A Beholder way-station is a spaceborn facility created by a beholder nation to repair and resupply their tyrant ships.[1]
Overview[]
Located in a distant, debris-littered crystal sphere are several large, apparently uninhabited worlds. Floating above one of these worlds is a celestial object consisting of a trio of linked planetoids, slowly revolving as they orbit the planet below. This facility was set up as a way-station by a beholder nation to supply and repair their tyrant ships. However, this particular way-station has been co-opted by a thagar and turned into a death trap for its favoured prey - beholders.[2]
Description[]
This beholder way-station is made up of a cluster of three linked planetoids. The smaller two asteroids serve as weapon emplacements, and are equipped with a total of twenty-four catapults and thirty-two ballistae, mounted in pairs and partially concealed by nets strung with debris. While a single beholder can operate a heavy weapon at its normal rate of fire, each catapult and ballista battery is currently being manned by a single beholder-zombie under the direct control of the thagar, meaning their rate of fire will be slower.[2]
The third and largest planetoid is the site of the repair Dock, and is defended by two pairs of ballistae manned by a death tyrant each. The rocky surface of the larger planetoid is littered with damaged and rusting ship components, piles of ballista bolts and large rocks. Amid the debris are heaped piles of salvaged weapons from a variety ships.[2]
The Dock itself is a huge slot-shaped pit carved directly into the asteroid's bedrock and is 100 feet (30 meters) deep, 70 feet (21 meters) wide and 200 feet (61 meters) long. The bottom of the Dock is littered with tools of all sorts, with beholder mouthpicks (a tool designed to be used by a beholder carrying it in its mouth) leaning against the walls and stacks of metal plates, spars, wooden ship ribs and boards. Huge wooden cradles line the bottom of the Dock. The sides and the top are equipped with cranes, anchor rings and tether lines, so that a ship can be suspended in a web-work of lines at any height.[1]
Below the Dock are a series of interconnected storage caverns large enough to allow a beholder to float comfortably and use its eye-rays. A lattice of special force-effect spells were installed to prevent cave-ins and collapses. The caverns are used to store food (livestock and plants), slaves (to be used in lifejammers or as food), and a treasure cache. The cache contains five ornate high-backed chairs with carved, fluted arms and backs (obviously a selection of spelljamming helms). There is even a heavily barred side-chamber containing a lone backup orbus. High up in the fissures of a caverns' roof is a hidden crown of the void which constantly renews the planetoids' atmosphere.[3]
Inhabitants[]
While the way-station would have originally been home to a number of beholders, it is currently manned by a thagar, approximately thirty death tyrants, and a lone orbus kept in a secure room.[1]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ed Greenwood, SJR1 Lost Ships, 1990, (TSR Inc.), Eye, Eye, Sore, Adventures 3: Any Port In A Spacestorm, pages 29-30
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ed Greenwood, SJR1 Lost Ships, 1990, (TSR Inc.), Eye, Eye, Sore, Adventures 3: Any Port In A Spacestorm, page 29
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, SJR1 Lost Ships, 1990, (TSR Inc.), Eye, Eye, Sore, Adventures 3: Any Port In A Spacestorm, page 30