Re: Lathuibbis part II

Well, for what its worth, here it is - the second half of Lathuibbis.

	Vrenotheis is a spherical fire world of dull violet hue.  It has a
diameter of 23,000 miles and is the only planet in the system to orbit the
primary point in a clockwise direction.  Vrenotheis has four tiny moons and
a spectacular set of rings.  Sightings of great five-eyed dragons
consisting of living flame have been reported by enough reliable witnesses
that the lack of physical evidence does not provoke doubts of their
existence.  Though its atmosphere is breathable, the awesome inferno of
Vrenotheis prevents all but the most heavily protected by magic from
approaching it at all.
	Terberska Invernosp the mage has taken the tiny first moon of
Vrenotheis for her own.  Prior to her arrival about fifteen standard years
ago, this lifeless bit of rock had neither atmosphere nor name.  She has
taken an immediate dislike to the moniker it has since acquired.  Mad
Wizard's Rock, as her home is now known, is about sixteen miles across at
its widest point and about ten miles across at its narrowest.  It takes the
tiny moon exactly 30 days to orbit Vrenotheis.  The only other inhabitants
of Mad Wizard's Rock are her raccoon familiar named Niywig, her ailing aunt
Marinetha, four servants, and the exotic plants in her garden.
	The second moon of Vrenotheis is smaller than the first, but the
thriving city of Kanidwerton covers its entire surface.  Kanidwerton is a
spherical rock ten miles across.  Kanidwerton completes an orbit around
Vrenotheis every 38 days.  The hollow interior has its own tiny yellow sun
that is thiry feet across.  The interior is dominated by agricultural
concerns.  Grown here are olives, morm fruit, grapes, wheat, adrih, corn,
rice, twelve varieties of peppers, nineteen kinds of beans and dozens of
other things.  Every building in the interior has soil on top where crops
are grown.  The buildings on the outer surface are also required to have as
much plant life as possible, but flowers and other non-food plants are much
more common.  The most noticable feature of Kanidwerton is its multi-level
docking facility that can handle just over sixty ships at a time.  This
facility uses a staggered vertical scaffolding tower that is over half a
mile tall and overhangs the city about it for nearly the same distance.
The bureaucracy  needed to run the docking facility employs over 200 beings
of various race.  At the head of the bureaucracy is a retired scro captain
named Urt Gixor.  Urt has had a hard life.  The most visible signs of this
are his right eyepatch, left hand hook and left peg leg, all acquired in
the second Unhuman War in battle against the elves.  His second and third
in command are the elven wizard Inberavalarthis and the dwarven
fighter/thief Peathwrao.  How these three manage to work together without
killing each other is the subject of endless speculation throughout the
city.
	The third moon of Vrenotheis is a cube shaped water world.  It is
247 miles across and is commonly called Rot Block.  It takes 42 days for it
to orbit Vrenotheis.  The water is brackish and the atmosphere is foul.
Very little is known about it because it is seldom visited.
	Ermontown is the fourth moon of Vrenotheis.  This irregular shaped
bit of rock is about two miles across and makes an orbit every 56 days.
Its docking facilities can handle just four ships at a time.  Its main
attraction is the Ermontown College of Evocation.  It has four instructors
of levels 10 through 13.  There are about five pupils per instructor at any
one time, of levels 0 to 5.
	Euflommos is a bright red spherical fire world 67,000 miles across.
It has a poisonous atmosphere that precludes the presence of even fire
based life forms such as elementals.  Careful observation has revealed that
at irregular intervals large dark bubbles arise from the fiery depths and
burst into a short lived but colorful conflagration upon reaching its
surface.  Seven moons orbit Euflommos.  They are named, from the closest to
the furthest, the Theocracy of Koronrad, Entebbelos, Ankilarra, Xoi
Huantuan, Trazaldos, Nyilnevehh and Gerotheg Riora.
	The first moon is a square flat earth world three thousand miles
across.  It takes 230 days for it to orbit Euflommos.  Several wars of
conquest brought both sides of the entire moon under the iron thumb of the
Theocracy of Koronrad.  So far, all of their efforts to forcefully export
their bloody brand of religion to the other moons of Euflommos have met
with stiff resistance.  Recently they have begun using captured ships
flying captured flags for their piracies in an effort to keep from being
attacked on sight.  Local spelljammers have started looking for the
distinctive red robes that their religion requires and attacking any ship
whose crew has members dressed in red, just in case.  At least two ships
which had nothing to do with the Theocracy have been destroyed in error
because someone on deck was wearing red clothing.  The destroyed ship that
was from Thay on Toril in Realmspace will be little missed, but the loss of
the ship belonging the Scarlet Order of Healers from Kirskap in Clenched
has been mourned in more than one sphere.  The Theocracy of Koronrad should
be avoided unless one is willing to be sacrificed to Koron, their god of
fire.
	Entebbelos is a spherical earth world 8,500miles across that takes
264 days to orbit Euflommos.  Three small continents and one large
continent gird the equator.  The largest continent is called Woidufar.  It
is divided by no less than five chains of low mountains.  Hundreds of
dwarven, aarakocra and gnomish kingdoms are scattered throughout the
mountains of Woidufar.  The rest of the continent is fought over by elves,
humans, humanoids, loxo and thri-kreen.  Though it is the largest
continent, the natural wonders of Entebbelos are all on the other
continents.  The largest empire, which is called Virtumminos, is on the
continent of Biolalur, as is the highest mountain (Mt. Demon Eye) and the
largest lake (Lake Ospripidalia).  Neither Mt. Demon Eye nor Lake
Ospripidalia are in the Empire of Virtumminos.  Nearly fifty smaller
kingdoms border Virtumminos along its northern and eastern borders.  To the
south and west of Virtumminos is the Sea of Dreams, which separates
Biolalur from Duagomir.  The continent of Duagomir has the deepest gorge,
through which runs the longest river.  The smallest continent is Naujimor,
and it has the largest desert and rain forest.  Countless tiny islands dot
the trackless polar oceans, but only rarely are any two close enough
together that they can be seen at the same time.  It is almost unheard of
that two of these tiny islands are close enough that one can be seen from
the other.  Due to its close proximity to Euflommos, the polar regions have
a temperate climate.  Groups of spelljamming ships from Virtumminos have
begun patrolling the skies above the oceans as well as all of the
continents because ships from the Theocracy of Koronrad have been
increasingly bold in their raids to gather sacrifices to Koron.
	Ankilarra is a small but heavily populated world.  It is a
spherical earth world with a diameter of four hundred miles that has an
orbital period of 300 days.  An elaborate system of canals connects the
five cities of Ankilarra and the rivers that each is built by.  Each city
is named for a different type of gem stone.  The elven city of Emerald is
located amongst the enormous dwerih trees that line the river
Kolframolingra.  The city closest to Emerald is the gnomish city of
Elbrond, nestled in the hills of Fwenseoth at the headwaters of the river
Jeromdis.  The main entrance to the dwarven city of Ruby is located behind
the Great Falls of the Verlett River which cascade down the east side of
Ankilarra's only mountain.  At the heart of Ankilarra's sole desert, on the
north bank of the River Dehiedra, lies the beautiful city of Diamond, in
which dwell the sphere's only population of skyzorr'n.  The thri-kreen city
of Sapphire can be found at the mouth of the river Hrawn, which crosses the
Urmal Plain.  Trade is brisk amongst the Jewels of Ankilarra, and much of
it is conducted by several groups of aperusa who have gradually lost touch
with their starfaring relatives.  While each individual city is dominated
by one particular race, all of the cities and most of the aperusa clans
have large numbers of halflings among them.  Even though the halflings are
the most numerous race on Ankilarra, they are also the most ignored.  An
extensive and very secretive halfling thieve's guild does its best work
when there are aparusa in the vicinity, capitalizing on their already less
than pristine reputation.  The major exports of Ankilarra include gnomish
and dwarven ales, elvish wines, halfling and aparusan liquors, plus some
exotic skyzorr'n and thri-kreen herbs and spices.
	The tiny rock of Xoi Huantuan is unique among the moons of
Euflommos in that it has its own even tinier moon.  The moon which orbits
Xoi Huantuan is a blue fire body that produces prodigious amounts of heat.
It is three miles across and orbits Xoi Huantuan in only twenty minutes.
Xoi Huantuan itself orbits Euflommos every 320 days.  The lizard men of Xoi
Huantuan have completely domesticated its marshy surface and have built
their own unique little civilization, complete with a university, four
libraries, a competently run goverment by bureaucracy, a complex language
that does not even resemble the original lizard man tongue from which it is
derived, a system of industries which produce goods for trade and a well
trained military force to defend against pirates and the Theocracy of
Koronrad.  All of this has been accomplished on a marshy little rock only
twenty-one miles in diameter.  Due to the hot moist climate and swampy
terrain, very few humans or demi-humans are willing to make this their
home.  Those few non-lizard men who do live here are welcomed by the lizard
men so long as their taxes are paid and the laws of the land are observed.
To their credit, the government of the lizard men treats humans and their
ilk exactly as it does its own citizens.  The most profitable exports of
Xoi Huantuan are the large silver dragonflies which are sold as pets, and
the crack mercenaries who hire onto spelljamming vessels from the other
moons of Euflommos.
	Trazaldos is the largest moon of Euflommos, with an orbital period
of 360 days.  It is a spherical earth world with a diameter of 12,440
miles.  Its two huge continents cover both poles.  Each continent has a
small ice cap at its center that is approximately two hundred miles across.
The northern continent is called Siortinan and the southern continent is
called Pirithiew.  Natural wonders of Siortinan include the miles high
trees that grow in the valleys of the Skyscratcher Mountains, the
crystaline sands of the Vorlage Desert, the beautiful Crescent Gorge and
the incredible Eigrana Falls.  The diversity of life on just the northern
continent is staggering.  Humans, demi-humans, humanoids, giants and
non-humans can all be found in great numbers.  Hundreds of kingdoms, free
cities, wilderness areas, theocracies, enclaves and empires litter the
continent in a chaotic jumble.  In contrast to the northern continent,
Pirithiew is dominated by three huge human empires.  Demihumans are very
rare and humanoids are virtually unknown.  The three empires are but
fragments of a continent wide mega-empire which broke up over four hundred
years ago.  At that time, the Empire of Ciritwalil had just won a centuries
old conflict with another kingdom called Xexh Thidar, which had been ruled
by the cambion twins Xexh and Thidar.  The cambion twins were both slain in
a cataclysmic battle which rent a major portion of the continent in two and
thrust up new mountains on the opposite side.  Poisonous fumes issue from
the depths of Abyss Chasm, rendering all lands within a hundred miles of it
uninhabitable.  Though the kingdom of Xexh Thidar is little mentioned or
even remembered, the effects of its passing reach into nearly every
household on the planet.  Where the New Mountains thrust up, the seven core
provinces of the Ciritwalil Empire were obliterated, leaving the newly
triumphant Empire with no central leadership.  The three most powerful
generals of Ciritwalil divied up the continent and amongst themselves and
declared the area of the core provinces off limits to annexation by any of
them.  Subsequently, malcontents from each of the three new empires moved
into the New Mountains and started their own small kingdoms.  At this point
in time there are about forty-five of them.  One odd holdover from the War
is that all wizards are members of the same continent-wide guild, even
those who live in the New Kingdoms.  No wizard is without a soul dagger,
which holds a portion of the wizard's soul and is used as a component in
nearly every spell they cast.
	The sixth moon of Euflommos is Nyilnevehh, a torus shaped earth
world 4,670 miles across and 1,340 miles thick.  Nyilnevehh orbits
Euflommos every 392 days.  Most of the inner portion of the torus is
occupied by the Necrocracy of Kluembri, a realm of death and decay that is
ruled by a council of necromancers.  Liches, vampires, death nights, an
arch-lich, living priests and mages are all known to occupy one or more
seats on the council.  To keep any of their recently deceased citizens from
rising from their graves and marching to Kluembri, most cultures in the
surrounding areas make heavy use of cremation.  Uncremated bodies from
anywhere on the planet are prone to rise up and attempt to make their way
to the Land of the Dead, as Kluembri is commonly called.  While these
walking dead are unlikely to cause any damage or harm any being during
their trek, a majority of cultures on Nyilnevehh will douse them in oil and
cremate them as they go.  Others advise their citizens to just stay out of
the way of the walking dead and let them make their trek in peace.
	Gerotheg Riora is the seventh moon.  It takes this spherical air
world 432 days to circumnavigate Euflommos.  It is 4,870 miles across and
has a temperate climate throughout.  Every member of every race that lives
on Gerotheg Riora is provided with a small magical amulet at birth to
protect them from the dream leeches.  There are significant populations of
aarakocra, storm and cloud giants, stingras (a race of wasp men - HD 2, #
attacks 1 plus their sting, damage - by weapon/2-8, capable of achieving
9th level fighter, 8th level priest, 12th level psionicist, 7th level bard
but no thief abilities), avariel and a few xecwarl.  Even the stingras and
xecwarl wear the amulets.  Humans and other intelligent creatures are very
rare except for visiting spelljamming crews.  Visitors to Gerotheg Riora
are encouraged to accept amulets of thier own, but those who do accept them
refuse to leave the moon if they stay on the moon for more than a couple of
months.  This is because the amulets are really creations of the dream
leeches and are designed to subvert the unconcious minds of its wearers to
their insidious will.  Even without the amulets dream leeches are virtually
invisible, much like a jellyfish in water.  They are small creatures about
the size of a person's head, resembling a transparent brain with ephemeral
wings.  They feed off of the dreams of their hosts.  All of the races of
Gerotheg Riora live 11-16% shorter lifespans than their counterparts on
other planets or in other spheres due to the parasitic influence of the
dream leeches.  The avariel who live on Gerotheg Riora have made several
efforts to transplant an infinity vine here.  Only limited success has been
acheived to date, as new growth is always followed by the death of older
growth.  This failure of the infinity vines is also due to the influence of
the dream leeches.

Notes

	Elbronds are clear brown gems.  When placed in a silver setting
they begin a slow process of chemical bonding which causes the gem to glow
with an eerie red light.  This bonding process usually takes from 80-90
years.  During this time the glow slowly intensifies.  When the bonding is
complete the elbrond is "dead" and suddenly ceases to glow.  A dead elbrond
is brittle and is likely to crumble when removed from its setting.  A caky
grey powder will be found wherever the elbrond came into contact with the
silver.  This powder can be used in making permanent magic items without
risk of losing constitution provided the item has gems or silver in it.
Only one item per gem can be produced without risk.  For this reason a dead
elbrond still in its setting is worth far more than a glowing one.  Great
care must be taken when obtaining the powder, for it is also a deadly
poison.  Assassins who know of it are generally willing to pay even more
for it than a mage would, because it is completely tasteless and odorless.
The powder cannot be mixed with alcohol, however, because it will begin
bubbling and frothing, with occasional sparks and a foul odor that will
even put a troll off his feed.  The resulting mix is completely harmless.
The much feared Trampled Lotus ninja clan has acquired its very own elbrond
mine and secured a reliable source of silver, giving them a definite edge
over their competition.
	Porvithium is a powdery substance of pale violet hue used as an
additive to steel in the making of the infamous Vampire Blades of the
Lathuibbis Scro.  It adds an absorbent quality to the metal without
detracting from the other qualities common to steel.  An item made of
Bloodsucker Steel can absorb nearly half its own weight in liquid before it
becomes saturated.  Most of the vampire blades made by the scro have sharp
barbs at the ends and down each edge.  They are designed to lodge in the
bodies of the scro's opponents and be left there to absorb as much blood as
possible.  A dagger takes four rounds to become saturated, a short sword
takes twelve rounds and a long sword takes two full turns.  For each round
that a vampire blade is imbedded in a creature, 1-4 additional HP are
drained from it.  Saturated objects may be drained by applying heat to
evaporate the liquid or by wrapping it in something dry that will absorb
the moisture from it such as sponges or dry cloth.  Porvithium can be found
amongst deposits of carbuncle, low grade marble, gypsum and pyrite.
	Of special note are the Lathuibbis scro.  They have made it a point
to keep their holdings small so as to seem less threatening.  In reality,
the scro are stockpiling weapons made of bloodsucker steel and building
more ships at a furious pace.  To keep the troops happy and to test new and
improved tactics, infrequent sorties against isolated elven targets are
made.  In addition to their normal weapons, each of the scro troops are
issued one or two weapons made from bloodsucker steel.  Once one of the
vampire blades is imbedded in an opponent, normal weapons are use to finish
the opponent while the vampire blade absorbs their blood.  The saturated
vampire blades are collected by the war priests so they can retrieve the
blood in them for use in rituals and as spell components.  They make every
attempt at retrieving any casualties from either side of the conflict.  In
areas where they know that someone was lost overboard, five mile wide nets
are strung between two ships and used to sweep the area in hopes of
retrieving the body.  This is not an activity that is performed randomly.
There must be a reasonable chance of success before an area is targeted for
it.  In the event that either ship is attacked while trolling for bodies,
the nets are easily diengaged and left to be recovered later.  Non scro
casualties are animated and taken on the next sortie to be thrown from
catapults at their next target.  The scro are led by Admiral Kirmaga, whose
amazingly accurate information on elven ship movement within the sphere is
the major reason for his spectacular success.  The admiral works closely
with his half-brother Eldovaz, who is an accomplished war-priest.  His
brother is fluent in the elvish lanquage and enjoys using his Hat of
Disguise to walk among the elves virtually unseen.  He uses a captured
elven flitter which is always launched from a hammership out beyond
Euflommos.  When the hammership and flitter rendezvous at a pre-determined
time, it is always three days travel 90° up or down from Euflommos.
	Adrih is a red, kiwi sized vegetable which grows in large pods on
corn-like stalks.  There are generally 6-10 adrih in a pod and 3-12 pods
per stalk.  The pods are used to make green dyes and inks, while the stalks
are burned in hearths throughout the sphere.


PAS

"I lost my soul when I fell to Earth.  My planets call me to the Void of my
birth..."
	from 'Space Lord' by Monster Magnet