Moon of the Month: Blacktangle Deep

Hey guys,

    sorry about the delay; a trip to NYC for training came up unexpectly.
Anyways, here's this month's MotM, Blacktangle Deep.  Its a jungleworld
inspired by the fall of the Mayans which ties a little with my scorpionship
article :)


Blacktangle Deep
Planet Name: Blacktangle Deep, Blacktangles
Planet Type: Flat earth
Planet Size: C
Escape Time: 2 turns
Satellites: None
Distance from Primary: 300,000 miles
Day Length: 30 hours
Year Length: 45 days
Population Analysis: Orcs, goblins, elves

 Blacktangle Deep is a legacy left over from the ancient orc hordes that
rampaged across wildspace before the Unhuman Wars.  The wastelands of this
once prosperous moon serve as a cautionary tale of what destruction the orcs
were truly capable of.  Some elves use the term "blacktangled" to describe
any world destroyed by orc ravishes.
 Blacktangles is a flat moon 250 miles square and 5 miles thick.  The
atmosphere is 10 miles deep.  It completes one rotation every 30 hours.
Because the moon is flat, there is no dawn or dusk; the sun rises and sets
very suddenly.  Due to the atmosphere, sunlight is very weak, and does not
affect the vision of light-hating creatures such as orcs (drow and like
creatures of the deep darkness are still affected).
 The whole moon is one great jungle.  Both sides of the square are covered
by thick, entangled jungles.  The land is quite rugged, with low mountains
and deep ravines.  In many cases these were orc strip mines, where great
quantities of earth were torn up in search of every nugget of gold or scrap
of iron.  Others hide ancient cities, buried by centuries of jungle growth.

Climate and Weather
 Blacktangles is a tropical moon with high humidity.  Rain is an hourly
occurrence, drenching everything in sudden downpours.  There are no seasons;
it is always hot, wet, and oppressive on Blacktangles.

Appearance from Space
 Blacktangles is a deep green square that slowly flips through space.
Streaks of dark rain clouds make the moon even appear even darker.  The
elven port Point Graves can easily been seen from orbit, as it is the only
patch of clear land.

Continents
 Blacktangles is a moon without continents.  Great rivers cut through
jungles but go nowhere, instead doubling back upon themselves in a great
loop.  At some points these rivers run upstream, defying gravity.

Native Creatures
 It is unknown what creatures lived on Blacktangles before the Coming of
Orcs (see History below).  What survives on Blacktangles today was likely
introduced by the orcs.  The dominant predators on this moon include
mortbats, worgs, displacer beasts, cave bears, ankhegs, carrion crawlers,
monstrous slimes, and some monstrous fungi.
 The jungles are made of massive trees, fast-growing vines, and many
carnivorous plants.  Some plants are quite alien-looking, with purple leaves
or have unusual shapes.

Guide to Groundlings
 The jungles are home to two surviving intelligent species: orcs and
goblins.  Both have degraded to cannibalistic savages, feasting on each
other when easier prey is unavailable.  They shun the ruins of their
formerly great cities, which have been lost to the jungle.  Instead they
inhabit mud hut villages.  They have retained some skills of masonry, and
surround their villages with brick walls.  Indeed, the villages resemble
small castles.  The rains and humidity force the orcs to constantly repair
their buildings; otherwise they too would be claimed by the jungles.
 Orcs of Blacktangles have a deep mauve skin color and wear nothing but
loincloths.  Their weapons are stone knives and stone spears, and they carry
wooden shields; any metal has long ago corroded or was lost.  Leaders
sometimes have better equipment, such as metal armor and weapons, usually
magical (the magic protecting these devices from corrosion).  Orcs attack in
ragged formations, a remembrance of the legions they once formed.  Their
tactics are often haphazard and sometimes comical.  Despite this, they are
still very strong and dangerous.
 Goblins are savage headhunters that favor the use of poison over brute
strength.  They are always naked, having abandoned all forms of clothing.
Their preferred weapon is the blowgun, which they use to fire poisonous
darts.  If confronted, they simply flee.  They would rather strike through
ambushes and let the poison of their darts fell their prey, and then move in
for an easy kill.  Goblins have a wide variety of poisons at their disposal.
 The elves run a small outpost at the edge of Blacktangles called Point
Graves.  They rarely travel into the jungles; instead, they sell food,
water, and other services to adventurers looking to brave the jungles in
search of forgotten loot.

Resources and Trade
 There is almost no trade on Blacktangles.  What takes place of that is a
thriving business of adventurers setting off into the jungles to loot the
ruins.  Although the orcs long ago stripped the moon of its most valuable
treasures, there is still gold, magic, and gemstones lost in the jungle
ruins, as the orcs could not take it all.  There are undoubtedly dozens of
cities still lost in the jungles, and it will be a long time before
treasure-seekers will exhaust these ruins.  Of course, for every gold
trinket taken from these ruins, just as many adventurers have perished under
orc spears, deadly traps, or the jaws of a hungry monster.

Ports of Call
 There is only one port left on Blacktangles, the elven-run Point Graves.
This town of about 300 was originally established by the Elven Fleet to be
their base in a campaign against the orcs.  This campaign was largely a
failure and the army left out of frustration.  An influx of adventurers
seeking to explore the ruins of Blacktangles convinced the elves to keep the
town open, both to claim part of any treasure recovered and to keep an eye
on adventurers to make sure they do not despoil too many tombs.
 Point Graves sits at the center of a 5-mile wide clearing.  Surrounding
this clearing is a curtain wall of dense trees, specially grown by the elves
to provide them a living wall that is impervious to attacks; it is too dense
to be hacked through with the primitive weapons of the orcs and goblins, and
the constant rainfall makes it too wet to burn.  A single, heavily guarded
gate allows passage through this wall.
 Between the wall and the town are crops, groves, and pastures.  The
citizens are all well-fed, with plenty of food to sell to off-worlders.  In
addition, the Fleet has a claim of 10% of whatever is taken from the
jungles, plus first rights to buy anything magical.  Of course the elves
cannot prevent smuggling, but many adventurers would rather have a safe
harbor to run to if things get too rough in the jungles.

History
 About one thousand years ago, Blacktangles was then known as the Duchy of
Arunti, and was inhabited by a mix of humans, elves, and halflings.  It was
a relatively peaceful moon then, stopover for ivory and silk merchants.  The
land was ruled by petty barons and a duke, cousin of a far-off king.
 Then the orcs came.  Raiders and pirates at first, the orcs pilfered Arunti
's trade ships and drove away trade.  Without trade, the duchy was greatly
weakened, such that the orcs openly challenged the humans.  Eventually, the
orcs overwhelmed the few human defenders, throwing everyone in chains.  The
forests were stripped bare, the land strip-mined of its wealth.  Everything
of value that could be taken from Arunti was stripped by greedy orcish
warlords to fuel the coming war against the elves.
 The orcs grew in numbers very quickly, and within a few generations, their
numbers were such that Arunti's overburdened fields could no longer support
the population.  A great famine befell the moon; the orcs devoured any
surviving slaves they had, and soon turned on each other.  Those orcs that
could fled, leaving their fellows to starve to death.  Shortly before the
Unhuman Wars, the orc civilization crumbled under its own destructive
habits.  Jungles quickly took over, burying everything under a dark green
carpet.  When the Elven Fleet arrived to free Arunti, they found nothing but
jungles, savages, and countless bones.

Satellites
 None.