| Planet Name: | Phaeris |
| Planet Type: | Elliptical Fire Body |
| Planet Size: | D - Polar axis 3200 miles, equatorial diameter 1700 miles |
| Escape Time: | 40 minutes |
| Distance From Primary: | 60 million miles |
| Orbital Direction: | Clockwise |
| Day Length: | N/A; 28-hour rotation period |
| Year Length: | 172 days |
| Satellites: | Vostyl |
| Population: | Efreet |
Phaeris is a small star which has a moon of its own, Vostyl. It is visible throughout the sphere, but is much dimmer than the primary, Hasaril. The fire body burns slightly cooler than most (only causing up to 20d6 of damage), and it is a cool red in color. The long axis of the planet is vertical.
Phaeris' climate is, like most fire bodies, hot. While Phaeris is cooler than many fire bodies, it is still too hot for normal beings to visit. Phaeris does have weather of a sort, though. Brighter patches, vaguely analogous to clouds, can be seen from space. These patches burn hotter and brighter than the surrounding star, acting like reverse sun-spots.
From space, Phaeris is a bright red oval with an orange tint. The brighter patches are bright yellow or orange, and resemble clouds. They are a little more common near Phaeris' equator.
The primary inhabitants of Phaeris, the efreet, dominate this small world. They have brought a number of fiery creatures to Phaeris from the Elemental Plane of Fire, either intentionally or accidentally.
The efreet have several small settlements on Phaeris. The efreet are interested in the rest of the sphere, and even started to investigate spelljamming. They regularly travel to the fire ring around Vostyl, to keep an eye on the inhabitants of the small moon. They interact with the byrni of Vostyl, treating the byrni as a favored child. The efreet and rel-eth attack each other on sight.
The efreet of Phaeris are ruled by the Amira Yezajma, a noble efreet of considerable power. Yezajma is a wily ruler, well-regarded in the court of the Sultan of the Efreet. A rarity among the efreet, she has the respect of her people on Phaeris. She claims dominion over Vostyl as well, though the natives of Vostyl do not recognize her authority at all. Yezajma's ambitions extend far beyond Phaeris, and she will meet with spelljamming captains who pique her interest.
Phaeris has little to offer a normal spelljamming vessel. The efreet are interested in spelljamming, so may be inclined to offer magical services or items.
Phaeris does not have any typical ports of call, for obvious reasons. Ships rarely can land on a fire-body, so the efreet decided to construct a small space port. This space port, named Umariz, is little more than a large metal fortress. It normally lies too close to Phaeris for anyone to dock without suffering heat damage. However, Umariz has some spelljamming engines of some sort (similar to a dwarven citadel), and the efreet move it when they wish to meet someone (or a fleet) that cannot tolerate the heat. They have also moved it into orbit around Vostyl occasionally.
Treat Umariz as a 300-ton metal object with SR 1, similar to a dwarven citadel. Its engines use captive fire elementals as a power source.
| Moon Name: | Vostyl |
| Moon Type: | Spherical Earth Body |
| Moon Size: | C - 820 miles in diameter |
| Escape Time: | 30 minutes |
| Distance From Phaeris: | 120000 miles |
| Orbital Direction: | Clockwise |
| Orbital Period: | 27 days |
| Day Length: | 14 hours |
| Population: | Byrni, fire-newts, salamanders |
Orbiting Phaeris is Vostyl, a very hot, volcanically active moon. The mean temperature varies between 120 and 150 degrees because of the proximity to Phaeris and the volcanic activity. Vostyl is largely rocky, with many active volcanoes.
Some spacefarers consider Phaeris and Vostyl to be a double-planet system. Phaeris, which is much larger, has less inhabitants. However, Phaeris follows the circular path around the primary, so Vostyl is technically a moon.
Vostyl's temperature is uniformly around 120-150 degrees. It is slightly warmer at the equator, where the fire ring circles the moon. With no bodies of water, the weather is fairly static throughout the year. Vostyl is slightly cooler when Phaeris lies between it and the primary.
From space, Vostyl appears to be a dark moon with lines from volcanic rivers cutting through plains covered with ash and basalt. There is no liquid water on Vostyl.
Surrounding Vostyl is a ring of fire. This ring is the same reddish-orange color as Phaeris. The ring is also exactly the same diameter as the long polar axis of Phaeris (3200 miles).
One common Gatespace myth is that the ring used to be part of a once-spherical Phaeris, but was removed and placed around Vostyl for some reason. Another myth tells that Vostyl used to be a twin fire-body, but collapsed into a smaller earth body, leaving the fire ring as a remnant.
All life forms on Vostyl do not require water. Vostyl has no free water, and the inhabitants do not require it. Instead, they require exposure to significant heat at least once a day.
Plants on Vostyl have adapted to the unusual climate. Rather than tapping water, the plants tap into thermal heat underground. A Vostyl plant resembles lightweight rock rather than vegetable matter, and many of them vent excess heat through their branches. One visitor remarked that the plants had leaves of fire.
The Rel-Eth is one of the most dreaded monsters on Vostyl. These ooze-like creatures are dangerously intelligent, and eradicate all other sentient creatures. Fortunately they are quite rare.
The byrni are the dominant race of Vostyl. They have an advanced culture which is scattered uniformly across the moon's surface. They dwell in small towns near the volcanic mountain ranges. Their towns are typically fortified against the fire newts, but the byrni are generally sociable to others.
The byrni have a complex relationship with the efreet that visit them from Phaeris. On one hand, the byrni revere and respect the efreet. However, the byrni are more beneficient, and dislike the cruelty of many efreet. The byrni believe they are superior to the efreet, but respect those they consider to be their progenitors.
Fire newts and salamanders are also quite common. Fire newts roam the lands between byrni villages, pillaging wherever they can. Salamanders are more rare, but they frequently dominate smaller fire newt tribes.
The byrni welcome spelljamming visitors. Of course, since the byrni have a different physiology, visitors will need to provide their own water and food. Visitors will also need to protect themselves from the persistent heat.
Byrni fashion goods from the local plants and animals. They also actively mine some of the hills for metals and gems, and delve into the dormant volcanoes. A dormant volcano usually has two or three byrni towns nearby, or a number of smaller villages.
Byrni metalcraft is fairly advanced. They blend alloys easily, and fashion strong weapons. Byrni weaponsmiths decorate their weapons with a stylish flair.
Since Vostyl has no water, only ships capable of landing on the ground can land. Vostyl can also accommodate those few ships which can survive landing in molten lava. Ships built of thin wood may start to smolder because of the intense heat, unless they are adequately protected. Because of that, ships rarely land on Vostyl without adequate preparations.
The most well-known spelljamming ports are near Vostyl's poles, where the temperature is cooler. In the north, the byrni village of Flamebrae offers adequate facilities for spelljammers. It is one of the largest villages, and even has an inn, Chaiven's Oasis, which caters to off-worlders. Chaivan is a priest who provides food and water for visitors through magic.
During a stop-over at Chaivan's Oasis, a byrni named Tenistu approaches the adventurers. Tenistu is an adventurous dreamer who wants to venture into space with them. Tenistu is not particularly adept on a ship, but is eager to learn. However, the adventurers will have to figure out what to do with him in the Phlogiston, since he needs intense heat or open flames on a daily basis to sustain himself.
The efreet of Phaeris have moved Umariz near the fire ring of Vostyl. Several efreet have ventured down to Vostyl, fighting the rel-eth. Rel-eth have devastated a local byrni village, and the efreet want the adventurers' help to save some captured byrni.