Garden

Garden
Basic Information
Crystal Sphere	Realmspace
Type	Planet
Size Class	A
Shape Class	Cluster
Type Class	Earth bodies
Satellites	Grandchild Yerthad Peaceon Retinae Glorianus Fjord Locci Dragon Rock Knurl Sunson Templar Farworld
Satellite of	The Sun
Day Length	128 hours
Year Length	1,022 months
Population Summary	Yggdrasil's Child, non-sentient lifeforms, pirates
Orbit Distance	1,200 million miles (12 days)

Garden is the seventh planet orbiting the Sun in the crystal sphere known as Realmspace. Known as one of the Five Wanderers by the natives of Toril, this cluster of earth bodies is anchored together by an enormous plant called Yggdrasil's Child. The Shou Lung classify Garden as a liveworld.

Overview

Garden is a cluster of numerous earth bodies lying relatively close together, anchored to each other by the roots of a colossal plant. The earth bodies and the plant all share a common atmosphere. The asteroids that make up the bulk of the planet are typically between 100 feet (30 meters) and a 100 yards (91 meters) apart, allowing smaller spelljamming ships to pass between them if maneuvered carefully. To an observer from space, the cluster resembled a tangle of odd-shaped beads strung together, or perhaps a young potato plant torn from the earth, complete with small clinging tubers.

The surface of Garden is covered in thousands of small plants that struggle to survive under the canopy of enormous leaves. There are also many small animals that make their homes on the various asteroids, ranging from rabbits and mice to small foxes and ferrets. These animals help maintain the ecosystem that revolves around the enormous plant the northmen call Yggdrasil's Child.

Yggdrasil's Child

Yggdrasil's Child envelopes the cluster of asteroids and other earth bodies that make up the bulk of the planet Garden. The colossal plant is made up of woody vines and lianas which are hardy and resistant to heat and cold, and even the effects of lightning. The main trunk of the plant is a fusion of several hundred woody stems, each of which measures well over a 100 feet (30 meters) in diameter, and the plants' leaves are large enough to serve as a ships' sails. The plants' limbs stretch across the whole planet, allowing the plant to soak up the sun’s rays every moment of the day, which gives it tremendous powers of rejuvenation.

The plant’s root system stretches throughout the interior of the planet. The main roots are thick and some are 1,000 feet (305 meters) long, anchoring the asteroids at the planets' core together. The main roots then differentiate into progressively smaller roots which spread through the asteroids themselves.

Inhabitants

Little is known about the communities that live on Garden, although there is possibly a group of people known as the northmen, who originally named the gargantuan plant that holds their world together "Yggdrasil's Child". Some of the settlements are quite cosmopolitan and boast a diverse population featuring various races common in wildspace.

Non-natives include groups of pirates who maintain their hideouts deep within the center of Garden, amongst the numerous asteroids and the dense root system of Yggdrasil’s Child. The pirates are adept at manoeuvering their ships between the rocks that make up the centre of the planet. Most travellers are unaware of the presence of these various pirate groups, mainly because the pirates have difficulty detecting approaching ships most of the time. The infamous pirate Clive the Fearsome leads a pirate band of over a hundred men, and controls a small fleet of 12 ships which all operate from a hidden cove deep within Garden.

The Chainmen of Realmspace are reputed to operate from a hidden base somewhere on Garden.

Trade

Most organised trade occurs on the moons of Garden. On Garden itself, there are a number of naturally occurring places for spelljammers to land, and some communities maintain their own docks. However, there isn't a single artificial structure on the surface of Garden specifically built to accommodate spelljamming vessels. This fact makes Garden a paradise for those who want to get away from it all, or immerse themselves in nature.

Most spelljamming ships that enter Garden's atmosphere are there to refresh their air supply or to take on food and water. Many sages have suggested that organic waste be dumped on Garden as a way of maintaining the planets' ecosystem by balancing out the food and water being taken by visitors.

Satellites of Garden

Garden has twelve moons that all orbit outside its air envelope and are not bound by Yggdrasil's Child.

Grandchild

Grandchild is a size B elliptical earth body. Its off-white surface is perfectly smooth, without any meteorite pock marks, and reflects the light eerily.

Yerthad

Yerthad is a size C spherical earth body. Its atmospheric envelope extends about 100 miles above its surface, and is extremely toxic as well as caustic. The atmosphere consists primarily of sulfuric acid, which covers the moon's surface in a sea of acid.

Peaceon

Peaceon is a size B planar-shaped earth body. The moon once served as a stopping point for spacefaring elves, but has since long been deserted.

Retinae

Retinae is a size C spherical earth body. The moon resembles an eye ball: where the pupil would be is a large crater where a rare type of fungus can be found that is useful in the preparation of spells and potions related to the improvement of vision.

Glorianus

Glorianus is a size A crescent-shaped earth body, completely covered with a soft green grass. The human druid who named the moon, Griffon Broadleaf, makes his home there to this day.

Fjord

Fjord is a size B spherical earth body. The moon is a voidworld, without an atmosphere, and was once a great mining colony.

Locci

Locci is a size A rectangular earth body, and is a voidworld, without an atmosphere. The rectangular moon's edges and corners have been chipped by meteorites.

Dragon Rock

Dragon Rock is a size C earth body. Basically a roughly shaped statue of a white dragon, Dragon Rock was created by a mage named Darkon of the Earth’s Depths, while he was delving into the secrets of the planet below. The moon is made entirely of white jade, and has a thin atmosphere that smells faintly of pipe smoke.

Knurl

Knurl is a size B spherical earth body. The moon is made entirely of marble swirling with various colors. There are chunks of the surface missing, where liquid marble oozes in a slow stream. This oozing marble can be moulded into sculptures, which harden within days of being removed from the moon.

Sunson

Sunson is a size C spherical fire body which produces enough heat to warm wildspace within 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometres). The fire moon produces enough light to illuminate Garden during the night, and burns almost twice as hot as the Sun.

Templar

Templar is a size B disc-shaped earth body. The moon serves as an outpost for a hundred mages of various disciplines who are studying Garden, hoping to uncover its secrets. They finance their operation by producing and selling magic items.

Farworld

Farworld is a size C spherical earth body which serves as a trading post. Despite being far away from most inhabited worlds, it does a surprising amount of trade. Almost anything non-magical can be found here for sale.

Appendix

External Links

• Garden article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.