Oerth

Oerth
A tradesman and a hammership at the docks of the city of Greyhawk
Basic Information
Crystal sphere	Greyspace
Type	Primary (Planet)
Size class	E
Shape class	Spherical
Type class	Earth Body
Asteroid cluster/field	The Grinder
Satellites	Celene Luna
Celestial bodies	Liga (The Sun) Edill Gnibile Conatha Ginsel Borka Greela The Spectre
Day length	24 hours
Year length	364 days
Population summary	Predominantly humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, various humanoids, and others

Oerth is the system primary of the crystal sphere known as Greyspace. This size E earth body is, both figuratively and literally, the center of the Greyspace system, and all other celestial bodies revolve around it. It is the most diverse and most heavily populated planet in the system, with every known sentient race represented to some degree. The world's busiest spelljamming port is the Free City of Greyhawk, for which the entire crystal sphere of Greyspace is named.

"Natives of Oerth believe the universe revolves around them. The fact that they're correct only makes them more insufferable."
- excerpt from Loremasters of the Void by Zaryn Fallowfield.

Overview

From wildspace, Oerth is a beautiful, placid-looking blue-white world. The entire surface of the planet has a blueish cast to it, and it is difficult to distinguish between land and sea. The clouds create delicate sweeping, swirling patterns of white, punctuated here and there by circular funnel storms. Closer in, it is possible to make out various landmasses separated by great oceans, and to pick out forests, deserts and mountain ranges.

Oerth has four great continents, surrounded by four oceans, and these landmasses are home to many great and powerful civilizations. Perhaps the best known region is the Flanaess, which encompasses the easternmost portion of the vast continent known as Oerik. The Flanaess is blessed with a temperate climate, and outside of the northern reaches, winter temperatures seldom fall below freezing, except during the two winter months, and at night during early spring and late autumn.

The northeastern and central regions tend to be considerably colder, as the seas of those regions cause winter to linger at least twice as long as it does in the heartland of the Flanaess. An important exception to this are those regions that border on the Dramidj Ocean, whose strange, warm currents moderate their climate somewhat. Autumn, winter and spring are on the whole quite short, with summer generally lasting five or more months in central Flanaess, ensuring that most regions receive sufficient rainfall to ensure abundant harvests.

Inhabitants

The people of Oerth are generally very competitive, and combined with their naturally superior attitude, they tend to be very provincial and insular, and quite suspicious of strangers. Although the existence of spelljamming and spelljamming technology is fairly common knowledge, most people tend to ignore it, or equate it with planar travel. The fact that a stranger is from another world, rather than another city or country, makes no difference, they are still an outsider and are treated as such.

Trade

There are several cities on Oerth that enjoy regular spelljamming traffic and have high enough volumes of commerce to make it worthwhile for spelljammers to land and trade.

The Docks of the Free City of Greyhawk

• The Free City of Greyhawk - Known as the "Gem of the Flanaess", the city of Greyhawk is a large and populous metropolis located on the Selintan River. The city controls a sizeable territory ranging from the northern coast of the Woolly Bay to the southern shores of Midbay on the Nyr Dyv, the largest freshwater lake on the Flanaess. The Cairn Hills and the Abbor Alz mark the eastern extent of the domain, while its western boundary is generally considered to lie within the gnarley forest and along the Whelkwood. Despite the lack of amenities designed specifically for spelljamming ships, Greyhawk has the largest volume of spelljamming trade on Oerth. Vessels that can land on water, put down on the Selintan River, and make use of the same docks and facilities as the river-traders. Ground-based spelljammers are forced to land in a stretch of cleared ground several acres in extent outside the city walls.

• The Free and Independent City of Dyvers - The city of Dyvers is located in perhaps the most lucrative trading nexus in all the Flanaess. Located on the southern bank of the mouth of the Velverdyva River, Dyvers controls the flow of trade goods from various markets along the coast and up the river. Dyvers also enjoys a great deal of spelljamming traffic, despite its lack of facilities. Most spelljammers prefer to land in the wide mouth of the Velverdyva River and tie up at the city's wharves.

Loading cargo onto a ground-based spelljammer

• The Free City of Irongate - Irongate is located on the eastern coast of the Azure Sea in a bay framed by the imposing hills known as the Headlands to the west and the Iron Hills to the east. The city itself is built on top of a hillock at the mouth of a narrow valley that runs north to south across the isthmus that connects the Onnwall Peninsula to the rest of the Flanaess. The "Fortress City's" large and heavily fortified walls form a bottleneck, limiting the flow of traffic between the southern provinces and Onwall. Irongate has access to a natural harbor that is one of the few sheltered ports along the coast. However, due to its limited facilities to deal with water-based craft, most spelljammers visiting Irongate are ground-based, and make use of the great roads to the east and the west leading into the city.

• Marner - The capital city of the Archduchy of Ratik, located on the eastern coast of the continent, Marner is rich in resources, such as gold, furs and gems, and has a well established shipbuilding industry. A spelljamming ship's captain approaching the city need not be concerned with disguising their vessel as a sea-going craft as they won't be faced with panic in the streets or punitive docking fees.

Most spelljamming traders concentrate on procuring goods that are unavailable elsewhere in Greyspace. Of course high value luxury goods and singular items also see brisk trade and a good return on investment. One item of note is that smoke powder does not function on Oerth, though it does in wildspace and on the other planets of the system. Why this should be the case is unknown.

Satellites

Because Oerth is the primary of Greyspace, everything that revolves around it could technically be considered a "moon"; however, the only celestial bodies close enough for observers to discern their surface features are the planetary bodies known to inhabitants of Oerth as Celene and Luna. They are also the only objects that lie within the orbit of the Sun, meaning they are the only celestial bodies to cause eclipses. For these reasons they are the only celestial bodies orbiting Oerth to be considered "moons".

Celene

Celene, also known as the Lesser moon or the Handmaiden by the inhabitants of Oerth and Kule by spacefarers, is the smaller of the two moons.

Luna

Luna, also known as the Greater moon or the Mistress by the inhabitants of Oerth and Raenei by spacefarers, is the larger of the two moons.

Appendix

Gallery

Map of the Flanaess on Oerth

External Links

• Oerth 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)
• Free City of Greyhawk article at Greyhawkonline.com, a wiki for the Greyhawk campaign setting.
• Free City of Dyvers article at Greyhawkonline.com, a wiki for the Greyhawk campaign setting.
• Free City of Irongate article at Greyhawkonline.com, a wiki for the Greyhawk campaign setting.
• Archbarony of Ratik article at Greyhawkonline.com, a wiki for the Greyhawk campaign setting.