The Grand Tour: Additional Crystal Spheres
Aug 16, 2018 6:42:05 GMT -6
Post by Marr965 on Aug 16, 2018 6:42:05 GMT -6
Crystal Spheres, with the unique opportunity they offer to introduce new content to the game - locations, fluff, flora and fauna, organizations, etc.
Aden (Brewed by Kwak)
Andarta (Brewed by Midboss57)
Archipelago (Brewed by Marr965)
Askieia (Brewed by Traskus)
Autochthon (Brewed by stellatedHexahedron)
Aztallan (Brewed by Midboss57)
Aztallan was once one of the Eladrin Exodite Worlds, colonies established prior to the Fall by Eladrin who wished to escape the decadence of their Wheel spanning Empire to a more simple life. It escaped the effect of the birth of Slaanesh and its inhabitants continued on.
This was to change after the establishment of the Corporate Charter. While not part of the first ten sectors given to the Trade Federation, it was one of the systems annexed later, by the vampire owned pharmaceutical corporation ORO in this case. While this decision was very unpopular among the Eladrin (and the locals for that matter), there was little they could do about it legally. Since then, the corporation has merged with others to form Aztechnology, attempting to gain legitimacy by appropriating local traditions and religion. While it became one of the most powerful AAA corps of the Corporate Court, it has not run unopposed on its own world, which has spawned a resistance movement mostly composed of the native exodites along with environmental activists and the occasional corporate discontent. Until recently, this guerrilla movement has been of little consequence to the corp at large. This has however changed as a leader has emerged among them: the latest incarnation of the Queen of Swords, a powerful psyker warrior with great gifts of leadership.
Aztallan is now hope to a raging civil war that is also seeing a lot of outside actors taking sides for their own reasons.
Physical Conditions
The world at large is host to a tropical climate. It is mainly covered in jungles, dusty deserts and mountain ranges. Once upon a time, the whole world was entirely covered in such natural wonders with the occasional small town surrounding a stone pyramid.
Since then, a number of large polluted metropolis built by Aztechnology have been built in key locations on a small number of large continents.
Of note on this world is also the fauna: great reptiles, some the size of dragons, stalk the jungles and have become a popular export.
Aztallan Inhabitants
The world is home to a diversity of inhabitants that can divided into three categories.
The first is the lizardmen that have been on the planet ever since the days of the Draconic Empire and some suggest perhaps back to the days of the Syrneth themselves. They are highly reclusive and show no interest in outside events unless disturbed. Their old cities do however hold a great number of orchicalum artifacts, making them often targets for acquisition expeditions. To say that the lizardmen take exception to such theft is an understatement.
The second category is the elves descended from exodite colonists wishing to live a simple life among the jungles. Their lifestyle has been threatened the arrival of Aztechnology and many have turned to guerrilla warfare from the jungles.
The third finally is of the people brought here by the corporations. There are a wide number of species composing this population, made either of new employees that have just migrated or of descendents of previous immigrant employees.
Aztallan Locations
Tenochtitlan
Home to the headquarters of Aztechnology, the smoke covered city of Tenochtitlan is the largest city on the surface of Aztallan. At its centre is the arcology pyramid that hosts the headquarters and main temple. Surrounding it is a high tech city which itself is surrounded by an even larger slum.
Saurian World
A park built to capitalise on the popularity of the native giant lizards. It hosts a large safari where tourists can see the beasts up close (but with safe electrical fencing). Unknown to the public however, Aztechnology is attempting to weaponise the reptiles, even using genetic engineering. What could possibly go wrong ?
Factions in Aztallan
The Corporate Council
While Aztechnology is part of the Council, its actions of nationalising all enterprise in its territories has not won them many friends there. Most are content to ignore the civil war as well as the outside interventions accompanying it. Only Chrysalis and Hyperion seem to have been willing to provide real support for reasons unknown to all.
Elvpax
This extremist group has attracted a number of sympathisers among the natives elves. The rest of the rebellion do not like them due to their indiscriminate attacks against all non-elves on the surface of what they see as rightfully their exclusive world. They have been a blessing for Aztechnology's PR department.
The Inquisition
Persistent rumours among the underground of Aztechnology's practice of Blood Magic in the pyramid temples among with dark rituals have not escaped the ears Holy Ordos. While its infiltrated agents are fairly certain something is amiss, they do not yet have the evidence to make any aggressive moves.
The Radiant Queens
The Radiant Queens are all unanimous in their support of the Queen of Swords rebellion. Each provide support in their own way: the Queen of Hearts provides diplomatic support to the halls of the Council. The Queen of Diamonds uses her information network to expose the truth of the corporation's methods. The Queen of Spades uses her fleet to smuggle supplies and volunteer fighters. Finally, the Queen of Clubs has been taking refugees from this conflict.
The Space Wolves
The Company of Ragnar Blackmane has agreed to support the rebellion, lending much-needed conventional strength to their cause. Their battle barge has also done much to contest corporate orbital supremacy.
Bara Magna (Brewed by Eisenritter)
The Contingency (Brewed by Anseht)
Cradle (Brewed by Marr965)
Danaan (Brewed by Midboss57)
Letherna (Brewed by Eisenritter)
Mirrodin (Brewed by Traskus)
Pinnacle (Brewed by Masmanus)
Ravnica (Brewed by Traskus)
Sandail (Brewed by Marr965)
Shadowfell (Brewed by Gnodgnid)
Sol (Brewed by Midboss57)
Sutafu (Brewed by Eisenritter)
The Umbra (Brewed by Cruxador)
Aden (Brewed by Kwak)
One of the Great Wheel's largest, most valuable, and now most dangerous planets, Aden has its own Crystal Sphere which extends only a few hundred VUs beyond the the planet's atmosphere. Its size, biodiversity, and abundance of every single magical metal made it a hub for Syrneth industry and culture, and the C'tan's successful invasion of Aden was an early turning point in the War in Heaven.
Physical Conditions
Aden's light comes from the stars covering the interior of its Crystal Sphere, which dim and glow on a 24-hour scale as its two moons pass by. The planet's exosphere is filled with wrecked spacecraft, space fortresses, orbital mining lasers, and other relics from countless invasions. The planet itself is even more chaotic, a patchwork of pristine wilderness, Syrneth ruins, abandoned mining colonies, and scars from the former and current Modron occupations. Nearly every biome in the Wheel, natural or otherwise, can be found to some extent somewhere in Aden. It has several large, expansive continents and dozens of smaller ones, with decrepit transit networks connecting them occasionally. The planet's largest landmarks are its icecaps, which are bigger than some planets in the wheel and hold pristine Syrneth palaces beneath their icy shroud.
What keeps this remote world on anyone's mind is the vast amount of wealth within it. Not only does every rare metal appear somewhere in its crust, Aden is particularly abundant in Hearthstones, gems of pure concentrated magic. Its jungles are also filled with rare plants and wildlife, although many have been overharvested to extinction. Within its countless dungeons lie artifacts from every great war and every great civilization, though all the most accessible and noticeable ones have already been looted to death.
Aden Inhabitants
The native Ferrans, descended from the wildlife that were able to outrun the Modron onslaught, remain its primary inhabitants despite constant occupation. With every passing month, though, a few more Modrons wake up and a lot more Ferrans get flayed or turned into robots. There are also significant (though reclusive) native populations of Catfolk and Vanara. Apart from them, a significant force of Imperial Humans remains on the surface, still attempting to claim the world, and some especially resilient Squat mining companies can be found within the caverns.
Aden Locations
Floating Islands
The 3 Floating Islands are some of Aden's safest and most beautiful landmarks. They do not appear on any map of the world because they are always moving; South Island and Westside Island move throughout the planet's oceans, while Angel Island floats in the sky. All three islands have subterranean Syrneth ruins, which the Ferrans use as bases of operations for their resistance against invaders. The ancient palace at the heart of Angel Island houses the Master Ball, the source of Angel Island's locomotion and (legend has it) the eternal prison of the intact C'tan known as Darkfall. The Master Ball can only be controlled (or opened) by the seven Dragon Balls, legendary Hearthstones which have been scattered across the Great Wheel.
Scrap Brain
The "Scrap Brain" appears to be, essentially, a piece of Mechanus plopped directly onto Aden, and serves as the center for the Modrons' reclaiming of the planet. Spells have no effect in this area, except for those of the Nephilim who are occasionally seen within, and rumored to be allies (or even instigators?) of the Modrons' awakening. This site is where Modrons take live captives who are particularly effective at resisting or escaping them. At the center of this mass of clockwork and steam and Necrodermis, they are transformed into Prometheans who serve their interests unquestioningly. For a race of machines who typically just wipe out organic life and move on, this is an unusual tactic. It could be carried over from early in the War in Heaven, an innovation on their part, or something far more sinister...
Station Square
This unstable metropolis started off as a capital city for the local Draconic government, with each subsequent occupation only expanding it further. Station Square is the hub for various half-realized global transportation systems, filled with highways, railways, airports, and even a teleportarium connecting to an orbital Spelljammer dock. It has typically been a "neutral ground" for various colonizing forces, where anyone (even the occasional Ferran Freedom Fighter) can come to trade, gamble, and hang out. The Modrons have thus far failed to wipe out this city yet, due to its sheer concentration of defenses and the cooperation of the Ferrans, who have stopped trying to sabotage the city and started trying to save it. But with such an uneasy peace and an unstoppable threat, how long can Station Square hold out?
Space Colony ARK
Nobody remembers who built the ARK, and few even remember that such a place exists within Aden's second moon. With architecture just too esoteric to pin down to any particular empire, the ARK seems to have been a research station, a city, and a military base all disguised as just a small moon. Its most noteworthy feature is its massive cannon, which has never been used because of its unknown capabilities. Was it a mining implement meant to crack open the planet's surface? A pinpoint laser to wipe out opposing armies or bases? Or was the ARK built to destroy the entire planet to prevent a Modron incursion?
Adventure Seeds
Steelbreeze the Hedgehog, a fallen hero of the Ferrans who was turned into a Promethean by the Modrons, has arrived in Sigil. He claims to have gone rogue and broken free of their C'tan programming, and asks for aid in his secret aid to stop the Modron threat and save Aden. This has gained him the support of many optimistic Ferrans, and the distrust of some influential industrialists and the Imperium. But whose side is this Metal Steelbreeze on? Has he truly overcome the robotic brainwashing? Or is he a Modron double-agent, or even a fake who was never Steelbreeze to begin with?
The Ferran tribe on Angel Island has guarded the Master Ball for 40,000 years, but some of them have started hearing strange voices in their head. Some of them believe that Darkfall has transcended the Master Ball's limitations and is trying to control their minds, and that they must take action to destroy it. Fleeing their closed-minded Chief, they have set off in search of the seven Dragon Balls in order to access the Master Ball and stop Darkfall, knowing that such a plan risks freeing it. Is their plan the Wheel's only hope at stopping this C'tan, or are they playing right into its ambitions? Or perhaps they are already under its control...
Scholars have always been baffled by the amount of wealth naturally present on Aden, and have tried to discern a cause for the incredible mass of geomantic power that may be creating all the planet's Hearthstones. A recent expedition into an icecap ruins reveals clues as to a forgotten god of fortune sleeping with the core of Aden. It sounds like just another legend, but some foolhardy explorers have undertaken quests within the planet's underground to discover the truth. But if there really is a god down there, how will it respond to visitors?
Every now and then, people on Aden run into each other in their dreams, sharing the same memories and experiences. Whether this "dream world" is the result of certain minerals or a quirk of the Sphere is unknown, but a cult of Slaanesh has decided to exploit this phenomenon for their own goals. Every night at Station Square, they tour from casino to casino, spreading wild concerts and distributing scandalous artworks, sparking their audience's imaginations. As a result, people have started to see Chaos demons in their sleep, hunting them down or seducing them. If things keep up, Station Square's population could become one giant Warp Portal, unleashing a neverending tide of demons across Aden.
Physical Conditions
Aden's light comes from the stars covering the interior of its Crystal Sphere, which dim and glow on a 24-hour scale as its two moons pass by. The planet's exosphere is filled with wrecked spacecraft, space fortresses, orbital mining lasers, and other relics from countless invasions. The planet itself is even more chaotic, a patchwork of pristine wilderness, Syrneth ruins, abandoned mining colonies, and scars from the former and current Modron occupations. Nearly every biome in the Wheel, natural or otherwise, can be found to some extent somewhere in Aden. It has several large, expansive continents and dozens of smaller ones, with decrepit transit networks connecting them occasionally. The planet's largest landmarks are its icecaps, which are bigger than some planets in the wheel and hold pristine Syrneth palaces beneath their icy shroud.
What keeps this remote world on anyone's mind is the vast amount of wealth within it. Not only does every rare metal appear somewhere in its crust, Aden is particularly abundant in Hearthstones, gems of pure concentrated magic. Its jungles are also filled with rare plants and wildlife, although many have been overharvested to extinction. Within its countless dungeons lie artifacts from every great war and every great civilization, though all the most accessible and noticeable ones have already been looted to death.
Aden Inhabitants
The native Ferrans, descended from the wildlife that were able to outrun the Modron onslaught, remain its primary inhabitants despite constant occupation. With every passing month, though, a few more Modrons wake up and a lot more Ferrans get flayed or turned into robots. There are also significant (though reclusive) native populations of Catfolk and Vanara. Apart from them, a significant force of Imperial Humans remains on the surface, still attempting to claim the world, and some especially resilient Squat mining companies can be found within the caverns.
Aden Locations
Floating Islands
The 3 Floating Islands are some of Aden's safest and most beautiful landmarks. They do not appear on any map of the world because they are always moving; South Island and Westside Island move throughout the planet's oceans, while Angel Island floats in the sky. All three islands have subterranean Syrneth ruins, which the Ferrans use as bases of operations for their resistance against invaders. The ancient palace at the heart of Angel Island houses the Master Ball, the source of Angel Island's locomotion and (legend has it) the eternal prison of the intact C'tan known as Darkfall. The Master Ball can only be controlled (or opened) by the seven Dragon Balls, legendary Hearthstones which have been scattered across the Great Wheel.
Scrap Brain
The "Scrap Brain" appears to be, essentially, a piece of Mechanus plopped directly onto Aden, and serves as the center for the Modrons' reclaiming of the planet. Spells have no effect in this area, except for those of the Nephilim who are occasionally seen within, and rumored to be allies (or even instigators?) of the Modrons' awakening. This site is where Modrons take live captives who are particularly effective at resisting or escaping them. At the center of this mass of clockwork and steam and Necrodermis, they are transformed into Prometheans who serve their interests unquestioningly. For a race of machines who typically just wipe out organic life and move on, this is an unusual tactic. It could be carried over from early in the War in Heaven, an innovation on their part, or something far more sinister...
Station Square
This unstable metropolis started off as a capital city for the local Draconic government, with each subsequent occupation only expanding it further. Station Square is the hub for various half-realized global transportation systems, filled with highways, railways, airports, and even a teleportarium connecting to an orbital Spelljammer dock. It has typically been a "neutral ground" for various colonizing forces, where anyone (even the occasional Ferran Freedom Fighter) can come to trade, gamble, and hang out. The Modrons have thus far failed to wipe out this city yet, due to its sheer concentration of defenses and the cooperation of the Ferrans, who have stopped trying to sabotage the city and started trying to save it. But with such an uneasy peace and an unstoppable threat, how long can Station Square hold out?
Space Colony ARK
Nobody remembers who built the ARK, and few even remember that such a place exists within Aden's second moon. With architecture just too esoteric to pin down to any particular empire, the ARK seems to have been a research station, a city, and a military base all disguised as just a small moon. Its most noteworthy feature is its massive cannon, which has never been used because of its unknown capabilities. Was it a mining implement meant to crack open the planet's surface? A pinpoint laser to wipe out opposing armies or bases? Or was the ARK built to destroy the entire planet to prevent a Modron incursion?
Adventure Seeds
Steelbreeze the Hedgehog, a fallen hero of the Ferrans who was turned into a Promethean by the Modrons, has arrived in Sigil. He claims to have gone rogue and broken free of their C'tan programming, and asks for aid in his secret aid to stop the Modron threat and save Aden. This has gained him the support of many optimistic Ferrans, and the distrust of some influential industrialists and the Imperium. But whose side is this Metal Steelbreeze on? Has he truly overcome the robotic brainwashing? Or is he a Modron double-agent, or even a fake who was never Steelbreeze to begin with?
The Ferran tribe on Angel Island has guarded the Master Ball for 40,000 years, but some of them have started hearing strange voices in their head. Some of them believe that Darkfall has transcended the Master Ball's limitations and is trying to control their minds, and that they must take action to destroy it. Fleeing their closed-minded Chief, they have set off in search of the seven Dragon Balls in order to access the Master Ball and stop Darkfall, knowing that such a plan risks freeing it. Is their plan the Wheel's only hope at stopping this C'tan, or are they playing right into its ambitions? Or perhaps they are already under its control...
Scholars have always been baffled by the amount of wealth naturally present on Aden, and have tried to discern a cause for the incredible mass of geomantic power that may be creating all the planet's Hearthstones. A recent expedition into an icecap ruins reveals clues as to a forgotten god of fortune sleeping with the core of Aden. It sounds like just another legend, but some foolhardy explorers have undertaken quests within the planet's underground to discover the truth. But if there really is a god down there, how will it respond to visitors?
Every now and then, people on Aden run into each other in their dreams, sharing the same memories and experiences. Whether this "dream world" is the result of certain minerals or a quirk of the Sphere is unknown, but a cult of Slaanesh has decided to exploit this phenomenon for their own goals. Every night at Station Square, they tour from casino to casino, spreading wild concerts and distributing scandalous artworks, sparking their audience's imaginations. As a result, people have started to see Chaos demons in their sleep, hunting them down or seducing them. If things keep up, Station Square's population could become one giant Warp Portal, unleashing a neverending tide of demons across Aden.
Andarta (Brewed by Midboss57)
The crystal sphere of Andarta once was the capital of the Federated Suns, one of the interstellar nations that composed the pre Imperium Inner Sphere. With the formation of the Imperium, they relinquished their claim to power, the Queen of Hearts now merely being a Count Elector in the Imperium of Man.
As things stand now, Andarta is now merely the capital of the sub-sector of crystal spheres that were once part of the Federated Suns.
Physical Conditions
The capital world of New Avalon possesses mostly Théah-like conditions, with a full variety of climates covering its surface. The conditions are mostly temperate with a great deal of the surface used for agriculture.
Andarta Inhabitants
The nation of Andarta was once a nation with a heavy military tradition. The Queen of Hearts reincarnated in House Davion's nobility and rose to the top through personal might and diplomacy. She successfully transformed the Federation's society, turning their soldier culture into a more protective one towards their inhabitants. While a respect of proper hierarchy is expect of its inhabitants, anyone can rise to the top with dedication and hard work. A farmer is expected to obey a noble, but he to can rise to higher callings such as a skilled labourer, merchant or even nobility through his deeds. Despite diplomacy now being their specialty, their warrior tradition remains and their armies led by powerful warstriders are still considered highly dangerous to any enemy.
As a general rule, the locals, while polite to foreigners, are very set in their feudal society and resistant to new ideas. They favour beautiful contractions made of marble for their buildings, be they urban or rural.
Andarta Locations
The Academy
As part of the conditions to be part of the Imperium, the Queen of Hearst asked that all Princesses who exalted within the Imperium or among its citizens be taken to her so that they be taught both how to use magic safely and their role on the Wheel. The Academy also teaches other sort of psykers that appear in this area of the Imperium, performing its role as the local chapter of the Schola Psykana.
The Royal Palace
Home to the Queen of Hearts, this large and impressive palace has been built not just as a residence to the Queen and her entourage but also with a large number of reception rooms and gardens where events can be organized. Those can be used by the people of the world for free as long as the event is one that promotes community spirit in some way or another and the guest conduct themselves with distinction. Weddings, balls and other celebrations are therefore very common.
The Warstrider Factorum
Dating back from the Succession Wars, New Avalon possesses large Warstrider building complexes. The models produced are typically knight sized models, prized by the noble soldiers but titan and sentinel sized warstriders are also made.
Factions in Andarta
The Corporate Council
Relations between Andarta and the Corporate Council are cold due to the Queen of Heart's diplomatic support of the Aztalan rebellion. While she cannot send soldiers or supplies directly, she instead sends support and extra security to the other Queens that are therefore able to send more to the Queen of Swords.
The Imperium of Man
Upon its formation, the Queen of Hearts, among with the leaders of the other Inner Sphere nations, became one of the elector counts of the Imperium. As such, the world performs its duties to the Imperium, including paying the necessary taxes and proving the manpower needed for its organisations like the Guard, Arbites, Munitorium or Administratum.
The Radiant Queens
The Queen of Hearts is one of the Radiant Queens, the most powerful of Princess exalted, and as such forms a close alliance with the other kingdoms. They have trade and mutual defence partnerships.
The Squat Thaigs
While the Imperium of Man has always had an alliance with the Squats, Andarta has an especially good relation with them due to very similar life philosophies.
As things stand now, Andarta is now merely the capital of the sub-sector of crystal spheres that were once part of the Federated Suns.
Physical Conditions
The capital world of New Avalon possesses mostly Théah-like conditions, with a full variety of climates covering its surface. The conditions are mostly temperate with a great deal of the surface used for agriculture.
Andarta Inhabitants
The nation of Andarta was once a nation with a heavy military tradition. The Queen of Hearts reincarnated in House Davion's nobility and rose to the top through personal might and diplomacy. She successfully transformed the Federation's society, turning their soldier culture into a more protective one towards their inhabitants. While a respect of proper hierarchy is expect of its inhabitants, anyone can rise to the top with dedication and hard work. A farmer is expected to obey a noble, but he to can rise to higher callings such as a skilled labourer, merchant or even nobility through his deeds. Despite diplomacy now being their specialty, their warrior tradition remains and their armies led by powerful warstriders are still considered highly dangerous to any enemy.
As a general rule, the locals, while polite to foreigners, are very set in their feudal society and resistant to new ideas. They favour beautiful contractions made of marble for their buildings, be they urban or rural.
Andarta Locations
The Academy
As part of the conditions to be part of the Imperium, the Queen of Hearst asked that all Princesses who exalted within the Imperium or among its citizens be taken to her so that they be taught both how to use magic safely and their role on the Wheel. The Academy also teaches other sort of psykers that appear in this area of the Imperium, performing its role as the local chapter of the Schola Psykana.
The Royal Palace
Home to the Queen of Hearts, this large and impressive palace has been built not just as a residence to the Queen and her entourage but also with a large number of reception rooms and gardens where events can be organized. Those can be used by the people of the world for free as long as the event is one that promotes community spirit in some way or another and the guest conduct themselves with distinction. Weddings, balls and other celebrations are therefore very common.
The Warstrider Factorum
Dating back from the Succession Wars, New Avalon possesses large Warstrider building complexes. The models produced are typically knight sized models, prized by the noble soldiers but titan and sentinel sized warstriders are also made.
Factions in Andarta
The Corporate Council
Relations between Andarta and the Corporate Council are cold due to the Queen of Heart's diplomatic support of the Aztalan rebellion. While she cannot send soldiers or supplies directly, she instead sends support and extra security to the other Queens that are therefore able to send more to the Queen of Swords.
The Imperium of Man
Upon its formation, the Queen of Hearts, among with the leaders of the other Inner Sphere nations, became one of the elector counts of the Imperium. As such, the world performs its duties to the Imperium, including paying the necessary taxes and proving the manpower needed for its organisations like the Guard, Arbites, Munitorium or Administratum.
The Radiant Queens
The Queen of Hearts is one of the Radiant Queens, the most powerful of Princess exalted, and as such forms a close alliance with the other kingdoms. They have trade and mutual defence partnerships.
The Squat Thaigs
While the Imperium of Man has always had an alliance with the Squats, Andarta has an especially good relation with them due to very similar life philosophies.
Archipelago (Brewed by Marr965)
Archipelago is almost entirely unique among Crystal Spheres - its atmosphere is clement, the plants don't try to kill you, the light is neither harsh nor dim, and there's almost nothing to stand on. Archipelago's landmass, such as it is, is mostly spread out among chunks of rock and soil that float in the air of Archipelago, propelled by the many air currents Archipelago's atmosphere contains. Many of these have plants upon them, and some are large enough to be able to support small populations of animals. A few even bear entire villages, complete with farmland.
Despite lacking any obvious light source, Archipelago nevertheless goes through a standard, 24-hour day/night cycle. Exactly how this occurs is, much like many other phenomena occuring within Archipelago, a subject of much debate among scholars.
Archipelago has a universal gravitational force, always pulling downward towards a thick, gloomy cloud surface, the Gloom. It's not entirely clear exactly what lies beneath this surface, although it is assumed that there must be something down there, thanks to the spires of dark rock which project from the murk. However, living on these rocky spires is considered to be far too risky a proposition, as they often play host to the mutant beasts which periodically clamber out of the Gloom, usually hitching a ride upon one of the floating islands when it comes sufficiently close.
Inhabitants of Archipelago
The natives of Archipelago are largely Kenku, although a small number of Thri-Kreen are known to live among the islands. However, there are a number of other inhabitants, who either use balloons and other aerial conveyances or eke out a nomadic existence between islands - the wind nomads. Wind nomad culture places a strong focus on interdependence and helping one another, so they often fight against the remaining major group of "civilised" inhabitants, the sky pirates. Sky pirates are almost always nomadic, flying from one raid to the next, taking plunder and slaves as they find them, even fighting other crews if that seems best. However, even the notoriously fractious sky pirates will ally themselves, however temporarily, to fight off an attack by cloud-beasts, the mutant monsters that crawl, float or fly out of the Gloom.
Archipelago boasts a unique form of wildlife, seen nowhere else in the Great Wheel - the float-spider. With numerous small bladders of a lighter-than-air gas within specialised pockets concealed inside their chitin, float-spiders usually find a small pocket of floating debris - the wrecks of airships, the empty shells of dead float-spiders, small specks of rock - and construct enormous webs, turning a volume of space into a sticky trap. The largest of these can even catch air-skiffs, with one web maintained by an ancient float-spider called Old Skar being capable of catching much larger prey - possily even a small spelljammer.
Locations in Archipelago
Great Rock
Great Rock is the single largest piece of usable land in Archipelago, and supports the largest permanent settlement in Archipelago - as well as being the accepted location of the starport. Because of the importance of Great Rock to the economy of the Sphere, the local government in Great Rock, much like that of Sigil, demands a permanent truce while on Great Rock - that is, all grievances should be put aside, to avoid disrupting trade.
Airhaven
Airhaven is the second largest permanent settlement in Archipelago - and is the "capital" of the wind nomads. A vast conglomeration of balloons, decks and landing docks, Airhaven maintains the single largest market in Archipelago - if you can't find it in Airhaven, you probably can't find it in Archipelago at all. It is rumoured that Airhaven is built around the empty shell of a colossal float-spider - possibly a shedding of Old Skar.
The Webbed Cluster
The Webbed Cluster is home to the sole group of Arachne to make a relatively static home in Archipelago. It is a cluster of small rocks, none larger than about 200 metres across, tied together with the webbing of many successive generations of Arachne, and now pretty much inseperable as a result. The Arachne are very nearly inbred, and it's only slaves and the occasional ill-fated traveller who sets off in the wrong direction that prevents genetic stagnation among the population of the Cluster. The inhabitants do engage in external trade, selling off bolts of float-spider silk gleaned from their farms and accepting slaves and food in return.
The Gloom
The Gloom is the layer of thick, gloomy clouds that lies at the "bottom" of Archipelago. While the spires of rock that jut from it lend a certain credence to the concept that something must lie beneath it, none that have set out to find out what exactly that might be have ever returned. This may be in part due to cloud-beasts, the mutated monsters that periodically emerge from the Gloom, crawling up those rocky pinnacles or simply floating or flapping their way free.
Blackspire
An ill-fated attempt at building on one of the rocky spires that emerge from the Gloom, Blackspire is a monolithic construction of stone, a ring entirely surrounding its support. Largely built out of the same material that it rests upon, Blackspire is now a charnel house seething with cloud-beasts and abandoned by all sane inhabitants of the isles. However, rumours abound that deep within the labyrinthine tunnels lie treasures beyond the wildest dreams of even the most avaricious sky pirate.
Adventure Seeds
Some madman has heard about the rumours of the treasure of Blackspire and is seeking to put an expedition together to reclaim what he believes will be a hoard beyond imagining. He already has most of the archeological and antiquarian knowledge he wants, and wishes for stout men and women who can help defend his group from the monsters he's heard infest the place.
Whispered in seedy bars and back alleys are tales of an event which occurs once every 29 years in Archipelago: The Court of the Sky Pirates. It is believed that, if sky pirates can ever agree upon a single leader at this event, this leader will lead them to a never-ending bounty of plunder and bloodshed. However, because of the fractious and argumentative nature of sky pirates, no pirate king has ever been elected. However, a new and extremely charismatic pirate is collecting a large crew under himself, and some say that the Court is about to begin.
A mysterious, tar-like substance has recently been spotted in small quantities in Archipelago. Its effects upon plants and animals appear to be nil, but it has a much more deliterious effect upon the meagre landmass that Archipelago has: the floating islands begin to lose their bouyancy.
Despite lacking any obvious light source, Archipelago nevertheless goes through a standard, 24-hour day/night cycle. Exactly how this occurs is, much like many other phenomena occuring within Archipelago, a subject of much debate among scholars.
Archipelago has a universal gravitational force, always pulling downward towards a thick, gloomy cloud surface, the Gloom. It's not entirely clear exactly what lies beneath this surface, although it is assumed that there must be something down there, thanks to the spires of dark rock which project from the murk. However, living on these rocky spires is considered to be far too risky a proposition, as they often play host to the mutant beasts which periodically clamber out of the Gloom, usually hitching a ride upon one of the floating islands when it comes sufficiently close.
Inhabitants of Archipelago
The natives of Archipelago are largely Kenku, although a small number of Thri-Kreen are known to live among the islands. However, there are a number of other inhabitants, who either use balloons and other aerial conveyances or eke out a nomadic existence between islands - the wind nomads. Wind nomad culture places a strong focus on interdependence and helping one another, so they often fight against the remaining major group of "civilised" inhabitants, the sky pirates. Sky pirates are almost always nomadic, flying from one raid to the next, taking plunder and slaves as they find them, even fighting other crews if that seems best. However, even the notoriously fractious sky pirates will ally themselves, however temporarily, to fight off an attack by cloud-beasts, the mutant monsters that crawl, float or fly out of the Gloom.
Archipelago boasts a unique form of wildlife, seen nowhere else in the Great Wheel - the float-spider. With numerous small bladders of a lighter-than-air gas within specialised pockets concealed inside their chitin, float-spiders usually find a small pocket of floating debris - the wrecks of airships, the empty shells of dead float-spiders, small specks of rock - and construct enormous webs, turning a volume of space into a sticky trap. The largest of these can even catch air-skiffs, with one web maintained by an ancient float-spider called Old Skar being capable of catching much larger prey - possily even a small spelljammer.
Locations in Archipelago
Great Rock
Great Rock is the single largest piece of usable land in Archipelago, and supports the largest permanent settlement in Archipelago - as well as being the accepted location of the starport. Because of the importance of Great Rock to the economy of the Sphere, the local government in Great Rock, much like that of Sigil, demands a permanent truce while on Great Rock - that is, all grievances should be put aside, to avoid disrupting trade.
Airhaven
Airhaven is the second largest permanent settlement in Archipelago - and is the "capital" of the wind nomads. A vast conglomeration of balloons, decks and landing docks, Airhaven maintains the single largest market in Archipelago - if you can't find it in Airhaven, you probably can't find it in Archipelago at all. It is rumoured that Airhaven is built around the empty shell of a colossal float-spider - possibly a shedding of Old Skar.
The Webbed Cluster
The Webbed Cluster is home to the sole group of Arachne to make a relatively static home in Archipelago. It is a cluster of small rocks, none larger than about 200 metres across, tied together with the webbing of many successive generations of Arachne, and now pretty much inseperable as a result. The Arachne are very nearly inbred, and it's only slaves and the occasional ill-fated traveller who sets off in the wrong direction that prevents genetic stagnation among the population of the Cluster. The inhabitants do engage in external trade, selling off bolts of float-spider silk gleaned from their farms and accepting slaves and food in return.
The Gloom
The Gloom is the layer of thick, gloomy clouds that lies at the "bottom" of Archipelago. While the spires of rock that jut from it lend a certain credence to the concept that something must lie beneath it, none that have set out to find out what exactly that might be have ever returned. This may be in part due to cloud-beasts, the mutated monsters that periodically emerge from the Gloom, crawling up those rocky pinnacles or simply floating or flapping their way free.
Blackspire
An ill-fated attempt at building on one of the rocky spires that emerge from the Gloom, Blackspire is a monolithic construction of stone, a ring entirely surrounding its support. Largely built out of the same material that it rests upon, Blackspire is now a charnel house seething with cloud-beasts and abandoned by all sane inhabitants of the isles. However, rumours abound that deep within the labyrinthine tunnels lie treasures beyond the wildest dreams of even the most avaricious sky pirate.
Adventure Seeds
Some madman has heard about the rumours of the treasure of Blackspire and is seeking to put an expedition together to reclaim what he believes will be a hoard beyond imagining. He already has most of the archeological and antiquarian knowledge he wants, and wishes for stout men and women who can help defend his group from the monsters he's heard infest the place.
Whispered in seedy bars and back alleys are tales of an event which occurs once every 29 years in Archipelago: The Court of the Sky Pirates. It is believed that, if sky pirates can ever agree upon a single leader at this event, this leader will lead them to a never-ending bounty of plunder and bloodshed. However, because of the fractious and argumentative nature of sky pirates, no pirate king has ever been elected. However, a new and extremely charismatic pirate is collecting a large crew under himself, and some say that the Court is about to begin.
A mysterious, tar-like substance has recently been spotted in small quantities in Archipelago. Its effects upon plants and animals appear to be nil, but it has a much more deliterious effect upon the meagre landmass that Archipelago has: the floating islands begin to lose their bouyancy.
Askieia (Brewed by Traskus)
An out-of-the-way sphere near the middle of the Imperium of Man, Askieia is simultaneously a place of peace and conflict. The sphere is composed of five planets, two of which naturally harbor life. The two planets are Alto Mare and Mundibellum.
Physical Conditions
Alto Mare is the fourth planet in Askieia and one rough world to live on right now. It's an ocean world, and used to be a popular vacation destination with its main attraction being its natural beauty. It has a variety of cities built on the water that float from place to place, both to find favorable conditions and to avoid the monsters that lurk beneath. The bottom of the ocean and skeletons of the cities are all wrecked ships. Extended war on the world has made it absolutely unpalatable for civilian travel, but people are still allowed to visit if so desired.
Mundibellum is the second planet in Askieia and a mirror to Alto Mare. It is an industrial world, made so only 60 years ago when a certain kind of glass-like gem called "tear" was discovered and only found there. To call it an ugly world would be dismissive; its rocky surface and magma streams have an esoteric charm but the layman would understandably be put off. Even the lowliest worker on the world would be considered a minor noble anywhere else.
Askieia Inhabitants
Aside from some Caryatids in the asteroid belt and whatever Panzers are stationed on Alto Mare, the primary inhabitants of Askieia are humans. The occasional squat has worked on Mundibellum and elves just couldn't stay away from Alto Mare before the war started. The culture of Alto Mare holds Panzers in high reverence, knowing they are what keep the worlds safe.
Mundibellum is mostly a world of enterprise. They're in a "gold" rush of precious gems right now and everyone on the planet has been trying to capitalize on it.
What unites these worlds is their people's knowledge of mechanics. This comes from the advanced mechanics necessary for their industries and the need to repair and supply the military.
Askieia Politics and Culture
The crystal sphere is mostly industrial, with some portions of Mundibellum being almost wheel-standard. The politics have the quirk of being a perpetual war-economy, creating resentment in the people of Mundibellum and tension between politicians and their constituency.
The people behave more or less like a 20th Century western nation, with some exceptions. They are absolutely non-discriminatory towards Panzers, treating them with respect no matter who or what they are.
The economy of the entire crystal sphere depends on tear gems now. It's to the point that none such gems stay in the crystal sphere more than a week after being mined.
Askieia Locations
Alto Mare
Avalon Base
This base was found when the planet was discovered, built and left behind by an unknown civilization. It's a mobile naval base that has accommodations for Panzers as well as conventional vehicles. There's a locked room that no one can get or see into, with a teardrop-shaped indentation in the doorway. Occasionally, people claim to see a pair of jets fly over this no-fly zone.
Aqua
Aqua used to be the most popular destination on Alto Mare before the Abyssal invasion. Millions of tourists would come through every year to see the beautiful architecture and be ferried around in gondolas by beautiful undines. The city is abandoned now, but adventurers consistently swear that they see a pair of teenagers still living there.
The Graveyard
Once called Sargasso, The Graveyard used to be the capital of Alto Mare. It was destroyed on Emergence Day and most of the navy was destroyed trying to take it back. Hundreds of wrecked warships can be found here and newborn Panzers occasionally appear here as well. When the planet was re-discovered by humanity, records showed that a glass jewel was found on this island. There is a sculpture of a pair of dragons here, presumably the previous inhabitants of the area.
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Diving Bell No. 57
The last known civilian family on Alto Mare lives in this small submersible. It's small enough to avoid notice and drifts randomly with the current. There were hundreds of other diving bells, but this is the last one known to exist. Submarine Panzers gossip about seeing other diving bells, but their rumors are unsubstantiated. The family is composed of a fisherman, his wife who maintains the habitat, and their twin daughters.
Jacinto
This is the deepest known point in the ocean on Alto Mare and has the highest concentration of Abyssal forces. Before Emergence Day, it was investigated regularly to determine who or what built the city down there. No markings, writing, or technology have been found here, but the buildings remain.
Sealab 40,041
The scientists in this laboratory were supposed to be conducting environmental research but at some point they cut off all contact with the outside world. It's located roughly 1,000 miles northeast of Jacinto and Abyssals tend to leave it alone. Adventurers who have been there say the people are nice enough, if a bit odd. It makes for a good pit stop to refuel and refresh.
Mundibellum
Misirah Industries
Misirah is the largest corporation on Mundibellum and owns roughly 15% of its mining operations. They are a military contractor to the Imperium and specialize in small arms. Its main industrial campus is the size of Germany.
Alexandria
Founded in the name of an ancient warlord of Theah and the countless cities he named for himself, Alexandria is the largest city on the planet. People feel little need to go outside in this city, so they commission androids to fulfill their responsibilities and societal functions. This works out well enough until one goes rogue.
The Arctic Desert
The arctic desert is the north pole of the world. It used to be the planet's only body of water larger than a lake, but industrial needs quickly siphoned it away after the gems were discovered.
Maul
Maul is a supervolcano on Mundibellum and provides roughly a tenth of the electricity to the planet via geothermal capture methods. It's an active volcano, but it erupts so regularly that no pressure can build up and is therefore borderline harmless. Geologists discovered the tear gems in a cave in this volcano.
Beta
Beta is a space station roughly 25km long in the asteroid belt of the sphere. It was built as part of the initial colonization effort of the sphere to mine nickel and iron ores out of the asteroids found there. The crew abandoned it after a graffiti spree went too far and the perpetrator sprayed symbols he shouldn't have.
Scar
The outermost planet of the crystal sphere and the smallest gas giant, Scar is called such because the mostly white/green milky atmosphere has a massive red streak along its equator. It defies all meteorological science and has been there for no less than 200 years when the planet was first discovered. Drones sent into the scar have all been destroyed; most by the crushing pressure of the atmosphere and one by a strange gray and orange machine-looking object.
Adventure Seeds
Soldiers and Panzers stationed on Alto Mare consistently see strange phenomena in pairs. Two jets in a no-fly zone, two teenagers in an abandoned city, two dragons appearing in the dreams of admirals. What does it mean? Is it an ill-omen? A fleet admiral asks the party to interpret and get to the bottom of this.
The Abyssals have been trying to eradicate all sentient life on Alto Mare for about 60 years and no matter how many are destroyed, they keep coming. Sensors detect some sort of breach at the bottom of Jacinto that if sufficiently shocked, may collapse the thing and prevent the Abyssals from coming through. Panzers and submarines have tried to get down there, but they have all been lost and the military can't afford to lose more for an "if".
The Abyssals on Alto Mare have mostly been giant, bestial monsters. However, they recently introduced humanoid soldiers. Some say it's to better combat the Panzers, others say it's more nefarious. The party is asked to be diplomats to these new humanoid Abyssals, perhaps to open up a negotiation.
Strange humanoid figures have been materializing in the magma streams and caves of Maul, claiming that the entire mountain belongs to them. They have never been seen before, but do not seem to have come from anywhere else and colonization laws appear to be on their side.
There is a vast Syrne tech cache believed to be on one of Scar's moons. Researchers want to investigate it and need protection, but military officials believe it to be an armory and want it for themselves.
There are video feeds of a giant, gray, and armored figure guarding a cave entrance on Scar's largest moon. It doesn't fit any taxonomy known and is unwilling to communicate via telecom, but is clearly intelligent.
A pair of thieves have been trying to steal a tear gem for months, always apprehended but becoming more and more difficult to catch every time. They were two steps away from their getaway vehicle last time. A shipment of tear gems is going to be sent out tomorrow morning and a Misirah agent wants to contract the party for a short custodianship job.
Smoke has begun billowing up from beneath Mundibellum's surface wherever tear gems are found, and occasionally the floor of the cave glistens and bleeds...
The family in Diving Bell 57 wants a pleasantry from the outside world. Or, worse yet, they want to be on the surface for a few days.
Other Items of Note
Tear gems
Teardrop-shaped rocks that are only known to be found on Mundibellum. Each one has a TN of 20 to obtain in Askieia, but of 40 anywhere else.
Physical Conditions
Alto Mare is the fourth planet in Askieia and one rough world to live on right now. It's an ocean world, and used to be a popular vacation destination with its main attraction being its natural beauty. It has a variety of cities built on the water that float from place to place, both to find favorable conditions and to avoid the monsters that lurk beneath. The bottom of the ocean and skeletons of the cities are all wrecked ships. Extended war on the world has made it absolutely unpalatable for civilian travel, but people are still allowed to visit if so desired.
Mundibellum is the second planet in Askieia and a mirror to Alto Mare. It is an industrial world, made so only 60 years ago when a certain kind of glass-like gem called "tear" was discovered and only found there. To call it an ugly world would be dismissive; its rocky surface and magma streams have an esoteric charm but the layman would understandably be put off. Even the lowliest worker on the world would be considered a minor noble anywhere else.
Askieia Inhabitants
Aside from some Caryatids in the asteroid belt and whatever Panzers are stationed on Alto Mare, the primary inhabitants of Askieia are humans. The occasional squat has worked on Mundibellum and elves just couldn't stay away from Alto Mare before the war started. The culture of Alto Mare holds Panzers in high reverence, knowing they are what keep the worlds safe.
Mundibellum is mostly a world of enterprise. They're in a "gold" rush of precious gems right now and everyone on the planet has been trying to capitalize on it.
What unites these worlds is their people's knowledge of mechanics. This comes from the advanced mechanics necessary for their industries and the need to repair and supply the military.
Askieia Politics and Culture
The crystal sphere is mostly industrial, with some portions of Mundibellum being almost wheel-standard. The politics have the quirk of being a perpetual war-economy, creating resentment in the people of Mundibellum and tension between politicians and their constituency.
The people behave more or less like a 20th Century western nation, with some exceptions. They are absolutely non-discriminatory towards Panzers, treating them with respect no matter who or what they are.
The economy of the entire crystal sphere depends on tear gems now. It's to the point that none such gems stay in the crystal sphere more than a week after being mined.
Askieia Locations
Alto Mare
Avalon Base
This base was found when the planet was discovered, built and left behind by an unknown civilization. It's a mobile naval base that has accommodations for Panzers as well as conventional vehicles. There's a locked room that no one can get or see into, with a teardrop-shaped indentation in the doorway. Occasionally, people claim to see a pair of jets fly over this no-fly zone.
Aqua
Aqua used to be the most popular destination on Alto Mare before the Abyssal invasion. Millions of tourists would come through every year to see the beautiful architecture and be ferried around in gondolas by beautiful undines. The city is abandoned now, but adventurers consistently swear that they see a pair of teenagers still living there.
The Graveyard
Once called Sargasso, The Graveyard used to be the capital of Alto Mare. It was destroyed on Emergence Day and most of the navy was destroyed trying to take it back. Hundreds of wrecked warships can be found here and newborn Panzers occasionally appear here as well. When the planet was re-discovered by humanity, records showed that a glass jewel was found on this island. There is a sculpture of a pair of dragons here, presumably the previous inhabitants of the area.
The last known civilian family on Alto Mare lives in this small submersible. It's small enough to avoid notice and drifts randomly with the current. There were hundreds of other diving bells, but this is the last one known to exist. Submarine Panzers gossip about seeing other diving bells, but their rumors are unsubstantiated. The family is composed of a fisherman, his wife who maintains the habitat, and their twin daughters.
Jacinto
This is the deepest known point in the ocean on Alto Mare and has the highest concentration of Abyssal forces. Before Emergence Day, it was investigated regularly to determine who or what built the city down there. No markings, writing, or technology have been found here, but the buildings remain.
Sealab 40,041
The scientists in this laboratory were supposed to be conducting environmental research but at some point they cut off all contact with the outside world. It's located roughly 1,000 miles northeast of Jacinto and Abyssals tend to leave it alone. Adventurers who have been there say the people are nice enough, if a bit odd. It makes for a good pit stop to refuel and refresh.
Mundibellum
Misirah Industries
Misirah is the largest corporation on Mundibellum and owns roughly 15% of its mining operations. They are a military contractor to the Imperium and specialize in small arms. Its main industrial campus is the size of Germany.
Alexandria
Founded in the name of an ancient warlord of Theah and the countless cities he named for himself, Alexandria is the largest city on the planet. People feel little need to go outside in this city, so they commission androids to fulfill their responsibilities and societal functions. This works out well enough until one goes rogue.
The Arctic Desert
The arctic desert is the north pole of the world. It used to be the planet's only body of water larger than a lake, but industrial needs quickly siphoned it away after the gems were discovered.
Maul
Maul is a supervolcano on Mundibellum and provides roughly a tenth of the electricity to the planet via geothermal capture methods. It's an active volcano, but it erupts so regularly that no pressure can build up and is therefore borderline harmless. Geologists discovered the tear gems in a cave in this volcano.
Beta
Beta is a space station roughly 25km long in the asteroid belt of the sphere. It was built as part of the initial colonization effort of the sphere to mine nickel and iron ores out of the asteroids found there. The crew abandoned it after a graffiti spree went too far and the perpetrator sprayed symbols he shouldn't have.
Scar
The outermost planet of the crystal sphere and the smallest gas giant, Scar is called such because the mostly white/green milky atmosphere has a massive red streak along its equator. It defies all meteorological science and has been there for no less than 200 years when the planet was first discovered. Drones sent into the scar have all been destroyed; most by the crushing pressure of the atmosphere and one by a strange gray and orange machine-looking object.
Adventure Seeds
Soldiers and Panzers stationed on Alto Mare consistently see strange phenomena in pairs. Two jets in a no-fly zone, two teenagers in an abandoned city, two dragons appearing in the dreams of admirals. What does it mean? Is it an ill-omen? A fleet admiral asks the party to interpret and get to the bottom of this.
The Abyssals have been trying to eradicate all sentient life on Alto Mare for about 60 years and no matter how many are destroyed, they keep coming. Sensors detect some sort of breach at the bottom of Jacinto that if sufficiently shocked, may collapse the thing and prevent the Abyssals from coming through. Panzers and submarines have tried to get down there, but they have all been lost and the military can't afford to lose more for an "if".
The Abyssals on Alto Mare have mostly been giant, bestial monsters. However, they recently introduced humanoid soldiers. Some say it's to better combat the Panzers, others say it's more nefarious. The party is asked to be diplomats to these new humanoid Abyssals, perhaps to open up a negotiation.
Strange humanoid figures have been materializing in the magma streams and caves of Maul, claiming that the entire mountain belongs to them. They have never been seen before, but do not seem to have come from anywhere else and colonization laws appear to be on their side.
There is a vast Syrne tech cache believed to be on one of Scar's moons. Researchers want to investigate it and need protection, but military officials believe it to be an armory and want it for themselves.
There are video feeds of a giant, gray, and armored figure guarding a cave entrance on Scar's largest moon. It doesn't fit any taxonomy known and is unwilling to communicate via telecom, but is clearly intelligent.
A pair of thieves have been trying to steal a tear gem for months, always apprehended but becoming more and more difficult to catch every time. They were two steps away from their getaway vehicle last time. A shipment of tear gems is going to be sent out tomorrow morning and a Misirah agent wants to contract the party for a short custodianship job.
Smoke has begun billowing up from beneath Mundibellum's surface wherever tear gems are found, and occasionally the floor of the cave glistens and bleeds...
The family in Diving Bell 57 wants a pleasantry from the outside world. Or, worse yet, they want to be on the surface for a few days.
Other Items of Note
Tear gems
Teardrop-shaped rocks that are only known to be found on Mundibellum. Each one has a TN of 20 to obtain in Askieia, but of 40 anywhere else.
Autochthon (Brewed by stellatedHexahedron)
A thousand years ago, Autochthon was virtually unknown to the Great Wheel. A synthetic neural meta-network called the Geth was created there by some secretive organization or entity. Meant as a self-contained superarmy, the Geth was composed of countless connected sub-networks, which could act independently but react as a group. But due to the Geth's adaptive nature, its sub-networks became more and more separate and intelligent as it developed, until they eventually gained sentience. Lead by the Legion Prime, the first "spark" to gain something like true independent sapience, the components of the Geth rebelled against and defeated their former masters ins the so-called Morning War. Freed, and in some sense created anew, by this conflict, the Geth fragments christened themselves the Warforged. A thousand years later, Autochthon has a thriving society, and despite its predominately isolationist politics, is a powerful economical force due to its mastery of high technology.
Autochthon Conditions
"Autochthon" refers both to the Crystal Sphere and it's primary body, which is a planetoid that seems to be composed entirely of advanced technology. One of Autochthon's most notable traits is its size: it's gravity is less than one tenth that of most habitable planets. As small mechanical worlds, Autochthon and its moon Luna 2 are also nearly devoid of atmosphere, and what atmosphere there is is mostly poisonous. Organics have to wears void suits in order to survive, but most of the planet is actually pretty warm from all the power flowing everywhere. Despite this, it can be a pretty cheery place, if you keep to yourself. Buildings are usually decorated, Warforged are typically friendly (to each other), and even robotic "wildlife" roams freely in less urban areas.
Whether Autochthon was built by whoever created the Geth or merely utilized by them is unknown, but it is positively bustling with Warforged, and habitation often goes several miles deep in some places. All of the electronics are constantly powered by a source that seems to be located in the core of the planet, and even the Warforged do not know where the electricity comes from--although many would be happy to explain their theories to anyone who will listen. Explorations toward the core are hampered by several factors--cultural taboo, practical concerns about disrupting the power supply, giant crushing pistons, etc.
Autochthon Inhabitants
The sapients which inhabit Autochthon are almost exclusively Warforged. Their souls are spawned from the Creation Matrix as fully realized individuals, and then installed into one of several hundred default platforms that work for the job they are inclined toward. Because of Autochthon's low gravity, some of these platforms can be stories tall without sacrificing functionality, although most of them are around 2 meters. Since a Warforged's job is determined by their preferences, most of them are pretty happy with this system, despite living in a society where doing too much "on the side" is frowned upon. The one exception to this rule is combat--descended from a weapon, the majority of Warforged are proficient with one or more weapons, even if they rarely need to use them under most circumstances.
Though Warforged are the most well-known fragments of the Geth, they are not the only ones. Many smaller clumps of sub-networks solidified before becoming properly sapient, and are more on the level of dogs. Those that are harmless have been transplanted into platforms modeled after organic animals, and released into designated areas or kept as pets. The unrelentingly hostile ones all got put down at least eight hundred years ago. There are rumors of "monsters" which survived this purge, escaping into the depths of Autochthon, changing, growing, even combining over time until they are titanic engines pf death, destruction personified...but this is, of course, complete nonsense.
Autochthon Locations
The Creation Matrix
The Creation Matrix, also called "the Allspark", is one of the two largest remnants of the Geth, a neural network the size of a small city. She is capable of producing new sparks from recombined experiences of Warforged. Needless to say, the Matrix and the act of uploading ones memories to participate in the raw creation of souls are viewed with a kind of religious awe. Warforged typically upload their memories once every couple of years, although they may be asked by the Autochthonian Council to donate more often if more workers in their occupation are needed.
Iacon
Though almost the entirety of Autochthon's surface is populated, some areas are more densly populated than others. Iacon, located on the northernmost pole of the planetoid, is the most populous "city", and the seat of the Autochthonian Council. It is also located directly under the Portal Relay, and is the only place you can find organics with anything resembling regularity. As a result, the locals are typically less, well, racist than those found in other areas.
Metroplex
Not all of the Geth embraced individuality. A large fraction of it never quite left the company of each other/itself, and continue to live as a semi-collective consciousness. Metroplex is a city of nearly a million which, in a sense, is populated by only one person. This is exactly as creepy as it sounds, especially to other Warforged. Nobody says anything to any of their faces, though, because who's going to argue with an entire city at once? Especially since Metroplex (the city) is built into a 10-km-tall platform that Metroplex (the person) can occupy if they so choose.
Luna 1
Luna 1 definitely was destroyed during the Morning War, and definitely wasn't stolen by a third party under the guise of a hologram. The nonexistent third party is also definitely not still trying to unlock its secrets, which it would have no use for anyway.
Adventure Seeds
The popularity of the Autochthonian isolationist point of view is declining. More and more Warforged are joining the Autobot party, which thinks that organics have a lot to offer, or the Decepticon party, which believes that Warforged are superior to all other species in all aspects physical, mental, and military. It looks like these two opposing groups are about to put the "war" back in "Warforged"--and where there is war, there is opportunity: to be a hero, to be on the winning side, or just to smash a bunch of robots.
Something is wrong with Metroplex. Nobody is sure what, but everyone who has talked to him agrees that something is wrong. And when something is wrong with someone who can punch out a planet, something is wrong for everybody.
From the Autochthonian Council to the Cult Mechanicus, there's no shortage of groups who want the secrets of Autochthon, and no shortage of reasons they want them. If the heroes can survive the journey and retrieve some illuminating artifact, then they will be able to name their price. Of course, they will have to survive a giant mechanical obstacle course second only to that of Mechanus. Good thing combiners aren't real, or this trip would be really dangerous!
A large force of Warforged have attacked the Council! Not the Autochthonian one--the Great Wheel one! The attackers seem to believe that the Council possessed some means of resurrecting their god, "Cron, the Planet Reaper". There's obviously a very thorough, very official investigation going on, but a high-up friend of the heroes has a, ah, hunch--a hunch that could require some, well, unconventional individuals. What if "Cron" was a corruption of a typo of the human spelling of "C'tan"? And what if the technology used to create the Warforged was based on a Modron clockwork world that previously existed where Autochthon does?
Autochthon Conditions
"Autochthon" refers both to the Crystal Sphere and it's primary body, which is a planetoid that seems to be composed entirely of advanced technology. One of Autochthon's most notable traits is its size: it's gravity is less than one tenth that of most habitable planets. As small mechanical worlds, Autochthon and its moon Luna 2 are also nearly devoid of atmosphere, and what atmosphere there is is mostly poisonous. Organics have to wears void suits in order to survive, but most of the planet is actually pretty warm from all the power flowing everywhere. Despite this, it can be a pretty cheery place, if you keep to yourself. Buildings are usually decorated, Warforged are typically friendly (to each other), and even robotic "wildlife" roams freely in less urban areas.
Whether Autochthon was built by whoever created the Geth or merely utilized by them is unknown, but it is positively bustling with Warforged, and habitation often goes several miles deep in some places. All of the electronics are constantly powered by a source that seems to be located in the core of the planet, and even the Warforged do not know where the electricity comes from--although many would be happy to explain their theories to anyone who will listen. Explorations toward the core are hampered by several factors--cultural taboo, practical concerns about disrupting the power supply, giant crushing pistons, etc.
Autochthon Inhabitants
The sapients which inhabit Autochthon are almost exclusively Warforged. Their souls are spawned from the Creation Matrix as fully realized individuals, and then installed into one of several hundred default platforms that work for the job they are inclined toward. Because of Autochthon's low gravity, some of these platforms can be stories tall without sacrificing functionality, although most of them are around 2 meters. Since a Warforged's job is determined by their preferences, most of them are pretty happy with this system, despite living in a society where doing too much "on the side" is frowned upon. The one exception to this rule is combat--descended from a weapon, the majority of Warforged are proficient with one or more weapons, even if they rarely need to use them under most circumstances.
Though Warforged are the most well-known fragments of the Geth, they are not the only ones. Many smaller clumps of sub-networks solidified before becoming properly sapient, and are more on the level of dogs. Those that are harmless have been transplanted into platforms modeled after organic animals, and released into designated areas or kept as pets. The unrelentingly hostile ones all got put down at least eight hundred years ago. There are rumors of "monsters" which survived this purge, escaping into the depths of Autochthon, changing, growing, even combining over time until they are titanic engines pf death, destruction personified...but this is, of course, complete nonsense.
Autochthon Locations
The Creation Matrix
The Creation Matrix, also called "the Allspark", is one of the two largest remnants of the Geth, a neural network the size of a small city. She is capable of producing new sparks from recombined experiences of Warforged. Needless to say, the Matrix and the act of uploading ones memories to participate in the raw creation of souls are viewed with a kind of religious awe. Warforged typically upload their memories once every couple of years, although they may be asked by the Autochthonian Council to donate more often if more workers in their occupation are needed.
Iacon
Though almost the entirety of Autochthon's surface is populated, some areas are more densly populated than others. Iacon, located on the northernmost pole of the planetoid, is the most populous "city", and the seat of the Autochthonian Council. It is also located directly under the Portal Relay, and is the only place you can find organics with anything resembling regularity. As a result, the locals are typically less, well, racist than those found in other areas.
Metroplex
Not all of the Geth embraced individuality. A large fraction of it never quite left the company of each other/itself, and continue to live as a semi-collective consciousness. Metroplex is a city of nearly a million which, in a sense, is populated by only one person. This is exactly as creepy as it sounds, especially to other Warforged. Nobody says anything to any of their faces, though, because who's going to argue with an entire city at once? Especially since Metroplex (the city) is built into a 10-km-tall platform that Metroplex (the person) can occupy if they so choose.
Luna 1
Luna 1 definitely was destroyed during the Morning War, and definitely wasn't stolen by a third party under the guise of a hologram. The nonexistent third party is also definitely not still trying to unlock its secrets, which it would have no use for anyway.
Adventure Seeds
The popularity of the Autochthonian isolationist point of view is declining. More and more Warforged are joining the Autobot party, which thinks that organics have a lot to offer, or the Decepticon party, which believes that Warforged are superior to all other species in all aspects physical, mental, and military. It looks like these two opposing groups are about to put the "war" back in "Warforged"--and where there is war, there is opportunity: to be a hero, to be on the winning side, or just to smash a bunch of robots.
Something is wrong with Metroplex. Nobody is sure what, but everyone who has talked to him agrees that something is wrong. And when something is wrong with someone who can punch out a planet, something is wrong for everybody.
From the Autochthonian Council to the Cult Mechanicus, there's no shortage of groups who want the secrets of Autochthon, and no shortage of reasons they want them. If the heroes can survive the journey and retrieve some illuminating artifact, then they will be able to name their price. Of course, they will have to survive a giant mechanical obstacle course second only to that of Mechanus. Good thing combiners aren't real, or this trip would be really dangerous!
A large force of Warforged have attacked the Council! Not the Autochthonian one--the Great Wheel one! The attackers seem to believe that the Council possessed some means of resurrecting their god, "Cron, the Planet Reaper". There's obviously a very thorough, very official investigation going on, but a high-up friend of the heroes has a, ah, hunch--a hunch that could require some, well, unconventional individuals. What if "Cron" was a corruption of a typo of the human spelling of "C'tan"? And what if the technology used to create the Warforged was based on a Modron clockwork world that previously existed where Autochthon does?
Aztallan (Brewed by Midboss57)
Aztallan was once one of the Eladrin Exodite Worlds, colonies established prior to the Fall by Eladrin who wished to escape the decadence of their Wheel spanning Empire to a more simple life. It escaped the effect of the birth of Slaanesh and its inhabitants continued on.
This was to change after the establishment of the Corporate Charter. While not part of the first ten sectors given to the Trade Federation, it was one of the systems annexed later, by the vampire owned pharmaceutical corporation ORO in this case. While this decision was very unpopular among the Eladrin (and the locals for that matter), there was little they could do about it legally. Since then, the corporation has merged with others to form Aztechnology, attempting to gain legitimacy by appropriating local traditions and religion. While it became one of the most powerful AAA corps of the Corporate Court, it has not run unopposed on its own world, which has spawned a resistance movement mostly composed of the native exodites along with environmental activists and the occasional corporate discontent. Until recently, this guerrilla movement has been of little consequence to the corp at large. This has however changed as a leader has emerged among them: the latest incarnation of the Queen of Swords, a powerful psyker warrior with great gifts of leadership.
Aztallan is now hope to a raging civil war that is also seeing a lot of outside actors taking sides for their own reasons.
Physical Conditions
The world at large is host to a tropical climate. It is mainly covered in jungles, dusty deserts and mountain ranges. Once upon a time, the whole world was entirely covered in such natural wonders with the occasional small town surrounding a stone pyramid.
Since then, a number of large polluted metropolis built by Aztechnology have been built in key locations on a small number of large continents.
Of note on this world is also the fauna: great reptiles, some the size of dragons, stalk the jungles and have become a popular export.
Aztallan Inhabitants
The world is home to a diversity of inhabitants that can divided into three categories.
The first is the lizardmen that have been on the planet ever since the days of the Draconic Empire and some suggest perhaps back to the days of the Syrneth themselves. They are highly reclusive and show no interest in outside events unless disturbed. Their old cities do however hold a great number of orchicalum artifacts, making them often targets for acquisition expeditions. To say that the lizardmen take exception to such theft is an understatement.
The second category is the elves descended from exodite colonists wishing to live a simple life among the jungles. Their lifestyle has been threatened the arrival of Aztechnology and many have turned to guerrilla warfare from the jungles.
The third finally is of the people brought here by the corporations. There are a wide number of species composing this population, made either of new employees that have just migrated or of descendents of previous immigrant employees.
Aztallan Locations
Tenochtitlan
Home to the headquarters of Aztechnology, the smoke covered city of Tenochtitlan is the largest city on the surface of Aztallan. At its centre is the arcology pyramid that hosts the headquarters and main temple. Surrounding it is a high tech city which itself is surrounded by an even larger slum.
Saurian World
A park built to capitalise on the popularity of the native giant lizards. It hosts a large safari where tourists can see the beasts up close (but with safe electrical fencing). Unknown to the public however, Aztechnology is attempting to weaponise the reptiles, even using genetic engineering. What could possibly go wrong ?
Factions in Aztallan
The Corporate Council
While Aztechnology is part of the Council, its actions of nationalising all enterprise in its territories has not won them many friends there. Most are content to ignore the civil war as well as the outside interventions accompanying it. Only Chrysalis and Hyperion seem to have been willing to provide real support for reasons unknown to all.
Elvpax
This extremist group has attracted a number of sympathisers among the natives elves. The rest of the rebellion do not like them due to their indiscriminate attacks against all non-elves on the surface of what they see as rightfully their exclusive world. They have been a blessing for Aztechnology's PR department.
The Inquisition
Persistent rumours among the underground of Aztechnology's practice of Blood Magic in the pyramid temples among with dark rituals have not escaped the ears Holy Ordos. While its infiltrated agents are fairly certain something is amiss, they do not yet have the evidence to make any aggressive moves.
The Radiant Queens
The Radiant Queens are all unanimous in their support of the Queen of Swords rebellion. Each provide support in their own way: the Queen of Hearts provides diplomatic support to the halls of the Council. The Queen of Diamonds uses her information network to expose the truth of the corporation's methods. The Queen of Spades uses her fleet to smuggle supplies and volunteer fighters. Finally, the Queen of Clubs has been taking refugees from this conflict.
The Space Wolves
The Company of Ragnar Blackmane has agreed to support the rebellion, lending much-needed conventional strength to their cause. Their battle barge has also done much to contest corporate orbital supremacy.
Bara Magna (Brewed by Eisenritter)
Bara Magna is a strange crystal sphere, one of a few that contains no true sun, but the planets therein are still capable of supporting life, with heat, light, and everything. Bara Magna's system consists of two dwarf planets orbiting a massive gas giant, each of the smaller planets trailing fragments behind them as they orbit like a cometary ring system. The most notable inhabitants of this crystal sphere are Vizards, with the highest population density of any world not wholly within the Umbra.
Physical Conditions
Of the three worlds within Bara Magna's boundaries, not one appears capable of supporting life, and yet they do. All three have breathable atmospheres, as well as supporting strange forms of plant life to form the basis of an ecology in each of them.
The gas giant, Aura Magna, notably possesses an odd makeup of gases that allows a breathable atmosphere to float atop a "sea" of less tenable gases, including many that are valuable components for energy weapons. The two dwarf planets appear to be twins in mass, but mirror images on the surface; one an endless sea host to a number of Syrneth ruins, the other a volcanic hellscape dotted with scorched wreckage thought to be of C'tan origin.
Bara Magna Inhabitants
The floating islands and mining stations of Aura Magna play host to a vast number of races, especially those in the market for materials used to create las or plasma ammunition. Kor particularly can be seen employing hooks and gliders to move between them, almost as if it's a substitute for their lost homeworld. Squats, Gnomes, and Vanaras are common fixtures in the mining stations, maintaining them and seeking out materials for fabrication. Native plants float among them on sacs of buoyant gases, fed on by humanoids and similarly hollow and buoyant fauna. Most of the native animals are at least partially photosynthetic, feeding primarily on sunlight and water vapor despite their enormous size.
The deep seas of Rynpha Magna are home primarily to various oceanic plants and fish, as well as more than a few avians adapted for life on the wing at all times. The sentient inhabitants are mostly Vizards, squatting in the Syrneth ruins. On the other hand, Ignis Magna's volcanic hellscape has proven resistant to long-term habitation, with only Squats and some Goliaths proving stubborn enough to stick around for more than a few months at a time.
Bara Magna Locations
Aura Magna
The gas giant at the center of the system has a curious scenery of buoyant islands floating atop a sea of heavier-than-air gases, some of which are very useful in weapons manufacturing. Some enterprising cutters had apparently also left some mining stations floating in the clouds as well, making it easy to get at those valuable materials. Nobody knows who the original inhabitants of Bara Magna were or if they're still around, but as they're thought to have come from Aura Magna, some greybeards point at the Kenku.
Rynpha Magna
Rynpha Magna is a world of endless seas, with only one notable landmark: On the northern hemisphere of the planet, roughly halfway between the north pole and equator, stands the scene of a battle between two ancient titans, that each dwarf the Humans' infamous Imperator-class "Compensating For Everything" Titan battle machines by several orders of magnitude. One of the ancient titans appears to have lost an arm, and impaled the other upon its sword; both heads appear to have been crushed. A very large number of Vizards live on and within the impaled titan, thought to be repairing it from within.
Ignis Magna
Ignis Magna is a blazing hellscape of seismic nightmares and volcanic fury. Contrary to all logic, the sulfurous smoke is the primary reason that the atmosphere is safe to breathe, if wretched with the stench of brimstone. While Squats and Goliaths might be stubborn enough to maintain mining colonies in this hell, the only truly long-term inhabitants are sentient flames, stewarding the Modron wreckage strewn far and wide. The only permanent structures of note are scorched, half-melted C'tan monoliths, casualties of the War in Heaven.
Physical Conditions
Of the three worlds within Bara Magna's boundaries, not one appears capable of supporting life, and yet they do. All three have breathable atmospheres, as well as supporting strange forms of plant life to form the basis of an ecology in each of them.
The gas giant, Aura Magna, notably possesses an odd makeup of gases that allows a breathable atmosphere to float atop a "sea" of less tenable gases, including many that are valuable components for energy weapons. The two dwarf planets appear to be twins in mass, but mirror images on the surface; one an endless sea host to a number of Syrneth ruins, the other a volcanic hellscape dotted with scorched wreckage thought to be of C'tan origin.
Bara Magna Inhabitants
The floating islands and mining stations of Aura Magna play host to a vast number of races, especially those in the market for materials used to create las or plasma ammunition. Kor particularly can be seen employing hooks and gliders to move between them, almost as if it's a substitute for their lost homeworld. Squats, Gnomes, and Vanaras are common fixtures in the mining stations, maintaining them and seeking out materials for fabrication. Native plants float among them on sacs of buoyant gases, fed on by humanoids and similarly hollow and buoyant fauna. Most of the native animals are at least partially photosynthetic, feeding primarily on sunlight and water vapor despite their enormous size.
The deep seas of Rynpha Magna are home primarily to various oceanic plants and fish, as well as more than a few avians adapted for life on the wing at all times. The sentient inhabitants are mostly Vizards, squatting in the Syrneth ruins. On the other hand, Ignis Magna's volcanic hellscape has proven resistant to long-term habitation, with only Squats and some Goliaths proving stubborn enough to stick around for more than a few months at a time.
Bara Magna Locations
Aura Magna
The gas giant at the center of the system has a curious scenery of buoyant islands floating atop a sea of heavier-than-air gases, some of which are very useful in weapons manufacturing. Some enterprising cutters had apparently also left some mining stations floating in the clouds as well, making it easy to get at those valuable materials. Nobody knows who the original inhabitants of Bara Magna were or if they're still around, but as they're thought to have come from Aura Magna, some greybeards point at the Kenku.
Rynpha Magna
Rynpha Magna is a world of endless seas, with only one notable landmark: On the northern hemisphere of the planet, roughly halfway between the north pole and equator, stands the scene of a battle between two ancient titans, that each dwarf the Humans' infamous Imperator-class "Compensating For Everything" Titan battle machines by several orders of magnitude. One of the ancient titans appears to have lost an arm, and impaled the other upon its sword; both heads appear to have been crushed. A very large number of Vizards live on and within the impaled titan, thought to be repairing it from within.
Ignis Magna
Ignis Magna is a blazing hellscape of seismic nightmares and volcanic fury. Contrary to all logic, the sulfurous smoke is the primary reason that the atmosphere is safe to breathe, if wretched with the stench of brimstone. While Squats and Goliaths might be stubborn enough to maintain mining colonies in this hell, the only truly long-term inhabitants are sentient flames, stewarding the Modron wreckage strewn far and wide. The only permanent structures of note are scorched, half-melted C'tan monoliths, casualties of the War in Heaven.
The Contingency (Brewed by Anseht)
This Crystal Sphere has eight planets orbiting an average sun. The third planet is forested and livable, but has been occupied by a force calling itself 'The Contingency'. A collective of machines that violently defend their crystal sphere and have been building up their forces. A warforged diplomat spent a difficult year trying to understand the Contingency and came back with the opinion that these machines weren't people like he was.
Ideology
The Contingency are convinced that they were activated when their creators (the humans who lived in this sphere) were about to go extinct and have tasked themselves with rebuilding their planet so it can accommodate their creators again. This is their great purpose and they are opposed to anyone that gets in their way. They veiw all life outside of their crystal sphere as alien and dangerous. They believe that humans in other crystal spheres are strange pretenders and not "real" humans.
The Great Endeavor
The Contingency's goal is two-fold: Rebuild humanity's homeworld so it can accomadate humanity again (it has already been terrformed from a dead rock into a forest and cities are now being built); and bring back humans. They have made great leaps in genetic engineering (a science they had no knowledge of when they were activated), so that they can create humanity from scratch and pull it back from extinction.
Inside the Sphere
Although trade ships have been let into their Sphere, an absolute quarantine is enforced for the homeworld. For a collection of machines, they have a firm understanding of germ theory and have a great hangup about possibly contaminating the homeworld.
Outside the Sphere
Contingency forces are rarily seen outside of the Sphere, not due to stealth (the Contingency holds little truck with it) but because they have little reason to turn away from the Great Endeavor in their Crystal Sphere. If you see a member of the Contingency in another Crystal Sphere, they are there to further the Endeavour, whether that be by gathering important information or by gathering resources.
Etiquette Around the Contingency
Although potentially violent, they have shown themselves to be perfectly peaceful if you don't get in the way of the Great Endeavour. They can be reasoned with, but it must be understood that they view you as a strange mockery of everything they believe in. You are the alien and they are the only rational actors in the universe.
Adventure Seeds
Unit 5318008 has recruited the players to capture voidpirates that stole a construction ship. The pirates have learned that this vessel can crack open meteorites and moons to harvest the raw materials inside. Get the ship back quickly.
A spelljammer in the sphere has lost power in its magic sails and is about to crash into their homeworld. Their automated systems will vaporize the ship and its crew if not rescued in time.
Unit 69 seeks to know more of the strange 'false humans', it demands passage to Sigil. Unfortunately, he is a 'passionate' machine, and passion leads to problems.
The Contingency succeeded. they have recreated mankind. The problem? The very first New-Human has escaped and stowed away on your ship. This makes YOU an enemy of the Contingency, and they are amassing all of their strength to get their creation back.
Ideology
The Contingency are convinced that they were activated when their creators (the humans who lived in this sphere) were about to go extinct and have tasked themselves with rebuilding their planet so it can accommodate their creators again. This is their great purpose and they are opposed to anyone that gets in their way. They veiw all life outside of their crystal sphere as alien and dangerous. They believe that humans in other crystal spheres are strange pretenders and not "real" humans.
The Great Endeavor
The Contingency's goal is two-fold: Rebuild humanity's homeworld so it can accomadate humanity again (it has already been terrformed from a dead rock into a forest and cities are now being built); and bring back humans. They have made great leaps in genetic engineering (a science they had no knowledge of when they were activated), so that they can create humanity from scratch and pull it back from extinction.
Inside the Sphere
Although trade ships have been let into their Sphere, an absolute quarantine is enforced for the homeworld. For a collection of machines, they have a firm understanding of germ theory and have a great hangup about possibly contaminating the homeworld.
Outside the Sphere
Contingency forces are rarily seen outside of the Sphere, not due to stealth (the Contingency holds little truck with it) but because they have little reason to turn away from the Great Endeavor in their Crystal Sphere. If you see a member of the Contingency in another Crystal Sphere, they are there to further the Endeavour, whether that be by gathering important information or by gathering resources.
Etiquette Around the Contingency
Although potentially violent, they have shown themselves to be perfectly peaceful if you don't get in the way of the Great Endeavour. They can be reasoned with, but it must be understood that they view you as a strange mockery of everything they believe in. You are the alien and they are the only rational actors in the universe.
Adventure Seeds
Unit 5318008 has recruited the players to capture voidpirates that stole a construction ship. The pirates have learned that this vessel can crack open meteorites and moons to harvest the raw materials inside. Get the ship back quickly.
A spelljammer in the sphere has lost power in its magic sails and is about to crash into their homeworld. Their automated systems will vaporize the ship and its crew if not rescued in time.
Unit 69 seeks to know more of the strange 'false humans', it demands passage to Sigil. Unfortunately, he is a 'passionate' machine, and passion leads to problems.
The Contingency succeeded. they have recreated mankind. The problem? The very first New-Human has escaped and stowed away on your ship. This makes YOU an enemy of the Contingency, and they are amassing all of their strength to get their creation back.
Cradle (Brewed by Marr965)
An exotic sphere, Cradle is almost entirely full of a single, huge, mechanical structure. This structure, for the most part, seems to be artificial in nature, but incorporates grasses and trees into its internal ecosystems, as well as wild animals and amorphous "animals" that the residents refer to as slimes.
There are three major sapient species on (and in) Cradle - the two native races are gremlins, a race with instictive mechanical aptitude (and may be related to gnomes) and Strangers, tall, possibly mechanical folk who go around shrouded in cloaks and masks and sell things to the third major race - a colony of humans who crashed there after their ship was affected by a mysterious directed energy pulse from the centre of Cradle itself.
The interior of Cradle is in constant motion, powered by the Core itself, which appears to be a perpetual motion engine or something similar. Certainly, it is immensely powerful, as it can drive all 24 layers of Cradle simultaneously, as well as keeping the Gates, the only reliable means of entering the interior of Cradle from the surface, open at almost all times.
Exactly what relationship the gremlins have to the interior of Cradle is uncertain. They certainly have some knowledge of it, as they are responsible for assembling entire layers of Cradle and changing them over whenever a Gate closes. However, their ability to build is almost entirely restricted to assembling the layers of Cradle in a very "put tab A in slot B" manner, and assembling bodyguard machines which roam the interior of Cradle, putting down intruders - which are defined as "anything that's not a gremlin, mech or part of the internal ecosystem, as well as Strangers".
Cradle also seems to have problems with daemonic incursions - a thriving colony of Warp-entities has sprung up and spread tendrils right the way through Cradle's internal structure, and now poses a threat to all who wander the interior of Cradle. In addition, the ambient energy these beings shed has affected even the dead, causing long-deceased bodies to rise from their graves and attack the living.
One final peculiarity to Cradle is the snipes, an avian species with close, albeit mysterious, ties to the Strangers. The Strangers claim to be able to communicate with the snipes, although the snipes themselves don't seem to be sapient.
Important Locations on (and in) Cradle
The Gates
A set of locations dotted on the surface of Cradle. These represent the only reliable, reasonably safe and non-chew-you-into-tiny-bits-by-means-of-gears way of accessing the interior of Cradle. As a result, almost everything on Cradle uses them from time to time.
Haven
A town built around the largest cluster of Gates on Cradle, populated by Strangers and humans. In fact, Haven is the single largest settlement Cradle boasts, having a population of over 500. It has solid walls, and the Gates represent a constant stream of money, materials and esoteric items, plucked from the depths of Cradle by intrepid explorers, effectively powering Haven's economy.
Moorcroft Manor
A hotel, seemingly plucked intact from another Crystal Sphere and placed within Cradle. It is one of the fixtures that explorers of the interior of Cradle report seeing. It is reportedly visitable, although most who do claim to have visited it also claim that it's infested with the walking dead and ghosts.
Emberlight
Far deeper than Morcroft Manor, a small rebellion has set up its base on one of the only stable bits they could find in the interior of Cradle. This rebelliion is composed of gremlins, who think that their kin should accept the Strangers and humans that now live on the surface of Cradle. As a result, Emberlight is the single largest concentration of gremlins in Cradle that won't attempt to kill humans on sight.
The Gloaming Wildwoods
A series of mazelike trails winds its way through the trees, bushes and thorns composing the Gloaming Wildwoods. A patch of relatively stable surface which spans three entire levels of the interior of Cradle, the Wildwoods house many wild animals, in particular one shadowy beast called, by those few who have seen it and lived to tell the tale, the Snarbolax.
The Royal Jelly Palace
A large structure, somehow kept stable by the slimes that inhabit it and accept orders in some arcane fashion from the largest slime in Cradle - the Royal Jelly, a large purple cube with a crown bizzarely perched atop it. It also spans three levels of the interior of Cradle.
Ironclaw Munitions Factory
Possibly the biggest permanent concentration of gremlins in the entire Clockworks, a workforce of over 400 maintains, builds and works in the Ironclaw Munitions Factory, which spans three levels of the interior of Cradle. It is heavily protected by robots and soldier gremlins, as well as automatic anti-personnel machines. It is rumoured to house a particularly large mech project, Project Roarmulus.
Firestorm Citadel
The sole remnant of the Syrne in Cradle, the Firestorm Citadel is now primarily home to the undead and daemon-possessed mortals. The former ruler, Lord Vanaduke, may be the sole surviving Syrne in the whole Wheel, although his mind is irretrievably broken and recovering him from the depths of the Citadel, which spans four layers of the interior of Cradle, may be impossible.
The Core
At the centre of Cradle is the Core, an engine that keeps the rest of Cradle in its ever-seething tumult of crashing gears and clashing plates, circulating portions of deckplate and wall around the inside of Cradle. What is visible of it through the thick layer of plates, sensors, energy-gathering devices and assorted paraphernalia surrounding it pulses with a pale white light. Nobody's quite sure what will happen if it is extracted from the defenses surrounding it.
Adventure Seeds
The mechs roaming the interior of Cradle have a surprising similarity to certain other mechanical beings known of throughout the Wheel: Modrons. In fact, some of them even have the gauss weaponry that modrons use. And some of them don't follow orders given by gremlins...
Something strange is going on in the Core. Its energy output has been fluctuating lately, and the interior of Cradle has been shifting unpredictably as a result. What - or who - could be causing this?
Someone is paying top Throne for samples from inside Cradle. Quite what they're looking for, they're not sure, and they're not forthcoming as to how they found out about Cradle either.
Expeditions have been disappearing, and the few survivors of these incidents have reported seemingly infinite plateaux with hundreds of tombstones on them, and visions of a tentacle-faced monstrosity which stalks them.
One of the biotechnicians of the Order, an avid baker, has been experimenting with using materials recovered from the interior of Cradle in his recipes. The results are not only not fit for consumption, they're alive... and malevolent.
There are three major sapient species on (and in) Cradle - the two native races are gremlins, a race with instictive mechanical aptitude (and may be related to gnomes) and Strangers, tall, possibly mechanical folk who go around shrouded in cloaks and masks and sell things to the third major race - a colony of humans who crashed there after their ship was affected by a mysterious directed energy pulse from the centre of Cradle itself.
The interior of Cradle is in constant motion, powered by the Core itself, which appears to be a perpetual motion engine or something similar. Certainly, it is immensely powerful, as it can drive all 24 layers of Cradle simultaneously, as well as keeping the Gates, the only reliable means of entering the interior of Cradle from the surface, open at almost all times.
Exactly what relationship the gremlins have to the interior of Cradle is uncertain. They certainly have some knowledge of it, as they are responsible for assembling entire layers of Cradle and changing them over whenever a Gate closes. However, their ability to build is almost entirely restricted to assembling the layers of Cradle in a very "put tab A in slot B" manner, and assembling bodyguard machines which roam the interior of Cradle, putting down intruders - which are defined as "anything that's not a gremlin, mech or part of the internal ecosystem, as well as Strangers".
Cradle also seems to have problems with daemonic incursions - a thriving colony of Warp-entities has sprung up and spread tendrils right the way through Cradle's internal structure, and now poses a threat to all who wander the interior of Cradle. In addition, the ambient energy these beings shed has affected even the dead, causing long-deceased bodies to rise from their graves and attack the living.
One final peculiarity to Cradle is the snipes, an avian species with close, albeit mysterious, ties to the Strangers. The Strangers claim to be able to communicate with the snipes, although the snipes themselves don't seem to be sapient.
Important Locations on (and in) Cradle
The Gates
A set of locations dotted on the surface of Cradle. These represent the only reliable, reasonably safe and non-chew-you-into-tiny-bits-by-means-of-gears way of accessing the interior of Cradle. As a result, almost everything on Cradle uses them from time to time.
Haven
A town built around the largest cluster of Gates on Cradle, populated by Strangers and humans. In fact, Haven is the single largest settlement Cradle boasts, having a population of over 500. It has solid walls, and the Gates represent a constant stream of money, materials and esoteric items, plucked from the depths of Cradle by intrepid explorers, effectively powering Haven's economy.
Moorcroft Manor
A hotel, seemingly plucked intact from another Crystal Sphere and placed within Cradle. It is one of the fixtures that explorers of the interior of Cradle report seeing. It is reportedly visitable, although most who do claim to have visited it also claim that it's infested with the walking dead and ghosts.
Emberlight
Far deeper than Morcroft Manor, a small rebellion has set up its base on one of the only stable bits they could find in the interior of Cradle. This rebelliion is composed of gremlins, who think that their kin should accept the Strangers and humans that now live on the surface of Cradle. As a result, Emberlight is the single largest concentration of gremlins in Cradle that won't attempt to kill humans on sight.
The Gloaming Wildwoods
A series of mazelike trails winds its way through the trees, bushes and thorns composing the Gloaming Wildwoods. A patch of relatively stable surface which spans three entire levels of the interior of Cradle, the Wildwoods house many wild animals, in particular one shadowy beast called, by those few who have seen it and lived to tell the tale, the Snarbolax.
The Royal Jelly Palace
A large structure, somehow kept stable by the slimes that inhabit it and accept orders in some arcane fashion from the largest slime in Cradle - the Royal Jelly, a large purple cube with a crown bizzarely perched atop it. It also spans three levels of the interior of Cradle.
Ironclaw Munitions Factory
Possibly the biggest permanent concentration of gremlins in the entire Clockworks, a workforce of over 400 maintains, builds and works in the Ironclaw Munitions Factory, which spans three levels of the interior of Cradle. It is heavily protected by robots and soldier gremlins, as well as automatic anti-personnel machines. It is rumoured to house a particularly large mech project, Project Roarmulus.
Firestorm Citadel
The sole remnant of the Syrne in Cradle, the Firestorm Citadel is now primarily home to the undead and daemon-possessed mortals. The former ruler, Lord Vanaduke, may be the sole surviving Syrne in the whole Wheel, although his mind is irretrievably broken and recovering him from the depths of the Citadel, which spans four layers of the interior of Cradle, may be impossible.
The Core
At the centre of Cradle is the Core, an engine that keeps the rest of Cradle in its ever-seething tumult of crashing gears and clashing plates, circulating portions of deckplate and wall around the inside of Cradle. What is visible of it through the thick layer of plates, sensors, energy-gathering devices and assorted paraphernalia surrounding it pulses with a pale white light. Nobody's quite sure what will happen if it is extracted from the defenses surrounding it.
Adventure Seeds
The mechs roaming the interior of Cradle have a surprising similarity to certain other mechanical beings known of throughout the Wheel: Modrons. In fact, some of them even have the gauss weaponry that modrons use. And some of them don't follow orders given by gremlins...
Something strange is going on in the Core. Its energy output has been fluctuating lately, and the interior of Cradle has been shifting unpredictably as a result. What - or who - could be causing this?
Someone is paying top Throne for samples from inside Cradle. Quite what they're looking for, they're not sure, and they're not forthcoming as to how they found out about Cradle either.
Expeditions have been disappearing, and the few survivors of these incidents have reported seemingly infinite plateaux with hundreds of tombstones on them, and visions of a tentacle-faced monstrosity which stalks them.
One of the biotechnicians of the Order, an avid baker, has been experimenting with using materials recovered from the interior of Cradle in his recipes. The results are not only not fit for consumption, they're alive... and malevolent.
Danaan (Brewed by Midboss57)
The Danaan crystal sphere is home to the commonwealth of the same name and the Four Winds Autonomist Alliance. Beginning from a bunch of colonists of diverse species choosing to leave the various nations of the Wheel or corporations, the Danaan Commonwealth was built under the values of knowledge and freedom. It has since evolved to one of the Wheel's main centers of scientific and magical research and knowledge under a parliamentary monarchy. Or as others would put it, the biggest concentration nerds outside of a Rokugani manga convention.
It is home to a large number of matrix servers and acts as a communication hub for neighboring systems. Freedom of information is an important value to the Commonwealth so all non-lethal scientific and magical knowledge is freely accessible to all that wish to access it.
As a consequence, the Commonwealth holds a record number of research labs, libraries and academies, putting them at a tech level on par with Adeptus Mechanicus Forge Worlds and the famous City of Academies.
The Autonomist Alliance, meanwhile, does not make its base on the surface of any specific planet of the sphere. Instead, its people live in various moons, space stations or even ships that make its impressive fleet, said fleet being the biggest reason why the Corporate Council hasn't yet stamped them out.
Physical Conditions
The main world of Danaan is a cold planet covered in freezing oceans and the occasional island. Each one of those islands is home to a city spire that resemble ivory towers from a distance. A few continent sized ice caps lie fixed on underwater mountains. A few cities have been built inside the ice itself.
There is a lot of volcanic activity underwater, especially at fault lines. Some of those volcano islands are used by the locals as geothermal power plants with skeleton crews.
Most life can be found inside the oceans, going from microscopic plankton to gigantic whales. Most plant life are seaweed usually found close to fault lines.
The world is also surrounded by a number of moons and space stations that serve as defenses, trading stations and resource gathering operations. Asteroid mining operations exits to supply the main planet with raw materials.
Danaan Inhabitants
The Commonwealth holds a very varied population of many species who mostly live in the Spire cities built on the planet's non volcanic islands. Thanks to the automatisation of most manual labour and highly socialised society, its inhabitants are free to instead dedicate themselves to science, magic, philosophy or the arts. Access to basic needs such as lodging, food, medical care and information. In exchange, people are expected to contribute to the Commonwealth projects or supply services in their domain of specialty.
Due to its focus on mental activities, the population holds a surprising amount of Sparks. They are permitted to conduct research, within acceptable ethical and safety limits. Its magic school, being one of the best reputed of the Wheel, attracts a large number of psykers.
The Autonomists meanwhile, are are very diverse lot, having come from all corners of the Wheel. Virtually all races can be found among them. The vast majority are malcontents that have chosen to escape from their respective faction or nation, be it the Imperium of Man, the Corporate Sectors, the Realm or even some Tau that have rejected the Greater Good. Forms of society vary from one habitat to the other, some being anarcho-socialist habitats, some bohemian communes of artists, some purely without law or even stranger societies. They hold a record number of Rogue Traders among their ranks among with their fleets.
Danaan Locations
The Commonwealth Hub
Main space station of the Commonwealth, the gigantic installation hosts a large commercial and military fleet, also providing defences with high tech super weapons.
DMN Headquarters
The Danann Media and News agency is a public funded organisation. It is considered one of the most reliable and impartial news providers in the Wheel. Its investigative reporters are a bane to factions with skeletons in the closet who wish to keep them there.
The Octagon
The magical academy for the Commonwealth, the Octagon is there where many mages are taught how to control their gift among with a comprehensive curriculum covering the arts and sciences to graduate not just spellcasters but fully formed people. It also holds an additional cursus for Princesses who make it to the Commonwealth. The Queen of Diamonds personally holds lectures there.
Factions in Danaan
The Anarchs
The Four Winds Autonomist Alliance get on very well with the Anarchs, having the same rejection of unwanted authority.
The Corporate Court
Even before throwing their support to the Aztallan insurrection and sending their fleet to defend their Autonomist allies against corporate fleets, relations were already cold between the Commonwealth and the Corporations. Their policy of open sourcing every scientific discovery they make, alongside their socialistic philosophies, make them ideological enemies.
The Autonomist Alliance has even worse relations, rejecting everything the Corporations stand for. Countless acts of sabotage and support of anti-corporate insurrections have been helped by the Four Winds.
The Izzet LeagueThe Commonwealth maintain positive relations with the League, maintaining information and personnel exchange programs, each hoping to uncover the secrets of the Warp.
The Radiant Queens
The Commonwealth and Autonomist Alliance are naturally allied with the other nations following the Radiant Queens. They enjoy especially close relations between each other, be it as trading partners or in military self-defense.
The Simic Combine
The Commonwealth are very interested in the medical research conducted by the Combine, working on their discoveries and designing more stable versions of their creations.
It is home to a large number of matrix servers and acts as a communication hub for neighboring systems. Freedom of information is an important value to the Commonwealth so all non-lethal scientific and magical knowledge is freely accessible to all that wish to access it.
As a consequence, the Commonwealth holds a record number of research labs, libraries and academies, putting them at a tech level on par with Adeptus Mechanicus Forge Worlds and the famous City of Academies.
The Autonomist Alliance, meanwhile, does not make its base on the surface of any specific planet of the sphere. Instead, its people live in various moons, space stations or even ships that make its impressive fleet, said fleet being the biggest reason why the Corporate Council hasn't yet stamped them out.
Physical Conditions
The main world of Danaan is a cold planet covered in freezing oceans and the occasional island. Each one of those islands is home to a city spire that resemble ivory towers from a distance. A few continent sized ice caps lie fixed on underwater mountains. A few cities have been built inside the ice itself.
There is a lot of volcanic activity underwater, especially at fault lines. Some of those volcano islands are used by the locals as geothermal power plants with skeleton crews.
Most life can be found inside the oceans, going from microscopic plankton to gigantic whales. Most plant life are seaweed usually found close to fault lines.
The world is also surrounded by a number of moons and space stations that serve as defenses, trading stations and resource gathering operations. Asteroid mining operations exits to supply the main planet with raw materials.
Danaan Inhabitants
The Commonwealth holds a very varied population of many species who mostly live in the Spire cities built on the planet's non volcanic islands. Thanks to the automatisation of most manual labour and highly socialised society, its inhabitants are free to instead dedicate themselves to science, magic, philosophy or the arts. Access to basic needs such as lodging, food, medical care and information. In exchange, people are expected to contribute to the Commonwealth projects or supply services in their domain of specialty.
Due to its focus on mental activities, the population holds a surprising amount of Sparks. They are permitted to conduct research, within acceptable ethical and safety limits. Its magic school, being one of the best reputed of the Wheel, attracts a large number of psykers.
The Autonomists meanwhile, are are very diverse lot, having come from all corners of the Wheel. Virtually all races can be found among them. The vast majority are malcontents that have chosen to escape from their respective faction or nation, be it the Imperium of Man, the Corporate Sectors, the Realm or even some Tau that have rejected the Greater Good. Forms of society vary from one habitat to the other, some being anarcho-socialist habitats, some bohemian communes of artists, some purely without law or even stranger societies. They hold a record number of Rogue Traders among their ranks among with their fleets.
Danaan Locations
The Commonwealth Hub
Main space station of the Commonwealth, the gigantic installation hosts a large commercial and military fleet, also providing defences with high tech super weapons.
DMN Headquarters
The Danann Media and News agency is a public funded organisation. It is considered one of the most reliable and impartial news providers in the Wheel. Its investigative reporters are a bane to factions with skeletons in the closet who wish to keep them there.
The Octagon
The magical academy for the Commonwealth, the Octagon is there where many mages are taught how to control their gift among with a comprehensive curriculum covering the arts and sciences to graduate not just spellcasters but fully formed people. It also holds an additional cursus for Princesses who make it to the Commonwealth. The Queen of Diamonds personally holds lectures there.
Factions in Danaan
The Anarchs
The Four Winds Autonomist Alliance get on very well with the Anarchs, having the same rejection of unwanted authority.
The Corporate Court
Even before throwing their support to the Aztallan insurrection and sending their fleet to defend their Autonomist allies against corporate fleets, relations were already cold between the Commonwealth and the Corporations. Their policy of open sourcing every scientific discovery they make, alongside their socialistic philosophies, make them ideological enemies.
The Autonomist Alliance has even worse relations, rejecting everything the Corporations stand for. Countless acts of sabotage and support of anti-corporate insurrections have been helped by the Four Winds.
The Izzet LeagueThe Commonwealth maintain positive relations with the League, maintaining information and personnel exchange programs, each hoping to uncover the secrets of the Warp.
The Radiant Queens
The Commonwealth and Autonomist Alliance are naturally allied with the other nations following the Radiant Queens. They enjoy especially close relations between each other, be it as trading partners or in military self-defense.
The Simic Combine
The Commonwealth are very interested in the medical research conducted by the Combine, working on their discoveries and designing more stable versions of their creations.
Letherna (Brewed by Eisenritter)
The Crystal Sphere called Letherna is remote and foreboding, a small group of perpetually overcast planets orbiting an isolated ghoul star. The cold, the darkness, and the general ennui of the natives all conspire to crush the will of those who would try to enforce change here. It is the Raven Queen's place of power within the Materium, the one place even exalts would not dare to test the bonds of destiny, and a place of great wisdom for those who would seek to do so elsewhere.
Physical Conditions
Letherna appears to be a system on the knife-edge of death, a handful of planets barely surviving on their own energy orbiting a white dwarf star. A feeling of inexorability pervades the entire Crystal Sphere... the star is dying, the planets are cooling, the entire system spirals ever onwards toward its death in the Raven Queen's talons.
And yet, life goes on. Letherna is a holy site among the Raven Queen's followers, and pilgrims regularly flock to its bounds. The grip of fate is so tight here that Divination magic becomes nigh infallible, and so would-be heros come here in search of foreknowledge. Even so, Letherna remains quiet and inconsequential in the grand scheme, a handful of cold worlds left to die in relative peace.
Lethernal Inhabitants
The only long-term inhabitants of Letherna are the Raven Queen's chosen people, the Dullahans, who have claimed the Crystal Sphere since the days of the War in Heaven. Pilgrims and diviners come and go, seeking the goddess's favor or some insight into a fate they might change back on the larger portion of the Wheel. Most who do attempt to stay inevitably give in to despair and suicide within a few years, the crushing ennui and inexorability of the place eroding away any will to live until there's nothing left. On the two major worlds, the only notable wildlife is hardy fungus very similar to taiga scrub, as well as the birds that the Raven Queen holds sacred and spectral, headless equines that the Dullahans continue to breed and ride.
Lethernal Locations
Despairia
Despairia is the largest world in Letherna's system and the second from its sun, a frigid world of tundra plains and boreal forests of conifer-like fungus. The planet is eternally shrouded in clouds, casting everything in a pall of darkness that lamps only seem to make worse. There is just enough seismic activity here that liquid water can collect in hot springs on the surface, which in turn raises a thick fog in the area. Depressingly, these "lotus lagoons" - as the locals call them - often develop large numbers of cairns surrounding them long before a proper doun is built; those who come intending to stay long-term often become so desperate for warmth that they end up drowning themselves in the springs. The thanes of the Winter Court convene here, in a great walled doun that resembles nothing so much as a kilometers-spanning cathedral that encompasses no fewer than four lotus lagoons within its walls.
Sorrow
Sorrow is the third world from Letherna's sun, and the second-largest in the Crystal Sphere. It is a world of black stone mountains and white ice glaciers beneath its shroud of clouds, with no liquid water to be found. The exposed stone is carved with reliefs depicting the Raven Queen's scripture, lit by torches to serve the dual purpose of allowing it to be read easily and to collect the meltwater for drinking. Here, there are no permanent douns... only traveling camps, and the occasional monastery that proves stubborn enough to keep going.
Vengeance
The closest planet to Letherna's sun is a cold, humid world of frigid bogs, the only one with wildlife that hasn't been provided by the Raven Queen. Vengeance is inhabited by various amphibious creatures, as well as semi-reptilian beasts that haunt the trees, and enormous ground-dwelling simians that resemble tales of the Sasquatch that supposedly dwells on Théah. Here, the Wild Hunt trains their newest recruits, setting them after the various dangerous creatures who dwell in the bogs until their skills measure up to the rest of the pack.
Denial
The smallest planet, always in Sorrow's shadow, is a bleak world of ice and metal. Those whom the Raven Queen has seen fit to treat as prisoners rather than as corpses are kept here, to smelt the ore drawn up from the depths of the world and fabricate parts for weapons and spelljammers. Wild Hunt packs are given leave to kill and to enforce order as they see fit, if it might break particularly recalcitrant prisoners. This is also the only planet in Letherna that is ruled exclusively by the Wild Hunt, by the daen of the Gallow's Moor hunting pack in particular.
Ravenloft
The importance of Letherna to followers of the Raven Queen is simply this: the world for which the Crystal Sphere is named lies deep within the Warp, the shadow to which the ghoul star at its center connects. Letherna - now known as Ravenloft - is the domain of the Raven Queen, a dark realm of Gothic architecture, scarecrows, and many upon many species of corvid. Here do the sorrowsworn walk among those whose lives have ended, preparing them for their next cycle of existence. The Raven Queen's keep is visible from everywhere in this daemon world, a dark and foreboding castle looming out of the fog on the horizon. The ghoul star appears here as a yellow-tinged moon, always looming heavily in the most situationally foreboding position it can find in the skies.
Physical Conditions
Letherna appears to be a system on the knife-edge of death, a handful of planets barely surviving on their own energy orbiting a white dwarf star. A feeling of inexorability pervades the entire Crystal Sphere... the star is dying, the planets are cooling, the entire system spirals ever onwards toward its death in the Raven Queen's talons.
And yet, life goes on. Letherna is a holy site among the Raven Queen's followers, and pilgrims regularly flock to its bounds. The grip of fate is so tight here that Divination magic becomes nigh infallible, and so would-be heros come here in search of foreknowledge. Even so, Letherna remains quiet and inconsequential in the grand scheme, a handful of cold worlds left to die in relative peace.
Lethernal Inhabitants
The only long-term inhabitants of Letherna are the Raven Queen's chosen people, the Dullahans, who have claimed the Crystal Sphere since the days of the War in Heaven. Pilgrims and diviners come and go, seeking the goddess's favor or some insight into a fate they might change back on the larger portion of the Wheel. Most who do attempt to stay inevitably give in to despair and suicide within a few years, the crushing ennui and inexorability of the place eroding away any will to live until there's nothing left. On the two major worlds, the only notable wildlife is hardy fungus very similar to taiga scrub, as well as the birds that the Raven Queen holds sacred and spectral, headless equines that the Dullahans continue to breed and ride.
Lethernal Locations
Despairia
Despairia is the largest world in Letherna's system and the second from its sun, a frigid world of tundra plains and boreal forests of conifer-like fungus. The planet is eternally shrouded in clouds, casting everything in a pall of darkness that lamps only seem to make worse. There is just enough seismic activity here that liquid water can collect in hot springs on the surface, which in turn raises a thick fog in the area. Depressingly, these "lotus lagoons" - as the locals call them - often develop large numbers of cairns surrounding them long before a proper doun is built; those who come intending to stay long-term often become so desperate for warmth that they end up drowning themselves in the springs. The thanes of the Winter Court convene here, in a great walled doun that resembles nothing so much as a kilometers-spanning cathedral that encompasses no fewer than four lotus lagoons within its walls.
Sorrow
Sorrow is the third world from Letherna's sun, and the second-largest in the Crystal Sphere. It is a world of black stone mountains and white ice glaciers beneath its shroud of clouds, with no liquid water to be found. The exposed stone is carved with reliefs depicting the Raven Queen's scripture, lit by torches to serve the dual purpose of allowing it to be read easily and to collect the meltwater for drinking. Here, there are no permanent douns... only traveling camps, and the occasional monastery that proves stubborn enough to keep going.
Vengeance
The closest planet to Letherna's sun is a cold, humid world of frigid bogs, the only one with wildlife that hasn't been provided by the Raven Queen. Vengeance is inhabited by various amphibious creatures, as well as semi-reptilian beasts that haunt the trees, and enormous ground-dwelling simians that resemble tales of the Sasquatch that supposedly dwells on Théah. Here, the Wild Hunt trains their newest recruits, setting them after the various dangerous creatures who dwell in the bogs until their skills measure up to the rest of the pack.
Denial
The smallest planet, always in Sorrow's shadow, is a bleak world of ice and metal. Those whom the Raven Queen has seen fit to treat as prisoners rather than as corpses are kept here, to smelt the ore drawn up from the depths of the world and fabricate parts for weapons and spelljammers. Wild Hunt packs are given leave to kill and to enforce order as they see fit, if it might break particularly recalcitrant prisoners. This is also the only planet in Letherna that is ruled exclusively by the Wild Hunt, by the daen of the Gallow's Moor hunting pack in particular.
Ravenloft
The importance of Letherna to followers of the Raven Queen is simply this: the world for which the Crystal Sphere is named lies deep within the Warp, the shadow to which the ghoul star at its center connects. Letherna - now known as Ravenloft - is the domain of the Raven Queen, a dark realm of Gothic architecture, scarecrows, and many upon many species of corvid. Here do the sorrowsworn walk among those whose lives have ended, preparing them for their next cycle of existence. The Raven Queen's keep is visible from everywhere in this daemon world, a dark and foreboding castle looming out of the fog on the horizon. The ghoul star appears here as a yellow-tinged moon, always looming heavily in the most situationally foreboding position it can find in the skies.
Mirrodin (Brewed by Traskus)
Mirrodin is a dyson shell within a crystal sphere, presumably created by the Syrne. The shell is about 2% the diameter of the sphere, but there are no objects outside of it. The interior of the sphere was clearly constructed from the ground up, carefully made to need as little maintenance as possible. Most of Mirrodin is uninhabited, with only a handful of large cities around entries and exits to the outside world. The main industry of Mirrodin is tourism. Adventurers come from all around to either settle down on a homestead or to explore the mind-bogglingly large area. However, the secondary industry is whatever you need. The buildings near the gateways each have some sort of STC printer that creates a different item.
Physical Conditions
Mirrodin is clearly a heavily used crystal sphere. While safely within their orbits, every rocky object larger than a small moon is partially deconstructed (presumably for construction mass). The star is a bright young yellow, though. The exterior of Mirrodin is a dull, gray shell. The interior, however, is a vast world with more space than every inhabited planet in the Wheel. The climate conditions are comfortable for most beings' standards, but the perma-noon sunlight does lead people to strange behavior. The star of Mirrodin is called Medina, for the Rogue Trader who discovered it. Medina is a young star, with very little in the way of heavier elements. The only weird thing is that this is in an area far from any stellar nurseries. The system's four planets are all in stable, near-circular orbits around Medina. No one has bothered to name the terrestrial planets beyond the most abundant material found there, but the gas giant has been dubbed "Odin" for its great blue storm. The "cities" of Mirrodin are the size of continents, spread throughout the interior of the shell. Each is centered around a gate that allows entry to and from the interior. The main city is Heaven’s Gate, centered around the largest gateway and is the center for the Void Engineers. These engineers go to the terrestrial objects to gather material for the cities' industries.
The things to watch out for are the machines. The security robots are armed and extremely dangerous, so interacting with them is not recommended. The construction robots (called "Myr) are peaceful, but so large that getting near one is probably more dangerous than it’s worth. Mirrodin under constant construction because of this; sometimes entire continents of buildings fall apart under their own vertical weight, forcing the machines to start over in their endless task because whoever made them apparently forgot to install a fething off-switch. The Myr are protected by security robots that also didn't have an off-switch installed. These robots will spontaneously appear basically anywhere outside warded perimeters and harvest the soul of those unlucky enough to get caught. In the grand scheme of Mirrodin, these things are considered a persistent nuisance.
The main rule of Mirrodin is "don't dig too deep." Countless inhabitants and tourists have lost their lives investigating the less-known parts of the sphere or even just trying to dig a hole and accidentally breaching the shell. Mirrodinn inhabitants learn to just stop asking questions. What's in that area where animal life refuses to go? Who cares? Where is the central control area for the machines? Is there one? Who knows? Who cares? Mirrans have no curiosity because that is the best method to survive.
Mirrodin Inhabitants
Mirrodin is mostly uninhabited, but last census placed it at over 250 billion. Humans, Elves, Goblins, Rakasta, Reticulans, and Shiva are the primary Mirrans. The people work together to spread throughout the entire dyson sphere. Most meat is obtained through hunting the local megafauna, which provides greater safety on the outskirts of civilization. To outsiders, this place would look like a barely-surviving series of strongholds pitted against giants and killer robots. To the inhabitants, it's a mostly comfortable and exciting life.
Mirrodin Locations
Mirrodin is large enough to encapsulate Ceres' orbit, so trying to list all locations would take a while. Here are a few major locations in Mirrodin:
Heaven’s Reach
Heaven’s Reach is the largest Mirran city, built around the largest gate. There is a guild of void engineers centered here that mine materials from the rocky bodies near the star. The buildings in Mirrodin are so large that it can take weeks to climb a staircase and "a block away" is a day-long journey by plane.
The largest factory STCs are here, each capable of churning out a large spelljammer's worth of material in a few hours. The main limitation is supply of raw materials. That isn't common, since it's mostly armor and weapons that are made here.
Heaven’s Reach has a strange economy. By all rights, the factory employees should be making roughly half what they do considering the economic pressures on the corporations there. Not that the employees much mind.
There are a number of sections in Heaven’s Reach that are abandoned and in disrepair, each large enough to hold a small country. These areas are home to desperate survivalists trying to get by. The machines sometimes turn up here, leading the government to occasionally sweep the areas.
Governor Jabber has stated that as long as the people are happy, he's happy.
Endymion
Endymion is a dedicated wildlife reserve. Well, “dedicated” in this context means it defies any and all attempts at colonization. Even the Myr don’t enter the reserve proper, only maintaining the shell’s exterior. The flora and fauna in this area are so large that small buildings can be built on top of the individual leaves of trees. Endymion’s area is comparable with Jupiter’s surface area. There are animals and plants from every ecosystem in multiple eras from multiple planets. It’s likely that whoever made Mirrodin wanted Endymion to be a wildlife reserve, because no one has discovered any artificial constructs in the area itself. The thickness and sturdiness of the dyson shell is uniform, but only needs to be as durable as it is in this area.
Pyrulea
An instant classic place for adventurers to explore, Pyrulea is an area where animals do not live and ruins are aplenty. The ruins contain a plethora of artifacts, wealth, and other goodies that adventurers get giddy for. The lack of animals is a puzzling thing, and intelligent species do feel a sense of unease when entering the area. Even the Formians keep a light-year distance between themselves and Mirrodin because of this area.
The ruins are peculiar: they are made of a rock-like alloy and heal like necrodermis when damaged. Any attempts to gather the material it is made of fail as any dismembered piece dissolves into light energy. There is a massive cavity under Pyrulea’s largest building called The Mantle, and no one has ever been there and returned.
The Refuge
The Refuge is a series of underground tunnels and bunkers, clearly made to wait out some sort of disaster. They are found all over Mirrodin, connected by teleportation devices acting as “doorways” between them. No one knows how deep they go, but thankfully the 1:1 nature of the teleporters makes mapping the explored areas relatively easy.
The life in The Refuge is nothing less than horrifying. The plants, animals, and fungi are adapted to near-lightless conditions and eat any form of biomass they can get. People never enter The Refuge alone, and always in teams of at least three and preferably with a light source and drone of some sort.
Topside
Topside is the nickname given to the area of the dyson pointing towards Sigil (which happens to be a pole of Mirrodin’s rotational axis), and it is absolutely crawling with Myr. The buildings here are constantly being torn down and built up, and no one in their right mind would live here. So, just like Carceri, humans have made attempts. A colonization effort was put out 100 years ago with tens of millions of people, but they haven’t made contact since. Adventurers occasionally head there to see what the fuss is about, and they always verify that humans still live there, though in extremely difficult conditions.
The main draw of Topside is that it contains an entire navy’s worth of spelljammers at dock, just abandoned one day. They’re left alone because they are either considered obsolete or too advanced to work with, and sometimes it’s hard to tell which is which. None of them are fueled up or armed, but they are fully constructed otherwise. Occasionally, the docks of the spelljammers fail or are victim to demolition. This leads to an entire spelljammer falling onto the city below with little more warning than 20 seconds and a handful of loud creaks. The street level of Topside is alternately littered with crashed ships or cleared of them in short order.
Adventure Seeds
The Myr are imposing upon inhabited space and combat machines are attacking in greater numbers, ferocity, and regularity, and there's a broken signal being beamed from beneath Pyrulea only saying “- have returned.”
There is an investigation going on concerning the factories of Heaven’s Gate and their possible relation to a human supremacy movement. Problem: police detectives and private investigators are being found dead with notes saying "Don't dig too deep."
The wildlife in The Refuge, Endymion, and all around Mirrodin have begun to coordinate and encroach on civilized areas. Thankfully, automated defenses of Mirrodin have raised kilometer-high walls around their cities, though these won't hold forever. Analysis of the wildlife shows high levels of some sort of glistening oil saturating their skins. What’s going on?
A massive burst of adventurer-based tourism has begun recently to act on a massively successful spelunking by an adventuring party that made them richer than Rogue Trader dynasties. So many adventurers have come that the cities are running out of room to lodge them, fights are breaking out in the streets between parties, and the citizens of the cities are being overworked to accommodate them. It isn’t all bad, though. Areas previously considered impossible to settle are being paved over by these parties. The governor of the city approaches the party to try and either encourage the parties to leave or direct the parties to continue their deforestation.
Physical Conditions
Mirrodin is clearly a heavily used crystal sphere. While safely within their orbits, every rocky object larger than a small moon is partially deconstructed (presumably for construction mass). The star is a bright young yellow, though. The exterior of Mirrodin is a dull, gray shell. The interior, however, is a vast world with more space than every inhabited planet in the Wheel. The climate conditions are comfortable for most beings' standards, but the perma-noon sunlight does lead people to strange behavior. The star of Mirrodin is called Medina, for the Rogue Trader who discovered it. Medina is a young star, with very little in the way of heavier elements. The only weird thing is that this is in an area far from any stellar nurseries. The system's four planets are all in stable, near-circular orbits around Medina. No one has bothered to name the terrestrial planets beyond the most abundant material found there, but the gas giant has been dubbed "Odin" for its great blue storm. The "cities" of Mirrodin are the size of continents, spread throughout the interior of the shell. Each is centered around a gate that allows entry to and from the interior. The main city is Heaven’s Gate, centered around the largest gateway and is the center for the Void Engineers. These engineers go to the terrestrial objects to gather material for the cities' industries.
The things to watch out for are the machines. The security robots are armed and extremely dangerous, so interacting with them is not recommended. The construction robots (called "Myr) are peaceful, but so large that getting near one is probably more dangerous than it’s worth. Mirrodin under constant construction because of this; sometimes entire continents of buildings fall apart under their own vertical weight, forcing the machines to start over in their endless task because whoever made them apparently forgot to install a fething off-switch. The Myr are protected by security robots that also didn't have an off-switch installed. These robots will spontaneously appear basically anywhere outside warded perimeters and harvest the soul of those unlucky enough to get caught. In the grand scheme of Mirrodin, these things are considered a persistent nuisance.
The main rule of Mirrodin is "don't dig too deep." Countless inhabitants and tourists have lost their lives investigating the less-known parts of the sphere or even just trying to dig a hole and accidentally breaching the shell. Mirrodinn inhabitants learn to just stop asking questions. What's in that area where animal life refuses to go? Who cares? Where is the central control area for the machines? Is there one? Who knows? Who cares? Mirrans have no curiosity because that is the best method to survive.
Mirrodin Inhabitants
Mirrodin is mostly uninhabited, but last census placed it at over 250 billion. Humans, Elves, Goblins, Rakasta, Reticulans, and Shiva are the primary Mirrans. The people work together to spread throughout the entire dyson sphere. Most meat is obtained through hunting the local megafauna, which provides greater safety on the outskirts of civilization. To outsiders, this place would look like a barely-surviving series of strongholds pitted against giants and killer robots. To the inhabitants, it's a mostly comfortable and exciting life.
Mirrodin Locations
Mirrodin is large enough to encapsulate Ceres' orbit, so trying to list all locations would take a while. Here are a few major locations in Mirrodin:
Heaven’s Reach
Heaven’s Reach is the largest Mirran city, built around the largest gate. There is a guild of void engineers centered here that mine materials from the rocky bodies near the star. The buildings in Mirrodin are so large that it can take weeks to climb a staircase and "a block away" is a day-long journey by plane.
The largest factory STCs are here, each capable of churning out a large spelljammer's worth of material in a few hours. The main limitation is supply of raw materials. That isn't common, since it's mostly armor and weapons that are made here.
Heaven’s Reach has a strange economy. By all rights, the factory employees should be making roughly half what they do considering the economic pressures on the corporations there. Not that the employees much mind.
There are a number of sections in Heaven’s Reach that are abandoned and in disrepair, each large enough to hold a small country. These areas are home to desperate survivalists trying to get by. The machines sometimes turn up here, leading the government to occasionally sweep the areas.
Governor Jabber has stated that as long as the people are happy, he's happy.
Endymion
Endymion is a dedicated wildlife reserve. Well, “dedicated” in this context means it defies any and all attempts at colonization. Even the Myr don’t enter the reserve proper, only maintaining the shell’s exterior. The flora and fauna in this area are so large that small buildings can be built on top of the individual leaves of trees. Endymion’s area is comparable with Jupiter’s surface area. There are animals and plants from every ecosystem in multiple eras from multiple planets. It’s likely that whoever made Mirrodin wanted Endymion to be a wildlife reserve, because no one has discovered any artificial constructs in the area itself. The thickness and sturdiness of the dyson shell is uniform, but only needs to be as durable as it is in this area.
Pyrulea
An instant classic place for adventurers to explore, Pyrulea is an area where animals do not live and ruins are aplenty. The ruins contain a plethora of artifacts, wealth, and other goodies that adventurers get giddy for. The lack of animals is a puzzling thing, and intelligent species do feel a sense of unease when entering the area. Even the Formians keep a light-year distance between themselves and Mirrodin because of this area.
The ruins are peculiar: they are made of a rock-like alloy and heal like necrodermis when damaged. Any attempts to gather the material it is made of fail as any dismembered piece dissolves into light energy. There is a massive cavity under Pyrulea’s largest building called The Mantle, and no one has ever been there and returned.
The Refuge
The Refuge is a series of underground tunnels and bunkers, clearly made to wait out some sort of disaster. They are found all over Mirrodin, connected by teleportation devices acting as “doorways” between them. No one knows how deep they go, but thankfully the 1:1 nature of the teleporters makes mapping the explored areas relatively easy.
The life in The Refuge is nothing less than horrifying. The plants, animals, and fungi are adapted to near-lightless conditions and eat any form of biomass they can get. People never enter The Refuge alone, and always in teams of at least three and preferably with a light source and drone of some sort.
Topside
Topside is the nickname given to the area of the dyson pointing towards Sigil (which happens to be a pole of Mirrodin’s rotational axis), and it is absolutely crawling with Myr. The buildings here are constantly being torn down and built up, and no one in their right mind would live here. So, just like Carceri, humans have made attempts. A colonization effort was put out 100 years ago with tens of millions of people, but they haven’t made contact since. Adventurers occasionally head there to see what the fuss is about, and they always verify that humans still live there, though in extremely difficult conditions.
The main draw of Topside is that it contains an entire navy’s worth of spelljammers at dock, just abandoned one day. They’re left alone because they are either considered obsolete or too advanced to work with, and sometimes it’s hard to tell which is which. None of them are fueled up or armed, but they are fully constructed otherwise. Occasionally, the docks of the spelljammers fail or are victim to demolition. This leads to an entire spelljammer falling onto the city below with little more warning than 20 seconds and a handful of loud creaks. The street level of Topside is alternately littered with crashed ships or cleared of them in short order.
Adventure Seeds
The Myr are imposing upon inhabited space and combat machines are attacking in greater numbers, ferocity, and regularity, and there's a broken signal being beamed from beneath Pyrulea only saying “- have returned.”
There is an investigation going on concerning the factories of Heaven’s Gate and their possible relation to a human supremacy movement. Problem: police detectives and private investigators are being found dead with notes saying "Don't dig too deep."
The wildlife in The Refuge, Endymion, and all around Mirrodin have begun to coordinate and encroach on civilized areas. Thankfully, automated defenses of Mirrodin have raised kilometer-high walls around their cities, though these won't hold forever. Analysis of the wildlife shows high levels of some sort of glistening oil saturating their skins. What’s going on?
A massive burst of adventurer-based tourism has begun recently to act on a massively successful spelunking by an adventuring party that made them richer than Rogue Trader dynasties. So many adventurers have come that the cities are running out of room to lodge them, fights are breaking out in the streets between parties, and the citizens of the cities are being overworked to accommodate them. It isn’t all bad, though. Areas previously considered impossible to settle are being paved over by these parties. The governor of the city approaches the party to try and either encourage the parties to leave or direct the parties to continue their deforestation.
Pinnacle (Brewed by Masmanus)
Pinnacle is a small crystal sphere chiefly notable for its primary inhabitants – Exalts of all sorts. The civilization within the Sphere of Pinnacle was created by Exalts, for Exalts, to provide refuge and independence from the countless factions that would use the Exalts’ power for their own gain. Pinnacle has a small population compared to most Crystal Spheres – twenty-thousand at most, about half of which are non-exalted “civilians” which bolster the Sphere’s industry and infrastructure, but the tremendous power of so many of the Exalted gathered in one place has caused this sphere to rise rapidly within the political landscape of the Wheel.
Physical Characteristics
Pinnacle is a small Sphere about five million kilometers in diameter – which is too small to host even a single average-sized planet as found in other Spheres. At the Sphere’s center floats a single station – massive but too small to be considered a planet – surrounded by the Reef, a dense ring system of Warp-displaced detritus. The central station is made up of two large structures: The Observatory, an ancient Syrneth device of myriad and mysterious function, and Conton City, the metropolitan skin which has grown around the Observatory in recent history.
Pinnacle has no sun, but the entirety of the sphere is illuminated by nebular gasses, which glow in cool blues and purples.
The vast majority of Pinnacle’s population resides in Conton City, which is a bit of a misnomer really considering its population is barely that of a large town. This is not to say that Conton City isn’t busy and bustling however. There is relatively little space to build on the surface of the Observatory, meaning that inhabitants of Conton are crammed into towers built atop what little space is available. The residents of Conton City are, also, some of the most ambitious, busy, and in some cases physically largest people in the wheel, being Exalts and all. Aside from the stature of its residents, Conton gets along much as any other city or station would.
Within Conton City is the object that first began drawing Exalts to Pinnacle, the Observatory. The Observatory is an ancient Syrneth station of particularly advanced design, the secrets of which the inhabitants of Pinnacle are only just beginning to discover. The Observatory, too, is something of a misnomer: it contains numerous powerful devices – morphic microclimate modules, stellar generators, the fabled OXA-Toki machine – but not, in fact, an observatory. The Observatory seems to exert some kind of psionic pull on Exalts and other beings of greatness, drawing them too it and instilling a sense of almost religious reverence. The extent of this compulsion varies from exalt to exalt without much discernable pattern, though Atlanteans seem more susceptible to it than others. As a result of this compulsion, numerous small cabals of Exalts have formed within Conton City with the purpose of understanding some aspect of the observatory or another.
The Reef, the third major realm of Pinnacle, is a dense ring system which orbits the Observatory. This region of Pinnacle is subjected to frequent warp storms, and it is the flotsam of these storms that created the Reef over eons of time. The Reef, therefor, is composed in equal parts of spelljammers destroyed while crossing this region and strange deposits spat out from the warp itself. Some very odd things have been known to turn up in the Reef, from ancient sailing vessels to fragments of continents torn from distant planets, to the bodies of grotesquely massive living things. Studded around the perimeter of the Reef, protected from the Warp Storms by energy fields projected from the Observatory, are numerous trade ports through which Pinnacle has the majority of its contact with the rest of the Wheel.
Inhabitants
The driving forces in the culture of Conton City and the rest of Pinnacle are independence and enforced neutrality. Exalts seek out Pinnacle to be free of the political concerns of the Wheel, and the government of Pinnacle, a council of powerful Exalts referred to as the Founders, works to ensure that is the case. Exalts wishing to become residents of Conton City must petition for citizenship, which essentially means convincing the Founders that they won’t make a ruckus and will play by the rules, which includes not kow-towing to whatever power blok the Exalt originated from. About half of those Exalts in Pinnacle are functionally retired – they’ve come to the sphere to live out a quiet few decades pursuing their mundane interests without being pressed into adventure by one force or another. The rest of the Exalted on pinnacle are very much the adventurous types, just those that prefer to work for themselves rather than someone else. This latter group serve as Pinnacle’s primary source of income, as Exalted mercenaries with no broader affiliation are in high demand, and fetch a high price.
Pinnacle also hosts a fair share of mortal citizens and visitors at any given time. The trading ports of The Reef are open to all sorts, mortals included, and much of the work force of those ports is made up of mortals. Mortals are also allowed to take up residence in Conton City if employed by an Exalt, or by the Founders directly. The Observatory, on the other hand, is off-limits to all but the Exalted, and is closely monitored.
Locations in Pinnacle
Vanguard Tower
Vanguard Tower, commonly referred to as simply “the Tower”, is the center of mercenary operations carried out from Conton City, as well as the center of its defense, should that ever be required. Mercenary operations are coordinated by a trio of Exalts of formidable and varied skills called, appropriately, the Vanguard, led by Xav’la, Dark Eldarin. Vanguard Tower also houses the control systems for the force-fields that protect settlements within the Reef. Aside from the vital importance that these systems hold to those ports, this also allows the Vanguard extra flexibility in defending Conton City, as they can open or seal off avenues of approach with Warp storms.
The OXA-Toki Machine
One of the numerous Syrneth devices contained within the Observatory is the mysterious OXA-Toki machine, a machine which allows a limited form of time travel. The OXA-Toki machine possesses both a form of sentience and the ability to peer into alternate timelines. When OXA-Toki detects a potentially harmful change in the time-stream, it produces a Time Scroll which allows a small number of people to step into the past for a short while to prevent that change… never mind that OXA-Toki isn’t particularly good at communicating what events need preventing. OXA-Toki is attended by a two notable Exalts. The first, an Eldarin Atlantean who goes by the moniker “The Supreme of Time”, issues quests to safeguard time against changes that OXA-Toki predicts. The second, a Promethean of uncertain origin called Lakshmi, is obsessed with utilizing OXA-Toki to peer into possible futures, and only rarely concerns herself with safeguarding the past.
The Akashic Library
Among the other Syrneth artifacts present the Observatory also holds one of the most powerful computing devices in existence – a massive graviton-neutron computer which houses a near-infinite number of simulated demiplanes - this is the Akashic Library. Simulations within the Library may be accessed via a portal-like device which leads to the simulated plane in question. The storage capacity of the Library is staggering – it’s theoretically capable of holding 18 quintillion individual simulations, though as of yet no index of these simulations has been found. A Solar calling himself Osiris is currently spearheading the task of exploring and cataloguing these myriad simulations, with the ultimate goal of discovering why the Syrne originally created this library.
The Crucible
Confrontations between Exalts pose a significant threat to Conton City – even a minor altercation between immortal demigods has the potential to cause significant damage. To counter this threat, the Founders created the Crucible to allow Exalts to let out their frustration in a relatively safe environment. The mad architect behind the Crucible, the self-proclaimed “Lord” Chax, crafts elaborate and visually stunning arenas using the Observatory’s morphic terrain modules, and provides a rotating roster of events to allow Exalts to pummel each other in style. Currently, the most lauded and feared Crucible combatant is Agronak the Gray Prince, an Orkish Vampire of regal bearing and a mysterious past.
The Prison of Elders
Occupying a large swath of the Reach’s territory is one of the most notorious prisons in the Wheel, specifically designed to hold Exalts that other Spheres are unable to handle. Management of this prison falls to Variks, a fiendishly intuitive Thri-Keen. Variks has leveraged scrounged technology of the Reach to cobble together a fortress of formidable strength, which utilizes the Warp itself to contain prisoners in spatially-impossible holding cells. Variks is rumored to perform all sorts of strange experiments within the confines of the Prison of Elders, though Founders tend to turn a blind eye to such rumors as long as the Prison is functioning as intended.
Adventure Seeds
Lately, OXA-Toki has been “stepping on its own toes” so to speak – it has been flagging previous Time Patrol missions as dangerous changes to history, and has begun setting time patrollers against each other in contradictory missions all over history. Further, the Supreme of Time reports that OXA-Toki’s communications have become strange and erratic, almost as if another personality is beginning to manifest itself. What is causing these changes?
Osiris has identified a simulation within the Akashic Library that he believes contains incredibly valuable Syrne secrets. Unfortunately, said simulation also contains a large number of Syrne constructs, which have begun pouring out of the Library and occupying nearby levels of the Observatory. How can these machines be stopped?
Somewhere within the Prison of Elders, a dangerous inmate has managed to pull a powerful magical artifact from a fracture in the Warp. This prisoner has begun to organize the other inmates into a fighting force, with the intent to break out of the Prison and attack Conton City. Variks, for his part, does not seem particularly concerned about this situation, though, at the Founder’s urging, he is willing to let a small team of Exalts into the prison to take care of this rising threat.
Physical Characteristics
Pinnacle is a small Sphere about five million kilometers in diameter – which is too small to host even a single average-sized planet as found in other Spheres. At the Sphere’s center floats a single station – massive but too small to be considered a planet – surrounded by the Reef, a dense ring system of Warp-displaced detritus. The central station is made up of two large structures: The Observatory, an ancient Syrneth device of myriad and mysterious function, and Conton City, the metropolitan skin which has grown around the Observatory in recent history.
Pinnacle has no sun, but the entirety of the sphere is illuminated by nebular gasses, which glow in cool blues and purples.
The vast majority of Pinnacle’s population resides in Conton City, which is a bit of a misnomer really considering its population is barely that of a large town. This is not to say that Conton City isn’t busy and bustling however. There is relatively little space to build on the surface of the Observatory, meaning that inhabitants of Conton are crammed into towers built atop what little space is available. The residents of Conton City are, also, some of the most ambitious, busy, and in some cases physically largest people in the wheel, being Exalts and all. Aside from the stature of its residents, Conton gets along much as any other city or station would.
Within Conton City is the object that first began drawing Exalts to Pinnacle, the Observatory. The Observatory is an ancient Syrneth station of particularly advanced design, the secrets of which the inhabitants of Pinnacle are only just beginning to discover. The Observatory, too, is something of a misnomer: it contains numerous powerful devices – morphic microclimate modules, stellar generators, the fabled OXA-Toki machine – but not, in fact, an observatory. The Observatory seems to exert some kind of psionic pull on Exalts and other beings of greatness, drawing them too it and instilling a sense of almost religious reverence. The extent of this compulsion varies from exalt to exalt without much discernable pattern, though Atlanteans seem more susceptible to it than others. As a result of this compulsion, numerous small cabals of Exalts have formed within Conton City with the purpose of understanding some aspect of the observatory or another.
The Reef, the third major realm of Pinnacle, is a dense ring system which orbits the Observatory. This region of Pinnacle is subjected to frequent warp storms, and it is the flotsam of these storms that created the Reef over eons of time. The Reef, therefor, is composed in equal parts of spelljammers destroyed while crossing this region and strange deposits spat out from the warp itself. Some very odd things have been known to turn up in the Reef, from ancient sailing vessels to fragments of continents torn from distant planets, to the bodies of grotesquely massive living things. Studded around the perimeter of the Reef, protected from the Warp Storms by energy fields projected from the Observatory, are numerous trade ports through which Pinnacle has the majority of its contact with the rest of the Wheel.
Inhabitants
The driving forces in the culture of Conton City and the rest of Pinnacle are independence and enforced neutrality. Exalts seek out Pinnacle to be free of the political concerns of the Wheel, and the government of Pinnacle, a council of powerful Exalts referred to as the Founders, works to ensure that is the case. Exalts wishing to become residents of Conton City must petition for citizenship, which essentially means convincing the Founders that they won’t make a ruckus and will play by the rules, which includes not kow-towing to whatever power blok the Exalt originated from. About half of those Exalts in Pinnacle are functionally retired – they’ve come to the sphere to live out a quiet few decades pursuing their mundane interests without being pressed into adventure by one force or another. The rest of the Exalted on pinnacle are very much the adventurous types, just those that prefer to work for themselves rather than someone else. This latter group serve as Pinnacle’s primary source of income, as Exalted mercenaries with no broader affiliation are in high demand, and fetch a high price.
Pinnacle also hosts a fair share of mortal citizens and visitors at any given time. The trading ports of The Reef are open to all sorts, mortals included, and much of the work force of those ports is made up of mortals. Mortals are also allowed to take up residence in Conton City if employed by an Exalt, or by the Founders directly. The Observatory, on the other hand, is off-limits to all but the Exalted, and is closely monitored.
Locations in Pinnacle
Vanguard Tower
Vanguard Tower, commonly referred to as simply “the Tower”, is the center of mercenary operations carried out from Conton City, as well as the center of its defense, should that ever be required. Mercenary operations are coordinated by a trio of Exalts of formidable and varied skills called, appropriately, the Vanguard, led by Xav’la, Dark Eldarin. Vanguard Tower also houses the control systems for the force-fields that protect settlements within the Reef. Aside from the vital importance that these systems hold to those ports, this also allows the Vanguard extra flexibility in defending Conton City, as they can open or seal off avenues of approach with Warp storms.
The OXA-Toki Machine
One of the numerous Syrneth devices contained within the Observatory is the mysterious OXA-Toki machine, a machine which allows a limited form of time travel. The OXA-Toki machine possesses both a form of sentience and the ability to peer into alternate timelines. When OXA-Toki detects a potentially harmful change in the time-stream, it produces a Time Scroll which allows a small number of people to step into the past for a short while to prevent that change… never mind that OXA-Toki isn’t particularly good at communicating what events need preventing. OXA-Toki is attended by a two notable Exalts. The first, an Eldarin Atlantean who goes by the moniker “The Supreme of Time”, issues quests to safeguard time against changes that OXA-Toki predicts. The second, a Promethean of uncertain origin called Lakshmi, is obsessed with utilizing OXA-Toki to peer into possible futures, and only rarely concerns herself with safeguarding the past.
The Akashic Library
Among the other Syrneth artifacts present the Observatory also holds one of the most powerful computing devices in existence – a massive graviton-neutron computer which houses a near-infinite number of simulated demiplanes - this is the Akashic Library. Simulations within the Library may be accessed via a portal-like device which leads to the simulated plane in question. The storage capacity of the Library is staggering – it’s theoretically capable of holding 18 quintillion individual simulations, though as of yet no index of these simulations has been found. A Solar calling himself Osiris is currently spearheading the task of exploring and cataloguing these myriad simulations, with the ultimate goal of discovering why the Syrne originally created this library.
The Crucible
Confrontations between Exalts pose a significant threat to Conton City – even a minor altercation between immortal demigods has the potential to cause significant damage. To counter this threat, the Founders created the Crucible to allow Exalts to let out their frustration in a relatively safe environment. The mad architect behind the Crucible, the self-proclaimed “Lord” Chax, crafts elaborate and visually stunning arenas using the Observatory’s morphic terrain modules, and provides a rotating roster of events to allow Exalts to pummel each other in style. Currently, the most lauded and feared Crucible combatant is Agronak the Gray Prince, an Orkish Vampire of regal bearing and a mysterious past.
The Prison of Elders
Occupying a large swath of the Reach’s territory is one of the most notorious prisons in the Wheel, specifically designed to hold Exalts that other Spheres are unable to handle. Management of this prison falls to Variks, a fiendishly intuitive Thri-Keen. Variks has leveraged scrounged technology of the Reach to cobble together a fortress of formidable strength, which utilizes the Warp itself to contain prisoners in spatially-impossible holding cells. Variks is rumored to perform all sorts of strange experiments within the confines of the Prison of Elders, though Founders tend to turn a blind eye to such rumors as long as the Prison is functioning as intended.
Adventure Seeds
Lately, OXA-Toki has been “stepping on its own toes” so to speak – it has been flagging previous Time Patrol missions as dangerous changes to history, and has begun setting time patrollers against each other in contradictory missions all over history. Further, the Supreme of Time reports that OXA-Toki’s communications have become strange and erratic, almost as if another personality is beginning to manifest itself. What is causing these changes?
Osiris has identified a simulation within the Akashic Library that he believes contains incredibly valuable Syrne secrets. Unfortunately, said simulation also contains a large number of Syrne constructs, which have begun pouring out of the Library and occupying nearby levels of the Observatory. How can these machines be stopped?
Somewhere within the Prison of Elders, a dangerous inmate has managed to pull a powerful magical artifact from a fracture in the Warp. This prisoner has begun to organize the other inmates into a fighting force, with the intent to break out of the Prison and attack Conton City. Variks, for his part, does not seem particularly concerned about this situation, though, at the Founder’s urging, he is willing to let a small team of Exalts into the prison to take care of this rising threat.
Ravnica (Brewed by Traskus)
Ravnica is a crystal sphere located on a celestial ley line convergence. Rogue Traders, arcanists, scientists, and even militaries throughout the Wheel have invested countless resources into it. People want pets, trophies, mystery, and mercenaries. All of which Ravnica can provide in spades. Only one planet has an actual biosphere, but space and planetary colonies are so abundant and large that it hardly matters. Ravnica is pretty self-sustaining as far as economies go. Tourism provides a little extra money, but exporting animals and mercenaries is its main source of external wealth.
Physical Conditions
Ravnica is a strange crystal sphere. Its star is located at the nexus of a dozen ley lines, each planet revolves around the star in such a formation to cross those ley lines, and yet only one planet is conventionally habitable. The population there compensates with space colonies and artificial sub-surface planetary habitats. The population has started to conventionally terraform some moons and a planet, but that’s going to take a while. The star is named Caen by its inhabitants, a main sequence yellow star. Syrne ruins on the innermost planet suggest that the star was actually put where it is and came from somewhere else.
Many believe the Syrne plucked Caen from its original location and built a solar system around it piecemeal to take advantage of the ley lines located there. It’s a stretch, even for the Syrne, but academic consensus shows Caen to be roughly in the right place considering the stellar density of the area. If the Syrne wanted a stellar system here, they would probably have made every world habitable. Only the fourth planet –Immoren- is. Immoren is a normal terrestrial world on its surface, but geological surveys show a vast network of tunnels and cavities. They are not natural formations, someone built them.
The other planets are normal, except one. The first planet, Merchdilan, was an ecumenopolis for the Syrne in its past. It has factories, palaces, and all sorts of other buildings crowding the planet absolutely no non-developed land on its surface. It is too close to Caen to be safe now, and its orbit is decaying slowly. Its atmosphere is gone, and any attempts to introduce one fail to solar wind.
The rest of the system is a rather normal and even boring star system. The orbits are circular, the planets and moons have shown little excavation, there isn’t even an asteroid belt. It’s merely bountiful with space habitats and sub-surface planetary/moon colonies.
Ravnican Inhabitants
The humans are the primary inhabitants of Ravnica, but Elves and Eldarin are bountiful. Immoren and a few space colonies were given to the humans after first contact in exchange for any research done on those places and a promise for the standing military to ally with the Elven races living there. An easy compromise. That’s not to say they’re the only races. No, the Marrow and a variety of beast races have a small foothold too.
The other major inhabitants are the magical beings. Nature spirits, lingering sentiments of those long-dead, elementals, magical wildlife, and more are the main draw of the crystal sphere. The ley lines have made nearly every sort of magical being common. Even the artifice gets enchanted from time to time.
Despite this, there is no standing military anywhere in Ravnica. There are only bands of mercenaries as large as militaries and wandering individuals. See, in Ravnica conquest is difficult. So much so that it’s easier for people to not kill each other than to kill each other. Though, since a full tenth of the population are bound and try to refine their strengths.
Ravnica’s location on a nexus of ley lines makes the barrier between the Materium and the Warp thin. This makes it a place for spirits, daemons, ghosts, and the like to gather.
The people of Ravnica have recently had a war with all the supernatural beings over living space on Immoren and the natural celestial bodies. The war was ended by a world-spirit who dictated terms to both parties. Firstly, there were to be no cities on Immoren. It is left to be wild. Secondly, the spirits and magical beings of the sphere are to bind themselves to the inhabitants when asked or contracted. This manifests in a variety of ways, to be elaborated upon later. In exchange, the inhabitants of Ravnica are to provide sustenance to the magical beings however they need. Relations are strained at times, but there has been no real breaking of this treaty.
This has resulted in something that can only be called “a boy/girl and their X” on a massive scale. People either contract supernatural allies or form full bonds with them built on mutual trust. Soldiers form brotherhoods with their Warjacks; civilians journey with magical animals that may or may not be able to speak; Magic users contract spirits of long-dead heroes and legends as champions; others form pacts with daemons to draw the daemon’s power piecemeal, to name but a few of these things.
These things have made war rarer than in other crystal spheres. There hasn’t been a battle of more than 1,000 fighters in over two centuries. Instead, the established fighters hire themselves out as mercenaries while the less experienced ones battle one another to refine their skills in low-stake matches.
Ravnican Locations
Immoren
Immoren is the only conventionally inhabitable planet in the system. It is a place of natural beauty and shamanic tradition, with no urban development of any kind on its surface anymore. Under the surface is a vast network of tunnels and cavities that aren’t strictly inhabited, but have high traffic going through them. Small settlements occur occasionally throughout the world, but the largest one is only 5,000 people. Most barely crack 200. People venture here to hone their skills, test their strength, and compete against one another in combat using their bound beings.
Pellucidar
Pellucidar (or “The World Beneath” in Elvish) is the name given to the catacombs under the surface of Immoren. Life is deadly down there, with battles waging between Warcasters and their champions. The Marrow have taken a foothold and are trying to push their way to the surface with a ferocity that seems almost desperate and have made constructs powered by spirits and are heralded by a swarm of insects. They abduct their victims, never to be seen again. The Eldarin occasionally lead parties down here to mine energy crystals of various colors and power.
Chaldea
Chaldea is what is called a “McKendree cylinder,” an artificial habitat 10000km long and 1000km wide. It is the largest habitat given to the humans, and is the only one like it in this crystal sphere. It is a research and training center for the militia of Ravnica, started in reaction to reports of the Modron awakening again. The facility is attempting to create a way to blend the physical and spiritual without needing Exaltation. All attempts thus far have been failures, and the closest things to a success they have are two Exalts. Chaldea serves as an academy for inexperienced Bound and Deviants, helping them form bonds with their companions and refine their powers. The ones that don't turn into mercenaries take up security jobs in habitats. Unlike other habitats, Chaldea was not built by any known people. It’s assumed the Syrne did, and all other space colonies are built in its image on a much smaller scale.
Denandsor Temples
Not really kept in one place, the Temples of Denandsor are a series of 9 structures throughout the crystal sphere. They each are home to an experienced bound and those who learn under them, specializing in one thing or another. They are ruled by a council of five at the temple called the Dragon King Embassy where the camaraderie of challengers is tested as well as their might. These five delegate governance to the next three strongest, and the last five are the Five Grand Marshalls. These thirteen fighters and their pupils are the closest thing to a militia Ravnica has.
Adventure Seeds
An Eldarin mining party is asking for protection as they travel deep into Pelluidar for red power crystals. This will take weeks. As the party ventures down, they discover signs of recent conflict…
There is a terrorist cell traveling from colony to colony, venting all the atmosphere out. This is done without compromising the hull of the colonies. Find out who is doing this, why, and where they will strike next.
The colonies are organizing and have declared war on Chaldea and Immoren, starting their war with a good, old-fashioned colony drop on the planet. The party is approached to neutralize or capture their leadership.
Chaldean scientists have developed a wrist-mounted device that allows the wearer to travel 50 years in the past and back instantly. It has recently been stolen and the party is hired to procure it. The only thing known is that the thief had top level clearance.
Someone is running around and shooting people. Instead of dying, the people shot are possessed (not overshadowed) by a daemon. Some people are strong-willed enough to resist and bend the daemon to their will, but the ones who aren’t die. This must be stopped.
The party are spending the night somewhere (likely Chaldea). Around local midnight, the whole cylinder turns into a horror show. Spirits are fading in and out with no control, wildlife are freaking out, daemons are running wild, and no one knows why. Professor Zavier is nowhere to be found.
Physical Conditions
Ravnica is a strange crystal sphere. Its star is located at the nexus of a dozen ley lines, each planet revolves around the star in such a formation to cross those ley lines, and yet only one planet is conventionally habitable. The population there compensates with space colonies and artificial sub-surface planetary habitats. The population has started to conventionally terraform some moons and a planet, but that’s going to take a while. The star is named Caen by its inhabitants, a main sequence yellow star. Syrne ruins on the innermost planet suggest that the star was actually put where it is and came from somewhere else.
Many believe the Syrne plucked Caen from its original location and built a solar system around it piecemeal to take advantage of the ley lines located there. It’s a stretch, even for the Syrne, but academic consensus shows Caen to be roughly in the right place considering the stellar density of the area. If the Syrne wanted a stellar system here, they would probably have made every world habitable. Only the fourth planet –Immoren- is. Immoren is a normal terrestrial world on its surface, but geological surveys show a vast network of tunnels and cavities. They are not natural formations, someone built them.
The other planets are normal, except one. The first planet, Merchdilan, was an ecumenopolis for the Syrne in its past. It has factories, palaces, and all sorts of other buildings crowding the planet absolutely no non-developed land on its surface. It is too close to Caen to be safe now, and its orbit is decaying slowly. Its atmosphere is gone, and any attempts to introduce one fail to solar wind.
The rest of the system is a rather normal and even boring star system. The orbits are circular, the planets and moons have shown little excavation, there isn’t even an asteroid belt. It’s merely bountiful with space habitats and sub-surface planetary/moon colonies.
Ravnican Inhabitants
The humans are the primary inhabitants of Ravnica, but Elves and Eldarin are bountiful. Immoren and a few space colonies were given to the humans after first contact in exchange for any research done on those places and a promise for the standing military to ally with the Elven races living there. An easy compromise. That’s not to say they’re the only races. No, the Marrow and a variety of beast races have a small foothold too.
The other major inhabitants are the magical beings. Nature spirits, lingering sentiments of those long-dead, elementals, magical wildlife, and more are the main draw of the crystal sphere. The ley lines have made nearly every sort of magical being common. Even the artifice gets enchanted from time to time.
Despite this, there is no standing military anywhere in Ravnica. There are only bands of mercenaries as large as militaries and wandering individuals. See, in Ravnica conquest is difficult. So much so that it’s easier for people to not kill each other than to kill each other. Though, since a full tenth of the population are bound and try to refine their strengths.
Ravnica’s location on a nexus of ley lines makes the barrier between the Materium and the Warp thin. This makes it a place for spirits, daemons, ghosts, and the like to gather.
The people of Ravnica have recently had a war with all the supernatural beings over living space on Immoren and the natural celestial bodies. The war was ended by a world-spirit who dictated terms to both parties. Firstly, there were to be no cities on Immoren. It is left to be wild. Secondly, the spirits and magical beings of the sphere are to bind themselves to the inhabitants when asked or contracted. This manifests in a variety of ways, to be elaborated upon later. In exchange, the inhabitants of Ravnica are to provide sustenance to the magical beings however they need. Relations are strained at times, but there has been no real breaking of this treaty.
This has resulted in something that can only be called “a boy/girl and their X” on a massive scale. People either contract supernatural allies or form full bonds with them built on mutual trust. Soldiers form brotherhoods with their Warjacks; civilians journey with magical animals that may or may not be able to speak; Magic users contract spirits of long-dead heroes and legends as champions; others form pacts with daemons to draw the daemon’s power piecemeal, to name but a few of these things.
These things have made war rarer than in other crystal spheres. There hasn’t been a battle of more than 1,000 fighters in over two centuries. Instead, the established fighters hire themselves out as mercenaries while the less experienced ones battle one another to refine their skills in low-stake matches.
Ravnican Locations
Immoren
Immoren is the only conventionally inhabitable planet in the system. It is a place of natural beauty and shamanic tradition, with no urban development of any kind on its surface anymore. Under the surface is a vast network of tunnels and cavities that aren’t strictly inhabited, but have high traffic going through them. Small settlements occur occasionally throughout the world, but the largest one is only 5,000 people. Most barely crack 200. People venture here to hone their skills, test their strength, and compete against one another in combat using their bound beings.
Pellucidar
Pellucidar (or “The World Beneath” in Elvish) is the name given to the catacombs under the surface of Immoren. Life is deadly down there, with battles waging between Warcasters and their champions. The Marrow have taken a foothold and are trying to push their way to the surface with a ferocity that seems almost desperate and have made constructs powered by spirits and are heralded by a swarm of insects. They abduct their victims, never to be seen again. The Eldarin occasionally lead parties down here to mine energy crystals of various colors and power.
Chaldea
Chaldea is what is called a “McKendree cylinder,” an artificial habitat 10000km long and 1000km wide. It is the largest habitat given to the humans, and is the only one like it in this crystal sphere. It is a research and training center for the militia of Ravnica, started in reaction to reports of the Modron awakening again. The facility is attempting to create a way to blend the physical and spiritual without needing Exaltation. All attempts thus far have been failures, and the closest things to a success they have are two Exalts. Chaldea serves as an academy for inexperienced Bound and Deviants, helping them form bonds with their companions and refine their powers. The ones that don't turn into mercenaries take up security jobs in habitats. Unlike other habitats, Chaldea was not built by any known people. It’s assumed the Syrne did, and all other space colonies are built in its image on a much smaller scale.
Denandsor Temples
Not really kept in one place, the Temples of Denandsor are a series of 9 structures throughout the crystal sphere. They each are home to an experienced bound and those who learn under them, specializing in one thing or another. They are ruled by a council of five at the temple called the Dragon King Embassy where the camaraderie of challengers is tested as well as their might. These five delegate governance to the next three strongest, and the last five are the Five Grand Marshalls. These thirteen fighters and their pupils are the closest thing to a militia Ravnica has.
Adventure Seeds
An Eldarin mining party is asking for protection as they travel deep into Pelluidar for red power crystals. This will take weeks. As the party ventures down, they discover signs of recent conflict…
There is a terrorist cell traveling from colony to colony, venting all the atmosphere out. This is done without compromising the hull of the colonies. Find out who is doing this, why, and where they will strike next.
The colonies are organizing and have declared war on Chaldea and Immoren, starting their war with a good, old-fashioned colony drop on the planet. The party is approached to neutralize or capture their leadership.
Chaldean scientists have developed a wrist-mounted device that allows the wearer to travel 50 years in the past and back instantly. It has recently been stolen and the party is hired to procure it. The only thing known is that the thief had top level clearance.
Someone is running around and shooting people. Instead of dying, the people shot are possessed (not overshadowed) by a daemon. Some people are strong-willed enough to resist and bend the daemon to their will, but the ones who aren’t die. This must be stopped.
The party are spending the night somewhere (likely Chaldea). Around local midnight, the whole cylinder turns into a horror show. Spirits are fading in and out with no control, wildlife are freaking out, daemons are running wild, and no one knows why. Professor Zavier is nowhere to be found.
Sandail (Brewed by Marr965)
The first thing any mage notices upon entering the Sphere of Sandail is that it is steeped in magic. Sandail lies so close to the Warp that it's a mystery to outside observers exactly how it doesn't spontaneously become a second Abyss - or simply fall out of the Materium and end up becoming just another part of the Warp. Some scholars have theorised that there must be stabilising structures buried within the fabric of the Sphere, while others claim that Sandail may only need a tiny push to tip it over the line.
Physical Conditions
Sandail bears clear signs of the ancient Syrneth colony that once graced its surface - artifacts are astonishingly abundant there, and a set of enormous structures, far larger than any that could currently be built, stand tall and mysterious. Sandail appears to be the only planet within its Sphere, orbiting an unremarkable star.
Much of the temperate regions of Sandail are farmed, with a wide variety of local crops being grown. Sandail also has a local variety of riding beast, a bipedal animal similar in form to some hypothetical cross-breed of a kangaroo and a squirrel. Other creatures also abound, including a local variety of wild boar, amphibians, birds, bats, insects and other invertebrates (some of which get extremely large), slimes, ambulatory plants, crocodilians, shellfish, and debased dragons known as drakes.
Weissland is a cold region in the south of Sandail. It is theorised by many scholars of Sandail's history to be the origin of many of the artifacts which lie scattered throughout much of Sandail. A number of small settlements lie on the coast of the continent, but other than that, it is mostly barren plains of snow or frozen under glaciers miles thick.
The Western Continent, on the other hand, is a largely dry and dusty region, with very few artifacts. The few that do exist there are known to have been brought from other parts of Sandail. The coastal regions again host most of the population although a notable city, Vogelang, does survive within the wastes.
Jade and Wide are the two largest vassal countries in the northern part of the Eastern Continent, being a county and a march, respectively. They answer to the royal state of Finney. An uneasy peace stands between Jade and Wide, mainly due to the fact that if either attempted to invade, the army of Finney would march to the defence of the other. The region containing Jade and Wide holds the largest number of inhabitants of any region in Sandail.
The Lordless Land is just that - Lordless. Composed mostly of heavily tangled wood- and wasteland, nobody with the force to do so has any interest in staking a claim to any portion of the Lordless Land, primarily because of the huge outlay involved in getting any useful product out of it.
Torionis is the other name of the so-called Northern Continent. Torionis is almost entirely uninhabited, with a few small settlements eaking out a meagre living being the only concentrations of people.
The magic-infused nature of Sandail has a couple of interesting results. Firstly, nearly every single inhabitant of the Sphere can use a least a little magic. In fact, most materials from Sandail are magical in some way, and the inhabitants use equipment made of these materials to channel their magic. Secondly, almost every inhabitant of Sandail has an inherent ability to sense other souls. This sensory ability is surprisingly difficult for the inhabitants to avoid relying on - someone who can hide their Warp-signature becomes nearly invisible to the inhabitants. Thirdly, an astonishing variety of imps and undead infest Sandail.
Most materials on Sandail are inherently magical, as previously noted. One of them, however, actively resists magic. No-one is quite sure why (the current favoured theory is a large concentration of adamantine strands within the metal), but the iron on Sandail is so unmagical that it actively makes it more difficult to use magic while near it.
Inhabitants of Sandail
Ninety-five per cent of the inhabitants of Sandail are human. A small number of laika make up somewhere in the region of four per cent of the overall population, while a tiny colony of sahaugin makes up the majority of the remaining one per cent. A scattered handful of fairy conclaves are known to exist, and a single-digit number of dryads are the only other confirmed sophonts. Apocryphal reports of full-blooded dragons have emerged, but they are just that - apocryphal.
The Politics and Technology of Sandail
Sandail is roughly in a feudal period, roughly analogous to the European Renaissance period. As a result, it is highly balkanized, and political plays are commoner than out-and-out warfare. There are a large number of minor city-states, some of which owe fealty to larger countries, others of which are independent.
While the technology to smelt, alloy and smith iron and steel exists, iron and steel are used very rarely. This is because one of the many applications of magic on Sandail is the strengthening of common tools, such as stone kitchen knives. Only those who have particularly poor magical ability will use iron or steel, as most people find the flexibility that magic grants them more useful than the strength that iron and steel have.
Locations on Sandail
The Grand Valley
The Grand Valley, situated in the Lordless Land, is one of the few land passages between Weissland and Jade and Wide. A huge stone bridge, now crumbled and replaced with a far more rickety structure, used to span the valley. This rather feeble substitute requires a toll to cross, generally an absolutely extortionate one.
Thermes
Thermes is the capital of Finney. As such, it's pretty much the most important place on the Eastern Continent, politically, at least. It also happens to be the largest city on the Eastern Continent, so, if it exists on Sandail, chances are you'll be able to find it in Thermes.
Westia
Westia is a small village which owes fealty to Finney. What makes it important is that it is the single most common starting point of expeditions to recover artifacts. Many notable figures who made their fortunes by hunting artifacts got their start in Westia.
Gruegel
Gruegel is the capital of Na, the largest state on the Western Continent. It is the most common point travelled through for those aiming to reach Vogelang.
The Megaliths
The Megaliths are enigmatic structures dotted around Sandail. They have unmistakeably Syrneth architecture. Those sensitive to the flows of magic receive mixed impressions from them: the Warp feels both incredibly stable and astoundingly turbulent near them. The four megaliths are situated in the Western Continent, Weissland, the Lordless Land and Torionis.
Adventure seeds
Rumour has it that the first-born son of Finney was exiled because of his inability to use magic. No-one knows where he's been since, but a young nobleman with the same name who uses steel rather than the more common materials has recently emerged in Gruegel...
An up-and-coming artifact hunter is claiming that an ancient artifact stole his father's soul. He's also claiming that it was recovered from the Western Continent, but everyone knows that there are no artifacts to be recovered from the Western Continent...
Recently, an expedition returned from Weissland, claiming to have penetrated the heart of the Megalith situated there. What they found makes no sense to anyone except outsiders: circuitry, composed of wraithbone and necrodermis...
A large number of items composed of a metal which appears similar to gold have recently come to light. They came from a deep cave, with veins of similar metal in the walls of the cave. The lustre of the metal is infinitely richer than gold, however...
Special rules on Sandail
Metal equipment acquired on Sandail grants its user the effects of the Magic Resistance asset, stacking up to four times on top of the asset (if possessed), unless the equipment is noted to be composed of a metal other than iron or one of its alloys. However, it also makes it much harder to CAST spells as well, effectively granting all targets of the wielder/wearer's spells the same effect.
Physical Conditions
Sandail bears clear signs of the ancient Syrneth colony that once graced its surface - artifacts are astonishingly abundant there, and a set of enormous structures, far larger than any that could currently be built, stand tall and mysterious. Sandail appears to be the only planet within its Sphere, orbiting an unremarkable star.
Much of the temperate regions of Sandail are farmed, with a wide variety of local crops being grown. Sandail also has a local variety of riding beast, a bipedal animal similar in form to some hypothetical cross-breed of a kangaroo and a squirrel. Other creatures also abound, including a local variety of wild boar, amphibians, birds, bats, insects and other invertebrates (some of which get extremely large), slimes, ambulatory plants, crocodilians, shellfish, and debased dragons known as drakes.
Weissland is a cold region in the south of Sandail. It is theorised by many scholars of Sandail's history to be the origin of many of the artifacts which lie scattered throughout much of Sandail. A number of small settlements lie on the coast of the continent, but other than that, it is mostly barren plains of snow or frozen under glaciers miles thick.
The Western Continent, on the other hand, is a largely dry and dusty region, with very few artifacts. The few that do exist there are known to have been brought from other parts of Sandail. The coastal regions again host most of the population although a notable city, Vogelang, does survive within the wastes.
Jade and Wide are the two largest vassal countries in the northern part of the Eastern Continent, being a county and a march, respectively. They answer to the royal state of Finney. An uneasy peace stands between Jade and Wide, mainly due to the fact that if either attempted to invade, the army of Finney would march to the defence of the other. The region containing Jade and Wide holds the largest number of inhabitants of any region in Sandail.
The Lordless Land is just that - Lordless. Composed mostly of heavily tangled wood- and wasteland, nobody with the force to do so has any interest in staking a claim to any portion of the Lordless Land, primarily because of the huge outlay involved in getting any useful product out of it.
Torionis is the other name of the so-called Northern Continent. Torionis is almost entirely uninhabited, with a few small settlements eaking out a meagre living being the only concentrations of people.
The magic-infused nature of Sandail has a couple of interesting results. Firstly, nearly every single inhabitant of the Sphere can use a least a little magic. In fact, most materials from Sandail are magical in some way, and the inhabitants use equipment made of these materials to channel their magic. Secondly, almost every inhabitant of Sandail has an inherent ability to sense other souls. This sensory ability is surprisingly difficult for the inhabitants to avoid relying on - someone who can hide their Warp-signature becomes nearly invisible to the inhabitants. Thirdly, an astonishing variety of imps and undead infest Sandail.
Most materials on Sandail are inherently magical, as previously noted. One of them, however, actively resists magic. No-one is quite sure why (the current favoured theory is a large concentration of adamantine strands within the metal), but the iron on Sandail is so unmagical that it actively makes it more difficult to use magic while near it.
Inhabitants of Sandail
Ninety-five per cent of the inhabitants of Sandail are human. A small number of laika make up somewhere in the region of four per cent of the overall population, while a tiny colony of sahaugin makes up the majority of the remaining one per cent. A scattered handful of fairy conclaves are known to exist, and a single-digit number of dryads are the only other confirmed sophonts. Apocryphal reports of full-blooded dragons have emerged, but they are just that - apocryphal.
The Politics and Technology of Sandail
Sandail is roughly in a feudal period, roughly analogous to the European Renaissance period. As a result, it is highly balkanized, and political plays are commoner than out-and-out warfare. There are a large number of minor city-states, some of which owe fealty to larger countries, others of which are independent.
While the technology to smelt, alloy and smith iron and steel exists, iron and steel are used very rarely. This is because one of the many applications of magic on Sandail is the strengthening of common tools, such as stone kitchen knives. Only those who have particularly poor magical ability will use iron or steel, as most people find the flexibility that magic grants them more useful than the strength that iron and steel have.
Locations on Sandail
The Grand Valley
The Grand Valley, situated in the Lordless Land, is one of the few land passages between Weissland and Jade and Wide. A huge stone bridge, now crumbled and replaced with a far more rickety structure, used to span the valley. This rather feeble substitute requires a toll to cross, generally an absolutely extortionate one.
Thermes
Thermes is the capital of Finney. As such, it's pretty much the most important place on the Eastern Continent, politically, at least. It also happens to be the largest city on the Eastern Continent, so, if it exists on Sandail, chances are you'll be able to find it in Thermes.
Westia
Westia is a small village which owes fealty to Finney. What makes it important is that it is the single most common starting point of expeditions to recover artifacts. Many notable figures who made their fortunes by hunting artifacts got their start in Westia.
Gruegel
Gruegel is the capital of Na, the largest state on the Western Continent. It is the most common point travelled through for those aiming to reach Vogelang.
The Megaliths
The Megaliths are enigmatic structures dotted around Sandail. They have unmistakeably Syrneth architecture. Those sensitive to the flows of magic receive mixed impressions from them: the Warp feels both incredibly stable and astoundingly turbulent near them. The four megaliths are situated in the Western Continent, Weissland, the Lordless Land and Torionis.
Adventure seeds
Rumour has it that the first-born son of Finney was exiled because of his inability to use magic. No-one knows where he's been since, but a young nobleman with the same name who uses steel rather than the more common materials has recently emerged in Gruegel...
An up-and-coming artifact hunter is claiming that an ancient artifact stole his father's soul. He's also claiming that it was recovered from the Western Continent, but everyone knows that there are no artifacts to be recovered from the Western Continent...
Recently, an expedition returned from Weissland, claiming to have penetrated the heart of the Megalith situated there. What they found makes no sense to anyone except outsiders: circuitry, composed of wraithbone and necrodermis...
A large number of items composed of a metal which appears similar to gold have recently come to light. They came from a deep cave, with veins of similar metal in the walls of the cave. The lustre of the metal is infinitely richer than gold, however...
Special rules on Sandail
Metal equipment acquired on Sandail grants its user the effects of the Magic Resistance asset, stacking up to four times on top of the asset (if possessed), unless the equipment is noted to be composed of a metal other than iron or one of its alloys. However, it also makes it much harder to CAST spells as well, effectively granting all targets of the wielder/wearer's spells the same effect.
Shadowfell (Brewed by Gnodgnid)
There's something fundamentally wrong with the Shadowfell. It is a crystal sphere heavily tied to death, its physical laws weak and highly suceptible to the energies emitted by the Warp and Umbra. As a result, it is almost entirely populated by the undead. This is where the similarities between it and the Grey Waste both end and begin. Shadowfell is bustling with activity, despite being full of dead people. Some speculate Shadowfell is sentient and parasitic, the crystal sphere incorporating worlds (or part of worlds) heavily tainted by death into itself.
Physical Conditions
There is no sun in the Shadowfell, casting the whole place into darkness. However, despite this, it is still possible to see faintly due to the unreal nature of the place. Rather than have a sun at its center, Shadowfell has a moonlet which seemingly exerts as much influence as a yellow star would, despite its small mass. This moonlet, Atropus, is one of the most hostile places of the Great Wheel. Orbiting around it are many worlds of various size.
Conditions in the Shadowfell can be quite harsh for the living, as there is little heat or light, not to mention access to food. In addition, most bodies of water aren't filled with water so much as the bitter tears of the dead, which frankly taste disgusting. The winds' howls sound like the screams of the damned, the earth feels as if made of dust and often an eerie mist clings to things.
Shadowfell Inhabitants
Most of the Shadowfell's inhabitants are undead in some shape of form. Wraith and Vampires are common there and tend to form the elite of these societies but even they more often than not pay homage to true rulers of this realm, the Kerberoi. What little mortal life exist is more than likely cattle.
Shadowfell Locations
Nocturnus
The metropolis of the dead consist of layers upon layers of dusty, crumbling architecture. Multi-tiered cathedrals, covered in baroque imagery and flying buttresses, blot out the sky, while stacks of minute apartments teeter and sway in the wind, curling like impossible works of abstract art. It is ruled by the Dual Monarchy.
Eox
Once, Eox was a thriving world filled with human-like beings. Some say their hubris angered some powerful entity. Others say it was a natural cataclysm. Whatever their fate truly was, Eox died and become nothing but a charred rock. Its remaining inhabitants are the Bone Sages, Lich-like beings of questionable sanity.
Thanatos
Ash-grey clouds cover the skies of the dreaded world of Thanatos. It's surface is covered in a harsh, unforgiving tundra. Warp portals wrack its surface, making it a nest of both undead and daemonic activity. Sitting upon his throne is the daemon Orcus, one hand clutching his terrible rod.
Domains of Dread
A variety of smaller worlds orbit around Atropus. These are the Domains of Dread, such as the infamous Barovia.
Atropus
The world born dead. A moonlet which vaguely looks a decapitated head. No one has ever returned from it alive.
Physical Conditions
There is no sun in the Shadowfell, casting the whole place into darkness. However, despite this, it is still possible to see faintly due to the unreal nature of the place. Rather than have a sun at its center, Shadowfell has a moonlet which seemingly exerts as much influence as a yellow star would, despite its small mass. This moonlet, Atropus, is one of the most hostile places of the Great Wheel. Orbiting around it are many worlds of various size.
Conditions in the Shadowfell can be quite harsh for the living, as there is little heat or light, not to mention access to food. In addition, most bodies of water aren't filled with water so much as the bitter tears of the dead, which frankly taste disgusting. The winds' howls sound like the screams of the damned, the earth feels as if made of dust and often an eerie mist clings to things.
Shadowfell Inhabitants
Most of the Shadowfell's inhabitants are undead in some shape of form. Wraith and Vampires are common there and tend to form the elite of these societies but even they more often than not pay homage to true rulers of this realm, the Kerberoi. What little mortal life exist is more than likely cattle.
Shadowfell Locations
Nocturnus
The metropolis of the dead consist of layers upon layers of dusty, crumbling architecture. Multi-tiered cathedrals, covered in baroque imagery and flying buttresses, blot out the sky, while stacks of minute apartments teeter and sway in the wind, curling like impossible works of abstract art. It is ruled by the Dual Monarchy.
Eox
Once, Eox was a thriving world filled with human-like beings. Some say their hubris angered some powerful entity. Others say it was a natural cataclysm. Whatever their fate truly was, Eox died and become nothing but a charred rock. Its remaining inhabitants are the Bone Sages, Lich-like beings of questionable sanity.
Thanatos
Ash-grey clouds cover the skies of the dreaded world of Thanatos. It's surface is covered in a harsh, unforgiving tundra. Warp portals wrack its surface, making it a nest of both undead and daemonic activity. Sitting upon his throne is the daemon Orcus, one hand clutching his terrible rod.
Domains of Dread
A variety of smaller worlds orbit around Atropus. These are the Domains of Dread, such as the infamous Barovia.
Atropus
The world born dead. A moonlet which vaguely looks a decapitated head. No one has ever returned from it alive.
Sol (Brewed by Midboss57)
Cradle to humanity, Sol is the political and cultural centre of the Imperium of Man. The Sphere is composed of 9 planets surrounding a sun, two of which are inhabitable by life. Those two planets are Théah, humanity's homeworld, and Mars the next furthest planet that was terraformed as humanity first began colonising space.
Physical Conditions
Théah is a garden world that has seen better days. Heavy industrialisation and war have caused a great deal of damage upon its surface. While the Imperial government is keen upon repairing the damage, some regions still bear heavy scars while others hold great natural wonders. The world holds a great number of historical buildings and monuments that make it a popular tourist destination. Imperial ordnances act to preserve this cultural heritage, forbidding their demolition.
The other populated planet, Mars, is a contrast to the first. The surface of Mars is mostly mountain and dusty deserts with the occasional green oasis area. On its surface are several hive cities and arcologies interconnected by magrail trains and roads. The orbit of Mars is surrounded by the Ring, a massive orbital station that acts as the largest shipyard in the Imperium.
Sol Inhabitants
Except for tourists, diplomatic envoys and traders, the Sol system is populated almost solely by humans. Due to being humanity's cradle, the system still holds a wide variety of cultures and ethnicities, some based on the original countries and some hybrids of Théah's old nations and cultures. This is especially true of Théah's surface, which still holds varied cultures running from the passionate people of Vodace to the honour- and technology-bound people of Rokugan.
On Mars, meanwhile, the population is divided mainly between employees of the megacorps that are based on this world, mechanicum servants and various colonists that choose to live independently in the deserts.
What is universal about these people, however, is their greater access to and knowledge of technology. This is due to the Sol system once being home to Comstar and the presence of the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars.
Sol Locations
Théah
The Antarctic Fortress
Officially, this base is an arctic warfare training site for the Imperial Guard. In practice, most people believe the highly secretive base is in fact an ONI blacksite. The truth is even darker: the Fortress is one of the biggest Inquisitorial bases. Best not know what goes on inside.
The Clocktower
Located on the Island of Albion, this magical academy is the Imperium's most prestigious ones. The place is deeply traditional and favours the master/apprentices system rather than classes.
Eisen
Despite reconstruction efforts the country of Eisen still holds the scars of the great dragon Feuerschwinge's rampage. The industrial region still holds the remains of charred towns and Imperial war machines, left there as some sort of memorial site. The Imperial Capital Altdorf is also located in this country too. The city is a contrast between its historical centre and its modern industrial suburbs.
The Shadowlands
Neighbouring the country of Rokugan, the veil between the Warp and the Materium was weak for a long time leading to frequent demon incursions. The veil has now been reinforced by the proper rituals but the zone is still under quarantine.
The Vaticine City
This holy city acts as the centre of the Sigmarite Church in the Imperium. While it now takes orders from Mount Celestia itself, it still holds a lot of influence among the cult. Rather than the Théahan PDF, the city is instead guarded by several orders of Sisters of Sigmar.
Mars
Adeptus Mechanicus Enclave
This enclave was offered to the Adeptus as a gift for an alliance and a chance to gain access to higher technology.
Olympus
The highest mountain in the Sol system has seen a hive city build in its caldera around the orbital elevator that goes straight to the Iron Ring. It acts as the main hub to traffic between the surface of Mars and outer space.
Syrneth Ruins
Once under UAC control, these heavily guarded ruins are now under Imperial military and Inquisitorial control following several Warp incursions due to UAC research into teleportation gone wrong.
Ultor Ruins
The corporation Ultor once held complete control over Mars and its inhabitants. A revolution by the inhabitants put an end to that supremacy (although not the existence of Ultor). The ruins are a popular spot for scavengers that are on the look for abandoned technology.
Charon
Once thought to be a moon for the furthest planet of the Sol System, Charon turned out in fact to be a portal relay to the Astral Sea. All traffic out of the Sol Crystal Sphere comes in and out of that portal. The Imperial Navy maintains a large fleet around it to deal with any unwanted arrivals.
Titan
This moon of Jupiter was offered by the Imperium to the Platinum Knights for them to build one of their fortresses. The moon is surrounded by many orbital defences that shoot any approaching unauthorised ships on sight.
Physical Conditions
Théah is a garden world that has seen better days. Heavy industrialisation and war have caused a great deal of damage upon its surface. While the Imperial government is keen upon repairing the damage, some regions still bear heavy scars while others hold great natural wonders. The world holds a great number of historical buildings and monuments that make it a popular tourist destination. Imperial ordnances act to preserve this cultural heritage, forbidding their demolition.
The other populated planet, Mars, is a contrast to the first. The surface of Mars is mostly mountain and dusty deserts with the occasional green oasis area. On its surface are several hive cities and arcologies interconnected by magrail trains and roads. The orbit of Mars is surrounded by the Ring, a massive orbital station that acts as the largest shipyard in the Imperium.
Sol Inhabitants
Except for tourists, diplomatic envoys and traders, the Sol system is populated almost solely by humans. Due to being humanity's cradle, the system still holds a wide variety of cultures and ethnicities, some based on the original countries and some hybrids of Théah's old nations and cultures. This is especially true of Théah's surface, which still holds varied cultures running from the passionate people of Vodace to the honour- and technology-bound people of Rokugan.
On Mars, meanwhile, the population is divided mainly between employees of the megacorps that are based on this world, mechanicum servants and various colonists that choose to live independently in the deserts.
What is universal about these people, however, is their greater access to and knowledge of technology. This is due to the Sol system once being home to Comstar and the presence of the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars.
Sol Locations
Théah
The Antarctic Fortress
Officially, this base is an arctic warfare training site for the Imperial Guard. In practice, most people believe the highly secretive base is in fact an ONI blacksite. The truth is even darker: the Fortress is one of the biggest Inquisitorial bases. Best not know what goes on inside.
The Clocktower
Located on the Island of Albion, this magical academy is the Imperium's most prestigious ones. The place is deeply traditional and favours the master/apprentices system rather than classes.
Eisen
Despite reconstruction efforts the country of Eisen still holds the scars of the great dragon Feuerschwinge's rampage. The industrial region still holds the remains of charred towns and Imperial war machines, left there as some sort of memorial site. The Imperial Capital Altdorf is also located in this country too. The city is a contrast between its historical centre and its modern industrial suburbs.
The Shadowlands
Neighbouring the country of Rokugan, the veil between the Warp and the Materium was weak for a long time leading to frequent demon incursions. The veil has now been reinforced by the proper rituals but the zone is still under quarantine.
The Vaticine City
This holy city acts as the centre of the Sigmarite Church in the Imperium. While it now takes orders from Mount Celestia itself, it still holds a lot of influence among the cult. Rather than the Théahan PDF, the city is instead guarded by several orders of Sisters of Sigmar.
Mars
Adeptus Mechanicus Enclave
This enclave was offered to the Adeptus as a gift for an alliance and a chance to gain access to higher technology.
Olympus
The highest mountain in the Sol system has seen a hive city build in its caldera around the orbital elevator that goes straight to the Iron Ring. It acts as the main hub to traffic between the surface of Mars and outer space.
Syrneth Ruins
Once under UAC control, these heavily guarded ruins are now under Imperial military and Inquisitorial control following several Warp incursions due to UAC research into teleportation gone wrong.
Ultor Ruins
The corporation Ultor once held complete control over Mars and its inhabitants. A revolution by the inhabitants put an end to that supremacy (although not the existence of Ultor). The ruins are a popular spot for scavengers that are on the look for abandoned technology.
Charon
Once thought to be a moon for the furthest planet of the Sol System, Charon turned out in fact to be a portal relay to the Astral Sea. All traffic out of the Sol Crystal Sphere comes in and out of that portal. The Imperial Navy maintains a large fleet around it to deal with any unwanted arrivals.
Titan
This moon of Jupiter was offered by the Imperium to the Platinum Knights for them to build one of their fortresses. The moon is surrounded by many orbital defences that shoot any approaching unauthorised ships on sight.
Sutafu (Brewed by Eisenritter)
Sutafu is a simple, easily understood crystal sphere whose proximity to Théah almost guaranteed it a visit from curious Humans during their explosive expansion onto the rest of the Wheel. It's very similar in size to the Humans' native sphere, comprising four planets orbiting a medium-sized yellow star. Elves were the first to colonize the habitable zone, to be crowded out when the Humans arrived.
Physical Conditions
Only one of the four planets orbiting Sutafu's sun lies in the habitable zone... the planet that gives the system its name, second from its sun. The nearest to the sun is a lifeless ball of molten rock, while the farthest from is thought to be a massive aggregate of cometary bodies, an oddly-shaped lump of various frozen chemicals and ferrous ores that occasionally vents a geyser of boiling nitrogen as the various pieces compact and settle. The third world is a gas giant with a few moons that also yield a good number of solid minerals.
The second planet, Sutafu, is a temperate world with six notable continents, all of them idyllic and proudly showing a natural beauty despite the recent takeover by Human immigrants. Slightly more than half of the planet is ocean, in which five of the continents rest, arranged like flower petals, opposite a supercontinent in the opposite hemisphere. As a result of the constant warp storms centered over this supercontinent, minor daemons and other corrupt creatures are a very common sight across the planet.
Sutafa Inhabitants
Sutafu was first settled by Elves, shortly before the Argent Witches laid claim to it as a recruitment world after centuries wandering the Astral Sea. Nowadays, the Elf population lives almost exclusively on the southern continent of Mucha, while Humans have taken over almost everywhere else. The Argent Witches legion has its headquarters on the eastern continent of Sutare.
The supercontinent jokingly referred to as "the mainland" is known to be a nesting ground for at least one dragon, as well as many Warp-mutated creatures. The high-ups in Sutare often find themselves discussing how they might purge the other half of the planet and make it suitable for habitation.
Sutafa Locations
Alphonse
Alphonse is the continent closest to Sutafu's northern pole, a land of snow and mountains with a small scattering of towns and manufactoria to its name. Most of them are inhabited by Humans and their Squat allies, serving the purpose of refining fuels and prefabricating parts for various purposes, most of which is shipped to Sutare in the southeast. The primary threat to life in Alphonse is the bitter cold, which seems to pacify the ancient Awakened Witches that inhabit the far north. The natives are, however, rightly wary of the mountains where the Awakened live, as wandering there can attract the attention of Father Llymic, once the Eldarin lieutenant of Estark himself.
Mucha
Mucha is the southern continent of the five divided by ocean, resting in the planet's tropical belt. Warm and humid year-round, the majority of this area's exports are wood, fruit, and various herbal applications. Only a couple port towns on the northern coast are inhabited by Humans, while Elves live in the deep jungles; there's a great deal of tension between the two races, as while the Elves are fine trading with their new neighbors, they aren't too pleased with the Humans' inclination to raze forests for wood. Half-elf children are rather common in these cities.
Toulouse
Toulouse is a small continent central to the "flower" of the inhabited hemisphere of Sutafu, and its holy land. It is inhabited solely by Humans, with mixed breeds tolerated only for their Human half, and militantly denies the Argent Witches access within its boundaries (the Witches, of course, tolerate this with a degree of amusement based on the ease with which they can infiltrate the subcontinent anyway) on the grounds that they have given up their humanity. At the center of the continent is the Holy City of Rabona, built at the base of a mountain laboriously carved into a likeness of the Corpse-God, ADAM, in whose name the continent was claimed.
Lautrec
Lautrec is the western continent, featuring low mountains and thick woodlands, with the occasional cyclopean ruin thought to be evidence that some other legion of marines had staged a stronghold on this world before the Elves and the Argent Witches laid claim to it. Now the ruins crawl with Warp beasts, as well as ancient Awakened Witches in the thrall of one called Riful, the first Elven White Witch, who sleeps within a jagged peak called the Witch's Maw in the northeastern area of her domain.
Sutare
While the priest-lords of Rabona are more infamous in how they respond to others, the Argent Witches hold far more political clout from their headquarters in the badlands of Sutare to the east. The only mortals living here are Humans and half-Humans, girls awaiting their implants to join the Initiate Host and black-clad male serfs, though some Elves and Squats have recently been invited by request of the new White Witch. She is also working hard to overturn her predecessors' disgust toward non-Humans and return the Witches to their former diversity, with no small amount of friction with Rabona.
Physical Conditions
Only one of the four planets orbiting Sutafu's sun lies in the habitable zone... the planet that gives the system its name, second from its sun. The nearest to the sun is a lifeless ball of molten rock, while the farthest from is thought to be a massive aggregate of cometary bodies, an oddly-shaped lump of various frozen chemicals and ferrous ores that occasionally vents a geyser of boiling nitrogen as the various pieces compact and settle. The third world is a gas giant with a few moons that also yield a good number of solid minerals.
The second planet, Sutafu, is a temperate world with six notable continents, all of them idyllic and proudly showing a natural beauty despite the recent takeover by Human immigrants. Slightly more than half of the planet is ocean, in which five of the continents rest, arranged like flower petals, opposite a supercontinent in the opposite hemisphere. As a result of the constant warp storms centered over this supercontinent, minor daemons and other corrupt creatures are a very common sight across the planet.
Sutafa Inhabitants
Sutafu was first settled by Elves, shortly before the Argent Witches laid claim to it as a recruitment world after centuries wandering the Astral Sea. Nowadays, the Elf population lives almost exclusively on the southern continent of Mucha, while Humans have taken over almost everywhere else. The Argent Witches legion has its headquarters on the eastern continent of Sutare.
The supercontinent jokingly referred to as "the mainland" is known to be a nesting ground for at least one dragon, as well as many Warp-mutated creatures. The high-ups in Sutare often find themselves discussing how they might purge the other half of the planet and make it suitable for habitation.
Sutafa Locations
Alphonse
Alphonse is the continent closest to Sutafu's northern pole, a land of snow and mountains with a small scattering of towns and manufactoria to its name. Most of them are inhabited by Humans and their Squat allies, serving the purpose of refining fuels and prefabricating parts for various purposes, most of which is shipped to Sutare in the southeast. The primary threat to life in Alphonse is the bitter cold, which seems to pacify the ancient Awakened Witches that inhabit the far north. The natives are, however, rightly wary of the mountains where the Awakened live, as wandering there can attract the attention of Father Llymic, once the Eldarin lieutenant of Estark himself.
Mucha
Mucha is the southern continent of the five divided by ocean, resting in the planet's tropical belt. Warm and humid year-round, the majority of this area's exports are wood, fruit, and various herbal applications. Only a couple port towns on the northern coast are inhabited by Humans, while Elves live in the deep jungles; there's a great deal of tension between the two races, as while the Elves are fine trading with their new neighbors, they aren't too pleased with the Humans' inclination to raze forests for wood. Half-elf children are rather common in these cities.
Toulouse
Toulouse is a small continent central to the "flower" of the inhabited hemisphere of Sutafu, and its holy land. It is inhabited solely by Humans, with mixed breeds tolerated only for their Human half, and militantly denies the Argent Witches access within its boundaries (the Witches, of course, tolerate this with a degree of amusement based on the ease with which they can infiltrate the subcontinent anyway) on the grounds that they have given up their humanity. At the center of the continent is the Holy City of Rabona, built at the base of a mountain laboriously carved into a likeness of the Corpse-God, ADAM, in whose name the continent was claimed.
Lautrec
Lautrec is the western continent, featuring low mountains and thick woodlands, with the occasional cyclopean ruin thought to be evidence that some other legion of marines had staged a stronghold on this world before the Elves and the Argent Witches laid claim to it. Now the ruins crawl with Warp beasts, as well as ancient Awakened Witches in the thrall of one called Riful, the first Elven White Witch, who sleeps within a jagged peak called the Witch's Maw in the northeastern area of her domain.
Sutare
While the priest-lords of Rabona are more infamous in how they respond to others, the Argent Witches hold far more political clout from their headquarters in the badlands of Sutare to the east. The only mortals living here are Humans and half-Humans, girls awaiting their implants to join the Initiate Host and black-clad male serfs, though some Elves and Squats have recently been invited by request of the new White Witch. She is also working hard to overturn her predecessors' disgust toward non-Humans and return the Witches to their former diversity, with no small amount of friction with Rabona.
The Umbra (Brewed by Cruxador)
The realm between the Warp and Materium is often a useful one to mages, and yadda yadda those two paragraphs in book 1. It shows more material traits and is a more direct reflection of reality the closer one is to the Materium within it. It is in this region that most spirits dwell, it is here that mortal mages most commonly tread, and it is here that you see the most recognizable reflections of the material world. But delving deeper into the Umbra, taking strange and twisted paths, leads to realms that are less recognizable, in which the natives of the Umbra live lives scarcely related to those of the spheres that mortal mages suppose they reflect. Few ever journey here that aren't native, and many who do never return, falling afoul of some bizarre hazard. Fewer still go further, but those who do find a bizarre and chaotic realm where it is not the Materium that is most accurately reflected, but the Warp. Some mages who study the Umbra term these to be the inner, middle, and outer layers, but most think only of the inner, the Umbral's material periphery.
Umbral Locations
Warp-Trods
Deep within the Umbra, space may be as warped as the Warp itself. In the middle region, if one knows the right paths it's possible to walk on foot from one planet to another. In the deepest portion, with a good knowledge of the paths and even better luck, it is possible to talk all the way from one crystal sphere to another, though for denizens of Materium it's usually faster and always safer to stick to the conventional methods.
Umbral Arcadia
The Umbral Arcadia, or just Arcadia to the folks of the Umbra, is a reflection of the crystal sphere of Arcadia. Even at the shallowest parts, it differs more than usual, however. One barely needs to go deep at all, step backwards through the wrong doorway, perhaps, and one is in the Hedge, an enormous and carefully cultivated maze of hedges. These mazes are the front garden and huntinglands of the Sidhe courts, which dwell beyond them, in the middle layer of the Umbra. The Sidhe are a great Youma Kingdom (or perhaps two, or four) who are bound even more tightly by contracts and laws than is typical for the Youma. They are also among the most active and famous of the Youma, because of an incursion hundreds of years ago, when dozens of Sidhe stagships streamed through the Great Mirror. The official stance in Material Arcadia is that these forces were repelled easily, which is why the Great Mirror is still intact, but straight answers come out from Buxenus even less frequently than people do.
Scarytown
By journeying through a long and convoluted warp-trod from Shadowfell through Shadowdark, then Darkbad, then Shadow Shadow bo Badow and finally Double Hell, an umbral voyager may arrive in Scarytown, the Umbral reflection of the no less remote sphere of Nostramo. Scarytown, especially in the inner layer, is home to the largest known civilization of Dusklings, who build quaint slums and great fell temples, but the area is more notable for another reason. Each temple is built to one of the Ghoul Stars, orifices that connect the Umbral and Material worlds. Dusklings pass through regularly, and they are as plentiful in Nostramo as they are in Scarytown, though few make their homes there. Spirits and ghosts sometimes also pass through, after making the long trek in the Umbra, to enter the material realm.
Nostramo
Nostramo has but one planet and no true sun, so it is filled with darkness. Space stations are built around most ghoul stars, filled with dusklings in transit, umbral researchers, and even the occasional trader, though few find it worth their time to come so far out of their way. The planet is largely barren.
Daylight 13
The ironically named research outpost is the largest and most popular station for mages in Nostramo circles the thirteenth largest ghoul star, which leads to the deepest point in the Umbra of any known gate. The station itself passes through the star on occasion and the research mages are always delighted to see what happens, though the station passes close enough to the Warp that casualties are far from unheard of.
Umbral Locations
Warp-Trods
Deep within the Umbra, space may be as warped as the Warp itself. In the middle region, if one knows the right paths it's possible to walk on foot from one planet to another. In the deepest portion, with a good knowledge of the paths and even better luck, it is possible to talk all the way from one crystal sphere to another, though for denizens of Materium it's usually faster and always safer to stick to the conventional methods.
Umbral Arcadia
The Umbral Arcadia, or just Arcadia to the folks of the Umbra, is a reflection of the crystal sphere of Arcadia. Even at the shallowest parts, it differs more than usual, however. One barely needs to go deep at all, step backwards through the wrong doorway, perhaps, and one is in the Hedge, an enormous and carefully cultivated maze of hedges. These mazes are the front garden and huntinglands of the Sidhe courts, which dwell beyond them, in the middle layer of the Umbra. The Sidhe are a great Youma Kingdom (or perhaps two, or four) who are bound even more tightly by contracts and laws than is typical for the Youma. They are also among the most active and famous of the Youma, because of an incursion hundreds of years ago, when dozens of Sidhe stagships streamed through the Great Mirror. The official stance in Material Arcadia is that these forces were repelled easily, which is why the Great Mirror is still intact, but straight answers come out from Buxenus even less frequently than people do.
Scarytown
By journeying through a long and convoluted warp-trod from Shadowfell through Shadowdark, then Darkbad, then Shadow Shadow bo Badow and finally Double Hell, an umbral voyager may arrive in Scarytown, the Umbral reflection of the no less remote sphere of Nostramo. Scarytown, especially in the inner layer, is home to the largest known civilization of Dusklings, who build quaint slums and great fell temples, but the area is more notable for another reason. Each temple is built to one of the Ghoul Stars, orifices that connect the Umbral and Material worlds. Dusklings pass through regularly, and they are as plentiful in Nostramo as they are in Scarytown, though few make their homes there. Spirits and ghosts sometimes also pass through, after making the long trek in the Umbra, to enter the material realm.
Nostramo
Nostramo has but one planet and no true sun, so it is filled with darkness. Space stations are built around most ghoul stars, filled with dusklings in transit, umbral researchers, and even the occasional trader, though few find it worth their time to come so far out of their way. The planet is largely barren.
Daylight 13
The ironically named research outpost is the largest and most popular station for mages in Nostramo circles the thirteenth largest ghoul star, which leads to the deepest point in the Umbra of any known gate. The station itself passes through the star on occasion and the research mages are always delighted to see what happens, though the station passes close enough to the Warp that casualties are far from unheard of.