This article is about the celestial objects known as crystal spheres, if you are looking for the AD&D adventure module named after them see SJA3 Crystal Spheres.
"A sphere is merely something to contain worlds, asteroids, and creatures. But ask yourself: What contains spheres?"
- Lamthatort the Seventh, half-elf scholar.[1]
A Crystal sphere, also known as a crystal shell, is an object of immense size that surrounds an entire planetary system and forms a boundary that separates wildspace from the phlogiston.[2][3]
Crystal spheres are not all the same size. The size of each crystal sphere is related to the size of the planetary system within it. As the name 'crystal sphere' implies, the objects are spherical.[2]
Although they are solid, crystal spheres have no gravity and no atmosphere. The substance crystal spheres are made from is an unbreakable dark ceramic material. No magic is powerful enough to damage crystal spheres.[2]
Travel through a crystal sphere[]
Only a few methods are known to allow travel from one side of a crystal sphere to the other.[2]
Teleport or Dimension Door spells[]
The Teleport and Dimension door spells (or magical devices that duplicate them) allow spellcasters to jump from one side of the sphere to the other without physically crossing the sphere.[2]
Phase Door spell[]
The Phase door spell (or a magical item that duplicates it) makes part of the crystal sphere immaterial and allows a spelljamming ship to pass through.[2]
Naturally occurring portals[]
Most crystal spheres have natural portals that pierce the shell at various locations. These portals usually appear and vanish at random times and are located in random places. Looking for these portals can take a long time.[2]
Stars[]
In some crystal spheres, stars are located on the inside of the crystal shell. A few of these stars are themselves also natural portals through the crystal sphere. A spelljamming ship diving into the heart of the star would pass through the shell and appear in the phlogiston. However, a large number of stars are portals to the Plane of Radiance or the Plane of Fire. Flying a ship into one of those stars would be fatal.[2]
The Spelljammer[]
The legendary ship, called the Spelljammer, and some large space creatures, like space dragons, seem to have an innate ability to create portals similar to the natural portals. These portals close slowly over time, so ships can sometimes use them.[2]
The Create Portal spell[]
The Create portal spell duplicates the natural ability of the Spelljammer and space dragons, but the crystal sphere portals created by this spell have a much shorter duration. Portals created via this spell last no longer than 120 minutes.[2]
Individual crystal spheres[]
Size of individual crystal spheres[]
The size of a crystal sphere is generally determined by the size of the planetary system within it. Individual spheres are usually twice the diameter of the orbit of the outermost planet, however spheres can be larger than this.[2]
There are a number of celestial bodies that defy the “double diameter” rule and orbit further out than the outermost planet is expected to be. Sages who support the “double diameter” rule tend to argue these celestial bodies are additional astronomicals, rather than true planets.[4]
Nested spheres[]
It is possible for a crystal sphere to contain another crystal sphere, or a series of smaller and smaller crystal spheres.[5]
Origin of the spheres[]
There are six main theories about the origin of the crystal spheres.
The gods created the shells and the Flow[]
The gods created the spheres and the Phlogiston in order to divide up the universe. The gods split the universe into chaos (the Flow) and order (the spheres). They then divided up the individual spheres among themselves in order to test law against chaos and good against evil.[6]
The gods have their own gods[]
These gods-of-gods created the universe, and then placed the gods into the universe. This theory gained more popularity in Realmspace in recent times.[6]
The Phlogiston is a naturally occurring object[]
The Phlogiston was there before the gods. The gods built the crystal spheres to settle and domesticate the Flow. The spheres are like cities built along a stream and eventually they will grow and join together. When this happens the Phlogiston will cease to exist.[6]
The gods fear the Flow[]
The gods feared the Phlogiston and built the spheres to keep it out.[6]
The gods fear people[]
The gods feared humans and other sentient creatures and built the crystal spheres to keep them in.[6]
The Phlogiston and the shells are naturally occurring[]
Someone or something created the entire universe and the gods moved in and took over. There is a secondary implication, that the gods have lied about creating the universe to deceive mortals.[6]
Appendix[]
See also[]
- Category:Crystal spheres (the category for crystal spheres)
- SJA3 Crystal Spheres
External Links[]
- Crystal sphere article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
- Crystal Spheres at Beyond the Moons (the official Spelljammer website)
- An "official" Spelljammer Guide to the Spheres by Paul Westermeyer at Beyond the Moons (the official Spelljammer website)
References[]
- ↑ Jean Rabe, SJR7 Krynnspace, 1993, (TSR Inc.), sidebar, page 4
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Jeff Grubb, AD&D Adventures in Space, Concordance of Arcane Space, 1989, (TSR Inc.), pages 9-10
- ↑ Barbara Kesel, "Journey's Song, Kirstig's Tale", SPELLJAMMER Comic Book #1, 1990, (DC Comics Inc.), pages 11-12
- ↑ Nigel D. Findley, SJR6 Greyspace, 1992, (TSR Inc.), page 3
- ↑ Jeff Grubb, AD&D Adventures in Space, Concordance of Arcane Space, 1989, (TSR Inc.), Nonstandard Systems sidebar, pages 68, 70 and 72
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Jeff Grubb, AD&D Adventures in Space, Concordance of Arcane Space, 1989, (TSR Inc.), Notes on the Creation of the Universe sidebar, pages 42, 44, 46 and 48