The Inhabitants of the Worlds (CSH)

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The following sections discuss the standard AD&D campaign worlds, their interactions with spacefarers, and how members of PC races might come in contact with spacefarers. More information on these worlds and spheres can be found in the Lorebook of the Void, Chapter 4, and in various other SPELLJAMMER® supplements and adventures.
==Oerth and Greyspace==
Greyspace is one of the most heavily traveled spheres, a cornucopia of worlds each with its own unique features. Most spacefaring species support outposts here, with the elven Imperial Fleet having the largest presence. Spelljamming vessels find it easier to reach the hospitable outer worlds of the sphere—Greela and the Spectre—due to the Grinder, a sphere of asteroids that makes it difficult for ships to travel directly to Oerth, the primary of the sphere. Spelljamming among the inner planets is handled relay-fashion: Spelljamming ships visit outposts within the Grinder, while visits to Oerth are handled by ships flown from the Grinder inward.
Most spacefaring vessels visit the Free City of Greyhawk, landing in the Nyr Dyv and sailing into port rather than flying in directly. Caravels and galleons are common visitors to Greyhawk, and the variety of vessels is wide enough that the few unusual features of a spelljamming vessel elicit no significant comment.
Not all spelljamming vessels are welcome in Greyhawk, however. Nautiloids are turned away by the city's full defenses; mind flayers are not among the accepted races. Lizard men are watched carefully, as they are considered primitive savages. In the few times neogi came to Greyhawk, they earned permanent banishment of their entire kind.
For most trade, Greyhawk is the only port. Some captains (particularly those with normal vessels: caravels, galleons, etc.) visit the nearby city of Dyvers for ship repair, and there is some trade (primarily in slaves) with the evil nations of Iuz and the Scarlet Brotherhood.
In the past, Rauxes in the Great Kingdom was an active port. However, as the Overkings declined, Rauxes gained a bad reputation among spelljamming captains. Only those with out-of-date information visit Rauxes today, although several "authoritative" guidebooks list it as the primary port of Oerth. Older texts refer the reader to the cities of the Empire of Suel, now buried beneath the Sea of Dust. In purchasing guidebooks for Oerth, let the buyer beware.
Recently, the traditional spelljamming ports of Oerth have lost some of their security. Battles over the last two years have transformed the Flanaess into a war-torn land of refugees. Only the Free City of Greyhawk has remained safe from these tensions, and it now appears that things are calming down. Nevertheless, many spelljamming captains have put off making landfall on Oerth until the situation is more settled.
The world of Greyhawk is detailed in the WORLD OF GREYHAWK® boxed set (now out of print) and the City Of Greyhawk boxed set. Recent details about the political situation of the Flanaess can be found in the Greyhawk Wars and From the Ashes boxed sets. A rudimentary map of Greyspace can be found in Appendix 1 of the Concordance of Arcane Space. For more details, see Greyspace.
Dwarves. The dwarves of Oerth are generally more socially integrated into the human culture than on other worlds. Rather than maintaining clannish sanctuaries within the high mountains of Oerth, many dwarves live in human-controlled lands, maintaining heavy trade and social contact. As a result, the dwarves of Oerth are as likely to take up spelljamming as any human. There may be dwarves in otherwise all-human crews, but almost no all-dwarven ships come from Oerth.
Conversely, few spacefaring dwarves visit their groundling cousins on Oerth. Dwarves hold little power on Oerth, so there is no need for the space-farers to trade with them. The few all-dwarven kingdoms are isolated and are not near convenient landing sites.
Elves. The elves of Oerth are also diverse, with enclaves established throughout the forests of the Flanaess. In addition to the usual populations of wood elves and high elves, there are drow in caverns beneath the Crystalmist Mountains, and two minor elvish subraces unique to Oerth live in their own isolated enclaves.
Helmless elven flitters and dragonflies trade with the forest enclaves. This trading is sporadic, and there is little direct contact between the groundling elven leadership and the Council of Admirals. The Kingdom of Celene maintains an ambassador to the Fleet, but this is primarily a courtesy appointment.
Gnomes. The few Oerth gnomes who have heard of spelljamming show little interest in it. They are creatures of the living earth and do not relish the cold, lifeless worlds of space. Also, Oerth gnomes tend to be clannish, with many family ties and obligations. Thus, almost no Oerth gnomes ever enter space.
Halflings. The halflings of Oerth live much as the gnomes do, under the dominance of the other races. Unlike the gnomes, however, who prefer to remain by themselves, the halflings happily mingle with humans and elves. They also travel some, although less than humans. Thus, halflings are no less likely than humans to take to space.
==Krynn and Krynnspace==
Krynnspace is the most primal standard sphere. The influence of the gods is much stronger here than in most spheres. Civilization on the main inhabited planet, Krynn, was once nearly destroyed by a god-created meteor strike.
Krynnspace is not as heavily traveled as Greyspace, but there is still some spelljamming in this system. Aside from Krynn itself, there are strong contingents of dwarves, gnomes and illithids on Reorx, all of which maintain contact with their spell-jamming brethren.
Spelljammers visit Mount Nevermind (see "Gnomes," below), Palanthus, and Kristophan (in Taladas) regularly. The elven Imperial Fleet maintains covert contact with the Qualinesti and Silvanesti elves. Since the war, a few other cities have been visited, but for the majority of the inhabitants of Krynn, spelljammers are at best an unconfirmed and rather unbelievable rumor.
The details of the world of Krynn can be found in Tales of the Lance ('for the continent of Ansalon) and Time of the Dragon (for the continent of Taladas). Additional information about Krynn can be found in the many novels and adventures for the DRAGONLANCE® game world. Krynnspace itself is detailed in Krynnspace, but a rudimentary map can be found in the Concordance of Arcane Space, Chapter 5.
Draconians. Inevitably, some spelljamming ships visiting Krynn have met draconians. While no longer organized into huge armies, there are large bands of draconians throughout the territories occupied by the Dragonarmies, and scattered bands in the other lands.
About a dozen draconian ships (stolen or captured from other races) now ply the spaceways, while perhaps three times that many ships carry a few draconian crewmen. Their evil natures have not changed in space, although their dedication to Takhisis dwindles once they leave Krynnspace.
While the loosing of another evil race among the stars is viewed by some with alarm, most spacefaring peoples consider draconians to be a variant branch of lizard men, despite their unnatural longevity and spectacular death scenes. They are more savage than the "civilized" lizard men but certainly preferable to the neogi.
Dwarves. As typical for dwarves, contact between Krynn dwarves and their spacefaring cousins has been very limited. When this reticence combined with the destruction wrought by the Cataclysm, only a few dwarven communities have managed to retain any knowledge of the spelljammers' existence.
Among those communities that remember is the kingdom of Thorbardin. Before the Cataclysm, dwarven hammerships and tradesmen landed in the waters south of Thorbardin, near the city of Tarsis, to trade lore for stone. Today, that waterway is part of the Plains of Dust, and the kings of Thorbardin seek a new way to contact their brothers in space.
Elves. Qualinesti elves are most likely to enter space from Krynn today. The Silvanesti have become too withdrawn, and the other races have fallen out of touch with the spelljammers. Contact with any elven race has been spotty since the Cataclysm, but in recent years communication has improved.
Gnomes. Because Mount Nevermind, the minoi stronghold, was the launching point of the first spacefaring vessel since the Cataclysm, the Mount has become the most active spaceport on Krynn.
Clnlike the Mount Nevermind minoi, however, the gnomoi of Taladas view spelljammers with suspicion. Flying ships remind the gnomoi of the sky citadels that once devastated their cities, and the gnomish interest in invention has been combined with some distrust of strangers after centuries in their inaccessible mountain homes.
Kender. The fearless kender occasionally voyage on spelljammers. Their insatiable curiosity often leads them to places where spelljamming vessels go. To most people not born on Krynn, they are easily mistaken for short elves.
The kender city of Kendermore has not been visited by spelljamming vessels. The humans of Palanthus have advised spelljammers against making landfall there, but such a visit is only a matter of time. Once a ship visits the kender, it will soon be "borrowed," and kender will be let loose on the spacelanes. Let the Known Spheres beware.
Minotaurs. The Imperial League of Minotaurs on Taladas is the most advanced nation on that continent. Given its economic prosperity and its insulation from the violence of the War of the Lance, the Imperial League has had the most contact with the spelljammers of any nongnomish nation on Krynn.
The Imperial League has contracted with the Arcane to construct a series of ships specifically for minotaurs, to be used by the Minotaur Fleet in their voyages of exploration. The minotaurs do not intend conquest beyond Krynn, as they have a sufficient task ahead of them to conquer the remainder of Southern Hosk, but given the minotaur attitude toward conquest and war, such expeditions are only a matter of time.
==Toril and Realmspace==
Realmspace is the crystal sphere that contains Toril. The people of Toril are tolerant of travelers and new ideas, making Realmspace a common stop for traders and a base for adventurers.
Spacefarers trade with lizard men and aarakocra on Coliar, as well as with various civilizations on Toril itself. In addition, nearly all spacefaring species maintain a base within the Tears of Selune, a cluster of asteroids that follows in orbit behind Toril's single moon.
Like Oerth, the leaders of Toril regard spelljamming travelers much as they see extra-planar creatures. The difference is that the Realms tend to be more tolerant and friendly to newcomers, while the inhabitants of Oerth view them as lower-class citizens. The slow trickle of smoke powder and arquebuses into the Realms is a result of that tolerance, though those who have tried massive imports have failed spectacularly.
Of all the peoples of Toril, only the Shou in eastern Kara-Tur have established an active expeditionary spelljamming force. Shou dragonships are increasingly common in the spacelanes, although their presence tends to wax and wane with the political status of those advisors who press the Emperor for increased space exploration.
The people of the subcontinent of Zakhara have little contact with spelljamming vessels. Ships occasionally dock at Qudra or Huzuz, but there are few trade goods in the arid Land of Fate to attract space-faring travelers. The people of Zakhara are known for their relative intolerance (when compared to the other peoples of the Realms), and so are avoided by cautious spacefaring captains. Similarly, the rigid and barbaric Tuigan warriors of the central steppes do not attract the attention of spacefaring captains.
More information about the western portion of Toril's main continent can be found in the FORGOTTEN REALMS® boxed set and the FR series of campaign supplements. Kara-Tur, in the eastern portion of the continent, is described in the Kara-Tur boxed set and the hardcover book Oriental Adventures. The central steps of the Tuigan are described in The Horde boxed set and novels, while the desert land of Zakhara is detailed in the AL-QADIM™ Arabian Adventures book and the Land of Fate boxed set. Detailed information on Realmspace and a large-scale system map can be found in the SPELLJAMMER® accessory Realmspace.
Dwarves. The dwarves of the Forgotten Realms were once locked in genocidal wars against other subterranean races such as ores and goblins. While those wars have ended, the dwarves have not recovered their losses and are considered to be in decline. They are generally isolationists, and it is rare for a Toril dwarf to contact a spelljamming vessel. Even the korobokuru (the surface dwarves of Kara-Tur) shun spacefarers. Thus, like the dwarves in other standard worlds, the dwarves of the Realms are not common spacefarers.
Elves. The elves of space and the elves of Torii have maintained constant contact since before the fall of Myth Drannor. Toril was a major base for the elven Imperial Fleet during the Gnhuman Wars, and the small island cluster of Evermeet has become the main base of the Elven Nations (see the War Captain's Companion: Book 1). On the mainland, elven settlements deep in the forests of Faerun trade heavily with the spacefaring elves. Thus, Faerun elves are more likely than those of other worlds (or even elves from other parts of Toril) to become spelljammers.
Gnomes. On Toril, the gnomes are known as the Forgotten Folk. They live both in mixed human settlements and in communities of their own, but they seem somehow isolated from the human world and only rarely become involved with it. They have never developed their own written tongue, and have no history beyond the memory of the eldest clan-member and the songs of legend.
Without a strong sense of community, it is not meaningful to discuss gnomish efforts to contact spelljamming peoples. An occasional adventurous gnome will join a spacefaring band, but it is unlikely that any large group of gnomes will take the initiative to enter space or attract much attention from the spacefaring community.
Halflings. Like the gnomes, the halflings of Toril have few communities. There are no halfling nations; these small demihumans live intermixed with human cultures. An individual halfling may go into space, but there is no organized effort, and any halfling is as likely as not to turn down such an opportunity.
There are large communities of halflings in the polar regions of the innermost world of Anadia. The halflings of the Northern Polarate regularly deal with spelljamming vessels, trading food and non-halfling slaves for weaponry to defend themselves against the neogi.
Hengyokai. The hengyokai are a race of intelligent shapechangers residing in Kara-Tur, the eastern portion of the continent of Faerun. They do not form communities or villages of their own but dwell in loosely organized bands in crude but sturdy shelters on the edges of human civilization.
Hengyokai shapechanging abilities make them attractive adventuring companions. While each hengyokai has only one beast-shape, some of them are mages and all are skilled warriors. While material possessions do not interest them, they have occasionally chosen to travel in Shou dragonships, primarily in support of the Emperor. Generally, crane, dog, sparrow, fox, and monkey hengyokai have shown the most interest in space.
Spirit Folk. Spirit folk are the descendants of humans and various spirits of nature. All have strong ties to both the natural world and the society of humans.
The life force of most spirit folk is tied to a specific natural feature. Bamboo spirit folk are tied to a bamboo grove deep within a forest; river spirit folk are tied to a single, specific river. This binding of life force is not weakened by ordinary distance, so that spirit folk can enter wildspace. However, upon entering the phlogiston, the life force is severed and the spirit folk dies. Thus, bamboo and river spirit folk do not make appropriate spelljamming PCs.
Only sea spirit folk do not suffer this binding. They may travel beyond the sphere of Realmspace without injury. However, some of their special abilities are lost. Notably, the spirits of foreign seas are not obligated to grant favors to sea spirit folk who are not of their world, and any such request will be ignored, if not punished for impertinence.
==Other Worlds==
Not all the worlds of the AD&D® game are appropriate for spelljamming campaigns. For various reasons, some settings may not be appropriate, either because their "feel" is not right, or because they are too detached from the remainder of the AD&D game environment. Of those AD&D worlds that have been published, the following (for one reason or another) should be avoided in SPELLJAMMER® campaigns.
Athas. The world of the DARK SUN™ campaign is not on the spacelanes where Realmspace, Krynnspace, and Qreyspace can be found. No spelljammer travels its skies; no ancient tome tells of the routes to its crystal sphere. Whether it is unreachable by spelljammer or merely so far from these worlds that any journey would take lifetimes is unknown.
The current inhabitants of Athas have no knowledge of spelljamming. There is no way to know whether the closely guarded library of some sorcerer-king conceals an ancient tome revealing the basic concepts of wildspace. Even if such a tome were found, the defiling power of such powerful magic would certainly wreak havoc on the fragile balance of life on Athas.
Ravenloft is a demiplane. As such, it is fundamentally different from any spelljamming world. Ravenloft lies within no crystal sphere. It cannot be reached by traveling through the phlogiston. A spelljamming ship sailing into Ravenloft's night soon enters the mists at the border of the demiplane and is quickly turned back.
Although spelljamming provides no escape from Ravenloft, outside spelljammers are not safe from the Demiplane of Dread. The Mists of Ravenloft can appear even in wildspace, where they take the form of a jet-black cloud that arises before the victim vessel. Ships that sail into Ravenloft through the Mists are as trapped as any other entrant to the demiplane. Only in the phlogiston, which blocks all planar travel, can one remain safe from the reaching tentacles of the Demiplane of Dread.