duskshoal: another world!

Yet another world from your friendly, neighborhood druid ;)

Adam


Duskshoal

Planet Name: Duskshoal, Murkshoal

Planet Type: Sphere water body

Planet Size: C

Escape Time: 2 Turns

Satellites: Fire ring

Distance from Primary: 4 billion miles

Day Length: 60 hours

Year Length: 75 standard years

Population Analysis: Sahuagin



            Despite its name, Duskshoal is a warm, minor world.  It is one
large ocean dotted with dozens of small islands and atolls.  The ocean is
not deep, only about 3,000 feet on average with a handful of trenches
dropping a mile down.  The whole world is just over 110 miles across.

            Duskshoal is located in "deep" space, outside the inner planets.
The space around it is cold and dark.  A ring of fire and radiance encircles
the planet's equator, however, providing light and warmth to Duskshoal.  As
a consequence, the planet has no night, only eternal day.  Most of the light
from the ring is directed down towards the planet, and from afar is almost
indistinguishable from a minor star.



Climate and Weather

            Duskshoal is a tropical environment.  The surface is heated
mostly evenly, so the planet rarely has storms that last very long.  The air
is warm and humid.



Appearance from Space

            As one approaches Duskshoal, the fire ring around it is visible
long before the planet itself becomes visible.  When it does come in sight,
Duskshoal is a sapphire blue orb with a ring of burning radiance around its
equator.



Continents

            None.  Duskshoal is one big ocean with only a handful of
islands.



Native Creatures

            As a water world, fish are obviously the dominant creatures.  To
attempt to catalog all of the native and non-native species is an exercise
in madness, but include any number of tropical fish, sharks, jellyfish, and
squids.  Whales do not exist on Duskshoal.

            The islands are overrun with palm trees but few creatures.  Most
were brought by travelers and accidentally introduced.  As such, rodents,
birds, and some insects have adapted to living on the islands.



Guide to Groundlings

            There is but one species of creature truly native to Duskshoal,
that being sahuagin.  The whole world is ruled by their king, a four-armed
monster titled Burgundy Claw, for his bright red claws.  He rules a nation
of perhaps 25,000 sahuagin (including females and hatchlings), although that
is only a guess to the strength of the nation.  Unlike other sahuagin, the
fishmen of Duskshoal are not vicious (usually) man-eaters.  Instead, they
have established themselves as dealers in pearls to make the nation a
stopover for traders.  This is not to say that they are good-aligned or won'
t eat a person if the chance came about; they simply temper their evil
nature with a desire to make money, and that means dealing with
off-worlders.

            Some travelers believe that there was once an elven civilization
on Duskshoal, one that was destroyed an enslaved by the sahuagin.  This is
simply not true; the sahuagin give birth on occasion to malenti, sahuagin
that resemble sea elves.  The fishmen do not kill these creatures, instead
finding a better use for them in the Blackfin (see below).

            A third group of native creatures are half-elves, the inevitable
result of the activity of the Blackfin.  Female malenti give birth to
creatures that are almost identical to half-elves, no matter the race of the
father.  The half-elven children have a hard time surviving underwater (they
do have the ability to breathe water), and are sent to live on the islands.
The half-elves are loyal to Burgundy Claw but rarely have contact with their
sahuagin parents.  Strangely, the fishmen sometimes steal ashore while the
half-elves are asleep and leave small items and presents, showing the half
elves care and affection they rarely show to their normal, full-sahuagin
children.



Trade and Resources

            Although Duskshoal has food and water aplenty, its primary
export is pearls.  The sahaugin sell large quantities of pearls, including
black, indigo, and crimson-colored pearls, to wildspace merchants.  They
import magic, good lumber, stone, and other materials that they cannot get
on their own world.  One thing the sahuagin have no interest in is
spelljamming technology; they have no interest in leaving the protective
waters of their own world.



Ports of Call

            Lighthouse Atoll is the largest atoll on Duskshoal.  It has a
sturdy, rocky outcrop where a lighthouse has been built to attract passing
spelljammers to it.  The sahuagin capital is not far from the atoll, about
an hour's swim.  The atoll is covered by dozens of buildings both above and
below the waterline.  No less than a thousand sahuagin dwell on the atoll to
cater to spelljammers.  Procedure is to have two sahuagin swim ahead of a
landing spelljammer, leading it to a pier.  It can be quite unnerving to see
the fishmen welcoming a ship instead of trying to sink it and eat its crew.

            Lighthouse Atoll has several large and important buildings.
Foremost of these buildings is the Pearl Trading House, a heavily fortified
building with scores of sahuagin guards.  It is at the center of the atoll,
partially underwater.  Air-filled, tube-like passages allow access to the
underwater buildings, with air-filled rooms so that air-breathers can meet
and trade with the sahuagin.  The tubes also lead to a market guarded by a
glass dome where sahuagin vendors sell all manner of fish and other bounties
of the sea.

            Oddly, the busiest attraction of Lighthouse Atoll is Blackfin
Brothel, a domed structure partially underwater.  The sahuagin have put
almost all of the malenti on Duskshoal to work in this brothel to keep
sailors entertained.  It can be a rough-and-tumble place, where one can
easily lose his life if he is not careful.  This reputation only enhances
the allure of the place; in some circles, one is not truly a man until he
survives a night at the Blackfin.  The malenti women are quite beautiful,
and enjoy their work.



History

            The sahuagin came to Duskshoal about three centuries ago.  Three
tribes competed for control of the planet, eventually unifying into a single
nation around two centuries ago.  Without a common foe, the sahuagin found
little use for war.  They found themselves without purpose, and thus were
easily manipulated by visiting illithids, who began the pearl trade.  The
illithids used the sahuagin as a front to fund illithid aggressions
elsewhere in the sphere.  These manipulations came to an end only a scant
two decades ago, when the sahuagin finally managed to free themselves.  The
creatures saw benefit in maintaining the pearl trade, as it brought visitors
from all over the sphere to their corner of the universe, and with them many
strange and wondrous luxuries undreamed of in the cold depths of their seas.



Satellites

            The only satellite is the fire-ring that provides Duskshoal with
light and heat.  There are no other moons.