Liga

Liga
A nautiloid sheltering from the light and heat of the Sun
Basic Information
Other names	The Sun
Crystal sphere	Greyspace
Type	Sun
Size class	G
Shape class	Spherical
Type class	Fire Body
Satellites	The Moth
Satellite of	Oerth
Day length	None
Year length	364 days
Population summary	Fire elemental creatures, water elemental creatures
Orbit distance	100 million miles (1 day)

Liga, also known as the Sun, is the third celestial body in orbit around the system primary Oerth in the crystal sphere known as Greyspace. The Sun is a size G spherical fire body that burns a golden color, and is slightly flattened at the poles.

"May the fires of Liga light your course, and the winds of wildspace be always at your back"
- Spacefarer's toast.

Overview

Liga burns with a deep golden glow, dotted with pinpricks of bright blue. At its core lies a mass of molten metal, combined with flammable materials that burn forever, but somehow are never consumed. Surrounding the core, and making up the majority of Liga's volume, is the photosphere, a flaming, super hot, super dense atmosphere that surrounds the core to a depth of 37,000 miles (59,500 kilometres). Theoretically, the photosphere is breathable, since it is composed of the same mix of gasses that make up the atmosphere of Oerth. Unfortunately, it is heated to several thousand degrees Fahrenheit, more than enough to burn out the lungs of anyone breathing it.

The Sun radiates a great deal of heat into wildspace. At 29,000 miles (46,600 kilometres) from the photosphere, the heat is great enough to burn wood; as vessels get closer, the temperature increases to the point where metals soften and melt.

If care is taken to minimise the glare of the sun, spacefarers approaching Liga may see that its golden surface is dotted with pinpricks of bright blue. These circular blue spots are in fact lakes of elemental water, tens of miles in diameter. There are many thousands of these small lakes in existence at any one time. Apparently, at the center of each of these lakes is a small portal to the Elemental Plane of Water, and it is this elemental connection that stops the water from instantly flashing into super heated steam. The water of these lakes remain at a cool and refreshing 65° Fahrenheit (18° Celsius). The elemental gates are not permanent and, on average, will stay open for several months before spontaneously closing. When the gate closes, the lake instantly evaporates as the water boils away.

Inhabitants

The core and photosphere of Liga are home to many fire-loving creatures, mostly from the Elemental plane of fire. Salamanders frolic in the molten core, while fire elementals fly through the photosphere. A colony of several dozen spelljamming-aware efreet live in a floating castle made of red-hot bronze.

The lakes are home to creatures from the Elemental plane of water. Water elementals patrol the lakes, presumably to prevent incursions by other creatures, while thousands of water weirds infest each lake. The water elementals seem to know when a gate is about to close, and they always evacuate the lake before that happens, leaving the water weirds to their fate.

Trade

There is no organised trade with the various inhabitants of Liga. However, reports suggest that the efreet of Liga have built a great spelljamming vessel several hundred feet long, made entirely out of brass, with sails made of sheets of flame.

Satellites

The Moth

The Moth is a small planetoid that orbits Liga. Because it lies so close to the dazzling brilliance of the Sun, the moon is completely invisible from the surface of Oerth. A size C spherical earth body, the Moth is a lifeless, airless cinder constantly scorched by the heat of the Sun.

Anti-Liga

Ancient myths from various regions of Oerth tell of a time when there were two suns in the sky. These myths, apparently developed independently, contain so much detail that various astrologers and astronomers have concluded that there was once another fire body that shared the same orbit as Liga, but separated by 180°. Dubbing the mythical fire body Anti-Liga, they suggest that it may have been similar in size and color as the Sun. At some point, many thousands of years ago, the second sun simply disappeared from the skies.

The myths, of course, do not provide enough detail as to when or why the second sun disappeared, and there is certainly no evidence of a second fire body in Liga's orbit. A totally unsubstantiated theory currently in vogue suggests that Anti-Liga drifted from its orbit for some reason and crashed into the planet in the next orbit out from Oerth. This impact would have extinguished the fire-body, shattered the planet and created the asteroid field now known as the Grinder. Despite objections from several respectable astronomers who consider the theory to be pure fantasy, the theory has captured the imaginations of many.

Appendix

External Links

• Liga article at Greyhawkonline.com, a wiki for the Greyhawk campaign setting.
• Oerth article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
• Greyspace at Beyond the Moons (the official Spelljammer website)