SourceMaterial-Daggerspace

Cosmology

The world of Avlis uses the cosmology set forth in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition for determining the nature of planets, stars, and space. According to this model, each star and all of its orbiting objects are enclosed by a Crystal Sphere many times the diameter of the star. The distance from the star to the furthest orbiting object is usually the same as the distance from the furthest orbiting object to the wall of the Crystal Sphere. The objects in the night sky that groundlings call stars are in fact holes in the Crystal Sphere which permit a properly-equipped space-faring ship to exit through them. "Spelljamming" is the term used to describe magical flight through space and beyond. An alternative term that does not violate copyright rules for Wizards of The Coast is "Starjamming".

Outside of the Crystal Sphere is a translucent ether substance called "phlogiston" in which the Crystal Sphere floats. The "Phlogiston Flow" is the area outside of The Crystal Sphere that shines with about half the amount of light on a normal day. Phlogiston as a substance is highly flammable and can ignite with the slightest spark causing damage to a vessel and its crew.

Daggerspace

The Crystal Sphere which contains Avlis and its fellow worlds is called Daggerspace. Tradition holds that Crystal Spheres generally originate from the actions of rare beings which wind up taking variable amounts of care and supervision for their creations. The being that created Daggerspace has no formal name but writings refer to it as The Supreme. Within this being's Crystal Sphere, there are numerous celestial bodies of which many remain undiscovered.

Celestial bodies come in all shapes, sizes, and natures but generally break down into only a few types: the sun, planets, moons, and asteroids.

Map of Daggerspace

The Sun

The sun is the largest celestial body in Daggerspace. It acts as the focal point around which all celestial bodies orbit in a circular fashion. There are many other suns (or stars) in other Crystal Spheres of different sizes and natures, but the sun in Daggerspace is about 700,000 miles in diameter an composed of a mixture of fire and positive plane energy.

By its nature, the sun is mostly made of gas and has no uniform surface. However, there are numerous portals within it that lead to the Elemental Plane of Fire, the Quasi-elemental Plane of Radiance, and the Positive Material Plane. In some instances, floating rocks traveling through these other planes can sometimes fall through portals into Daggerspace accidentally and remain floating within the sun. Though it is rare for this to happen, there are at least several floating molten rocks within the sun.

Temperatures inside the sun are as hot as the Elemental Plane of Fire. Conditions inside the sun are a simultaneous combination of ambient conditions within the Positive Material Plane and the Elemental Plane of Fire, which means that it is hot enough to melt nearly anything without magical protection, but the atmosphere is breathable if the other dangers are mitigated. Positive Plane Energy conditions within the sun actually cause superior spontaneous healing in all biological matter, which combined with the burning of the elemental fire would bring about exquisite torture to any being caught unprotected within it for a short time before it explodes.

Planets

Daggerspace has several inhabitable planets. Scholars are not sure if they have yet detected them all.

Tairis'Nadur

The planet of Tairis'Nadur is a small inhabitable world with oceans, landmasses, and civilizations all its own. It is the innermost known planet in Daggerspace. This planet exists as a linked server for the Neverwinter Nights game that is part of the Confederation of Planes and Planets.

Avlis

Avlis is a roughly earth-sized planet with several known continents including Negaria, Tabayelle, Atradyse, and Khanjar Kuro. It is the second habitable planet orbiting out from the sun. A portion of Avlis exists as a playable Neverwinter Nights (NWN) persistent world (PW) linked to several other NWN PW's in a collaboration called The Confederation of Planes and Planets.

Etaraphel

The third known planet out from the sun is a gas giant roughly 70,000 miles in diameter. Etaraphel is thought to be an extremely large portal or intersection between the Prime Material Plane and the Deep Ethereal. The borders between the atmosphere of the planet and Daggerspace are seamless and continuous which makes the planet appear to be real and located in space. Within the depths of these mists there are a fair number of activities.

Some scholars attest that near the center of Etaraphel is a permanent large portal to The Abyss, which was created and stabilized by a lieutenant of the Negarai Prime soon after he discovered Daggerspace and Etaraphel. This portal serves as a massive conduit between Daggerspace and that plane, by way of the Deep Ethereal. Additionally, within the clouds of this gas giant are numerous pocket planes or demi-planes of the Ethereal. Some of them are paradise havens created by powerful entities as a means to escape something. Others are notorious prisons created by deities to punish and contain their enemies. Travelers passing close by these misty realms need to take care that they do not get snagged by one of the tendrils emanating from these realms.

Svotix

It is thought that the fourth planet out from the sun, Svotix, is habitable and complex in its surface features like the other habitable worlds of Daggerspace. However, it is generally unknown for certain because this planet is surrounded by an impenetrable magical shield that obscures vision from the outside. The shield seems impervious to transportation via extraplanar or other magical means.

Moons

Most planets have at least one moon, and some have multiple moons. The majority of moons are lifeless hunks of rock that do not house large civilizations, but there are several exceptions given here.

Levena

The moon of Avlis is a vibrant center of Starjamming travel within Daggerspace. It acts as the central hub of the Crystal Sphere to points out toward the Phlogiston Flow and beyond. Several large societies make their home on its surface, and there is constant danger of its politics becoming too raveled in the larger forces that lurk among the Crystal Spheres, such as the Eye Beasts, the Mind Benders, the Gitzerai, the Githyanki, the Arcane, and many others. Much of the surface of the moon is rock with poor soil, but magical means have enabled certain sections of it to support crops and other life.

Erdan

Though it is a moon of Etaraphel, Erdan is a planet in its own right due to its size and geography. Like other full-fledged planets in the system, Erdan has oceans and continents with a full breathable atmosphere and life all its own. Its history is thought to be thoroughly entwined with the other worlds in the system as well as with its primary, Etaraphel.

Asteroids

Asteroids in Daggerspace range in size from small rocks no larger than a human to large ones approaching half the size of a moon. These floating bodies have a way of attracting inhabitants from around the system who wish to separate themselves from petty planetary politics to concentrate on larger goals or to simply be alone. There are numerous examples of asteroids in Daggerspace, and some of the known ones are described here:

Jeminix

This asteroid was described in Avlis Campaign 6 as a base for an evil necromancer, Jeminix, who named the asteroid after himself. Before his operation was destroyed by a group of adventurers, Jeminix had set up a factory creating mutated zombies which could spread their sickness to living creatures. The sickness was an altered plague that used energy from the Negative Energy Plane to augment it.

Colonies of goblins living on the asteroid, which still remain to this day, carried out his work and maintained his equipment from a warren below the surface. At the center of the asteroid was a portal to the Negative Energy Plane connected to equipment that could focus and direct its foul influence in a beam. Using this Negative Energy Beam, Jeminix planned to fire on inhabited planets to infect them with his zombie sickness. Though the adventurers destroyed his equipment, cut off the goblins main air supply, and closed the portal, rumors have it that Jeminix may be trying again.

Sutria

Sutria is a small asteroid approximately 10 miles in diameter inhabited by the githzerai. This race is native to the plane of Limbo and some members make their home on the Prime Material Plane to watch over the activities of their rivals: the githyanki and the Mind Benders. Most githzerai lead a monastic lifestyle, and that is true of the society on Sutria as well, where there are four monasteries populated by githzerai monks and psions. A small town exists in the center of the monasteries to support their lifestyle.

Beyond Daggerspace

There are innumerable Crystal Spheres out in the Phlogiston Flow. Getting to them requires many days of travel at starjamming speeds and even then presents no guarantee given the dangers out there. Though the other Crystal Spheres are unknown to most scholars, the most learned sages may have knowledge of a few. Among them are some possibilities listed here:

Clutterspace

Clutterspace is a locked Crystal Sphere with no known entrances or exits and home to the Astromundi Cluster. It is rumored to contain shattered remnants of a myriad of worlds whose asteroid remains clutter the volume within, and is furthermore rumored to be the origin location of the Mind Benders.

Faeriespace

Faeriespace is an unusual Crystal Sphere that has a giant tree, instead of a normal planetary system. Sixteen suns and eight planets are supported on the branches of this tree. A vast city called Armon is found on the trifurcation of the tree.

Greatspace

Greatspace is a Crystal Sphere with seven planets and an asteroid belt orbiting a sun. One of those planets has a moon.

Greyspace

Greyspace houses the planet Oerth and is the location of the Greyhawk Campaign Setting.

Herospace

Herospace is a crystal sphere with nine suns orbited by nine planets. One of those planets has a moon.

Krynnspace

Krynspace houses the planet Krynn and is the location of the Dragonlance Campaign Setting.

Realmspace

Realmspace houses the planet Toril and is the location of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting

Shatterspace

This Crystal Sphere is home to the large asteroid known as Ithilla, which acts as a trade hub for its region and a sinister base at its center housing a large nest of Mind Benders.