Realmsspace

I was very disapointed when the Realmsspace accessory came out,  I just
didn't feel it truely captured the flavor of the realms,  and i felt it
was,  in general, a poor product.  Now that Spelljammer has bit the final
bullet (though maybe we could see some Spelljammer material come out in the
Odessey line?)  I realized no one would come along and redo the Realmspace
product.  So I decided to do it myself.  In the next few weeks I am going
to be posting my updates and improvements concerning Realmspace,  I hope to
cover all the major powergroups by the time I finish.  Input desired and
appreciated.

Elven Imperial Fleet
Realmspace has remained a stronghold for the fleet throughout the the
Second Unhuman War; indeed for a short period Lionheart (secret HQ of the
IEN) itself orbited Garden.  Lacking a planet dominated by goblinoids
Realmspace escaped the bloodiest battles of the war,  these occurred
instead in places like Winterspace and Greyspace.  The Realmspace fleet
fought several small battles,  but always with the advantage of numbers;
in fact the the Elves did not lose a single Man-o-War within the sphere.

There are two major elven settlements in Realmspace,  both are on the
surface of Toril, Evermeet and Evereska.  Both allow vessels crewed by
elves to land,  but forbid non-elves from landing. The IEN plays a part in
policing both of these blockades and maintains an ambassador to each
nation. Many elven merchants take advantage of their monopoly of trade with
these realms.

There are essentially two elven fleets within Realmspace.  The first is the
Evermeet defense force.  Consisting of 6 "Ruathimaer" (Starwings) this
fleets sole purpuse is to defend the airspace of Evermeet.  It is aided in
this task by squadrons of elves mounted upon giant eagles and pegasi.  The
Ruathimaer are essentially slightly smaller Men-o-War,  capable of landing
on water. They are crewed by the elite sailors of the Evermeet navy.  These
vessels are not IEN ships,  instead they are in the direct service of the
Queen of Evermeet and _never_ seen Evermeet and Toril.
Evereska is defended by squadrons of giant eagle and pegasi riders as well,
but also depends up on the IEN for defence.

The second elven fleet within Realmspace is that of the IEN.  With the
recent lull in the Second Unhuman War it is believed that this is the
largest elven force in the Inner Flow- a fact which constantly worries its
commander.  This fleet consists of 7 Armadas,  1 Monarch-class Armada,  50+
Flitters, 12 Men-o-War, 1 Radient ship, 5 Eel supply ships amd about 1400
elven crew.  This powerful fleet is commanded by one of the most colorful
elven officers,  Admiral Icarus.  A swashbuckling elf, Icarus' tactical
skills are part of the reason the Realms fleet suffered so few casualties
in the during the war.  He usually maintains the fleet in four different
groups- The largest group consists of nearly all the Armadas,  about three
Men-O-Wars,  the Radient ship and the Eel ships.  This fleet is usually
commanded by Icarus' second in command and crusies the more remote (and
thus less travelled) regions of the sphere.  The second group is actually
six or seven of the Men-O-Wars patrolling individually throughout the
sphere (paying special attention to Garden and Selune's Tears).  The third
group is usually in close orbit around Toril,  hovering above Evermeet or
Evereska while the crew rotates through shoreleave in thirds.  This group
is never more than 1 Armada and 1-2 Men-o-War.  The final group is Icarus'
flagship Armada "Arrow of Justice" and 2 Men-O-War.  Icarus' patrols
randomly through the sphere,  maintaining communications with his other
ships through both magical and psionic means.  His group is the one must
likely to be discovered around the mysterious new nebula or raiding a neogi
astroid in Selune's Tears.

Icarus maintains excellent relations with the grounling elves of Toril,
His fleet never "finds other buisness" as IEN fleets in other spheres have
been known to do when the Elven Nations attempted to draw them into
groundling affairs.  Icarus considers Queen Amluraril his sovereign,  and
will obey her orders accordingly.  Luckily for him there has not yet been a
conflict between her orders and those of the Elven high Command.

Icarus is also less xenophobic than many elves;  this has filtered down to
many of the elves in his command.  On a practical level this has led to
several joint missions with Code Helm against the Illithids on Glyth and a
working alliance with the Realmspace fief of the Company of the Chalice.
He has very uneasy relations with Wa,  a recent five year truce was broken
when a Tsunami attacked and destroyed a Sindiath line Man-o-War.  Wa has
claimed,  amazingly enough,  that the vessel was being used by the drow to
smuggle contraband into Wa itself. Stunned by this obvious lie,  Icarus is
giving thought to why the Emperor of Wa might wish to go to war with the
IEN.  Considering the size of the Wa fleet this is currently his greatest
concern;  a war with Wa would likely leave his fleet unable to perform its
other duties within the sphere.

Notes:
The above contains TSR trademarked material,  as well as paraphrased
copyrighted material.  This use should not be construed as a challenge to
that status.

Bibliography
War Captain's companion: Book 1
Elves of Evermeet
Books 2, 3 and 4 of the Cloakmaster cycle
Captain Icarus AD&D Trading Card
Realmsspace
Forgotten Realms Boxed set
Spacefarer's Handbook

"We look on the same stars,  the sky is common,  the same world surrounds
us.  What difference does it make by what pains each seeks the truth?  We
can not attain to so great a secret by one road..."
Symmachus,  "Memorial on the Occasion of the Removal of the Altar of
Victory from the Senate House" (392 AD)

westermeyer.3@???.edu
Paul William Westermeyer