The Islands of Pumii is a trio of so-called "Trojan asteroids" leading a major world. The islands are flat worlds, the largest 80 miles across while the two smaller islands are 50 miles across. The distance between the highest peaks on both sides is about 4 miles. A sea 2,500' thick unites the islands and brushes the edge of the atmosphere. The sea is surrounded by a layer of ice 100' thick, a solid ring that keeps the sea from touching the void. Interestingly, the ice is warm to touch, yet remains solid.
Spelljammers know Pumii more for the wares it produces than have been there. Pottery, statues, and copperware originate from these islands. Many tradesmen make Pumii a stopover on their trade routes.
Pumii has a pleasant, mild climate. At sea-level, the weather is balmy and humid, while the mountains are cooler and drier. There is no difference in seasons; crops grow year-round.
Pumii is seen as a trio of mountainous islands surrounded by a flat ocean. An egg-shaped atmosphere surrounds the planet, with clouds swirling about obscuring parts of the planet.
None. Though there are several islands, none are large enough to count as a continent.
Despite Pumii's small size, it has abundant and diverse life. All of it was imported aboard spelljammers and has gone native. Large creatures are scarce, but include cattle and some deer. There are over fifty species of rodents, many colorful birds, lemurs, and various insects. The top predators are leopards, lions, house cats (many that have gone wild), and dogs (including wild blink dogs). Forests are deciduous with ash, birch, oak, and fruit trees dominating.
Natives, no matter their race, are called Pumians. Goods that originate from Pumii are said to be Pumiran.
The humans and halflings of Pumii are farmers, working fields of wheat and barley, groves of olive trees, or fields of grapes. Halflings are particularly noted for their pottery skills, while humans tend excellent vineyards. Both races live in one of the nine towns, and work in the fields. Citizenship is gained through military service of 10 years and guarantees certain rights and privileges. Those that fail to gain their citizenship have few privileges and are relegated to the most degrading jobs. Only men can legally qualify for citizenship, although women have managed to serve their time to gain citizenship when their commanders have "looked the other way.
Dwarves live in the mountains, mining for copper, iron, nickel, and other less valuable metals. They are miners, coppersmiths, and laborers. The dwarves also run the hot springs in the mountains, famed for their healing and youth-preserving qualities. They rarely bother trying to gain citizenship, as they have little use for it.
The mountains are also home to a family of copper dragons that settled here perhaps 400 years ago. The dragons share a system of former mines that played out centuries ago. Pumians give tribute to the dragons, which in turn watch over the islands and will take wing to defend them from invasion. Like all copper dragons, they enjoy practical jokes of all sorts.
Pumii offers a veritable cornucopia of goods for sale. Its markets are well-stocked with wares and the citizens welcome traders from across the spheres. Copper mined from the mountains is forged into various good, mostly utilitarian. Clay taken from the riverbanks is used to create pottery. The largest urns are sold to passing spelljammers to be used to transport goods.
Agricultural exports include grain, olive oil, and four vintages of wine that originals solely on Pumii. Wine and olive oil are the primary exports of Pumii; pottery and copperware are added bonuses used to fill out a cargo hold. A bottle of Pumii wine can fetch as much as 1,000 gp on the open market, although most recent vintages fetch around 200 gp a bottle.
Pumii imports gold and silver (for currency, since it has no local sources of such metals); steel tools, weapons, and armor; and lumber. There are precious few trees in Pumii that are suitable for building, and they must be carefully managed.
The largest city is Pumj, a well-stocked spelljammer port. Almost anything required by a spelljammer can be found here. The docks district is surprisingly clean and well-patrolled; the Pumians believe (rightly) that the docks district is the lifeblood of their whole nation. Pumj also offers numerous well-lit cafes, taverns, and inns where a good meal, wine, and a night's rest are affordable. The slums of the city are conveniently located on the other side of Vin Hill, downwind and not visible from most of the city. Most legitimate trade is done at Pumj. Tariffs and taxes are fair, but not excessive. The city has ten hammerships for defending the docks and for patrolling the wildspace around Pumii.
Smugglers head towards Lanternbrook, a small port town located on the smallest island. Lanternbrook is run by the Onyx Glove, a thieves' guild that operates most of the crime on Pumii. Most nobles have been bribed to look the other way, but there are always efforts to crush this large and powerful group of smugglers, pick pockets, and extortionists.
Pumii began a thousand years ago. A spat between rival elemental lords escalated into a full-scale war, and the wildspace where Pumii is today was one of the battlegrounds. From nothingness, space erupted with conflicting elemental forces, air versus earth, fire versus water. As quickly as it began, the battle was over, leaving a trio of barren islands surrounded by sea and atmosphere.
The next century brought curious travelers and visitors. Few stayed long, but accidentally introduced plants and animals to the islands, which flourished in an environment without predators. A hundred years after its creation, Pumii had a thriving ecosystem.
Halfling settlers were the next to arrive. They took advantage of the rich soil and lush landscape. The first towns were built around successful halfling estates. They were quickly joined by humans also seeking fertile lands, and dwarves seeking metal to mine. Although the dwarves found few gems or gold, they discovered deep, almost never-ending veins of copper.
The islands were first unified by Pumj and Pumii, sibling diplomat and warriors. The pair wrote the laws that govern the islands and established the Senate to settle disputes. Pumj created an army of sorts to defend the islands. When the two finally passed away, a stable government was in place, one that remains to this date. In honor of the two, the nation took Pumii's name, and the largest city was named for Pumj.
Since those early days, Pumii has had its run of problems, ranging from pirates to plague to erupting volcanoes and invasion attempts. The people have weathered these and other storms, and now are enjoying a time of peace and prosperity.
None. Pumii does not have any moons or orbiting bodies.
Conflicts abound on the so-called Elemental Planes, but they rarely affect the Prime Material Plane, and even less so the great void known as wildspace. One conflict, however, has boiled over into wildspace, leaving behind many small worlds created by conflicting elemental forces.
The War of Burning Tides began as a dispute between two elemental lords over a game of cards. The quick thinking of an elemental lady prevented a full-scale war, instead shifting it to a series of “contest battles” to be fought in wildspace. The last battle has yet to be fought, so thus the war remains inconclusive.
The chief antagonists of the War of Burning Tides are Hurn the Brimstone Sultan and the Lunii Tidal Prince. Their two empires are deadlocked in the war, using wildspace as their battleground. They sometimes hire out other elementals as mercenaries, but Hurn and Lunii remain the key players in the war.
A monster of fire and glowing coals, Hurn is believed to be an extremely powerful Efreeti. He is constantly angry, though he can never really tell why.
Hurn was insulted and embarrassed when Lunii accused him of cheating. The fact that he *was* cheating only further embarrassed him, and he let his temper (and pride) get out of hand. He has almost completely forgotten why the War of Burning Tides was started, and that there’s a final battle to fight. He has bigger issues to worry about instead of some silly game…or so he tells himself.
Lunii is a tall, pale humanoid of great girth. His mood changes from calm and cold to a raving lunatic with the cycles of the moon.
Lunii was in one of his lunatic moods when he accused Hurn of cheating. Of course, Lunii was cheating as well, having slipped an illegal card in his deck. He also had a bit too much to drink that night, which only made things worse. Lunii constantly frets about the final battle, as he lost the last five battles in a row. He thinks that Hurn is cheating again, and refuses to finish the game until he has some edge over his rival.
This creature appears as a blue winged elf, not unlike a sylph. She has sapphire-blue hair that she dyes auburn. Brez wears a flowing, pastel dress, an act of defiance to irritate her mother (who constantly nags Bez; “why can’t you wear see-through silk garments like your sister?”).
Brez it the chief architect of the War of Burning Tides. It was her suggestion that the war be a series of contests fought in wildspace. Her reasons for tricking Hurn and Lunii into fighting their battles in wildspace instead of the Inner Planes are simple: she knew that a full-scale war would spill over into her own realm, causing a great deal of damage. By moving the war to a neutral ground, the Inner Planes escaped the worst of the conflict.
This elemental lord appears as a giant made of granite. He prefers long coats made of black leather.
Carbron is in charge of creating the battlefields for the War. He got sucked into this duty mainly because Brez asked him to, promising to allow him to court her. Naturally, he jumped on the proposition before he thought it through. Now, he’s stuck doing most of the grunt-work in the War, although he does now have several elemental ladies interested in him after he was seen with on several occasions with Brez on his arm.
Hailing from the Plane of Steam, Sheem is a lanky, clumsy humanoid. He is usually found hanging out with Carbron, who he hangs around with in hopes of meeting other powerful elemental lords.
For his part, Sheem has little to do with the War. He sometimes sells the services of his armies to one side or the other, but has little impact on the war. Generally, all of the other elemental lords use him to fetch them snacks and drinks and otherwise treat him as an unwanted kid brother that just won’t take a hint.
The War began over, of all things, a card game. Hurn, Lunii, Brez, Carbron, and Sheem (actually, Sheem was getting drinks and snacks for the lords) were playing a game of cards when Lunii accused Hurn of cheating. Embarrassed and insulted, Hurn returned the accusation with one of his own. As creatures of great pride, the argument turned to threats of war. Brez offered a compromise: the two would fight a series of battles in far-off places (namely, wildspace), where the damage would be minimal. After a set number of battles were fought, the winner of the majority of these conflicts would receive an apology from the loser. The terms were agreed to, and the war fought under these “civilized” terms.
There have been no less than 20 major battles. The battles usually begin with Carbron and Sheem creating a battlefield in the middle of space. Armies of fire and water teleport in and have at one another. Sometimes, mercenary forces are also used. The forces are almost even at the onset, with each general carefully choosing his troops to best counter the expected army of the opposing general. The winner is determined by a predetermined set of victory conditions, such as destroying certain units, holding key parts of the battleground, capturing banners, and the like.
After the battle, both sides pack up and leave. The battleground is simply left behind; usually, it becomes a minor world or asteroid cluster to be claimed later by natives to wildspace. Each side has won an equal number of battles; the last (and final) battle has yet to be fought; neither side is quite ready to fight it. Neither Hurn nor Lunii are willing to risk losing the last battle, and have found excuses to put it off for a thousand years.
The main purpose of the War of Burning Tides is to create all kinds of new minor worlds for spelljammers to visit. The DM is free to place these worlds wherever he chooses, and may adjust to the number of battles to suit his campaign (keep in mind that both sides have won an even number of battles, so the last battle determines the winner). Optionally, the DM may choose to fight the final battle, with the PCs as mercenaries for one side or the other. Such a conflict is beyond the scope of this article, but should be a truly vast and terrible battle (perhaps it creates a whole new, full-fledged world as the battleground, one a peer to Toril or Oerth).
