Patera, also known as Myoshima, is the second celestial body in orbit around the planet Mystara in the crystal sphere known as Mystaraspace. This size C spherical earth body[1] is small, magical and invisible, and its existence is known to few outsiders.[2]
Overview[]
Patera, also known as Myoshima by its inhabitants, is a small planetoid with a diameter of 955 miles (1,537 kilometers). The central core of Patera is extremely dense and magical, resulting in gravity comparable to that of Mystara. The moon can't normally be seen by anyone outside its Skyshield, due to its core's unusual light-bending properties.
Patera completes a full revolution around Mystara in three days and twelve hours (or two revolutions per week). Patera follows an exact polar orbit above the Known World, so that the moon passes above almost every point on the globe. Patera is tidally locked, meaning that one hemisphere (known as Nearside) always faces Mystara, and inhabitants on the opposite side of Patera (known as Farside) never see the world they orbit. The pattern of day and night cycles on Patera is very complex because of Mystara's axial tilt, which also provides Patera's seasons. The sun appears to wobble back and forth across the sky over a 3-and-a-half day period, while it also appears to travel around Patera along a great cycle every 336 days (Mystara's year). Nearside is constantly bathed in a small amount of light reflected from Mystara.
The inhabitants of Patera do not have a fixed cycle of wakefulness or sleep. Full daylight on Patera is not as bright as on Mystara, being more like twilight. The sky changes colour during a "day", ranging from fiery tones at noon to tamer red and purple hues at dusk or dawn. This is caused by Patera's light bending core, which affects all light waves except those at the extreme ranges of the visible spectrum - ultraviolet and infrared are unaffected. Light rays hitting Patera's atmosphere are deflected back to the surface or off into wildspace. In effect, this causes the planet to be nearly invisible from outside its Skyshield and allows a little light to filter in (only Mystara, Matera, and the sun can be seen from Patera's surface).
Patera is mostly covered by steaming jungles and earthquake-prone volcanic mountains that surround three freshwater seas. Rain clouds cover a third of Patera at all times, and precipitation is abundant. The two polar areas of the moon offer at worst a temperate climate.[1][3]
Inhabitants[]
Patera, or Myoshima, is primarily inhabited by rakasta, a proud race of intelligent humanoid felines.[4] Fierce warriors, some rakasta even tame and ride sabre-tooth tigers into battle.
Patera is divided into three major political blocks. The largest and potentially most aggressive is the Empire of Myoshima itself, a nation of feudal provinces controlled by daimyos, with a single emperor who rules them all.
Next is the nation of Rajahstan, made up of twelve allied realms. Each realm is a sovereign state ruled by holy gurus (who handle law, education, religion, and internal politics) and maharajahs (who handle the economy, military, and foreign politics). Together they form the Spiritual Council which runs Rajahstani affairs as a whole.
The third block consists of many loosely allied petty kingdoms and principalities. Among the more prominent territories are Kompor-Thap (a valley of a thousand temples), Selimpore (a mercantile matriarchy), Malacayog (a nation of headhunters), and Surabayang (fierce island pirates). These territories are politically aligned with placid Rajahstan against imperial Myoshima - when they are not fighting each other.[1]
Trade[]
There is very little contact with Myoshima, and it has only been visited twice in recent history by outsiders, once by the Alphatian adventurer Haldemar of Haaken, and a contingent of Heldannic Knights, who apparently had less than friendly contact with the Myoshimans.[3]
Appendix[]
External Links[]
- Mystara article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
- Rakasta article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
- Mystara article at the Dungeons and Dragons Lore Wiki, a wiki for official Dungeons & Dragons content from every edition.
- Rakasta article at the Dungeons and Dragons Lore Wiki, a wiki for official Dungeons & Dragons content from every edition.
- Rakasta article at the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Wiki, a wiki for official Dungeons & Dragons content from 2nd edition AD&D.
- Vaults of Pandius, the official Mystara Homepage.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ann Dupuis, Bruce A. Heard, Champions of Mystara, Heroes of the Princess Ark, 1993, (TSR Inc.), ISBN 1560766158, Myoshima (Patera), page 93
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ann Dupuis, Poor Wizard's Almanac Vol.III & Book of Facts, 1994, (TSR Inc.), ISBN 1-56076-918-1, The Moons, page 5
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ann Dupuis, Poor Wizard's Almanac Vol.III & Book of Facts, 1994, (TSR Inc.), ISBN 1-56076-918-1, Myoshima (Empire of), page 45
- ↑ Ann Dupuis, Bruce A. Heard, Champions of Mystara, Heroes of the Princess Ark, 1993, (TSR Inc.), ISBN 1560766158, Rakasta, pages 92-93