Banesun: S'hilk

Here's S'hilk, the illithid dominated world of Banesun and the source
of so much heart-ache in the sphere.  Do note that the illithids are
somewhat different than "normal" illithids in a few suttle ways.

S'hilk 
Name:			S'hilk
Type:			Spherical Earth Body
Size:			E
Escape Time:		4 turns
Satellites:		5
Distance from Primary:	750 million miles
Day Length:		30 hours
Year Length:		100 months
Population Analysis:	Illithids

	The illithid homeworld in the Banesun sphere, S'hilk is cast in eternal
twilight by a thick layer of clouds.  It is a dry, hot world wracked by
violent storms and destructive lightning.  The majority of this world is
ocean-like deserts of ash most often hit by the deadly storms.  Breaking
up the deserts are plateaus surrounded by high mountains that block the
worst of the storms and harsh winds.  Upon these once-barren plateaus
the illithids have build their cities and converted the land to
wetlands.  The plateaus are at the heart of Illithid Empire.
	S'hilk is a modest sized world, about 9,500 miles across.  It has an
equatorial circumference of about 30,000 miles, with a slight amount of
polar flattening.  The interior is much like other worlds, with a mantle
of partially melted magma surrounding a core of nickel, iron, and other
heavy elements.  There is some plate tectonic activity, but there are
many active volcanoes.  The volcanoes kick up tremendous amounts of ash
and heated rocks that drift in the atmosphere for months before falling
on the ashy plains areas.  The largest volcano is over three miles high
and four miles in diameter and probably has a gate to the elemental
plain of ash or magma.  Many imps from those plains play on the rocky
slopes of the monstrous volcano, enjoying the destruction it causes.
	The plateaus are a different world than the ash plains below.  Vast
stretches of wet grasslands surround illithid settlements, with the
occasional groves of swamp trees.  These groves provide lumber for the
illithids for the construction of their spelljammers.  The wetland are
rich in rice to feed their slaves, and the lakes are favored relaxing
pools for the illithids.  

Climate and Weather 
	S'hilk is a hot, dry world.  The average temperature on the ash plains
is well over 200F.  The plateaus are cooler, only about 100F on
average.  There is little variation between pole and equator because of
greenhouse heating effects.  Wind is constantly blowing on the plains at
about 15 mph, but every four hours or so the wind kicks up a nasty ash
storm (sand storm) with wind gusts of up to 65 mph.  Such storms are
dangerous, and anyone caught in such a storm suffers d8 points of damage
per round from abrasion by the ash-choked wind; clothing is often worn
away during such storms.  These storms last about d6+4 rounds. 
Lightning storms are just as frequent, bombarding the ground with
strikes of heat lightning every four hours or so.  Treat as a call
lightning spell.
	The plateaus are much more habitable.  The climate is much wetter,
resulting in frequent rainstorms.  The water, because of powerful
illithid magics, is trapped to the plateaus and cannot escape.  Lighning
is much less frequent to the point of no more than a few strikes a
month.  Ash storms do not hit the plateaus, nor are the winds ever
stronger than 25 mph.  Cloud cover, both over the plateaus and the
plains, is complete and eternal.  The light on the plateaus is roughly
equal to twilight, while the plains are cast in complete darkness.

Appearance from Space 
	This world hangs like a giant, gray sphere in space.  There is no break
in the cloud cover, and the clouds have an even, uniform cover.  The
clouds do have bands that circle the planet.  Overall, the planet is
very dark and hard to spot from space.  Five moons are visible.

Continents 
	Though there is no liquid water on S'hilk to break up the land into
continents, the illithids consider the plateaus as continents.  There
are five large plateaus, each over two thousand miles across.  The
largest is Ti'likuss, which is the location of the illithid capital and
primary space port.  It is over eight thousand miles from edge to edge
and is located under the southern pole.  Ti'likuss is noted for its
large swamps and boasts even a small sea.
	Other continents include Hlank, F'xx'th, Vj'zzotk, and Ess'kzxik.  Of
these continents, Hlank is a primary food production center with
hundreds of thousands of slaves.  F'xx'th is heavily fortified with
hundreds of castles and is a fallback position for the illithids.  Many
brain pools are located here, protected by thousands of guards, slaves,
and golems.  Vj'zzotk, full of extinct volcanoes, is heavily mined for
iron, gold, and other metals and gemstones.  Dwarvish slaves are sent
here to work the mines so vital to illithid aggressions.  The last
continent of Ess'kzxik is a population center and has the largest
quantity of water with two small seas and a dozen rivers.

Life Forms 
	The ash plains, while barren, are not devoid of life.  Bulettes,
hatori, hell hounds, giant scorpions, sandlings, and trolls all dwell in
great numbers on the plains.  What exactly they subsist on is unknown,
as all are meat eaters of some sort.  Travelers who journey across the
desert must face constant battle at the claws of these horrid monsters.
	The plateaus have much more life.  At the bottom of the food chain are
the plants, which are significantly different from normal plants.  The
plants of S'hilk absorb heat rather than sunlight to survive and produce
air.  A result of this is that they have a brownish color and have
large, broad leaves designed to suck heat out of the air.  Rice patties
are very common, adapted to life on S'hilk.  The rice feeds the illithid
slaves, who in turn are fed to the illithids.  Trees have palm-like
leaves, broad, straight trunks, and stilt-like roots.  Such trees grow
up to 75' tall.
	Next up on the food chain are the cattle, which includes humans, elves,
dwarves, goblins, hobgoblins, and rothe.  They are preyed upon by the
illithids, but the plateaus are home to other monsters as well. 
Braxats, a favored bodyguard race of the illithids, roam the hills and
mountains in search of prey, as do gargoyles (a tragic result of
illithid experiments), giant crocodiles, tembos (illithid pets),
catoblepas, muckdwellers, dark nagas (illithid allies), and carrion
crawlers.  

Guide to Groundlings 
	The dominant life form on S'hilk is the illithids, who ruled the sphere
from this world.  To make this world more suited to their purposes, they
imported ice from the outer system to provide water for the plateaus,
but they ultimately planned on dropping several comets into the
atmosphere and flood the plains.  However, their plans proved to naught,
as other things arose that took most of their time and energy.
	The cities of the illithids are magnificent, yet horribly alien
structures built upon the hills of the plateaus.  They favor twisting
towers resembling twisting nautiloid shells and spiraling domed
buildings.  This bizarre architecture seems to defy gravity and the laws
of physics.  All cities are dripping wet with small streams weaving
their way through the streets, waterfalls dropping from elite towers,
and many fountains spewing water into the sky and at nearby buildings. 
For some reason, illithids find the sound of running water relaxing.
	Each illithid city has a population of 300-3,000 illithids, slightly
bigger than normal illithid settlements.  There are three slaves for
every illithid in the cities, with richer illithids having far more
slaves than younger mind flayers.  The more powerful illithids have
private residences that more closely resemble fortresses, with several
guards and servants.  Poorer illithids have no slaves and must make due
in row houses in the slums of the cities.  Slaves have even poorer
residences, usually no more than a mat on a dry floor.  Popular
structures in all cities are libraries, magic shops, slave markets, and
battle arenas where slaves are forced to battle to the death for the
pleasure of illithid spectators.  All cities have a central brain pool
where their dead are laid to rest and the young are raised.  Such pools
are always located in the strongest and most heavily fortified structure
in the city.
	The countryside is devoted to the growing of rice to support the
enormous slave population.  In the countryside, the ratio of slaves to
illithids rises to as high as twelve to one and the threat of revolt is
always weighs heavily on illithid minds.  They mind wipe all slaves of
all their free will, then retrain them in the skills of growing rice. 
The brainwashing program is so thorough and intense that the slaves
believe the illithids to be gods and they their willing followers.  The
slaves are raised to provide food for the illithids, but they also
supplement their diet with sentient molds that provide them with
additional substance.  No slave is allowed to live past their middle age
before they find their way to illithid dinner plates.  The right to
breed is a special reward granted by the illithids to loyal and gifted
slaves.  
	Special slaves, notably dwarvish slaves, are used for other duties. 
Dwarves are either used as blacksmiths or miners, depending upon their
skills.  The dwarves are the best treated slaves of the illithids, as
their skills are in high demand to fulfill their finished goods needs. 
Dwarf women are particularly prized for the breeding value; dwarvish
women are kept pregnant as much as possible, creating a new generation
of dwarvish slaves.
	The illithids are ruled by the ulitharids, the nobility of their race. 
Roughly 5% of the population are part of this nobility, but they command
over 75% of the wealth and are the only creatures allowed to commune
directly with the brain pools.  All large spelljammers are captained by
these horrible creatures, and they manage the best slave plantations and
mining operations.  Normal illithids are left to the smallest ships and
the least productive mines and plantations.  Somehow, the nobles are
linked into a kind of "overmind" that dominates and guides the illithid
race.  This "overmind" has faced serious challenges to its power over
the years, but has dealt with such threats brutally and permanently.
	The illithids are slowly rebuilding their spelljamming power. 
Nautiloids are under construction in many illithid cities, and the
largest cities are building dreadnought command ships.  Their naval
strength at this point is still strong, probably a hundred to one
hundred and fifty vessels strong, more than adequate to defend S'hilk
but not enough to begin the conquest of the sphere.  Over twenty vessels
are under construction on S'hilk, many of which could be completed
inside of a year.  Labor and material shortages have delayed the
construction of these ships for months, but work progresses none the
less.  

Resources and Trade 
	The illithids have considerable resources on S'hilk, but rarely trade
with off worlders.  At the height of their empire, trade ships traveled
back and forth from the illithid cities to outposts throughout the whole
sphere.  However, the fall dried up those trade routes and destroyed
most of the merchant ships.
	In modern times, the illithids conduct limited trade with the free port
of Llissikk with almost every other race.  The nobility find this trade
distasteful and leave it to the Sees'kiick, a splinter group of
illithids who follow the Way of the Soul philosophy.  While the nobility
have nothing but contempt for the Sees'kiick, they are too dependent
upon trade at this point for luxury goods and slaves that they have not
wiped them out.  The illithids export magical items, metal goods
(usually of fair quality or less), artwork, food, and a rum made from
pressed rice that is highly valued by humans for it potency.  They
import water and ice (usually brought in by their own ships), slaves,
weapons, glass, and tools.  
	The neogi are the illithid's primary trading partners.  Neogi raiders
provide the illithids with the slaves they so desperately need as well
as tools and weapons.  The elves of Bestial are also highly valued
trading partners, buying up food and magical items in exchange for
weapons and tools.  The elves have cornered the sale of reliable
ballista to the illithids, a fact that irritates them to no end. 
However, elvish ballista are of unquestionable quality and reliability,
and the illithids lack the facilities to produce their own.  Dwarves and
humans rarely trade with the illithids but instead sell their services
as pirates and mercenaries for illithid aggressions.  The famous Black
Legion is their primary hired agents, having worked for the illithids
for twenty years.  The Legion consists of four hammerships, eight
squidships, and more than 800 hardened dwarves and human mercenaries. 
Various pirate activities can be attributed to this deadly army of men. 
The dracons and beholders have nothing to do with the illithids and
refuse to trade with them or even maintain diplomatic relations with
them.  Other trading partners of the illithids include the drow of
Nightshade and the scro at Retribution.

Ports of Call 
	Though the illithids have many cities and settlements scattered
throughout S'hilk, only the city of Llissikk is open to traders from
other races.  The other cities are off-limits to all but illithid
ships.  Any ship that attempts to land on S'hilk not of illithid
ownership can expect attack by every artillery weapon the city has at
its disposal as well as any nearby warship.  Illithids will use their
psionic powers to board persistent ships and kill the helmsman and force
a crash.

Llissikk 
	This city is found on the fifth moon, a small, flattened asteroid about
8 miles across.  The port is found at one side of the asteroid,
clustering around a series of docks that jut out into the gravity
plane.  The whole asteroid was once one big city that would dwarf the
Rock of Bral, but it has fallen into ruins.  Llissikk is the last
remnant of that city, the dock district.  The district has been walled
off to protect the citizens from the monsters now wandering the ruins.
	Llissikk is not a large settlement, maybe a half-mile long and a
quarter mile inland.  It has a population of about 340 illithids and
2,500 guests of various races.  The illithids keep about 900 kobolds on
hand for food purposes, but need to import such creatures from S'hilk to
maintain their stocks.  The illithids are political refugees from the
homeworld, the followers of the Way of the Soul.  Their beliefs are not
welcomed on S'hilk, but they have found a niche that has become valued
to the Illithid Empire.  They have an easier time trading with other
races than normal illithids, so they fulfill a vital role for the
Empire.
	The city is now an important trade post.  The docks buzz with activity
as kobold slaves load and unload cargo.  Goods are taken to Market
Square to be traded and sold.  Storing goods on Llissikk is very
expensive (rent for a 10'x10'x10' space is 1 gp per day) because of the
limited space.  Most goods are sold immediately and loaded on outbound
ships, so the city serves more as a transient station rather than a
major trade post.  The port is protected by three lampreys and two
squidships, each captained by illithids and crewed by well-paid and
loyal human marines.  A half dozen other trade ships of many other races
are in port at any given time.  
	The ruins are haunted by many wild monsters.  There is still
considerable treasure in those ruins, but such treasure is guarded by
dangerous beasts.  The least of these monsters include gargoyles,
crocodiles, tembos, and carrion crawlers.  At least one black dragon
dwells in the ruins, commanding more than two dozen dark nagas and it
keeps a giant crocodile (over 50' long!) as its pet.  This dragon has
many magical items at its disposal and rules over most of the ruins.

Satellites 
	S'hilk has five satellites, none more than simple asteroids.  The inner
two asteroids are both fifty miles across and lack atmospheres.  Both
were mined heavily during the heyday of the illithids, but most of the
mines are now abandoned.  The illithids have recently reopened some of
the mines with dwarvish and human slaves.  Illithid mines take the form
of a squat tower with a magical air dome on top to accommodate a small
dock.  Each tower covers a mine shaft that drops over a mile into the
asteroid.  Mines are typically worked by 50-200 (d4x50) slaves and
overseen by 2-8 braxats and 1-6 illithids.  The towers are guarded by 4
heavy catapults.  Between the two moons, there are about a dozen active
mines and over five score abandoned towers.
	The next moon is a small cluster of several thousand asteroids no
larger than a mile across.  This was once a moon very much like the
first two, but it was much richer in mineral wealth than the first two
combined.  Unfortunately, over-mining by the illithids combined with
terrible experiments caused it to collapse in upon itself and ground
itself to rubble.  This tragedy was a terrible blow to the illithids,
costing them over twenty-five thousand slaves and more than a dozen
warships and double that in trade ships.  The destruction of the third
moon happened about four centuries ago and is still remembered as a dark
day throughout the sphere.
	The fourth moon is an artificial satellite built by the illithids. 
Named Night Kraken by the slaves who survived its construction eight
centuries ago (the illithid name is completely unpronounceable), this
moon appears as a giant kraken over twelve miles long and a mile wide. 
The place was, and still is, the primary headquarters for the illithid
navy.  The ten tentacles of the kraken twist together into a solid mass,
like the ram on a nautiloid.  The base is largely solid rock, but has
enough hollow spaces to accommodate up to forty lampreys, a dozen
nautiloids, and a half dozen hammerships.  At its height, the base had
over 8,000 slaves, 900 gargoyle soldiers, over 100 braxat body guards,
and 300 illithids, but hard times have dropped those counts to 2,000
slaves, 400 gargoyles, 55 braxats, and a mere 75 illithids.  Most of the
base is deserted and home to dark things that even the illithids fear. 
Some of the docks are being converted for use by illithid dreadnoughts,
which are being build in fair numbers on S'hilk.
	The last moon is the illithid city of Llissikk, which was detailed
above.

History 
	The illithids took command of the sphere about three millenium ago,
toppling the Raer regime in the sphere.  Though the Raer were unable to
prevent the fall of Banesun, they managed to make the conquest so costly
to the illithids that they were unable to press the campaign.  After
Banesun fell, the Raer were to continue their raids for two centuries,
costing the illithids much of their best blood, ships, and facilities. 
When the Raer fell, the illithids were finally left in peace to rebuild,
but by that point they were settled into the building of an empire
rather than conquest.  Their military was demobilized so that they could
build a strong economy and government.
	For the next several centuries, the illithids merely consolidated their
power.  They built numerous bases and outposts throughout the sphere,
mining asteroids for their wealth and harvesting comets for their
water.  The illithids ruled unchallenged and began to slowly expand
their power base.  New outposts in nearby spheres were established, both
for military and mercantile purposes.  Even the Nemesis War, which
rocked nearby spheres, had little impact on the illithids other than the
loss of a few outposts.  The illithids were well on their way to a
multi-sphere empire of great power.
	As it would have it, fate dealt the illithids a strange hand.  About
two centuries ago, everything they build came crashing down.  That was
when the illithid Ullshurn released his startling philosophy.  While
long and complicated, the heart of this philosophy was that it proved
the existence of souls in humans, dwarves and all their other slaves,
but the illithids, it seemed, completely lacked souls.  This meant that
all illithids who die and are not entombed with the brain pool are
forever dead and destroyed.  On the other hand, when the slaves died,
their immortal souls were reborn.  For the illithids, who were
completely convinced of their superiority above all things, this was
devastating.  Philosophers rushed to find proof that the illithid either
had souls or that humans and their ilk did not.  Yet, Ullshurn's proof
was irrefutable.  The population grew more and more confused, resulting
in mass riots and revolution.  Illithids from the outposts rushed home
to take advantage of the situation for their own gains, but ultimately
were lost in the chaos.  This time became known as the Soul Crisis, and
it was the downfall of the illithids.  Various splinter factions and
philosophies rose and fell with each passing day, but ultimately, the
brain pools won out and reigned in the various factions back into their
fold.  A few refugees were banished to the fifth moon, while other
individuals fled to seek out their own truths.
	The brain pools took power over a broken empire.  Over 80% of the
military was destroyed, and at least 95% of the civilian ships were
destroyed or fled.  The outposts had been left abandoned were now
rebelling against the few remaining illithid masters, slaying their
masters by sheer numbers alone.  Many fled, while others found hiding
holes throughout the sphere.  Worst, the dracons and beholders were
establishing themselves in the inner system, and the illithids were
powerless to stop them before it was too late.  All that was left was
S'hilk and its moons, nothing more.  Yet, the brain pools work to this
day to rebuild their lost empire and recapture the glory of the illithid
empire.  In modern times, the illithids build warships to recapture the
sphere, but the lack of merchant ships has hurt their economy.  Though
their navy is now arguably the strongest in the sphere, their economy is
still weak and could not easily withstand another war.



-- 
Night Druid