color can be almost any hue. They would get a +2 to charisma, but they have a tendency towards stubbornness and xenophobia which negates that.

3.3 Culture
3.3.1 Nomadism
Move or die: that is the choice facing every Trahlian. They must remain within the region where the airtrees flourish, or suffocate and either freeze or roast. But by walking west, they can keep up with the terminator. At the equator, they must average 11 miles per day to keep up. Away from the equator, a somewhat lower pace can be kept.

Over the millennia, each tribe has developed a route circling the planet, thousands of miles long. Along each route they have planted airtrees, so that they can travel with an uninterrupted air supply. Sometimes volcanos or earthquakes disrupt the trees along a path. Sometimes an old, alternate route is available, or the tribe can attempt to dash through the dead zone using only their personal air supplies.

In addition to planting airtrees, they plant quick-growing grains and roots, to be harvested on the next pass. These and airtree fruits are their main sources of food. In addition, they have domesticated zebras, which provide power for their carts, milk, and meat.

One or two tribes have managed to get hold of spelljamming ships. Although they cannot use them to leave Trah, they can use them to quickly and easily move about the planet. Most Trahlians believe this offends the god who imprisoned them, pointing to the increase in earthquakes which seems to follow spelljamming Trahlians.

3.3.2 Magic
Although they have no Priests, every tribe has a few Wizards. Lacking stable laboratories for research, they have few advanced spells. Since large spellbooks are a burden, their selection of spells is usually meager. As a rule of thumb, do not select spells found outside the Player's Handbook, and allow no more than 5 spells per spell level. There are no specialist mages. Trahlian wizards above 9th level are very rare.

Magic items are rare as well, since the wizards lack permanent facilities for crafting them.

Mages on Trah are trained with the expectation that they will become the leaders and guardians of their tribes, so usually they are responsible and sober individuals.

3.3.3 Technology
Because they lack permanent dwellings and workplaces, Trahlian technology is fairly limited. They can work airtree wood quite well, making many sorts of tools, weapons, and vehicles from it. The weapons include war clubs and short bows with stone tipped arrows. The more warlike tribes make small wooden shields, as well as wicker armor that is equivalent to padded armor. Their vehicles are usually two or four wheel carts to be drawn by humans or zebras.

They have some limited metal working ability, which they use to make small items, such as arrowheads and knives. Iron knives are hard to make and highly prized. They make a fair number of silver weapons for fighting wraiths. Gold and silver are also used to make jewelry.

3.3.4 Politics
Trahlians are organized into tribes of 200-800 individuals. Each tribe travels together as a group, usually spread out over a mile or so. When they camp to rest, they will gather much more densely. Each tribe is ruled by a Chief, the eldest and highest level wizard (level 6-9. He or she usually has 1-4 assistant chiefs, who are level 1-6 magic users.

There are about 20 tribes. Of these, 13 travel in the sunset region, where the airtrees are in bloom longer. The other 7 travel in the sunrise region, which is smaller but has abundant fruit available. In each region, the paths of each tribe sometimes cross, allowing trade, communication, and exchange of members through marriage. However, some tribes have old feuds and these path crossings result in duels or outright battles over air space.

In addition to tribal meetings, once per Trah-day, those wizards who can teleport meet at a predetermined spot in the sunrise region. Here they discuss any major issues facing the tribes. If a tribe cannot send a representative, then the council will try to make arrangements for a representative to be brought. These meeting seldom feature open conflict between representatives of feuding tribes, although loud arguments are common.

The exception to these customs is of course the spelljamming Trahlians. They are excluded from most interactions with other tribes, including the sunrise council.

3.3.5 Religion
The Trahlians have no religion. They believe that the gods have forsaken them, and they are returning the favor. Their attitude towards visiting priests is indifferent at best and violently hostile at worst.

4. Spelljammers

Most spelljammers have little knowledge of Sunsedge, as there is little to draw them there and its natives cannot leave. Slavers (such as neogi and illithid) have no use at all for the place, since the Trahlians die after 1 week in the slave pits. The Trahlians are quite poor, so Arcane are never found there. No elves live there, so the IEN takes little interest. Some merchant traders make occasional stops, trading offworld worked goods for whatever Trahlian artistry can make out of airtrees. In a journey that takes a ship through the middle of the system, Trah can be a place for a knowledgeable captain to replenish his air supply.

5. Adventure Ideas

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