Banesun: Gith's Fury

The first "planet" of the system is the Fury, an asteroid shell
inhabited by the pirates of gith, and it is named for them.  

Gith's Fury
Name:			Gith's Fury
Type:			Asteroid belt
Size:			B
Escape Time:		2 turns
Satellites:		none
Distance from Primary:	35 million miles
Day Length:		varies
Year Length:		175 days
Population Analysis:	gith

	Gith's Fury is a massive asteroid shell built up over the ages by rocks
ejected from the Banesun.  Asteroids of all shapes and sizes can be
found within the shell.  Most are lifeless rocks that drift along,
lacking atmospheres or life.  Only the oldest and largest rocks have
atmospheres, undoubtedly left by passing comets.
	The Fury is comprised of countless asteroids.  The overall number is
fairly stable, but individual asteroids are not.  Hundreds of asteroids
are created each day by the Banesun, and likewise, hundreds fall back
into the fires of the primary.  Oddly enough, the largest asteroids
(those over 50 miles across) have stable orbits and are immune to
collisions with smaller asteroids.  Just as interesting is the fact that
the larger asteroids don't crash into each other.  This may just be
because of the huge amount of space available and that the larger
asteroids that have orbits that cross have already destroyed each other.
	The asteroids that make up the Fury range in size from a halfling's
fist all the way up to a small moon.  The vast majority of these rocks
are fairly large, with the average asteroid being between 50 to 200
yards across along its major axis.  The smaller asteroids are constantly
crashing into each other, with the result being every asteroid having an
odd shape and being covered with craters.  The larger asteroids are not
numerous; in total, there are perhaps five hundred asteroids over 50
miles in diameter.  Even more dangerous are the clusters of tiny rocks. 
These clouds of rocks are usually a mile across and comprised of
thousands of rocks smaller than a yard across.  They are very hard to
detect and can cause serious damage to passing spelljammers.  Any
spelljammer caught in one of these clouds takes 2d6 hull points of
damage per round, and crewmen suffer the effects of a heavy jettison. 
Many ships have been seriously damaged or even destroyed by these deadly
clouds of rock.
	Only a few of these asteroids are named.  Instead, the inhabitants name
general regions of asteroids and those asteroids with settlements. 
These names are not well known and not used outside of the Fury. 
Generally, most travelers give the asteroid shell a wide berth.
	An interesting property of all of the asteroids in the Fury is that
every asteroid is a rusty red color.  This is an innate property of the
rock itself, as the rust-red coloration is present all the way to their
cores.  It is not merely a coating or a trick of the light from the
Banesun.  This property is undoubtedly caused because of the asteroid's
birth from the fires of the Banesun.
	All of the rocks that make up the Fury are very hard.  One can wear out
several sets of mining tools before making a sizable hole in an
asteroid.  Interestingly, the asteroids are particularly vulnerable to
sonic attacks.  In other words, the rock crumbles under the effects of
shatter, shout, and other such spells.  The resident gith use this
property to their advantage; their wizards hollow out tunnels and
chambers with relative ease with the casting of a few spells.
	Water is very rare in the Fury.  The gith value it above all, and horde
away any water they find.  Fortunately, another property of the
asteroids of the Fury is that they will not absorb water.  Instead, any
water to be found on an asteroid will collect in underground pools.  Any
of the larger asteroids has a 15% chance of hiding away water while
smaller rocks have a mere 1% chance of having a secret water cache.  Any
such water cache has a 50% chance of being known by the gith.  In case
of caches on large asteroids, these are most likely the location of a
gith settlement.  On smaller asteroids, these indicate either caches
that the gith are preparing to move to a larger asteroid or water being
left as a trap.  

Climate and Weather
	Because the vast majority of the asteroids of the Fury are void of air,
they completely lack weather patterns.  Even the larger asteroids that
have stable atmospheres lack weather.  None of the asteroids have
gaseous water; thus there will never be precipitation.  Even if an
asteroid has an atmosphere, the air will be hot, dry, and still.  Wind
is not easily found on an asteroid.  Since the asteroids move very
erratically, the asteroids are generally heated evenly and thus do not
generate much wind.
	In all cases, the climate of the asteroids is very hot and dry.  On
average, the temperature of an asteroid is roughly 120 degrees
Fahrenheit.  Some of the inner asteroids (those closest to the Banesun)
have temperatures that soar as high as 200 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Appearance from Space
	Gith's Fury appears as a great reddish blur from space.  Closer in,
individual asteroids can be made out.  In all cases, the asteroids are
rusty red and have odd shapes.

Continents 
	As Gith's Fury is an asteroid shell, it has no continents.  Indeed,
none of the asteroid has enough water on them to form pools, much less
break the surfaces into discernable landmasses.

Life Forms 
	Despite the hostile climate and lack of water, life can still be found
here.  Most of the common life forms were imported by the gith when they
first took up residence in the Fury, while a few were in place long
before the gith ever arrived.
	Plant life is rare in the Fury.  With the exception of mushrooms and
other plants used in gith settlements, plants are impossible to find. 
Plant life does not take to the area well, and no plant can grow on the
rocks.  Those plants that kept by the gith grow in imported soil
specially suited for that plant.  The gith prefer to keep mushrooms,
lichens, and various grasses.  The gith do not feast on these plants;
instead, they feed the livestock that the gith feast upon.  Herds
maintained by the gith include sheep, rothe, and flocks of chickens. 
All of these herd animals were imported and cared for by the gith.
	Other animals brought in by the gith include gavislayers, feesu, and
skullbirds.  The most dangerous creatures brought in by the gith were
the gravislayers.  At great cost, the gith secured several young
gravislayers centuries ago, and released them to drift along with the
asteroids.  Through use of powerful spells and magical devices, the gith
have tracked the movements of the gravislayers, and don't hesitate to
use them as traps for pursuing ships.  More than one ship has been
destroyed when the gith lured it into the domain of a gravislayer, much
to the benefit of the gith.
	The feesu are still fairly rare.  They are mostly kept near the gith
outpost as an early warning beacon.  If a ship approaches, the feesu
will swarm it, flittering around light sources, and begin glowing
brightly.  When this happens, the gith prepare their fleet and swarm out
themselves to deal with the invader.  Those pirate bands that maintain
skullbird flocks (see below) also keep large herds of feesu as prey for
their pets.
	Skullbirds are among the rarest life forms of the Fury.  Gith captains
often keep them as pets and mascots, much like any other pirate captain
would keep a parrot.  The gith see the creatures as perfectly suited for
their violent personalities.  Many ships have small flocks of the
creatures as a fast attack strike force.  Bold gith pirates ride the
creatures into battle, wielding great spears, crossbows, and sharp short
swords.  Such flocks usually number d4+2 birds and are only found on
ships heavier than 50 tons.
	Life forms that were present long before the arrival of the gith are
few.  They include murderoids, firebirds, and the slow moving sish
schools.  The sish are space fish that dwell in the asteroid shell. 
They form schools of d8x100 sish and form the dominant prey animal of
space.  The gith and firebirds consume them by the hundreds.  It is
unknown how the sish survive or gain nourishment, but their numbers are
large and a welcomed sight by space travelers.
	The firebirds have dwelled within the asteroid shell for ages.  It is
unknown how they came to dwell among the asteroids, but most sages are
unwilling to risk life and limb to find out.  The gith give the
creatures a wide berth, preferring to avoid them at all costs.  Firebird
rookeries are especially dangerous places to visit as small hordes of
the creatures will swarm out and attack passing spelljammers.
	By far the most dangerous creatures dwelling in the asteroid shell are
the two hundred or so murderoids.  These foul creatures have established
a colony of sorts, communicating with each other via telepathy spells. 
Though many sport the remains of spelljammers on their surfaces, the
murderoids mostly keep to themselves.  They will not actively attract
spelljammers (such ships are far too few for them to bother wasting
energy on illusionary spells to lure them in), but will not pass up a
meal if one presents itself.  The murderoids have gathered near the
"northern pole" of the asteroid shell, where they maintain tight orbits
about the sun.  The gith know of this area and keep their distance; they
do not want to anger the murderoids.
	On final creature is native to the Fury; a dreamslayer.   This creature
is the bane of the gith, who fear it greatly.  Many gith die at the
claws of this creature.  For some reason, this particular dreamslayer
differs greatly from his normal kin.  His attacks are far more powerful;
during a dream attack, each time he slays a dreamfolk, he drains away
four points of intelligence rather than two.  For every attack he makes
against the dreamer, his claws likewise drain away four points of
intelligence per strike.  Those slain by the dreamslayer have their
souls drained away for the creature to feast upon.  In addition to its
enhanced attacks, the dreamslayer has the abilities of a 25th level
psionist.  It will not hesitate to use its psionic attacks to weaken a
creature before it goes in for the final kill.
	This creature has caused the deaths of countless gith over the
centuries.  Despite numerous expeditions mounted by the gith, they have
not been able to find its astral lair.  Nor have they been able to find
the dreamslayer.  Many of these expeditions perish at the hands of the
dreamslayer itself or suffer brutal deaths at the hands of their
cousins, the githyanki.

Guide to Groundlings 
	The only intelligent race in the Fury is the pirates of gith.  This
dominance is more a reflection on the harsh living conditions of the
asteroids rather than due to the gith military.  The gith are not
numerous; the average population of their settlements is about one
thousand.  The gith only settle the largest asteroids; the smaller
asteroids are too unstable for their tastes.  A gith settlement is
always located deep underground and accessed through a heavily defended
tunnel.  Any gith settlement will have a dry dock, a large water supply,
several defensive residential buildings, and numerous storehouses of
stolen goods.  If possible, the gith will construct their buildings out
of materials imported from outside the Fury.  They prefer to steal stone
and strong woods for constructing buildings because they are not so
vulnerable to sonic attacks.
	At the heart of any community is its fleet.  Every community has a
fleet of d6+2 spelljammers.  These ships will be of types favored by
pirates; the most common ships include wasps, battle-rigged tradesmen,
squidships, and the occasional hammership.  Very rarely, a community
will have an elvish Man-O-War.  These precious ships are always the
backbone of any fleet because of their astral shunting abilities.  The
gith will use these ships to strike from literally nowhere and fade at
will.  They would rather retreat from a fight than risk loosing these
rare and precious ships.  Even more dangerous are the small swarms of
flitters that the gith occasionally get their hands on.  These small
craft are used by the gith to slip past enemy fire while the enemy ship
is engaged with larger gith ships.  Once the flitters have gotten close
enough to the enemy ship, the gith will unload hordes of boarders, who
quickly overrun the crew.  Many ships have been taken with this
strategy, and it has become a favorite among certain gith communities.
	Gith settlements are heavily defended.  Every building is built with
defense in mind, and many hide secret armories.  Many areas are
booby-trapped to discourage thieves and invaders.  The last time the
illithids tried to invade a community, they suffered the loss of four
nautiloids and over eight hundred slaves.  In return, they destroyed a
mere two pirate ships and slew just under a hundred gith.  It is because
of losses like that that the illithids give the area a wide berth.
	The gith are notoriously territorial.  They will attack any ship that
is bold enough to enter their territory.  As a rule of thumb, any ship
that enters the Fury can expect to be attacked by pirate ships that
total twice its tonnage.  If the battle goes against the gith, they will
not hesitate to flee, either to get reinforcements or to lure the enemy
ship into a trap.  These attacks are so fierce that the whole area has
been given a bad name and most spelljammers will go to great lengths to
avoid the shell.  On the bright side, the gith will attack illithid
ships above all, and the area is a good place to shake pursuit by
illithids.

Resources and Trade 
	For the most part, the asteroids of Gith's Fury are mostly rock and
lack any usable resources.  The vast majority of the asteroids lack any
metal content, and thus ignored by everyone.  The larger asteroids may
have some deposits of iron, nickel, and other like resources near their
cores.  These valuable metals are mined by the gith, who put them to use
in the form of swords and other weapons.  Very rarely, an asteroid will
have a deposit of gemstones at its heart.  The discoveries of such
deposits quickly start bloody battles over them as various gith factions
battle each other for control of such valuables.  Many gith die during
such wars.
	The spelljamming ships are very important to the lifestyle of the gith;
their entire economy is based on pirate raids carried out by these
ships.  Everything they need is stolen from other ships or worlds; the
gith produce nothing of their own.  They are parasites in the sphere,
taking what they want and giving nothing back.  The only good thing that
they do is keep the illithids off balanced and tie up large numbers of
their forces.
	As stated above, water is the most precious resource among the
asteroids.  It is very rare and is almost never found in large
quantities.  The gith have secured most of the water that is to be found
among the asteroids, but there are still some hidden caches.  Like
gemstones, the discoveries of major caches of water are enough to start
small wars within the gith people.

Ports of Call 
	As the gith don't welcome strangers, there are no ports open to
traders.  However, the gith do maintain a small port for themselves. 
This common port is hidden deep within the asteroids and almost never
found.  The gith keep the port as a neutral zone for the various
factions and a place for them to muster their forces if the entire area
is threatened.
	Port Cutthroat is both the largest and most prosperous of the gith
ports.  Hidden behind several large asteroids and powerful illusions,
Port Cutthroat is the only gith spaceport that is not buried deep in an
asteroid.  It is an odd collection of smaller asteroids connected via an
infinity vine.  The vine is magically kept away from the docks (the
outermost ring of asteroids) and the palace (at the center of the mess),
but is allowed to crawl over everything else.  The vine is flexible
enough to keep the port from being destroyed by collisions with other
asteroids and keeps the air fresh.  The gith cope with the constant
growths of the infinity vine with brute force.  They hack away plants
that get in their way.  Magic has been cast on the vine so that any
chunk cut away from the main vines whither and dies.
	The port is heavily defended against attack.  In addition to the
protective asteroids, over a dozen ships are always located in dock. The
port has an official defense force of five squidships and twenty
flitters.  If enemy ships get past these defenses, the gith are well
prepared to defend the city.  Many mages and priests call the city home,
and they will not hesitate to use their powers on approaching ships.

-- 
Night Druid