Nubis is a planet in the Spelljammer campaign setting. This size E spherical air world has one moon.[1]
Overview[]
Nubis appears as a richly-colored blue sphere, embellished with blotches and streaks of snow-white clouds. Nubis is small as far as air worlds go, with an equatorial diameter of 10,000 miles (16,093 kilometres). Its axis is inclined at 15° to its orbital plane, meaning it has normal seasons. The entire atmosphere is breathable, with the exception of the central core. The planet's core is a sphere of impenetrable cloud with a diameter of 15 miles (24 kilometres). This cloudy core is dirty grey in color, and is extremely poisonous to most creatures. There is no solid material at the core of Nubis, so a spelljamming vessel could theoretically sail right through (presuming that the ship's crew are somehow protected from its poisonous effects, of course). Visibility within this cloudy core is only 10 feet (4.6 meters).
The atmosphere of Nubis is filled with large, puffy cumulus clouds, which look like giant balls of pure-white cotton wool. The clouds are on average 3 miles (4.8) in diameter, although both larger and smaller clouds exist. Nubis has a single moon named Ob, which has an interesting tidal effect on Nubis: there is always an enormous cloud directly opposite the moon, on the other side of the planet. This "tidal cloud" is roughly spherical, with a diameter of about 150 miles (241 kilometres) and remains about 50 miles (80 kilometres) below the edge of Nubis's atmospheric envelope.
The air temperature on Nubis doesn't change significantly with altitude. The average summer daytime temperature is about 85°F (29°C) at the equator, dropping to about 70°F (21°C) at the poles. At night, the temperature drops by approximately 30°. In the winter, the temperature range at the equator is from about 70°F (21°C) during the day to 40°F (4°C) at night, while at the poles the temperature range is on average 40°F (4°C) during the day to 33°F (0°C) at night. These temperatures vary little from the core to the margin of the atmospheric envelope.
There are winds on Nubis, but they rarely get very strong, even compared to "well- behaved" terrestrial planets. The only total cloud cover is directly beneath the "tidal cloud," and the only time there is a chance of precipitation is when this "tidal cloud" is directly overhead. The skies of Nubis are usually a delicate robin's egg blue, which darkens with increasing altitude to a rich midnight purple.
There is no solid land on Nubis. Some of the clouds, however, are semi-solid. In the case of some clouds, this is due to the actions of the clouds' inhabitants, while in the case of others it seems to be a characteristic of the planet itself. [These semi-solid clouds have the texture and resilience of soft foam rubber. Anyone walking on one will sink in up to their ankles (for medium sized creatures) or to the knee or even higher (for larger creatures). There is no way to tell a semi-solid cloud from an insubstantial one by observation alone, making flying through a cloud a risky proposition for a spelljamming vessel. Any vessel unwise enough to ram a semi-solid cloud will suffer significant damage.
Approximately one cloud in 100 is semi-solid, with the rest being the standard insubstantial masses of partially condensed water vapor. In some regions, there are no semi-solid clouds at all, while in others almost every cloud is semi-solid. Semi-solid clouds drift slowly from place to place, sometimes under control of their inhabitants, sometimes at random. Unless under conscious control of some creature, a semi-solid cloud won't come within 250 yards (228 meters) of another semi-solid cloud. Uncontrolled semi-solid clouds won't come within a mile (1.6 kilometres) of the "tidal cloud". Nobody knows just how many semi-solid clouds there are on Nubis, but estimates range from 5,000 to well over three times that.[1]
Inhabitants[]
The skies of Nubis are home to a great variety of birds and other non-sentient flying creatures. There are many species of hawks and eagles, preying on an even greater variety of smaller birds. There are also more unusual creatures such as stirges, hippogriffs and griffons. The largest non-intelligent creature known on Nubis is a species of wyvern. This beast is identical to its terrestrial counterparts, except that it is a tireless flier and never has to roost.
The semi-solid clouds are home to several more powerful, intelligent creatures, including silver dragons, cloud giants and storm giants. According to rumor, some semi-solid clouds are inhabited by other intelligent creatures. One traveller's tale even claims that the "tidal cloud" itself is semi-solid, and is home to a civilization of undead, mostly composed of wraiths and wights, with a few spectres mixed in, all ruled by vampires or liches. If this is true, it might explain why none of the expeditions to the "tidal cloud" have ever returned.[2]
Silver Dragons[]
The semi-solid clouds of Nubis are home to several hundred, perhaps as many as several thousand, silver dragons. These great creatures live alone or in small family groups of two to five individuals. The family "clan" is the more common organization, and each clan (or individual), claims one semi-solid cloud as home. They don't limit themselves to this home territory, of course. Silver dragons can be found winging through the air literally anywhere on Nubis, plucking birds from the air. Or they can be found, generally polymorphed into giant form, consorting with the good-aligned giants that live on other clouds.
The silver dragons of Nubis are on very good terms with the storm giants and the good-aligned cloud giants that share their world. The dragons often spend time visiting their giant friends, enjoying massive feasts and displays of musical skill. The dragons depend for their food mainly on the birds of Nubis. Perhaps surprisingly, the silvers don't prey on the wyverns. Instead, they feel somewhat protective towards these great beasts, and are making a concerted effort to train them. The dragons believe that the wyverns have a glimmer of intelligence, and that all they need is a "helping hand" to develop to almost the same level of sentience as silver dragons. For this reason, the silvers react badly to anyone who hunts the wyverns, or who kills one without adequate reason (in the judgement of the dragons, of course).
The silvers have a detailed origin myth which explains how they came to Nubis. In this myth, the first dragon (a female named Ewa, who was heavy with unlaid eggs) was brought to the planet by a deity named Kraken, who appeared in the form of a great squid. It was from Ewa's first brood that the entire dragon population of Nubis descended. According to dragon mythographers, Ewa lived 30 dragon generations ago, at a guess, about 7,500 years ago. There are many sages who interpret this myth in a totally non-supernatural light. Ewa, they say, was a pregnant female who was transported to the planet Nubis from elsewhere, aboard a Squidship that was named the Kraken (quite a reasonable name for a Squidship, after all). As partial support for this interpretation, these sages point out that the silver dragons of Nubis don't worship any deity named Kraken. Supposedly this is because they know, deep down, that the myth describes intervention that is totally non-divine.[3]
Storm Giants[]
The Storm giants of Nubis are on the best terms with the silver dragons, despite a minor alignment conflict. Luckily, neither race is obsessively hard-nosed about its interpretation of "goodness", as gold dragons might be, and the two species get on fine. In fact, each thinks of the other as a balancing influence. The giants welcome the dragons' more responsible influence, while the dragons appreciate the giants' suggestions to "loosen up" once in a while. Storm giants live in loosely-knit tribal bands of up to 10 individuals. Each tribe claims its own semi-solid cloud as home. The silver dragons gladly ferry young giants back and forth between clouds, so there's little worry about inbreeding. Tribes are always on good terms with their neighbors, with the silver dragons, and with families of good-aligned cloud giants nearby.
These giants hunt the larger birds that live in the atmosphere of Nubis. They also have found a way to plant and cultivate crops on their semi-solid cloud islands. A cloud inhabited by storm giants will have orderly fields in which grow a wide variety of foodstuffs: grains, vegetables and fruits. There will also be extensive vineyards. The storm giants pride themselves on the wine they make, and enjoy showing off their best vintages to their friends, and even to visitors who've earned their trust.[3]
Cloud Giants[]
Cloud giants live in small tribal groups, each group taking a single semi-solid cloud as its territory. Good-aligned giants congregate in tribes of up to 10 members; evil giants feel the need to form larger groups, up to 50 in number. These bigger groups are, by necessity, limited to the larger islands. The good cloud giants are on excellent terms with the silver dragons and the storm giants. As with the storm giants, the silvers are happy to ferry cloud giants from cloud to cloud. Good-aligned tribes frequently have trained griffons as pets, while evil tribes often use wyverns as hunting animals.
All cloud giants, hunt the birds and other flying creatures of Nubis. They also practice some farming on their cloud islands using similar techniques to the storm giants. Unfortunately, they haven't perfected these techniques, and their farms yield nowhere near as much food as those of the storm giants. Good-aligned cloud giants don't have to worry about this shortfall because the storm giants are all too glad to share their surplus crops. Evil-aligned cloud giants have more trouble, and solve the problem through frequent raids on the farms of storm giants and other cloud giant tribes. Good-aligned cloud giants, storm giants and silver dragons will often cooperate in repelling these raids. The evil cloud giants sometimes wage wars of conquest, trying to wrest cloud islands from others. Again, coordinated defense usually turns back these attacks, but they can still prove troublesome.[3]
Spelljamming[]
Silver Dragons[]
The Silver dragons are aware that spelljamming exists, and have been visited many times by explorers. Visitors who are not disruptive to the planet, who do not kill the wyverns, and who are basically good-aligned are welcomed, even befriended, by the silvers. Those who aren't good-aligned are watched closely, and with great suspicion, and those who perform overtly evil acts are driven off or destroyed.[3]
Storm Giants[]
The Storm giants have learned about spelljamming technology from the silver dragons, but have absolutely no interest in leaving their homes. The giants are somewhat shy, and are uncomfortable with extreme displays of emotion. They will welcome any good-aligned visitors, but will feel particularly accepting of, and drawn to, those who respect their privacy.[3]
Cloud Giants[]
The Cloud giants of both alignments know that spelljamming exists. The good-aligned tribes find it intellectually interesting, although they have no great desire to use it. The evil tribes, however, covet spelljamming technology. If they had spelljamming vessels, they believe, they'd have a major advantage over their enemies. Plus, they wouldn't be bound to a single world, and could spread throughout the universe. The good giants and the dragons are careful to do what they can to prevent the evil giants from ever acquiring spelljamming capabilities.[3]
Satellites[]
Ob[]
Ob is the only moon of Nubis, and is a size D spherical voidworld.[4]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nigel Findley, SJR4 Practical Planetology, 1991, (TSR Inc.), Nubis section, chapter 5 Air Bodies, pages 37-39
- ↑ Nigel Findley, SJR4 Practical Planetology, 1991, (TSR Inc.), Nubis section, chapter 5 Air Bodies, page 38
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Nigel Findley, SJR4 Practical Planetology, 1991, (TSR Inc.), Nubis section, chapter 5 Air Bodies, pages 38-39
- ↑ Nigel Findley, SJR4 Practical Planetology, 1991, (TSR Inc.), Nubis section, chapter 5 Air Bodies, page 37