Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nightdruid 09-01-06, 05:11 PM	New month, so a new moon! This time we explore Ise, a world of all things, Dohwar! This moon is rather light-hearted, of course, but it was a blast to write. I can already imagine devious DM's involving their PCs in the various nefarious schemes of the dohwar "apprentices"... :D Enjoy! Ise Small (D) Irregular Water (Ice) Climate: Cold Orbital Position: Outer Lunar Day Length: 48 hours Year Length: 56 days Native Races: Dohwar, snow elves, arctic and glacier dwarves, tundra halflings, uldra The moon before you is a blue-white moon broken by bits of gray. It vaguely resembles a white potato rather than a more common sphere. As a whole, Ise is essentially a very large, frozen-over asteroid that is just over 2,000 miles along its major axis and 1,600 miles along its minor axis. In most spots, mile-thick glaciers cover the land. Internal volcanic activity does create some warm spots, ranging from small springs and ice-capped lakes to chilly open seas. Ise is a relatively remote moon in the system it occupies. It is a brutally cold place, where temperatures stay well below freezing even on “warm” sunny days! These conditions have discouraged exploration by all but the hardiest explorers. Ill-prepared ships can freeze in Ise’s air, leading to disastrous crashes. Ise is most assuredly a dohwar world. To the dohwar, Ise is a winter paradise well-suited to their needs. It is one of the largest known gatherings of their kind anywhere in the Known Spheres. On many star charts, its location is marked with the note “Stay Away!!!” as many captains would rather face the fury of a rampaging radiant dragon than an entire moon of squawking, haggling, obnoxious penguins! Landmarks Bleakgale Islands: This spit of an island cluster sits in the middle of the largest, ice-free sea. Deep volcanic activity keeps the islands relatively warm. Those same deep-earth thermals fuel fierce gales and winds. The islands are mostly rocky, with only a few patches of thin soil. Despite the harsh conditions, the islands an ideal dohwar mating grounds. Every season, dohwar couples travel to the islands to mate and hatch their chicks. The dohwar family remains for about two years before returning home. Ozune Glacier: This mighty glacier sits in a bowl valley with no exit, leaving it static and unchanging. Ice taken from this glacier melts very slowly, taking five times longer than standard ice to melt. This property is lost after the ice melts and is not regained if the water is refrozen. The ice is therefore very valuable. The dohwar ship huge blocks of ice carved from the glacier’s surface, leaving huge holes. Some dohwar warn that holes in the Ozune will cause a cataclysmic collapse of the glacier and destroy their way of life. Mammoth Meadows: This rare, lush valley was formed by volcanic vents eons ago, and remains warm to this day. The grasses grow rapidly, enough to feed several herds of wholly mammoths. The mammoths were imported by several families of frost giants, who live in nearby icy castles. The mammoths are the primary food source for these giants, who often work for the dohwar as laborers. The pay is good, and the giants have shifted towards a neutral alignment. Native Creatures Ise is a brutally cold place, where only creatures’ typically native to arctic climates can survive. Many of the animals on Ise are related to avians in some manner even though they fill roles typically held by other creatures. The seas are home to a number of fish, both familiar and bizarre. These are preyed up by various Avincea, which are whale-like animals descended from birds rather than mammals. There are numerous species of Avincea, ranging from the size and abilities of a common dolphin to that of a killer whale. Like whales, the Avinceas are air breathers, use echo-location to find their prey, and can swim with frightening speed. Warm, heat-trapping feathers protect Avinceas from the bitter cold of the seas. The ice fields and glaciers are the haunt of penguin-bears, a variation of the more common owl-bear, an unholy cross of the leopard seal and the bulette known as leopettes, snow sphinxes, and packs of roc-wolves, a dangerous predator that is part wolf, part emu. The mountains are the domain of savage yeti with penguin-like features who are expert hunters and trappers of anyone that dares enter their territories. By far the most feared predators are the dracorocs, a bizarre hybrid of white dragons and gigantic rocs. These beasts nest in cliffs, using their claws to hollow out a depression in the cliff face. Nests are made of the bones creatures they eat and shed feathers. Ships as large as squidships are known to have been attacked and torn to pieces by these enormous bird-dragons seeking an easy meal and treasure to hoard. Resources and Trade To most travelers, Ise is just one ice-ball with very little worth stopping for trade. The dohwar know different. Fish, shellfish, and crustaceans thrive in the icy seas. Using rugged fishing ships, vast nets, and swift dohwar swimmers, fishermen haul in enormous catches destined for ports on nearby planets, once properly gutted and packed in ice. The fishing industry on Ise provides the dohwar with one a vital source of wealth. The ice of the Ozune Glacier, which has special properties that allow it to retain its cold longer than typical, is another important export. One more important export is dohwar feathers, which they shed naturally every few months. The feathers command a high price in non-dohwar quarters for the warmth they provide. In exchange for their exported food, ice, and feathers, the dohwar buy just about anything. They are avid junk collectors, buying broken or worn down tools and devices for rock-bottom prices, then refurbish it and resell it for a profit. Refurbishing and turning trash into treasure are what dohwar excel at. Guide to Groundlings Ise is home to a great multitude of dohwar. Over the generations the moon has attracted dohwar from all across the Known Spheres, finding it an ideal paradise to retire, raise chicks, or otherwise conduct business with their kind. It is famous as a safe haven for all dohwar, a refuge for when business deals sour and a dohwar down on his luck needs a place to rebuild his fortunes. Many dohwar cartels and corporations locate their headquarters here. Given the vast numbers of dohwar, several sub-races, native solely to Ise, have arisen. These include the giant dohwar, the dohwar fairy, and regal dohwar. The giant dohwar are considered a “throwback”, being larger and stronger than a typical dohwar (about 5’ tall) but less intelligent. Giant dohwars are often “hired muscle”, usually as guards or laborers much as half-orcs or half-ogres in human communities. Dohwar fairies are the smallest of the dohwar sub-races, averaging only 1’ 6” tall. Their size makes them excellent spies and scouts for their larger cousins. The last sub-race is the regal dohwar, who are slightly smaller and lighter than normal dohwar and have brightly colored feathers trimming their heads. Regal dohwar are naturally inclined towards sorcery and wizardry. Other dohwar hold them in awe, a position not unlike the relationship between humans and elves. The typical dohwar is a low-level bureaucrat for a corporation, a fisher bird, or a public-projects artisan. These are hard-working birds, staying at the job for long hours before heading home. They dwell in cozy one or two room igloos or low-rent apartments. It will include a down feather nest, an area to prepare and serve meals, and whatever meager possessions the dohwar might have collected over the years. As dohwar are notorious pack-rats, their dwellings overflow with bits of junk and look quite cluttered. A dohwar is more than willing to part with any of its possessions, for the right price, of course. Higher rank bureaucrats and successful salesmen have larger, more spacious dwellings. Some will have a separate storage area to stow their “collectables”, keeping their living quarters more orderly. Their quarters will be illuminated by oil lanterns and lamps enchanted with continual flame. The most successful dohwar live in lavish, multi-room penthouses with private galleries and drawing rooms which proudly displays the choicest pieces of the dohwar’s “collection”. Everything, of course, has a price. At the head of dohwar society is Amperor Triumph. This is more a position now than a name, one somewhat akin to the head of a very large guild or king. Unlike with other races, the position is not gained through inheritance, but through a complex ritual process that takes years to complete. When the current Amperor Triumph takes office, he will choose several apprentices. Every year, he assigns various tasks for these apprentices to undertake. Tasks invariably involve making money, and very often draw in down-on-their-luck adventurers. How well these apprentices do on these tasks determines if they remain in the Amperor’s employment for another year. Eventually, after many rounds of tasks, the least talented dohwar are weeded out, leaving one last apprentice to take over when the current Amperor retires. The rituals are always elaborate affairs which conclude when the Amperor coldly dismisses an apprentice that disappoints him. The words “You’re Fired!” have ruined many would-be apprentices. A surprising number of demi-humans, particularly those adapted to living in the arctic, have settled on Ise. During the dohwars’s mass migration to Ise, a number of these arctic-dwellers tagged along for the ride. Particularly, this included snow elves, arctic and glacier dwarves, uldra, and tundra halflings as well as the occasional neanderthal clan and even a few frost giant families. Their small enclaves are all but lost in a sea of dohwar settlements. Most were likely employees or indentured servants, as no one else could conceive of a reason why these races would choose to settle on a moon so thickly inhabited by the obnoxious dohwar. For the most part, they are paid employees of the dohwar and follow whatever laws the dohwar have set. They are fairly independent, as their communities and enclaves have their own rulers and elders, as the birds let their non-dohwar attend to their own affairs. Ports of Call Tharmroost (large city, 21,000): Located in the heart of the Bleakgale Islands is this city for dohwar families. It is a marvel of dohwar engineering skills, built from countless fieldstones and carved into living rock. Buildings are constructed much like bunkers with 6’ high ceilings and rise three stories or less. Windows are small to let in some light but keep the biting wind at bay. The city is almost exclusively dohwar families with eggs or chicks. Typically an expecting family will travel to the city to rent an apartment for two years. These apartments range from one-room flats to elaborate, multi-room penthouses for the very wealthiest of dohwar. Triumph Towers (metropolis, 119,000): Rising from the Fuming Glacier like some fairy tale palace is this capital of dohwar commerce. The entire city is made from carved blocks of ice. The poorest dwellings are simple igloos at the city’s outskirts. These are overshadowed by magnificent towers of ice, some rising as high as 300’ into the sky. The gleaming city is a wondrous sight during the day, and even more so at night when it is illuminated by countless colorful continual flame spells. The city teems with dohwar and a few of their employees of other races. There is a fully functional spelljammer dock at the foot of the glacier, capable of servicing up to 12 uspos at once. Non-dohwar ships land here on occasion but not frequently enough to justify building facilities to accommodate them. It is very rare for non-dohwar to have cause to land here. Point Ice (small city, 6,000): This small city is the central gathering point for the non-dohwar races of Ise, especially the snow elves. The city is in fact a small duchy under the rule of a snow elf duke, though his rule is weak. The real power is held by several powerful families of uldra and arctic dwarves, who support the elven duchy for the sake of keeping good relations with the Elven Fleet. The duchy is powerful enough to own a single elven man-o-war, which is obligated to patrol the space directly around Ise. In return, the Duke can request aide from the Elven Fleet during times of peril. Since the beginning of the Second Unhuman Wars, city elders are fearful of an attack by goblin-kin, and are in the market to buy more ships to bolster their defenses. The city is a rough-and-tumble place, frequented by barbarians and Vikings, although patrols of arctic dwarves keep the worst lawlessness confined to only a few city blocks. History This frozen iceball of a moon was first discovered long ago by elven scouts. Given the bitterly cold weather, the elves departed after a brief survey, never to return. Ise would remain a footnote in a captain’s journal for centuries. Sometime in the centuries leading up to the Unhuman Wars, the journal was lost when the elven Man-O-War it was stored on was overtaken by goblins. From there, the journal passed from hand to hand for over a century, until it finally ended up in the possession of the dohwar merchant Amperor Triumph. After having the journal translated from elven to dohwar, he discovered the initial elven survey buried in the footnotes. The description of Ise intrigued the pioneering penguin. Triumph was a crafty business-bird with an eye for prime real-estate. After extensive surveys, he claimed Ise as his own, and over the next two decades, sunk enough gold into the moon to turn it into a dohwar paradise. He built affordable condos, apartments, and flats that attracted many working-class dohwar, and elaborate penthouses and palaces for those dohwar of finer tastes. Within a generation, Ise became a major homeworld for the penguin-folk, much to the discomfort of every other race in the Known Spheres. The hostile environment and inaccessible resources have done wonders for keeping would-be conquerors away from this moon. The neogi once attempted an assault on Ise to capture as many tasty dohwar as possible. The effort ended in spectacular fashion when a freak blizzard caused four deathspiders and two mindspiders to wreck into a glacier. The disaster nearly ruined the Bloodspinneret neogi clan. Of course, before the storm had even lifted, the dohwar were busy ripping the neogi ships apart for scrap and salvage. Satellites The Lights: An ever-changing region that orbits not far above Ise’s gravity, the Lights are an area of brilliant, colorful light. Day or night, the Lights are bright enough to read by and provide light equivalent to full moonlight. The Lights are an area where the Plane of Radiance and the Prime overlap. Entering the Lights has the same effect as entering the Plane of Radiance. Bibliography Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space Monstrous Compendium Appendix 9: Dohwar Races of Faerun Frostburn
lavekkia 09-02-06, 01:00 PM	As usual you did a great work ND :)
Nightdruid 09-03-06, 01:47 PM	As usual you did a great work ND :) Thanks. This one was one of the more fun moons to do ;)