Sky Islands of the Djinn on Freya

Because of the unusually dense atmosphere on the planet Freya, it's possible for lightweight structures to float in the air. For this reason, certain enterprising djinn have crafted sky islands on which to live. One example of such is this location, the home of Khalid al-Nasr—known to some of the locals as “Jibal al-Nasr,” or “Mountain of the Hawk.” It consists of a large body of rock, with three docking platforms extending off from it. In addition to a broad forested grove, which boasts various fruit trees and contains the island's elemental obelisk, there are a long, low building for stables and storage, and the djinni's tower. 

Please refer to the appropriate maps for the following location descriptions. 

Outbuildings

Not far from the docking platforms is this two-story stone structure. The bottom half is filled with barrels, crates and other items; a row of pillars supports the ceiling, twenty feet high. The second story is laid out in a similar manner, but is filled with nests for the griffons that patrol the skies around the sky island. Both floors have sets of double doors on either end. 

Flags Post and Compilation PDF

This post finishes up another PDF compilation, to which I link below. At the same time, it presents two flags, and provides suggestions for using flags in a ship-based RPG campaign.

Aetherial Adventures 8

-Nate

Flags

An important element of interaction between vessels—be it at sea or in the aether—is how they communicate with flags that they carry. In addition to drawing up deck plans for their vessels, it behooves players to design the emblem under which they sail. What is more, here are two more flags for organizations in the Sol Space campaign setting.

The Dwarven Mining Guild

This flag includes the crossed pick and shovel, the tools of the dwarves' trade, along with

their organization's initials. The darker grey represents the stone from which they

claim valuable ore, while the lighter color represents the refined metals.

The Sol Society

Central to this ensign is, of course, the sun. It sits amdist a bright blue background,

which represents the light of hope that comes from worshiping Sol.

Using Flags in a Ship-Based RPG Campaign

The flags that ships carry can be used in all sorts of ways during a ship-based campaign; a few of the possibilities are listed below.

• Since flags provide—ostensibly, at least—confirmation of a ship's loyalty, it should come as no surprise that ne'er-do-wells often carried flags from many different countries and organizations, in order to deceive possible foes.
• In battle, an important objective for soldiers is to fight their way aboard an enemy vessel, strike its colors, and then hoist their own.
• Pirates were particularly creative when it comes to designing flags; many incorporate images of death, of course, but others included elements that identified and thus threatened specific locations considered to be enemies.
• Certain solid-color flags conveyed important messages. For example: white implies surrender, or good intentions for parley; yellow identifies a vessel that is infected with disease; red indicates that the officers and crew will neither ask for nor give quarter in battle.

RPGaDAY 2017 Posts

I apologize for the cross-posting, but I'll share my answers to these questions on all three of my current blogs.

Q1: What published RPG do you wish you were playing right now?

A1: Right now I wish that I was playing more of the Star Wars RPGs from Fantasy Flight Games, especially Age of Rebellion. Right now I really only have time for one weekly campaign, however, and so something more familiar to my players has taken priority. We'll see how the 2016-17 school year develops, though.

Q2: What is an RPG you would like to see published?

A2: I would love to see a space fantasy setting for Pathfinder that's in the vein of the old Spelljammer setting for D&D. The new Starfinder setting is interesting, but I'd rather not add so much technology to a fantasy RPG.

Q3: How do you find out about new RPGs?

A3: I regularly visit sites such as ENWorld and RPG.net for my general RPG news, as well as the message boards for Paizo Publishing and Fantasy Flight Games when I'm looking for info about their lines.

Q4: Which RPG have you played the most since August 2016?

A4: The clear winner here is Pathfinder, since I'm playing in a monthly campaign (the Skull & Shackles adventure path) with some college buddies an I just finished up a weekly campaign (a more traditional fantasy campaign loosely set on the Freeport setting's Continent).

Q5: Which RPG cover best captures the spirit of the game?

A5: For me, this is an easy one; the cover for The Concordance of Arcane Space has always been a favorite, capturing the essence of the Spelljammer space fantasy setting for 2^nd Edition AD&D. 

 Q6: You can game every day for a week. Describe what you'd do!

A6: My gut reaction here is to say that I'd gather a group of players, create some OD&D characters, and finish Keep on the Borderlands once and for all. That's something we tried to do a number of times when I was younger—including an epic effort on a snow day in college—but for which we never succeeded.

A more serious answer is to say that I'd run a series using one of the rulebooks that currently sits idle on my shelf. This could include Wonderland No More using the Save Worlds rules, or perhaps Pirates of the Spanish Main using the same. 

  

 Q7: What was your most impactful RPG session?

A7: When it comes to sessions in which I've played, the most impactful is probably a weekend-long, epic campaign finale to a Spelljammer campaign that my brother ran. He and I, along with two buddies, had been playing in that campaign for more than a year. For the finale, my aunt took us all out to the family cabin, where Nick ran the module Under the Dark Fist. We played for much of Friday night before going to bed, and then for as much of Saturday as we could, before finishing things on Sunday. In addition to being the action-packed conclusion to that campaign, it was the first taste that I had of really epic adventuring—our characters save the Known Galaxy from the Vodyanoi threat, and then were granted demi-god status because of what we'd done. That extended session, to me, set the bar for what RPG campaign finales could, and should, be.

Q8: What is a good RPG to play for session of 2 hours or less?

A8: For me, the first answer that comes to mind is the d6-based Star Wars RPG from West End Games. Although it's been out of print for almost twenty years now, it still strikes me as an excellent rules-light system that really captures the feel of the setting that it's supposed to emulate. While other games can be run in such a way that the rules seem to be “invisible,” that one, to me, still seems like the best.

Q9: What is a good RPG to play for about 10 sessions?

A9: This, to me, seems like a good chance to try out something unusual, or something that's not so well suited to extended campaign play. (Pathfinder or D&D and Star Wars strike me as really well suited to long campaigns, by the way.) I've been wanting to use Savage Worlds for a short series inspired by Ash vs. Evil Dead, for example, or even something based on RoboCop. Those, in my mind, would make for good ten-game series: ones that have a higher possibility of PC fatality. For that reason any incarnation of Call of Cthulhu also comes to mind, even though I don't have much experience with it.

 Q10: Where do you go for RPG reviews?

A10: As mentioned above, I spend a good deal of time on ENWorld and RPG.net. If those don't provide what I want, then I just Google “Title of RPG Review.”

Q11: Which “dead game” would you like to see reborn?

A11: This is an easy one: the D6 version of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game.

 Q12: Which RPG has the most inspiring interior art?

A12: I'll give a shoutout here to the old Al-Qadim campaign setting. The art wasn't fancy, but TSR did a nice job of keeping one artist—Karl Waller—for the whole run of the product line. This established a really consistent feel, and I liked it.

Q13: Describe a game experience that changed how you play.

A13: Running sessions at conventions and for the RPGA had a big impact on how I plan for and run sessions. Much of that comes from the fact that I needed to tell a complete and satisfying story in a four-hour time period, and one in which all of the characters (and thus players) play an active part. That also pushed me to work on my organization and pacing.

Q14: Which RPG do you prefer for open-ended campaign play?

A14: This is a hard one. On the one hand, I think games like Pathfinder and D&D work really well because the level-based system of character advancement makes for really satisfying development. Eventually, however, characters become so powerful that it's hard to challenge them without having character death become all too common.

 Q15: Which RPG do you enjoy adapting the most?

A15: Savage Worlds stands out for this one because of the ease of adaptability for it, and because its “Fast, Furious and Fun” nature makes it a good fit for lots of cinematic genres. I've written some supplements for using it in the Aliens universe, and have been kicking around ideas for Ash vs. Evil Dead and RoboCop, too.

Q16: What RPG do you enjoy using as is?

A16: For me, Pathfinder is the one that just works well in the setting for which it is intended. While the rules become a little cumbersome and slow at really high levels, most campaigns don't run that long.

Q17: Which RPG have you owned the longest but not played?

A17: That award probably goes to the Masterbook system version of The Adventures of Indiana Jones.

Q18: Which RPG have you played the most in your life?

A18: This one is a toss-up between the various incarnations of D&D and Pathfinder, or to the range of Star Wars RPGs. When it comes to Star Wars, I can recall half a dozen D6-System SW campaigns, along with a few using the d20 System (including lots of activity for the Living Force campaign), one for Saga Edition (the Dawn of Defiance series) and a couple for the new system from Fantasy Flight Games. On the other hand, it feels like I've run or played in a D&D/Pathfinder campaign just about every year for the past quarter century: four in the Freeport setting; a massive Spelljammer epic; various hodgepodges of Dungeon Magazine scenarios in junior high and high school; one based on Against the Giants using 3^rd edition; two set in ancient Greece; one in Lankhmar; one that ran to 20^th level and ended with the Coliseum Morpheuon super-module; and my current one, playing in the Skull & Shackles adventure path. Additionally, I've run most of those systems and editions at conventions, game days and the like. Let's call it a draw at a dozen of each.

Q19: Which RPG features the best writing?

A19: I really enjoyed reading the 1^st Edition of the Star Wars RPG from West End Games because the authors included a good deal of humor in their explanations of how the rules worked.

Strange Meteorites from Beyond the Sol System

It's relatively common knowledge that the surface of the planet Wodan is pockmarked with creaters caused by meteorite impacts. What not so many know is that some of those meteorites come from beyond the Sol System, and in fact originate in the depths of space between distant stars. What is more, some of those meteorites contain an unusual greenish, liquid metal, one that is known to cause deformities and mutations among those who are exposed to it.

Deformities To determine a random deformity, roll 1d12 and consult the following list; refer to pages 180-1 of Bestiary 5 for details. 1. Blind 2. Deaf 3. Fragile 4. Fractured Mind 5. Lame 6. Light Blindness 7. Mindless 8. Misshapen 9. Poor Ability 10. Spasms 11. Useless Arm 12. Vulnerability

Mutations To determine a random deformity, roll 1d20 and consult the following list; refer to page 181 of Bestiary 5 for details. 1. Armored 2. Bulbous Eyes 3. Celerity 4. Echolocation 5. Extra Arm 6. Fast Healing 7. Feral 8. Gills 9. Increased Speed 10. Leaping 11. Mental Armor 12. Rage 13. Resistance 14. Rugged 15. Sealed Mind 16. Slam 17. Spell-Like Ability 18. Stench 19. Telepathy 20. Wings

Origins?

Little is known about the origin of these meteorites. Some claim that they are crafted by unknown but bizarre entities—possibly the goddess Lamashtu, the Void itself, or even some unholy union of those two powers—and then sent drifting toward Sol and its planets. According to that theory, the rocks are a means of corrupting and perverting those worlds and their inhabitants. Others postulate that there must be some area of powerful, weird energy in which they originate, but do not know just what sets them into motion through the aether. Finally, at least one scholar has theorized that they might be produced by a sentient nebula, one that somehow became subject to madness.

Using the Strange Meteorites in an Aetherial Adventures Campaign

There are plenty of ways that a GM can work these unusual objects into a space fantasy RPG campaign; presented here are a few of the possibilities.

• As mentioned previously, the fire giants of Wodan are known to seek out craters on that world in which these have impacted and then mine them for their ore; they then use them for magical experiments, the purpose of which is not entirely clear.
• When a meteorite lands in the water near a coastal village, creatures and even people begin to develop mutations; local authorities look for adventures to investigate.
• One mutant that develops the Telepathy mutation becomes highly valuable as a spy, and its ally or master could use it to steal information from unsuspecting victims. Just what those secrets are, of course, and how one can exploit them, provides nearly limitless opportunities for intrigue and adventure.
• A ruthless military leader might try to harness the power of mutation for improving soldiers' combat abilities. While some, such as the Disciples of the Destroyer, might embrace such an ordeal, most others would resent it.
• Indeed, the subjects of those experiments might even turn on their commanders and look for a crew with an aethership who can help them escape.
• The PCs could encounter a ship that collided with one of these asteroids and must deal with the crew and passengers who have been exposed to its weird mutations.
• In the aftermath of such an incident, the powers that be might call on the PCs to help find a cure for the mutations; that could entail a visit to the fire giants of Wodan, or even an expedition to the region of space from which they come.

The Fire Giants of Wodan, Part 2

Here's the lower level of the fire giants' stronghold.

-Nate

 14. Watchtower

From the stronghold's ground level, the spiral staircase leads up through the natural rock and into a tower that rises fifty feet above the surrounding cliff face. At the top it is open to the sky overhead, except for a waist-high (for fire giants) railing along the outside. From here, the two giants normally stationed here watch the surrounding terrain for potential enemies and other developments. What is more, four ballistae are located here in the event that the giants need to stage a defense.

15. Hallway

A broad hallway leads from the base of the staircase to the other rooms on the stronghold's lower level.

16. Troll Warren

The door to this chamber is barred by a locked iron gate (hardness 10 and 60 hit pints; DC 25 to force or DC 30 to open). It is here that the trolls who serve the fire giants in mining activities and other labor. There are piles of straw for their beds, among which one can find odds and ends that they've kept as trophies or tools.

17. Hell Hound Pen

This room is laid out in much the same way as the troll warren, except that it is slightly cleaner. The hell hounds are kept here.

18. Torture Chamber

Two broad tables, with shackles mounted in their corners, occupy the middle of this room. There are shelves on the inside walls, too, filled with various unpleasant implements. On the inside wall there are four cells, each built for three prisoners and sealed with doors similar to those in the troll warren and hell hound pen. A single fire giant can usually be found here, preparing for the next session.

19. Workshop

One corner of this room is filled by a large furnace, used for heating liquids as well as metal items. There are barrels of fuel to one side of it, and a cask of water to the other. In the middle sits a broad work table, and shelves containing esoteric ingredients, tools and the like line two of the walls. The fire giant oracle and/or an assistant can often be found here, along with the tophet that serves as an unsleeping guardian.

20. King and Queen's Bedroom

A huge bed dominates the center of this room; large wardrobes and storage trunks stand against the walls to either side of it. This is, of course, where the fire giant oracle and magmablade take their rest. As such, the wardrobes and trunks contain many of their personal items, including extra sets of clothing along with any treasure items that the giants don't generally carry on their persons. Note, however that the trunks are sealed with good-quality locks (DC 30 to open and DC 25 to break).

21. Meditation Chamber

This rather Spartan room contains only a low table with an incense burner and writing materials, and a seating cushion. It is here that the oracle performs her rituals and other activities.

22. Trophy Room

Tapestries depicting the glories of the magmablade's deeds hang along the walls of this chamber. Additionally, four suits of armor taken from fallen foes are arranged on stands. At the GM's discretion, one or more of these could even be magical—something that is too small for the magmablade to wear, but suitable for the PCs. Additionally, a DC 25 Perception check reveals the secret door that provides access to the escape tunnel (below).

23. Escape Tunnel

This narrow passage, some ten feet wide and fifteen feet tall, provides a means of escape in the event of trouble that's too much for the fire giants to handle. It leads to an exit in the surrounding hillside.

Stronghold Inhabitants

Detailed here are references for those who inhabit the stronghold.

Fire Giants: Refer to page 148 in the Bestiary for details.

Fire Giant Strongarms: Refer to page 58 in the Monster Codex for details.

Ettins: Refer to page 130 in the Bestiary for details.

Hell Hounds: Refer to page 173 in the Bestiary for details.

Trolls: Refer to page 268 in the Bestiary for details. Note, too, that some of these trolls have suffered deformities and mutations as per pages 180-1 in Bestiary 5.

Fire Giant Doombringer: Refer to page 61 in the Monster Codex for details.

Fire Giant Magmablade: Refer to page 60 in the Monster Codex for details.

Tophet: Refer to page 271 in Bestiary 3 for details.

Using the Fire Giants of Wodan in an Aetherial Adventures Campaign

There are plenty of ways that the PCs could interact with these fire giants during a space fantasy RPG campaign; presented here are a few of the possibilities.

• Given the inherent power of the fire giants, it goes almost without saying that those who deal with them should rely on diplomacy and skulduggery rather than outright use of force.
• The lack of natural resources on Wodan means that PCs can find a market for foodstuffs and similar goods here, in exchange for precious ores, worked metal goods and the like.
• The PCs might be recruited to rescue a prisoner who is being held by the fire giants; whether or not that imprisonment is deserved, of course, is open to debate.
• It is rumored that the fire giants receive regular efreeti visitors; although the exact nature of their mutual business is unknown, some claim that they've had discussions about the church of Sol on Homeworld.
• Some of the meteorites that strike the surface of Wodan are ones that originate beyond the Sol System; the fire giants use their trolls to mine those impact craters. Because of the deformities and mutations caused by exposure to that metal, it's possible that one or more of the trolls could approach the PCs seeking to escape from that dangerous job.
• Finally, other organizations could be interested in studying and even exploiting those mutative properties—especially if and when they are faced with a major threat of some kind.

The Fire Giants of Wodan

This post is the first in a series that describe the fire giants who inhabit the planet Wodan.

-Nate

The Giants of Wodan

Although the sun-scorched surface of the planet Wodan is not habitable for many living things, this world is home to a notable band of fire giants, who reside in a stronghold cut from the mountainside.  

1. Front Gate

Massive iron double doors (hardness 10 and 180 hit points), each ten feet wide and twenty feet tall, seal the entrance to the fire giants' stronghold. What is more, they can drop an iron bar in behind it, thereby increasing the DC for breaking down the door from 30 to 40.

2. Gauntlet

The walls of this room are cut by arrow slits, providing a place from which the fire giant warriors can defend the stronghold. These gaps are some four inches wide at their narrowest, and run all the way from the floor up to ceiling, which is twenty feet high. On the inside wall of this room is another door similar to the front gate.

3. Defensive Positions

This narrow passage provides access to the other side of the arrow slits, each of which is five feet wide at the widest. There are also doors leading into the guards' barracks (area 5, below).

4. Entrance

Visitors to the stronghold are received here by an escort, usually two fire giants and sometimes more depending on dangerous they seem to be. The double doors on its inside wall are not built to be sealed against intruders. It is otherwise featureless.

5. Guard Barracks

Each of these two rooms is filled with eight large beds, arranged around the walls. There is also a table and chairs at which the fire giants lounge while not tasked with other duties. Beneath each of their beds the warriors keep footlockers that contain extra clothing and various personal items. Each room provides quarters to seven normal fire giants and one strongarm, who acts as a sergeant. At the GM's discretion, there could be some valuable items among the otherwise mundane possessions.

6. Throne Room

Two rows of large chairs face each other along the length of this broad, open chamber; at their head stands one that is even taller and more ornate. That is where the fire giants' leader (a magmablade) receives guests and makes pronouncements to his underlings.

7. Dining Hall

A pair of long tables, each surrounded by chairs, dominate this room. Here the fire giants take their meals, and at any given time there's the chance that a few guards, who've recently finished duty, are having a bite to eat here.

8. Kitchen

A massive hearth with a roasting spit fills one wall of this room; there is also a broad table for preparing food, along with barrels of fuel and beer, and shelves filled with cooking implements and other supplies. One or more ettin servants can generally be found here, preparing the next meal for the stronghold.

9. Pantry

Shelves line the walls of this room; they are laden with all manner of foodstuffs, along with more barrels stacked on the floors beneath them.

10. Stairway

This spiral staircase leads up to the watchtower, as well as down to the level below.

11. Storage Room

Another room that is lined with shelves, this one contains extra chairs, linens, tapestries, torches and the like, all things that the ettin servants use to keep the stronghold in good order.

12. Servants' Quarters

This room is also filled with beds, for use by the eight ettin servants. Typically, half of them can be found here, resting, while the others are working.

13. Guest Room

Furnished much like the ettin's quarters, this room is kept for those rare occasions on which visitors come to the stronghold.

Worlds of the Sol System

This post fleshes out some of the details provided in the map of Sol Space.

Map of the Sol System

-Nate

Worlds of the Sol System 

 Detailed below are each of the planets or other bodies from the map above.

Sol

At the center point of the system sits its primary star. This medium yellow sun might seem to be unremarkable when compared to other such bodies around the galaxy, but it is the focus of all life here. As such, Sol forms the basis of one of the more influential religious sects, who view it as the embodiment of a deity who is a shining beacon of hope and light. 

According to legends, numerous creatures inhabit this star. One is believed to be a phoenix, a bird-like being of elemental fire who periodically rises up from the depths of the sun, only eventually to fall back into it again. It is said that the phoenix is very old and has much knowledge to share, provided that one can find it and win its favor. Other tales tell of a coven of witchfires—hags whose ship strayed too close to Sol and was immolated by its heat—that haunt the surrounding space, preying upon unwary travelers.

Wodan

This small world lies too close to Sol for anything much to live on it. It is covered mostly by broad areas of stony or sandy plains, along with low ridges pushed up by tectonic or volcanic activity. The plains also feature numerous craters caused by meteorite impacts. There is very little water to be found; what does exist usually pools in some of those craters, forming small oasis communities. That reason—along with the fact that nighttime temperatures fall well below freezing, while daytime heat becomes unlivable for all creatures except those who are immune to fire—means that many have had to adapt to survive. As such, they generally retreat into burrows during the worst of the heat, and emerge during a “twilight” period when it is more tolerable.

Creatures that can survive on this harsh planet include the magma ooze, rast, thoqqua and shasalqu, with the cherufe being the top of the local food chain. The conditions here have also led it to be a popular place for fire giants to settle, and they bring with them monsters such as hell hounds and trolls. Those settlers build elaborate underground strongholds in which they forge weapons and other items using metal gathered from the surrounding terrain. It is also believed that certain efreeti maintain palaces on this world.

Freya

Of all the planets in the Sol System, this one is perhaps the most beautiful—and the most mysterious. That is because the world is shrouded in a dense, acidic atmosphere. While that feature makes it glow brilliantly in the night sky of Homeworld, it also renders the surface almost completely uninhabitable. Only a few bizarre monsters are known to live there, such as the bhole, plasma ooze and shard slag. Even then, however, these creatures dwell in expansive underground tunnel networks.

What is worse, the planet's sky is home to the dreaded colour out of space, along with any blighted victims that it has managed to claim. Indeed, there are multiple legends regarding lost aetherships that drift through the dense clouds, crewed by eerily glowing victims or their ashen remains.

Of greater interest to interplanetary travelers are the islands that drift high up in Freya's atmosphere. Because of its dense nature, intrepid individuals have discovered that they can drag in asteroid and similar bodies that have air pockets trapped in them; those, then, float in the air. These have been developed into floating retreats via an elemental obelisk, a bottle of air, or the like. Such sky islands are already known to be favored by beings such as angels and djinn, among others, and it is believed that the Royal Interplanetary Company has been considering building one of its own.

Homeworld

As mentioned previously, this world is an ideal place for most living creatures. As such, it is the only one known to be widely populated, with numerous native races and species that have developed myriad different civilizations and cultures. It is also believed by some to be the very embodiment of Gaea, the Earth Mother goddess. It is home to numerous organizations that wield influence throughout the Sol System, including the Royal Interplanetary Company and the Church of Ptah.

Tyr

This planet consists of one vast, cold, red desert, sprawling amid low-lying mountains and the occasional volcano. In many ways it is very similar to Homeworld, but lacking the vital warmth and moisture that makes its neighbor so verdant.

Unbeknownst to many, Tyr was once home to a small but advanced civilization—the troglodytes. These reptilian humanoids built impressive structures and achieved important discoveries in medicine, astronomy and other fields of study. For some reason, however, thousands of years ago their society collapsed and fell into ruin. Explorers have found some of their structures and even encountered a few of the remaining creatures, and while it's clear that they retain a few vestiges of their old accomplishments, they have long since devolved into what is little better than lives of primitive hunting and gathering.

For a list of creatures that can be found in this world's vast underground warrens, refer to http://d20pirates.blogspot.com/2017/03/planetary-ecologies.html. Some of those cave networks, warmed by volcanic activity and containing traces of water long since lost from the surface, have become oases of fungal life.

The Asteroid Belt

For the most part, the bodies in this region of the Sol System are little more than rocks, big and small, floating through space. Those, in turn, are home to the unusual worm-like creatures known as somalcygots. There are exceptions, however.

One such settlement, founded by the Royal Interplanetary Company, is the Crossroads asteroid colony. It provides a hub for trade, but is also developing its own population. For details, refer to http://d20pirates.blogspot.com/2015/07/crossroads-pdf.html. Another example is the Grotto, a place that is home to various scallywags: http://d20pirates.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-grotto.html. Finally, the Dwarven Mining Guild has outfitted numerous floating forges that mine and refine ore throughout the Belt: http://d20pirates.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-dwarven-mining-guild.html.

Scholars have long debated how the Asteroid Belt came to be. While many argue that it is just a planet that never managed to coalesce out of the aetherial debris like the ones around it, some claim that it was actually a world in its own right, but that it was obliterated in some kind of tremendous, cataclysmic event. Some collectors even claim to have found artifacts of a lost civilization among the asteroids, but others dispute those claims.

Thonar

One of two gas giant—or Jovian—planets in the Sol System, this one is best known for its giant red spot, which is actually a massive and unending storm. Just what caused it, and why it is unceasing, is a topic of interest among scholars. Thonar is also home to the mutable, telepathic beings known as brethedans. While they have not built any structures in their own right, they are known to attract the massive, aether-swimming oma, which the brethedans have tamed for use as interplanetary transports. The planet also has dozens of moons that are ripe for further exploration.

Kronos

In many ways, Kronos is very similar to Thonar. Instead of a giant red spot, however, it is most easily recognized by the prominent set of rings surrounding it. It, too, boasts numerous moons, only one of which has been fully explored. That is Enceladus, a moon that is frozen on the surface but that features hidden seas warmed by thermal vents. For a list of creatures that can be found in its seas, refer to http://d20pirates.blogspot.com/2017/03/planetary-ecologies.html.

Enceladus is also home to Starfort Station, an outpost of the Elven Navy. To find a layout of that facility, refer to http://d20pirates.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-elven-star-fort.html. Additional details about the location and those who can be found at http://d20pirates.blogspot.com/2016/02/plot-hooks-for-and-inhabitants-of-elven.html.

In addition to their aetherial galleons, arkships and other vessels, it is believed that the elves maintain interstellar portals hidden amidst the debris of the planet's rings, ones that they use for traveling to worlds beyond this solar system.

The Beyond

Little is known about what lies beyond the Known Worlds of the Sol System. The region not far outside the system is believed to be the origin of the comets that periodically drift through the system, although just how they are created and sent drifting toward Sol is unknown. Some scholars speculate that there could be additional planets further out than Kronos. Finally, the elves are known to have sent their arkships on interstellar voyages in search of other star systems.

One such mission took them to the planet that is home to the kasatha and shobhad, the world on which gunpowder was first devised: http://d20pirates.blogspot.com/2017/03/planetary-ecologies.html. It is believed that there are more stars and planets, of course, some of which might be the original homes of such interstellar travelers as the lunarma, mercane, mi-go and witchwyrds.