The DragonFlow Part 1B: The Geonomicon of LinkSpace Part 2

Sorry it takes so long for me to post these.  (I hate it when RL gets in 
the way.)  If you guys start to think this all sucks, just let me know and 
I'll stop posting.  I’ve recently been told that LinkSpace seems a little 
like refuge but gone astray. 

The DragonFlow Part 1B: The Geonomicon of LinkSpace Part 2

The Belt of Nonous
Irregular Earth Bodies
Size A-B Asteroid Belt
Several Space Faring races

When viewed from a distance, Nonous appears to be a brownish-blue color 
with a dark ring that encircles it at about a 45 degree angle.  This ring 
is the Belt of Nonous.  As mentioned before, Nonous was the first planet 
from the Sun in LinkSpace, and as such was nothing more than a skin-
searing void world.   But the belt of Nonous, known as simply "the belt" 
to locals, has both a shared and separate history from the planet it 
encompasses.
The belt is simply that.  It is a medium density asteroid belt that 
encircles Nonous.  Most asteroids in the belt are tidally locked to the 
surface of Nonous.  They do not orbit the planet below, they just 
seemingly hang there in mid-space.   Some of the asteroids in the belt 
twirl on their own axis, while others remain stationary.  Navigation 
through the belt is painfully easy, or one can just fly over or under the 
belt and completely avoid it.  None of the asteroids are large enough to 
cause an eclipse of note, and they are far enough away from the surface of 
Nonous that they can't be seen during the day.  They appear as stars at 
night.
Because most of the asteroids are locked, this means that some always face 
the Sun, while others are shrouded in eternal darkness behind the planet 
they encircle.  The most hospitable asteroids, however, hang at the 
midpoint between the light and darkness.  These asteroids are also the 
most likely to spin on their own axis.

Asteroids of Interest

The Lexitron Emporium (aka Dead Man's Chest)
Once, this place was the grand trading post of the Arcane, now it lies in 
a haunted ruin.  Nearly 1000 years ago, during a time when all the Arcane 
of the sphere gathered to share information, the asteroid fell prey to an 
organized attack.  The time of the invasion perfectly coincided with an 
uprising of the Arcane's servants against them.  The proud and confident 
giants were caught completely off guard.   None of them survived.  Rumors 
still abound today of the great storehouses of wealth and magic buried 
beneath the planetoid's surface; squirreled away in catacombs and hidden 
by desperately fleeing Arcane.  Mostly however, a visitor will only find 
alien ruins and undead remnants from the past.  The Dead Man's Chest, as 
it is commonly referred to by locals, is usually avoided at all costs.

Veron
Once this planetoid held the fabulous and luxurious estates that were home 
to the Arcane and rental villas for the elite visiting the Lexitron 
Emporium.  Now those estates are mostly warehouses and private homes and 
businesses for the new merchants of Nonous.  With the Arcane gone, some of 
their employees decided to pick up the pieces and take up the mercantile 
business themselves.  Obviously, reopening the Lexitron was out of the 
question, (and in poor taste).  Therefore, Veron has become the new 
trading post of LinkSpace.  It is said that anything can be bought and 
sold at Veron, and this analysis is mostly correct.  The gilded streets 
with magical lighting have now become mass marketplaces with merchants 
from across the galaxy hawking their wares.  It is not a place to get your 
ship repaired, but to buy a new ship.  It is the place to go to sell goods 
that come from “questionable” origins.  And it is the place to get 
information, albeit for a price, of course.  Nothing is free on Veron, but 
everything and everyone on Veron has a price.  The only harshly punishable 
crimes on Veron are ones that disrupt trade.  Theft and fraud top the 
list, but murder is generally held as unacceptable, and many businesses 
will refuse to do business with such an offending individual.  No one will 
do business with a convicted thief, however.  One doesn’t come to Veron to 
drink ale or gamble, they come here to spend gold.

Dresk
The Asteroid Dresk sits on the far edge of the belt, and therefore is 
shrouded in either darkness or twilight.  This place can be summed up 
briefly as the “Bral of LinkSpace.”  Although less business oriented than 
Veron, Dresk holds all of the taverns, Inns, festhalls and general night-
life of Nonous.  A local saying is “Spend your gold on Veron, then spend 
what’s left on Dresk.”  Dresk still holds several shops and businesses, 
just not nearly on level with Veron.  Law enforcement on Dresk involving 
personal injury tends to be much harsher than on Veron, at least on the 
streets of the city.  However, the watch generally looks the other way 
when it comes to Dresk’s legendary festhalls.  Typically, as long as the 
owner of an establishment “keeps it off of the streets” there is little 
the local law will do to enforce anything that happens indoors.  There is 
a certain mentality here that is unsympathetic to people who “shouldn’t 
have gone in there in the first place.”  Still, Dresk does have places of 
honest business where one can get a fine mug of ale and a good night’s 
rest, all at an affordable price.

The Tenebrous Group
This small, dense area of the belt is completely obscured by Nonous and 
thus is shrouded in eternal darkness.  It is a conglomerate of small 
chunks of rock infested with Asteroid Spiders.  Hundreds if not thousands 
of the creatures inhabit the area of perhaps ten square miles or so.  Over 
time, the spiders have developed a technique of “stacking” webs over top 
of each other in order to capture larger prey.  Thus, at the heart of the 
Tenebrous Group, one of their webs could easily ensnare a 25-30 ton vessel 
moving at tactical speed and perhaps even larger if the ship is moving 
particularly slow, as if adrift.  Persistent rumors abound of a small cult 
of Drow that use the depths of the group as an outpost.  It has been 
speculated that a small ship hull enchanted with a “Passweb” spell could 
easily slip in and out of the group.

Karaug Nauc-Nor
The Karaug is an abandoned Dwarven citadel floating in the bright side of 
the belt.  It serves as the base of operations for “the Hangmen,” a 
notorious group of pirates who prey on visitors to LinkSpace.  The 
dangerous Hangmen are bold and brash and are said to fear nothing.  They 
paint their ships bright, clashing colors and literally invite trouble.  
They are comprised of a variety of races on five ships, the flagship being 
a stolen Imperial Fleet Man-O-War patrol ship renamed the “Pillaging 
Wench.”  Previously, this vessel was commanded by Commodore Kasian, the 
IEN commander patrolling the Maw.  He would very much like the return of 
the vessel, (undamaged, of course) to Imperial Fleet hands.  Under Kasian, 
the ship was named the “Crystal Cardinal.”  It was stolen from the 
Imperial Fleet while the majority of her crew was on shore leave on the 
Misty Eye.

The Misty Eye
The Eye is a large and almost perfectly round ball hanging at the edge of 
the belt.  The Eye spins on its own axis and boasts a 16 hour day, 8 hours 
of which is in star lit and “Nonous lit” darkness.  So named because of 
the almost perfectly circular lake in the center of the asteroid, the 
Misty Eye is a favorite spot for spacefarers to visit.  The lake is fed by 
numerous cascading waterfalls and framed by beautiful tropical 
vegetation.  The Eye is actually a small water body that is mostly encased 
in an earthen shell.  A cool, cloudy mist hangs in the tropical air, 
giving the planetoid a perfect temperature, at least from a human’s point 
of view.  Rain occurs daily, in short bursts.  The eye is 
considered “neutral ground” by most spacefarers in LinkSpace; a treasure 
to be shared by all.  There is no law on the Eye, and usually none 
needed.  Most experienced LinkSpace spacefarers know that they would make 
several enemies in the sphere by causing trouble on the Eye.  A single 
small village is nestled amongst the greenery, with a hospitable tavern 
and Inn named “The Sleepy Sailor.”  The Misty Eye port has a small area 
mowed down to accommodate a few landing vessels and a tiny man-made pond 
for one or two water landing ships.  There is a trading post, but there’s 
not enough here to make major repairs to a ship.  One could in theory cut 
down enough trees here to make major repairs, but they would also earn the 
enmity of everyone whom has ever visited the eye.

Look for NPCs of The Belt of Nonous, coming soon.

As usual, all comments, good and/or bad, are appreciated.

--Blackmaer

“ 'Ere Now!  Welcome ye to the Sleepy Sailor!  ‘Ere be the finest 
establishment ‘ere on the ‘ole Eye!  Oh Aye, ‘tis the only bed ‘n 
breakfast ‘ere, me lads an’ lasses, but I none did like me much 
competition, eh folks?!   Whuss that? Ye be needin’ lashin’ rope fer yer 
riggin’?  Well then, just lemme stow me ‘ole apron an’ I’ll be right over 
ta open up the shop, eh mates?  Ya see, the “Eye for an Eye” be the finest 
establishment ‘ere on the ‘ole Eye!  Oh Aye, ‘tis the only tradin’ 
post ‘ere, me lads an’ lasses…..”

-----Ramblings of Rollo Fitzjibber, halfling proprietor of every
“fine establishment” on the Misty Eye, while speaking to new visitors.