Vult

Vult, the Warding Moon

Color: Gray and pockmarked

Associated Dragonmark: Warding

Associated Plane: Shavarath

Approximate Diameter: 1,800 miles

Approximate Mean Distance from Eberron: 252,000 miles

Vult is the farthest moon from Eberron, and some legends say that it holds back forces that lurk out within the stars. The druids say that children of Vult are practical, careful folk who generally plan ahead and prepare for the worst; when disaster strikes, the children of Vult hold civilization together. In his study of the Serens, the sage Galeoin reported that the barbarians believe that Vult "devours" the spirits of deceased great wyrms that fail to attain godhood.

The moon of Vult is nothing less than an enormous fortress. Battlements bristling with artillery rise and fall like mountains, deep canyons form defensive trenches, and the thousands of caves and tunnels host armories, forges, stockpiles that could withstand a siege of centuries.

The natives of Vult believe that is exactly what they are enduring. The native hippo-like giff of Vult are raised in a militaristic culture, governed by rank, promotion, and training. Their secret weapon is their mastery of firearms, provided by their alliance with the foundries of Eyre. Their rifles, pistols, and cannons patrol Siberspace, with lawbreakers and alien threats being their primary targets.

Visitors to the surface are strictly forbidden, unless they wish to be forcibly enlisted into the Giff Armada. The Giff never turn down volunteers, however, and their bombards have diverse crews from every moon. The Armada attracts idealistic warriors wishing to protect the defenseless, ambitious tacticians who wish to prove their abilities, and mercenary fighters looking for a steady career. The soldiers are well-provided for, with quality equipment and ample rations, so long as they observe proper discipline.

As mentioned in previous editions of the Spelljamming Gazette, some of the primary threats Vult wards against come from within Siberspace, such as Lharvion, the Xaryxian Empire, and enforcing the Astral Code. However, their primary concern are travellers emerging from the Astral Sea. Since the Astral Sea provides direct access to the planes of Eberron, Vult stands vigilant against dangerous outsiders. Their archives have detailed records of incursions of hordes of undead from Mabar, blazing insane angels of Shavarath, freezing elementals from Risia, even an invasion by a daelkyr from Xoriat. The Giff Armada does not prevent travelers from venturing into the Astral Sea, but if they catch a spelljammer returning they will be subject to a very vigorous seizure and search, fired upon if there is not immediate compliance.

It takes about seven days for an Eberron spelljammer to reach the edge of the Astral Sea from Vult’s orbit, after which the properties of the Astral Sea allows accelerated movement and the ability to navigate to the various relics, remnants, and ruins scattered throughout, including the colored pools which lead to the various planes. More detailed information on the Astral Sea can be found in Chronicles of Eberron, and an upcoming edition of this gazette.

Adventure Hooks:

The interior tunnels, corridors, and passages of Vult are an infinite maze, going down below the moon’s surface for miles. Most of it is extremely utilitarian, with no flourishes or decoration. However, rumors persist of the Halls of Valder, with architecture that resembles dwarven architecture. The origins of the dwarves of Eberron are shrouded in mystery; some theories say they migrated from the Wayfinder Tundra or Icewhite Island, others that they came from Khyber, or some mix of the two. A scholar is intrigued with the idea that dwarves may have crashed in some long-forgotten past from Vult, and perhaps the bond between the moon and the Mark of Warding is stronger than it appears, despite the apparent emergence of the Mark of Warding only 2,500 years ago. However, the Halls of Valder are shunned by the Giff, and sealed off against a danger known only as the Coughing Drum. Are the fringe ideals of a rogue scholar worth the risk to possibly shed light on the true heritage of the dwarves?

Not all giff are content with the military lifestyle, and an off-the-books process allows for “desertion” to allow giff with other talents or aspirations to leave Vult and explore the rest of Siberspace without penalty. When random giff across the moons are being murdered with firearms, suspicion falls on an extremely zealous captain, Vice-Commandant Wauch, whose ship was present at every assassination. What seems like a misguided expression of military dedication is thrown out the window when Wauch himself is killed, with a unique firearm forged with byeshk, a metal native only to Eberron. Who could the true culprit be?

Vult protects against incursions from the planes, but never has Thelanis factored as a threat. For one, generally the schemes of the fey are difficult to fire a cannon at, too subtle and dispersed for targeted military action. Additionally, generally the intrigues of Thelanis are usually self-contained, and ambitions of conquest or domination of the Material Plane rarely emerge. However, recently an archfey named the Goldweaver was a prisoner, en route through the Astral Sea from Thelanis to the Inescapable Prison in Daanvi, and escaped near the border of the Astral Sea and Siberspace. The Giff Armada offers a reward for his capture, charging all vessels in the area to watch out for the Goldweaver. But when a small, vaguely spidery man appears on the player’s spelljammer and warns of an infection of Dal Quor among the archfey of Thelanis, do they believe him, or return him to the hands of justice?