Overview:
A crystal sphere, sometimes called a crystal shell, was a gigantic spherical shell that contained an entire planetary system. Each sphere varied in size but typically they were twice the diameter of the orbit of the planet that was farthest from the sun or planet at the center of the sphere (the system's primary).
Description:
Crystal spheres were made of a dark ceramic material that had no gravity and appeared to be impossible to damage by any normal or magical means. They always looked the same when seen from the outside.
The surface of the sphere was called the "sphere wall" and separated the void of wildspace (within the sphere) from the
PHLOGISTON (which surrounded and flowed outside the sphere). Openings in the sphere wall called "portals" allowed wildspace creatures to pass through and enter or exit from a crystal sphere. Portals could spontaneously open and close anywhere on the sphere wall. Magical spells (or magical items that reproduced their effects) could allow a portal to be located. Other magic could open a new portal or collapse an existing one. Ships or creatures passing through a portal when it closed could be cut in two.
Crystal shells also marked the outer limit of any deity's influence. Divine magic that emanated from a deity worshiped on a world within a crystal sphere was severely dampened or completely non-existing once one crossed the crystal shell into the
PHLOGISTON and into other crystal spheres, unless the deity also enjoyed considerable worship in the new location.
All known crystal shells in the
PHLOGISTON were spherical. The reason for this was unknown, but several hypotheses were mentioned during the time of theorizers. Possibilities included the naturalness of a spherical shape in a fluid (akin to bubbles), practicality and ease of construction, and the balance of gravity produced by a sphere. Speculations on the possibility of different shapes in unexplored reaches of the
PHLOGISTON, such as cubical, ellipsoidal, triangular, irregular, and even toroidal shells.
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