This is a teardrop-shaped moon with alternating spots of light and dark green, with patches of dark brown at the center.
Blueheart is a small, flat island of earth with the overall shape of a teardrop. Lowlands at the edges rise to rolling hills at the center of both sides. Blueheart is about 200 miles along its longest axis and 150 miles at the widest. It is twenty miles thick. Rivers empty into small lakes along its edges.
The whole of Blueheart is owned and run by the powerful Blue Hand Trading House. It runs the numerous sapphire mines that the moon is named for. Large quantities of raw, uncut sapphires are hauled from Blueheart to gemcutters around the Known Spheres. The moon is a magnet for poor miners from a hundred worlds, who come looking to strike it rich. Few truly strike it rich, but the Blue Hands make certain those that do become famous, ensuring a steady supply of eager workers.
Blueheart is tropical in climate. The days are hot and humid, while nights are cooler and drier. Hard rains occur every few weeks and last for about three days at a time. The underground is hotter still, with stagnant air that makes mine working dangerous and difficult.
Hope Hills: These foothills were mountains and fuming volcanoes in ancient times, worn down by the ages and erosion. They are located at the center of Blueheart’s northern face. Though gemstones are abundant, they are difficult to remove from the hardened rocks. Near the entrances of each of the dozen or so major mines is a large graveyard, filled with the bodies of those who perish in the mines. Though named the “Hope Hills” by the Blue Hand, miners know the area as the “Bonegrinder Hills” for the countless miners in the nearby graveyards.
Coastal Jungles: The flat lands at the edges of Blueheart are covered by lush rainforests and jungles. The edges of the forests have been cleared for cultivation, although the soil is poor and exhausted after only a few seasons. Jaguars and man-eating tigers stalk the jungles, making the area very dangerous.
Point Cindertop: The tallest mountain on the southern face is Cindertop, an extinct volcano that is about 2,300’ tall. The summit commands a view of four nearby sapphire mines, which is why the Blue Hands built a large fort there. Two full regiments of giff, a force of 200 giff warriors plus a like number of dependants, make up the garrison. Behind its solid stone walls are four great bombards and twenty smaller bombards.
Plants and animals native to a hot climate are suitable on Bluheart, especially those native to jungles and rolling hills. At the top of the food chain are big cats, especially jaguars and tigers. Dire versions of these creatures are rare, but not unknown.
Blueheart is a magnet for miners from a hundred worlds and almost as many races. Standard races, such as humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings are abundant, but just as common are half-orcs, true orcs, gnolls, kobolds, lizardmen, grommam, hadozee, giants, and even stranger races. All labor for the Blue Hands, in one fashion or another.
At the top of the society of Blueheart are mercane of the Blue Hand Trading House. Only four of these creatures are known to reside on Blueheart and almost always encountered at Grimharo. From their sequestered palaces they manage the entire moon. Rastipedes act as their trusted agents and upper management. Through their rastipede managers, the mercane micro-manage the moon to such a degree that they have absolute control over the moon’s economy. Behind the thick, grim walls of their palaces, the mercane live in absolute luxury, with hundreds of servants to cater to their every whim. Rumors claim that their quarters include a fanciful arcade, complete with an indoor canal and finely crafted arches, columns, and art galleries. Only their most trusted advisors, henchmen, and bodyguards are allowed access to this inner sanctum.
Below the mercane and rastipedes are regiments of giff mercenaries. No less than seven full regiments are deployed at Blueheart (two at Cindertop, three at Grimharo, and two at smaller forts). Several smaller giff companies are stationed at the various mining towns. The giff are hardened soldiers, fiercely enforcing whatever laws the Blue Hands decree. They are well-paid for their services, and are well-stocked with smokepowder and magical weapons. Their numbers are bolstered by companies of other races, although none are as effective or as powerful as the giff.
Low-rank managers and shopkeepers of all races make up the next rung on the social ladder. These are ruthless agents of the Blue Hands, scheming and grasping at whatever power and wealth they can accumulate. They encourage this constant backstabbing and scheming, as it keeps the moon firmly under their thumb.
At the bottom are the laborers. These are people who come to Blueheart for a host of reasons. Some are indentured servants, owing debts they cannot pay. Others are poor freemen seeking a better life. Others still are outcasts looking for their place in the universe. Most work in the dangerous mines in shifts which last two back-breaking weeks. Conditions in the mines are terrible at best, with deadly air, cave-ins, flooding, monster attacks and territorial spats between rival gangs are just some of their troubles. At the end of their shifts, the miners emerge at one of the many towns to spend their hard-earned wages at the taverns, gambling halls, and brothels before heading back into the mine for another two-week shift.
Because they work for the Blue Hands, prices and wages are set such that at the end of a hard day’s work, everyone ends up more in debt than at the start of the day. The Blue Hands are very good at concealing this by creating loopholes that can be exploited that allow some to truly “strike it rich”. The loopholes constantly change, of course, so that it is impossible to follow another’s footsteps to riches.
An unknown number of blue dragons inhabit the hills of Blueheart. These creatures act as special enforcers for the Blue Hands, dealing with any particularly troublesome business that might arise. The last time they were used was during an uprising at Tigertower, when miners seized control of several valuable mines and threatened to choke off the sapphire trade if they were not given better treatment and higher wages. A week later, the Blue Hands’ answered their ultimatum with a devastating blue dragon attack that leveled the town and killed the rebellious miners. This was merely the latest of a series of such attacks, all aimed at crushing rebellions in a swift and brutal manner. The lair of these dragons is unknown, but believed to hold great treasures of gold, magic, and gleaming sapphires.
Recently, agents and hired thugs of the Xaroth clan, a well-known beholder clan active in many illegal trades, have arrived and muscled their way into protection rackets and the smuggling of narcotic drugs. This local branch of the Xaroth is run by the beholder Xor-Xanu, more commonly known as Smokeye for his habit of chewing on enormous, lit cigars. Smokeye is a ruthless gangster who has hundreds of thugs at his disposal and dozens of officials in his pocket. The Blue Hands have yet to try to root him out, as he is actually a useful pawn to them. For his part, Smokeye has no interest in challenging the power of the Blue Hands, instead preferring to prey on the much more vulnerable laborers and shopkeepers.
The sapphire trade dominates Blueheart’s economy. Sapphires, rubies, and lesser gemstones are the primary and most valuable resources of the moon. The moon’s other resources, such as lumber, groves of fruit trees, and iron and copper deposits are exploited only so much as to support the sapphire mining. The Blue Hands have little interest in exploring what other resources the moon might have, as that would divert attention from the lucrative sapphire trade.
The moon primary import is passengers, bound to toil in the mines or in one of the businesses of the moon’s towns. Just as important are mining and building tools necessary to keep the mines operating. Traders should be warned that only Blue Hand ships may handle all sapphire shipments. Any ship that is discovered to have sapphires or rubies aboard risk being impounded by local officials and the crew arrested. Trials are brief and never fair; bribery has more to do with the outcome of a trial than guilt or innocence.
Every few weeks, a load of uncut gemstones is loaded aboard three heavily armed hammerships and flown to an unspecified harbor. An escort of four additional hammerships, crewed by crack giff marines and sailors, protect the treasure ships from harm. They fly in absolute secrecy, using cloaking helms and spells to evade any would-be pursers. Would-be pirates should be warned that these treasure fleets are fiercely guarded by fanatically loyal crews and the best weapons money can buy.
Grimharo (Small City, 7,300): Grimharo is heavily fortified and well-patrolled by several giff companies. The city has a large artificial lake used for water landings and a nearby field for ground-landing craft. The city is the local seat of power for the Blue Hands, where sapphires mined from the hills of Blueheart are taken before being shipped off-world on Blue Hand ships. The sapphire trade is tightly controlled to prevent smuggling. Six heavily armed squidships and four heavy hammerships guard the port. Only ships flying the Blue Hand flag may land at this port; independent ships are waved off and sent to the nearby towns.
Brokenridge (large town, 2,050): Brokenridge is an example of the many mining towns scattered across Blueheart. It is an unwalled town of just over two thousand souls that work the nearby mines. There is a small, man-made lake nearby where water-landing craft can set down and dock. The main road through town is Sin Street, and is lined by three brothels, several taverns and inns, a gambling hall, and a pit-fighting arena. Many buildings are in shoddy shape, the wood gray with age and neglect. It is a brawling, low-life hell-hole by all accounts, with corrupt locals constantly scheming and justice is determined by the fist and the sword. A local company of twenty giff and one hundred human mercenaries are just as likely to prey on the populous as anyone else.
For ages, Blueheart was an anonymous moon among many, with a small population of jungle-dwelling kobolds and troglodytes dwelling in the hills. The deposits of sapphires were first discovered by prospecting dwarves about three centuries ago. The clan set up mining operations, but the costs of protecting their mines from troglodyte attack proved too much, and they pulled up stakes nine years later. The nearly-destitute clan sold their stake to the Blue Hands. The greater resources of the Blue Hands made all the difference, and their mines proved very profitable. The troglodytes were handily defeated by giff mercenaries in a series of battles known as the Lizard-Slaying wars.
By the close of the Lizard-Slaying wars, towns popped up all across Blueheart, close to the mine entrances. New towns were built where new mines were discovered, and old towns were abandoned after the mines played out. The Blue Hands built fortresses at strategic points throughout the moon to guard their investments, garrisoned by giff mercenaries.
Soon after treasure fleets began departing Blueheart, pirates began plotting how to capture these riches for themselves. Several attempts were made, all ending in miserable failure. One pirate, the minotaur Blackhorn, did manage to muster more than twenty pirate ships for one attack and even managed to board and capture one treasure ship. Though he managed to escape the battle with his prize, over half of his ships were left burning in the void to the loss of only two escorting hammerships. Blackhorn was later forced to flee the Known Spheres upon pain of death, as the Blue Hands took great pains to hunt down and destroyed every pirate, buccaneer, and scalawag that took part in the raid. For weeks, the mangled bodies of the pirates hung from the gallows of a hundred ports as a stern warning to pirates everywhere.
It is rumored that the reason for the Blue Hands’ fury may have to do with specific sapphire that was aboard the ship Blackhorn discovered. It is claimed that a sapphire of unusual size and quality had been discovered. This sapphire was the Blueheart, as it was the size of a halfling’s heart, and only the slightest of cutting was required to create a gemstone of such magnificence that it would be the envy of every mercane in the Known Spheres. If true, it is entirely possible that Blackhorn was merely an agent of another mercane house. This would explain how, a relatively minor pirate, was able to muster the resources to assemble such a vast and powerful fleet in such a short time. The Blueheart, of course, remains merely a legend and dream of many adventurers.
The Shattered Spiders: In low orbit around Blueheart is a trio of broken deathspiders, the wreckage of a neogi raid on the moon. After the neogi rout, their ships were put on display as a macabre warning to any would-be attackers that the port can and will defend itself. Smugglers have set up shop in the shattered wrecks, although they must take care to avoid detection by local patrols. These smugglers, collectively known as The Pouch, make use of dragonflies and mosquitoes in their operations. The Pouch is very secretive about their operation, such that even the Blue Hands do not yet know its existence.
