Bralspace Almanac II

Bralspace
(aka Spiralspace to the Elves)

        Bralspace is rather small, the furthest planet out (Ironpiece), is
about 10 days travel from the sphere,  and 10 days travel from the primary.
No planet in the sphere is ever more than 20 days from any other, regardless
of current orbital position.
        Bralspace has a series of commonly used major portals into the
Flow, placed between the stars that line the sphere.  The constellations
have been named after creatures they resemble (usually creatures they
resemble rather loosely). The portals are always refered to by the name of
the constellation they exist within.
        There are twelve such portals, and they exist in roughly the same
plane as the orbital path of Bral and Spiral (these ports are thus in a very
strategic spot). Each is located at roughly an 'O'clock' position. The
constellations and their locations are below.

Constellation    Location
---------------------------------
Scavver         1 o'Clock
Kraken          2 o'Clock
Starbeast       3 o'Clock
Kindori         4 o'Clock
Neogi           5 o'Clock
Dragon          6 o'Clock
Sarphardin      7 o'Clock
Giff            8 o'Clock
Beholder        9 o'Clock
Eagle           10 o'Clock
Griffon         11 o'Clock
Lion            12 o'Clock

        Bral's orbit is such that the month corresponds to the nearest
portal. Thus in the 5th month Bral is nearest the Neogi portal. The other
planets in the sphere follow this orbiting pattern as well, though not
exactly. Spiral, for example, is exactly opposite Bral so that when Bral is
in the 3rd month and nearest the Starbeast portal, Spiral is nearest the
Beholder portal.

Primary, "Sun":
Size C Spherical firebody
        Bralspace's primary is a fairly standard fireworld,  it is not as
bright as some, its light does not cause any penalties for orcs,
goblins or other mildly photophobic creatures.  Those with more advanced
photophobia, such as drow, are affected as by standard suns.

Barre Sinsiter
Size A Irregular earthbody
        This famous pirate bar and smuggler's port lies just two days out
from the system's primary.  An open secret among the navies of the sphere,
the Barre is traditionally neutral ground. A strict code of no violence is
maintained there, not by force of arms but by custom. The various pirate
groups and military forces in the area realize the advantages of having such
a watering hole in the sphere and avoid directly hindering the Barre's
trade.

Shipwrecker:
Size B Spherical Earthbody
        Shipwrecker is a small planet,  only about 90 miles across. It is
covered in forests and mountains,  about 50% of the planet is a stormy
ocean.  The planet is inhabited by goblins and harpies,  as well as "normal"
mountainous and forest animals.
        Wrighters,  a small colony town, is controled by the Rock. About
half the town is dedicated to a ship building operation run by  Bral's
Shipwrights' Guild,  the rest is devoted to adventurers and miners.  A few
years ago gold was discovered in the mountains inland from town.  This
resulted in a gold rush which has still not completely abated, despite the
relatively poor finds.  This gold rush ignited a long simmering guerilla
conflict between the local goblin tribes and the lumberers of Bral. The
goblins were defeated and forced deeper back into the mountains.
        Shipwrecker is named after a minor sea goddess worshipped by the
goblins of the planet. Her goblin name, Latanuut ("Undernight"),  was
dropped by some humans and demihumans who took up her worship as a way of
preventing the many shipwrecks she is said to cause on the planet. The
goblins themselves continue to worship her,  and are spelljamming aware,
though not spelljamming capable. Prince Andru has forbidden trade with the
goblins of Shipwrecker, something even the Arcane have not violated for fear
of losing access to one of wildspace's most active ports.

Minial's Arch
Size B Spherical earthbody
        This small,  wooded planet is an elven colony world. The
inhabitents, a tribe of displaced Gruagach who have been on this planet now
for at least a millenia,  refuse to speak with outsiders concerning their
past.  It is unknown where they came from,  or why they choose to colonize
this world.  The tribe is incredibly insular,  even by Gruagach standards.
The Imperial Elven Fleet is not welcome here,  though a courtesy
ambassodership is maintained by the tribe's ruling council of elders.  The
grugach maintain no (known) jammers, and the numerous clans which make up
the tribe live a nomadic lifestyle, travelling on before they begin to
strain the delicate local ecologies.  The planet's wildlife is said to be
exceptionally dangerous,  "giant" versions of the more normal animals are
the norm.  Cave Bears,  for instance, are present in numbers, but black
bears are unknown.

Barbuda
Size C Spherical Waterbody
        Barbuda is a beautiful planet, but aside from its fish it has no
resources of great value (the waters are salt, with fresh water coming only
from the occasional storm). Floating coral islands dot its surface. Rumours
place sahuaghin, sea sprites, and coatl as inhabitents of the planet.

Numeliador
Size B Cluster earthbody
        This small elven colony is located on a "live" world,  a cluster of
astroids are joined together by a plant of unknown origin.  This world
supports a varied ecological system,  and is inhabited by elves of nearly
every variety.  This small colony is focused on a single "tree" town with an
associated spelljammer dock and the same name as the planet.
        The elves here are all refugees from other spheres.  They are a
tired, cynical, and proud lot.  The Imperial fleet maintains a small
garrison in the town,  and a man-o-war is often nearby,  but "Imperial"
involvement is not desired by the inhabitents,  who are a fiercely
independent group.  A small amount of trade is carried with vessels of the
Sindiath line,  but the colony is essentially self-sufficient.

Spiral
Size C Spherical earthbody
        A former elven colony,  this planet was conquered by the Scro
Tarantula Fleet in 5043 OC.  Since the naval actions of that year,  which
resulted in the destruction of the Tarantula fleet and the near destruction
of the IEN Spiralspace fleet Spiral has been the center of a vicious, low
intensity conflict between the humanoids,  the natives of Spiral, and the
IEN.
        Spiral,  a small world,  was always the focus for the Imperial
Elven navy in this sphere,  elves have always term the sphere "Spiralspace".
The planet is dominated by polar seas and an equatorial
ocean which forms an unbroken band around its center.  Strangely curving
rivers lead between this ocean and the polar water bodies.  The dry ground
was dominated by old mountains and thick evergreen forests.  A pleasent
world whose few monsters had been driven into the remote corners of the
world, Spiral had been inhabited by high elves, humans,  and dwarves. All
living under the rulership of the elven House of Spiral. The Imperial Elven
Fleet for this system had been headquartered in the Crown of Correlon, an
elven station orbiting Spiral, though under the command of Admiral Cirathorn
the bulk of the fleet had shifted Bral due to the Admiral's personality
conflicts with House Spiral.
        Today, the elven, human, and dwarven natives of the planet have
been driven to the least hospitable regions. Spiral's cities and towns are
now inhabited by goblins, orcs, and their slaves and the Crown of Correlon
is now controlled by the Scro.  The Scro maintain a small but disciplined
fleet from this base,  and the humanoid tribes of Spiral have small fleets
of their own as well (no one is entirely certain of the numbers).  The
current Scro commander is apparently one Admiral Dushgoi,  Prince Andru has
negotiated a peace through him between the Scro and the Rock.  The IEN is of
course far from pleased,  but are currently in no position to challenge this
either legally or with force.

Rock of Bral
Size A Irregular earthbody
        This famous astroid city is well detailed in SJR5 Bralspace and the
original SJ boxed set.  The city is within a small, unnamed field of perhaps
30 other astroids.  Bral claims soveriegnity over all of them, though most
are useless except for mining.  Many nobles and merchant houses of the Rock
own these astroids,  most sit seemingly abandoned.

Diamondhammer's Stake
Size A irregular earthbodies
        This Dwarven nation is set in an astroid field named after itself
which trails Bral by five million miles (about half a days travel by
spelljammer).  They control three citadels, and are one of the more
prosperous groups in Bralspace.

Gods' Marbles
Size A irregular earthbodies
        This astroid field,  inhabited by Rock Hoppers,  is rich in the
animal life of wildspace.  Virtually every known wildspace animal species
can be found somewhere amongst this tight group of over 100 astroids of
various sizes.  Scavver,  delphinids, astroid spiders,  and zard commonly
inhabit this field.
        The native Rock Hoppers normally live off of the scavver schools,
but occasional pods of kindori within the field provide a supplement to
their diet.  the ecology of this field is possible primarily through the
large amounts of infinity vine scattered throughout.
        There is one organized group in the Gods' Marbles, the dwarven
Deepdelve clan runs a mining operation here. They trade with the
Rockhoppers for foodstuffs, and are quite prosperous.

Grainfields
Size A irregular earthbodies
        This large astroid group holds several farming astroids owned and
operated by Merchant Houses of Bral (Houses Moune, Kullek, and Daxault). For
this reason priveteers and ships of the Royal Bralian Navy are often found
within,  hunting for pirate groups and making sure none of the astorids
become isolated enough to make a tempting target for pirates. The field is
composed of approx. 50 astroids and it's rumoured that ghost ships and
undead vessels haunt the deeper regions of Grainfields.

Unipaxala, the Peace Astroid
Size A Spherical Earthbody
        The people of this astroid settlement are pacifists who worship
'Peace', a philosophical concept which nonetheless seems to be able to
grant spells to
the priests of Unipaxala. Their basic tenent is simple, "To Revere Peace in
All its Myriad Forms, To Bring No Harm to Others, and To Resolve Conflict
through the Powers of the Mind" [1]
        One of many independent astroid settelments in Bralspace, the
Unipaxalans live simple lives of meditation and labor. Their society is a
theocracy, and has virtually no crime (irredeemable criminals are exiled
from the community). They produce much of their own food, and conduct some
limited
trade with Bral merchants, the Unipaxalans export food and cloth.
        The priests of the astroid wear blue and purple robes with gold
trim, high priests wear blue robes with gold trim. acolytes wear green
robes with gold
trim, until they have deomnstrated that the Peace has blessed them with
spellcasting abilities.
        They defend themselves through careful use of their priestly powers
and a powerful artifact called the 'Ice-Ring Projector' which is powered by
mysterious crystals. when the crystals are shattered the projector surrounds
the astroid with a sphere of ice, impervious to normal siege weapons or
ramming ships. The astroid has been conquered once, by the neogi, but was
soon freed by the efforts of the infamous wizardess Meredith.
        The High Priest of Unipaxala is Pax Ahlmun, an aging man whose mind is
nonetheless still sharp. Pax tries to mediate disputes between the various
powers of Bralspace, but the II Unhuman War is proving impossible to end
through negotiation. Pax is still very depressed over the loss of his
nephew, Tember. When Pax was kidnapped by neogi a decade ago, it set off a
chain of events which eventually led Tember to reject the Peace of
Unipaxala. Pax feels a certain responsibility for Tember's apostasy, and has
sent several agents looking for his nephew throughout wildspace.
        Unipaxala is a stationary astroid, it rotates on its axis but does not
orbit Bralspace's primary. It lies about 12 days from the sphere, and rests
between the Giff and Sarphardin flow portals.  Several dozen other astroids
surround it, all are claimed by Unipaxala, though most are little more then
useless rocks.

Ironpiece
Size C coin shaped earthbody  (approx 390 miles across)
        A gnomish colony world,  Ironpiece is carefully avoided by most
other spelljammers,  despite the fact that it is inhabited by forest and
rock gnomes as well as the more common (in wildspace) tinker gnomes.  Since
the Battle of Ironpiece in 5043 OC the gnomes have been engaged in a
strenuous arms building program, convinced that the scro intend to conquer
their planet next.  The Spudnik I Space Superiority Fighter is one of that
buildup's results.  Many of these little spellfighters now defend Port
Walkaway,  the primary naval port on the planet.

The Freeholds
        Besides the planets and astroid settlements mentioned above,
Bralspace has many other settlements and organizations. Thri-kreen, neogi,
beholders, and
many human settlements exist as independent communities within the sphere.
These various astroid settlements are called, collectibely, 'The Freeholds'.
Most of the human freeholds follow a typical feudal structure, with the
astroid fullfilling the role of the manor, and the astroid's owner
fullfilling the role of the manor lord.

Footnotes
[1] Spelljammer #4 "The Rogue Ship:4", DC Comics, Dec 90, pg 10.

Bibliography:
SJR5 Rock of Bral
Spelljammer Boxed Set
_The Maelstrom's Eye_ Book 3 of the Cloakmaster Cycle
"Shipwrecker" Module Role Aids #712
SJR8 Space Lairs
SJR4 Practical Planetology
1st Spelljammer MC Appendix
2nd Spelljammer MC Appendix
TSR Worlds Annual #1 (1990)
Spelljammer #3 "The Rogue Ship:3", DC Comics, Nov 90
Spelljammer #4 "The Rogue Ship:4", DC Comics, Dec 90

NetBibliography
The articles below can be found at Static's Beyond the Moons website
http://www.gwr.com/~eshum

"Deepdelve Clan Holdings" by Toby Mekelburg <toby@????.net>
"Diamondhammer's Stake" by Adam Miller <nghtdrud@??????.net>
"Bralspace:Spiral[expanded]" by Paul Westermeyer <westermeyer.3@???.edu>
"Bralspace: Dwarves" by Paul Westermeyer <westermeyer.3@???.edu>
"Bralspace Religions pt 1" by Paul Westermeyer <westermeyer.3@???.edu>
"Bralspace Religions pt 2" by Paul Westermeyer <westermeyer.3@???.edu>
"Bralspace Economics" by Paul Westermeyer <westermeyer.3@???.edu>

Paul Westermeyer,  westermeyer.3@???.edu
Phd Candidate, OSU Dept of History
Adjunct Professor, Columbus State Humanities Dept