Re: Poisson SJ Conversion

Um...number one-you've been posting waaaay more stuff than I intend to read
in a really short period.

Number two-things had to be pretty close in the old days, since
communications were so slow and dangerous. If pirates were going to blockade
a town-though I doubt they'd get much profit from it-they'd have to be
within sight.

Number three-who named a coastal town Poisson? They need to be beaten.
Especially if it's a French town. Like I'm going to name my newly-founded
city Fish.

>From: Thatotherguy <spellj@??????????.com>
>Reply-To: Discussion list for the Spelljammer campaign setting
><SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com>
>To: SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com
>Subject: [SPELLJAMMER] Poisson SJ Conversion
>Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 07:12:27 -0700
>
>SJ City Detail and Conversion:  Poisson
>
>This town is referred to but not really detailed in the free modules
>The Secret of the Windswept Wall and The Sea Witch which can be found
>at:
>http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article1.asp?x=dnd/oa/oa20011021a,3
>http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article1.asp?x=dnd/oa/oa20011005a,3
>
>The presentation of this town, sparse though it is, includes a number
>of problems.  The most significant is that the area is so small yet has
>so many things crammed into it that should reasonably be located
>further away.  Most notably is the presence of pirates in the Hag
>Needle and Old Rock Isles.  These are within site of the town and thus
>effectively blockade it from merchants.  As such there would be no sea
>trade for Poisson and no need for a lighthouse, the focus of the second
>adventure (The Sea Witch).  These problems do not apply as greatly in
>SJ, however, and this conversion assumes no such blockade opportunity
>exists, though the area is definitely wild and dangerous.
>         The following uses both 2e and 3e to describe things.  Generally
>creatures (specifically Reela^Òs inhabitants) are described based on 2e
>since a greater number of monsters exist for 2e and most have been
>converted, conversions of which can be found on the net.  3e has been
>used to describe most everything else.  A simple 2e conversion is at
>the bottom.
>
>Fix:
>         Not even a summary listing is given for Poisson in either source,
>though the modules both presume some level of interaction with it.
>That is what this detail is meant to fix along with adapting the
>setting to SJ.
>
>SJ Adaption:
>I have chosen to make Poisson much more than just a minor village in
>this adaptation.  The modules and maps seem to give it greater local
>prominence than that and the SJ world is a very dangerous place so a
>larger community was likely in order for it to have any true regional
>significance.  In this adaptation Poisson is considered to be the
>dominant settlement in a cluster of asteroids, though that doesn^Òt mean
>it has sovereignty over the nearby asteroids or that it is the dominant
>settlement in an entire asteroid field, just that it is the primary
>settlement in its little group of asteroids and has dominion over
>several.
>         The town of Poisson is located on an asteroid that is nearly flat
>on
>both sides with sheer cliffs around most of its edge.  The asteroid is
>almost 6 miles long and elliptically shaped with a maximum width of
>over 4 miles.  It is about 1500^Ò thick at the edge.  In two areas the
>sheer cliffs are broken by more moderate slope.  The greatest area of
>this is the end of the asteroid where the town is established (see the
>Misty Bay side view map of the town and its docks to see ½ of the
>asteroid^Òs cliffs in this area, the side on the town, or ^Óup^Ô, side of
>the asteroid).  Despite its flatness, the asteroid boasts a healthy
>ecosystem with scrub and grass naturally covering its surface.  Another
>unusual property of this asteroid is that things that end up on its
>gravity plane are slowly drawn toward the asteroid rather than being
>pushed away.  As such there is little chance for the asteroid to lose
>water and soil which has made the gravity plane a prime nesting ground
>for birds and set up an interesting cycle as things that fall to the
>gravity plane are returned to the surface in other ways.  Since the
>asteroid was inhabited, enterprising people have moved much back to the
>asteroid^Òs surface.
>         Farms have been established on both sides of the asteroid but
>water is
>in especially short supply as the asteroid is a massive slab of solid
>stone with only a thin layer of soil.  This has also prevented the
>growth of more than a few trees (and then only where the rock has been
>hewn away and soil filled in the pit).  Visitors to the asteroid remark
>on the especially dry atmosphere.  The asteroid rotates slowly along
>its axis, providing a 24 hour day.
>         The Town:  Poisson has a population of about 5000 permanent adult
>residents.  Only 47% of the population is human with hurwaeti making up
>the next largest group at 23%.  Dwarves make up 12% of the population,
>gnomes 8%, halflings 6%, and elves and half-elves 3%.  The other 1% of
>the population are giff, hadozee, and lizard folk.  A single dohwar
>merchant is also resident.  The town has a very mercantile nature (and
>thus a N alignment) though the hereditary mayor, Beorn Lammond (LN hm
>Ftr2/Ari1), tries to impose law and order more tightly than it
>currently is.
>         Poisson was originally established as a trading port and farming
>asteroid.  It was ideally situated as a nearby asteroid covered in
>water was known to possess an arcane beacon, a beacon that causes its
>location to show up clearly on all planetary locators despite in only
>being a small asteroid.  The beacon existed on an asteroid covered in
>several hundred feet of swirling water and was felt unfit for
>colonization itself.  The nearby asteroid that was chosen, however,
>seemed ideal.  The colonists quickly found that while the soil was
>rich, they were lacking in water, however, and the settlement seemed
>doomed to failure with pirate and slaver raids disrupting life further
>and preventing the transport of necessary quantities of water.
>However, the establishment of a church dedicated to providing water
>allowed the farmers to begin producing crops regularly and
>fortifications were added using the asteroid^Òs own stone.  A visiting
>ship captain, (an ancestor of the current mayor) named Poisson, hired
>several dwarves and gnomes to take the asteroid^Òs one notable landmark,
>an upthrust of rock at one end, and carve it into a fortress.  The keep
>that was constructed housed weapons that oversaw the docks and
>protected the town^Òs folk from raiding slavers.  Later a wall with
>towers was constructed at the gravity plane to prevent unwanted vessels
>from quickly flying up to the docks and disgorging troops or from
>approaching and docking from the other side of the gravity plane.  The
>town guard also uses this controlled access to ensure they can inspect
>all goods before they enter the town.
>         As the town slowly grew it attracted a number of hurwaeti who let
>their people know that here was a town they could come to in order to
>be safe from raiders and slavers.  The town^Òs population is now nearly
>¼ hurwaeti and they have had a great deal of influence on the town^Òs
>policies and character.  For one, illithids, neogi, beholders, and all
>types of slavers are absolutely outlawed in Poisson and its surrounding
>space (though the latter is not entirely enforceable) and the
>authorities enforce this restriction diligently.
>         With the discovery of gems on a nearby asteroid dwarves and gnomes
>were attracted to Poisson and the population continued to expand.  The
>gems brought additional trade to the area and halflings came to join
>the human farmers, so that two additional farming asteroids now also
>exist nearby.  Poisson^Òs dwarves also looked for additional minerals
>and have established a small iron mine on an asteroid and a copper mine
>on yet another nearby asteroid.  Things looked most promising, however,
>when it was found that a dark and unexplored asteroid not only
>possessed an atmosphere but that the dark surface was actually the
>incredibly thick canopy of massive, dark-leaved (almost black) trees.
>As good wood is hard to find in space and so desired by shipwrights the
>large asteroid was felt to be an excellent resource and volunteer
>woodcutters set up a camp after penetrating the canopy and finding a
>way to the forest floor almost 200^Ò below.  They dealt with giant
>insects and arachnids as well as other dangers but the potential wealth
>to be had made the terrible risks worthwhile.  And with the felling of
>the first tree things seemed perfect.  And then the elves showed up.
>Unknown to the humans, a tribe of elves already inhabited the asteroid,
>having established a high level of civilization without access to
>minerals, instead using plant and animal resources alone.  The elves
>had never imagined the slaying of one of the powerful trees they dwelt
>in and reacted with violence, forcing the woodcutters to flee.  In time
>the elves and humans came to an understanding, with the elves allowing
>a few, select trees to be cut at any time in return for goods the
>humans could provide.  A few elves also traveled to Poisson to live
>there as emissaries of their people and to learn the ways of the larger
>world around them.  They have mixed with the small elvish population of
>the town but still maintain a separate embassy.
>         The town guard of Poisson numbers about 60 warriors and fighters,
>mostly giff, humans, and hurwaeti, as well as a human cleric and three
>human wizards.  The head of the town guard is Shentle, a hurwaeti male
>(N Ftr6) and experienced guardsman and marine.  Part of the guard is
>actually a squad of 10 giff mercenaries (9 soldiers and a sergeant) the
>town employs.
>         The town^Òs current leading merchant is a young dohwar
>entrepreneur,
>Liffir (N dohwarf Exp4).  Liffir moved here within the last decade and
>her success at dealing with visiting merchants, wholesaling food and
>minerals (but not gems, the dwarves and gnomes have several jewelers
>and gem cutters in town they deal through exclusively), and buying and
>reselling individuals^Ò belongings has made other local merchants
>jealous.  She has invested her profits in several local businesses,
>even managing to save a tavern that was going bankrupt and make it
>profitable (she is majority owner now) as well as establishing a money
>changing business that deals in barter as well as coins and setting up
>a type of pawn shop lending business.  She employs 3 of the town^Òs 14
>giff (the last is a guard for one of the dwarven gemcutters) as
>personal guards for herself and her money.  A few humans and hurwaeti
>also work for her as guards and laborers.
>         The elven embassy consists of 15 wood elves of the Reela tribe
>(taken
>from the name of their asteroid).  The ^Óambassador^Ô, or leader of this
>group, is a druid of Rillifane Rallathil who has attracted followers
>from not only the other local elves but also some of the other local
>inhabitants.  His religion is frowned upon by most, however, as they
>believe without it and the elves standing in their way they would be
>able to harvest an endless supply of wood for sale (and thus bring
>greater prosperity to the town).  The ambassador also has 3 junior
>druids with him and has trained at least two others in Poisson.  The
>Reela elves look with pity on half-elves and disgust at elven-human
>unions as they believe these are not natural.  They have no issue with
>the intermarriage of different groups of elves, however.
>         The primary religion of Poisson is the Water Cult.  The Water Cult
>is
>an offshoot of the Path and the Way that worships two very distinct
>water deities.  The more powerful of the two is the head of the Indian
>Pantheon, Indra.  Indra is not only the head of the Indian Pantheon but
>a goddess of storms, the atmosphere, and rain.  It is the latter two
>areas that make her religion so powerful in SJ and her clergy is
>dominant on Poisson and the area it controls.  Indra^Òs followers
>control the price of water carefully, always using it for their own
>maximum profit, and constantly vie with the other local religions over
>their place in society.  The other god is the Japanese Pantheon god of
>storms and the seas, Susanowo.  Susanowo^Òs worshippers believe in place
>spirits and the intrinsic value and power of everyone and everything.
>This leads them to no end of conflict with Indra^Òs followers and
>internal bickering in the cult is rampant.  Fortunately it also means
>that most of the cult^Òs scheming and attempts to discredit others are
>directed internally, allowing the rest of Poisson to go about their
>business untroubled (except by the high water prices).  The Water Cult
>not only has clerics but also a few druids and some monks among their
>order.  Most of the leaders of the faith are oriental humans.  Those
>with access to the 3e Oriental Adventures book may wish to use shukenja
>from it in place of clerics and druids.
>
>
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~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
"I do not want victory, Krishna,
nor kingdom nor pleasures.
What is kingdom to us, Govinda?"
-Partha, the Bhagavad-Gita


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