MotM: Nine Plate part III

 Guide to Groundlings
The folk here are famed for their close connections to the Outer Planes.
Plane-touched are a common sight, and even many planar races walk the
streets openly. Celestials are most commonly found on the "Upper Plates"
(those in the northern hemisphere), while fiends haunt the "Lower Plates"
(those plates in the southern hemisphere. Thusly, the influence of these
Planars can be felt in the common folk; those in the Upper Plates are
generally good and heroic, while those in the Lower Plates are evil and
villainous.
The dominant players are divided not by race but by Faction, be it Planar or
Spelljammer. The role of the Factions are detailed below, where they might
be found, and the local leader that sees to the interests of the Faction on
Nine Plate.
The Fellmarch is a suitable home for Black Cabal members to spread their
beliefs. The very nature of the faction makes it difficult for them to
spread, but for the war-shocked people of Fellmarch, the Black Cabal is an
appealing, although fatalistic, world-view. The Black Cabal recently lost
their leader, and have not yet chosen a new one.
In the bleak lands of the Fellmarch, the Tarlands, and Glachar, the
Doomguard find fertile ground for their beliefs. Their power is such that
they have a citadel in the Fellmarch, Darkstone, and hold sway over several
settlements. The lord of Darkstone is Finx Dayslayer (NE hem F5/W7) who is
the nominal leader of the Doomguard on this moon.
The Dustmen can be found almost anywhere, usually in large cities, where
they manage the mortuaries. They are not well liked, but provide a valuable
service in the disposal of the dead, so they are tolerated. Each individual
mortuary has its own caretaker; there is no overall caretaker that commands
the Dustmen on Nine Piece.
The ideals of the Fated are popular with the warlords of Hartgard. Many
warlords, particularly those that enjoy raiding, slaving, and slaying for
sport are some of the Fated's strongest supporters. There is no particular
leader in the ranks of this order, with each warlord considering himself the
head of the Fated on the moon.
The Empire of Ru has been a haven for the Fraternity of Order for several
centuries. Members enjoy prominent positions as bureaucrats in what they
consider a utopian society. There is no overall head of the Order here, but
all consider themselves beholden to the government of Ru. This sometimes
translates into loyalties to system of bureaucracy, not to the Emperor,
which has caused them no end of trouble in the past.
The Free League has little influence over Nine Plate, as it has not made an
effort to spread to this moon. Those that would join this Faction are drawn
instead to the Pragmatic Order of Thought, so the Free League remains a rare
sight. Still, its members work well with the POTS and at times, it there is
little difference between the two.
In the lawful kingdom of Mannia and the Empire of Ru, the Harmonium is
welcomed. The hardheads provide security for Portsberg where they have a
recruiting office in that city. The strict chain of command goes up to Lord
Chu Lawhammer (LN hm F8) who is responsible for deploying hardheads
throughout Nine Plate.
In many quarters, the Mercykillers are seen as reckless vigilantes, lose
cannons, rarely tolerated. They can operate with impunity in the chaotic
layers, but keep a lower profile in lawful layers. To some, the Mercykillers
are a source of justice for those that cannot find justice by other means,
so in some quarters they are given shelter and aide.
The Society of Sensation is openly popular in Everesti, which is natural
given the Sensates popularity in Arboria. The organization operates in
Ar-Morndin as well; many dwarves, finding wealth alone unsatisfying, have
turned to the Society to experience.more. The Sensates operate in secret in
Ar-Morndin, but openly in Evereseti.
Factions lacking a noticeable presence on Nine Plate include the Athar,
Believers of the Source, the Revolutionary League, the Sign of One, and the
Xaositects. In the past, these Factions have been quite strong on the moon,
but over time either lost interest in it or suffered other setbacks.
Likewise, the organizations of wildspace have taken a keen interest in Nine
Plate, and have established their own presences on the various layers of the
moon.
The Company of the Chalice has for decades been expanding their influence
over the nobility of Ar-Morndin and the Kingdom of Mannia. There are now
more than seventy knights loyal to the Chalice all across both layers,
including humans, half-elves, and even some dwarves. Grand Knight Phelot Uth
'Tor (LG hm Pal14) sits at the head of the order on this moon, and owns the
Gold Dragon, a dragonship heavily modified into a warship.
Opposing the Chalice is the Tenth Pit, which operates out of Baazulund. They
act as the royal navy for that kingdom, which roughly translates into
legalized piracy. The overall size and nature of the Baazulund fleet is a
state secret. It is known that lesser baatazu, especially abishai and
barbazu, serve as shock-troops and cornugon officers are not unknown. High
Admiral Bael Banesail (LE hem F12) commands the entire Baazulund fleet as
well as the forces of the Tenth Pit. He is a tall, lanky, and utterly
vicious man with a cruelty streak a league wide.
Although not generally well-respected, the Pragmatic Order of Thought (or
POTS) is active on Nine Plate. It operates a number of safe houses for freed
slaves and actively fights piracy around the moon. Their main opponent has
been the neogi as of late; the small lords are attempting to establish a
presence on Nine Plate, and the POTS are determined to prevent that from
happening. The Order's local commander is Captain Tparus Chainbreaker (CG hm
F10), a former neogi slave who is most famous for leading a mutiny that
overthrew not one, but four deathspiders and over 700 slaves. He operates
out of a secret base in Manydales.
Longfang mercenary groups thrive on Nine Plate, particularly on the Lower
Plates. These groups operate largely independently of each other, with no
central leader. It is not uncommon for two Longfang groups to be fighting on
opposite sides of a battle. Indeed, there are often fierce rivalries between
different groups, who are often at each others' throats. Longfang hiring
practices are quite lenient. It is not unusual to find goblin-kin, monsters,
and even fiends serving in Longfang squads.
The Elven Fleet is known to hold several bases in Everesti, including docks,
fortresses, and hidden outposts. Several lords in that realm own their own
spelljammers, which the Fleet can call upon if the need arises. If
necessary, the Fleet can easily raise two dozen Men-O-Wars in a week's time,
and in times of true peril, they can call up to four dozen such craft and a
half-dozen Armadas.

Resources and Trade
Many of the cities of Nine Piece thrive on trade. They serve as trade links
between wildspace and the Planes, and goods from both can be found in
abundance. A higher than normal number of ships can be encountered here, as
the moon is a major trade hub. Local navies also add to the number of ships,
from the warships of Ru and the Elven Fleet on patrol to raiders out of
Hartlund and Bonemaw.
Nine Piece's mundane resources are typical for a standard earth-world. It
has an abundance of more fantastic resources normally encountered on the
Planes, such as green steel, viper trees, and crystal trees. As such,
wizards in search of spell components and rare materials for enchanting
magical items are drawn to Nine Piece like bees to honey. Material
components are big business on this moon and a major reason, outside of
access to stable portals, that people come.

Ports of Call
On the moon where the Planes meet Wildspace, trade thrives. There are
hundreds of small ports that welcome spelljammers, ranging from small towns
to great cities. Some, particularly on the Upper Plates, are places of trade
and commerce, where an honest merchant can earn hard coin. Others, mostly
found on the Lower Plates, are dens of pirates, smugglers, thieves, and
buccaneers.
In the Empire of Ru is by far the largest spelljamming port, Portsberg. The
city is enormous, built on an island in the middle of a vast lake. The town
has several hundred piers for spelljammers as well as many portals to the
Planes, most to the city Sigil. A down side is that there is a complicated
set of tax codes and tariffs in place. Luckily, there is available an army
of lawyers to fill out all the paperwork, for a small fee of course.
In Everesti is the city of Sylinesti, the only city on the entire layer. The
port is enormous, rivaling Portsberg in size and scale. Several large canals
cross the city with sections large enough to land even a hammership with
room to spare. Elven merchants and those that have dealings with elves are
welcomed, as is the Elven Fleet. The lord of the city is Celyddon
Eveningaze, said to be an eladrin, possibly even a Tulani. Little is known
about this enigmatic ruler, other than he is beloved by the people and has
strong ties to the Elven Fleet.
The Sunderlund is home to the third largest spaceport, the city of Port
Femur, a sprawling den of depravity and piracy. It might be easier to say
that Port Femur is truly several smaller towns, ruled by vile press gangs of
cambions and lesser tanar'ri, that happen to be located close enough
together to be considered a single city. There is no unified government;
rule is by sword point. The black markets of Port Femur are very extensive
and profitable. It is a rough-and-tumble place where even the cautious can
lose his life.
The last major hub of spelljammer trade is the Dock, an Arcane-run port on
the central pillar. More accurately, it is Arcane Spelljamming Dock #19, but
locals just refer to it as the Dock. It is a huge place with the best dry
docks on the moon and facilities to handle any ship shy of three hundred
tons. It is a bustling city, with many shops specializing in the sale of
material components, exotic goods, and magic items. The Arcane employ giff
guards by the company to keep the place secure and safe. Lawlessness and
crime are not tolerated. Anyone caught breaking the law is sent shown the
nearest portal to the most unpleasant slave mines in the Lower Planes.

History
For as long as the multitude of suns has burned, Nine Plate has existed.
Local legends claim that the moon acts as a sort of counter-weight to the
Outer Planes, one of perhaps many anchors from the Prime to places like
Limbo and Baator. Without Nine Plate, the locals claim, the Planes would
drift, and contacts with the Prime would be lost. Of course, most graybeards
dismiss this as superstition and braggart lies.
Although Nine Piece has always had connections to the Planes, the situation
has rarely been stable. It has at least twice been host to Blood War
battles, which more resemble world-wars than a battle. The last battle left
no less than eight layers devastated, the recovery of which took
generations. An even worse disaster came when slaads overran the
Thundermarch and spawned tens of thousands of new slaads.
On the flip side of the coin, the Rise of Ru has had no less than eight
dynasties in its past, the latest one coming to power a thousand years ago
and ushered in the longest running time of stability for that empire. Even
as other layers burned in wars and chaos, Ru has remained a solid anchor of
peace in the moon, aggressively defending its borders against any
intrusions.

Satellites
Although Nine Piece lacks proper moons of its own, it does have two small
rings of ice and dirt. The rings are lightly settled with small villages
that thrive on selling ice to passing spelljammers.

Other Considerations
The influence of the Outer Planes can be felt in the very land itself. Some
lands, such as those of Ru, can remain unchanged for thousands of years,
kept in check by the powers of Law. At the same time, chaotic layers like
the Tarlands, change almost on a whim. Powerful, planar creatures freely
roam all of the layers, kept in check only by each other and bizarre rules
that they must abide by. For DMs seeking to send his campaign into the
Planes, Nine Plate is an excellent place to begin that campaign. Here,
players can get a feel for a Planescape campaign without abandoning the
Prime.

Rogues Gallery
Here is a small sample of the non-player characters that can be found on
Nine Plate.

High Admiral Bael Banesail: A tall, lanky individual with several deep scars
and an eye patch over his ruined left eye, Bael is a ruggedly charismatic
individual. This wild, uncontrollable pirate has killed more men than he can
count, and has stolen enough treasure to field a fleet of a dozen
hammerships. Bael accepted his admiral's commission as a "retirement post",
as he is getting on in years. This merely means that he has grown crafty and
sly in his activities, instead of relying solely on his reckless bravado.

Captain Gordraug Heruel: A rising star in the Elven Fleet, Captain Gordraug
commands the Man-O-War Wolfstar, on regular patrol in the space around Nine
Plate. His reputation as a pirate-hunter has grown. Gordraug is
well-respected by his peers and those that serve him.