The Peering Eye

Common Belief

The three primary celestial bodies above Radharc are the Moons Charon and Shale and the Sun Croí.

The image on the right shows the alignment of these three celestial bodies, which happens every thousand years and is known as "The Peering Eye". Great event always surround this alignment as if it were the beating heart of the Gods.

“Charon” is a bright moon that reflects the light of all other celestial bodies, especially the light of Croí.
He is the physical manifestation of The Centered Chosen Gods alliance under Cogadh.
The Church of Charon, a part of The Church of the Moons, worships the Physical Gods.

“Shale” is a dark moon that absorbs the light of all other celestial bodies, especially the light of Croí.
He is a shadow manifestation of The Cerebral Chosen Gods alliance under Draíocht.
The Church of Shale, a part of The Church of the Moons, worships the Intellectual Gods.

Croi is a ‘moon’ that defies reason. She is the heartbeat of the universe.
She is often bright and behaves like a sun. She controls the movement of all celestial bodies.
Cycles clerics claim that unusually fresh breezes are sent from Croi by Nadur to control the weather on Radharc.
Her light and heat wax and wane according to it’s own schedule.
When Sleeping She dims considerably and her size diminishes.
When Ruling She burns ferociously and grows large enough to blot out the sky.
She is the Balanced manifestation of the True Chosen Gods alliance under Croí.
The Church of the Cycles, a part of The Church of the Moons, worships these Gods.

The Jewel is a distant planet. This precious stone is the manifestation of The Song.
It sends the endless stream of The Song into space and mortals on the surface of Radharc can hear it when all is still.
During the Festival of Song the Jewel can be seen glowing red in the heavens.

Overview

The contents of the Crystal Sphere that holds The Peering Eye core world Talamh of is known as Eyespace.
The most noteworthy of these is that space travel is not subject to the standard rules for Spelljamming craft, see “Effects of The Jewel on Spelljamming”.
Travel is also extremely restricted and a very well kept secret on most planets in the system.
Planetfall is prohibited by several organisations as per a decree by The Chosen Gods.
Permission to travel into the heart of Eyespace should always be requested.
The Marraga Network covers the inside of the Sphere and most travelers visit only this.

Spelljamming

Effects of the Jewel on Spelljamming
Travel is exceptionally fast along the crytsal sphere’s edge if a ship has any rigging at all.
The is due to the sphere’s harmonic vibrations that resonate from the Jewel.
Any location along the crystal sphere can be reached in a few hours.
Travel away from the Sphere is progressively slower as a craft heads towards Croí.
Travel near the Jewel itself and around the Orchestra is equally rapid.
Travel near The Prison and Starhome are equally hampered due to the fact that these areas are in disharmony with the Song of Balance.
To understand the effects of The Jewel better consider the Sphere and The Jewel to be “Down” and Talamh to be “Up”. Heading Down doubles speed, heading up halves speed.
Travel from Skyport (Talamh) to the Marraga Network (The Crystal Sphere) takes 30 days
Travel from the Marraga Network (The Crystal Sphere) to Skyport (Talamh) takes 120 days.
Clerics of the Church of The Moons are always considered to be heading down.
Bards and Clerics of The Song are considered to be twice their caster level when determining the speed of a helm they are using.
Bardic Helms move at double speed if the helmsman desires to do so.
Spelljamming ships of Evil of Good Races are always considered to be going uphill.
Fallen or Risen Creatures are considered to be half their caster level when determining the speed of a helm they are using.
Fallen or Risen Helms move at half speed.

Spacial Bodies

The primary spacial bodies are as follows:

Croí
The Sun – Home of The True Gods [Orbit]. The entire Sphere is balanced around this point. Visitors can feel the balance of the universe. This is a place where mind and body, chaos and law, good and evil, time and space and especially silence and The Song are in perfect harmony. Visitors know true peace and contentment. The Presnce of The Great can still be felt in every rythmic heart beat. They also know how to party!

Talamh
The Core World – Home of The Church of The Moons and their followers. [Orbit]
Visits to Talamh are most restricted of all locations in Eye space.
Each region of Talamh has it’s own force of Spelljamming ships to prevent incursions. While the number of ships is few, the power of their crews is significant.
The Church of The Moons maintains the greatest space presence, especially the Church of Charon and the inquistion. Ships are built by Shale, Crewed by Charon and Lead by Cycles.
Shale scry and Charon patrol for uninvited guests constantly.
Incoming ships are chased, boarded, interrogated as a matter of course.
Traders in water capabale vesels may receive permission to land and sail into Southern Blood Skull Pass.

Skyport
Traders in land only vessels and air only vessels must dock at the SkyPort.
An enormous facility maintained by The Church of The Moons hundreds of miles above empty ocean.
Skyport can house thousands of vessels and there are usually hundreds of Church of The Moons Armada craft in port at any one time.
Cargo unloaded into Skyport Warehouses is transported magically (for a reasonable fee) to Warehouses in the Prime Temple grounds in Bigany City.
Permenant portals allow travel from Skyport to Bigany and other places in the Sphere such as the Marrage Network. Other keyed portals allow travel from Skyport to hundreds of Church of The Moons Temples around Talamh.

Shale
Moon of Talamh – Home of The Cerebral Gods. [Orbit]
A warm shadowy and insubstantial world. Most visitors leave their heavy, weary, physical bodies at the borders of this realm and explore it’s wondrous secrets, boundless knowledge and mental harmony with only their consciousness.

Charon
Moon of Talamh – Home of The Centered Gods. [Orbit] A bright fresh and lusty world. Visitors are encouraged to forget about their worries and troublesome thoughts and to run, jump, climb, hunt, love, fight, forge and build.

The Prison
A Series of Hollow destroyed planets in a black cloud of vile energy. Exile of The Fallen Gods [Orbit]

Starhome
A Series of brilliant glowing planetoids. Home of The Risen Gods. [Orbit]

The Orchestra
A Colossal Belt of Living Planetoids that are fed by the power of The Song and accompany it. [Stationary]

The Jewel of Elcantre
A Huge Planetsize Crystal that pulses with Sonic Power. [Stationary]

Pol Shunak
A Gas Giant that contains several massive chunks of Matter. The Pirate Holds – Similar to Limbo. [Stationary]


The Marraga Network
The Trade Center of Eye Space. Built onto the Crystal Sphere, Marraga is built on a network of pulse veins.

The Marraga Network

Membrane Travel
The Marraga Network covers the entire sphere and allows personal travel between across the entire sphere in minutes. The membrane can carry creatures up to colossol size. Travel along the network requires a creature to step onto a pulse vein membrane. The creature then must then emit a series of notes that are in harmony with the song. This can be done by either humming, singing, playing an instrument, using a spell etc. Once this is done the membrane will dissolve allowing the creature access to the pulse vein. A creature on top of a dissolved membrane will sink rapidly into the golden fluid (known as seep). Once the are in centre of the vein, the seep will close around them and will solidify. This seep cocoon will support any creatures’ life, including nutrition, breathing, immersion etc. While in the coccoon a creature can see the surface as if they were standing on the surface of the pulse vein.
The coccoon will wait until requested to move. Any creature can move a cocoon with a thought, however arriving a the required destination is difficult. The seep coccoons travel an incredible and blinding speed. Novice travellers moving too quickly are often either panicked or nauseated by this. When this happens the cocoon will render it’s surface opaque and gently vibrate to the harmonics of The Song to clam the traveller.
First time travelers are advised to travel with a professional seeper. Proffessional Seepers can travel far more quickly and accurately along the network than any others and are able to take several ‘passangers’ with them. Some Seepers use special craft, constructed from solid seep, other simply instruct the coccoon to form around their passangers.

Supplies
In addition to this they always have a fresh atmosphere and standard gravity. A golden fluid constantly oozes from the pulse veins of Marraga buildings which is highly nutritious and can be used to create various foods, sweets, alchohols, and even poisons and explosives by Marraga Alchemists. Sages suggest that this fluid is created by Phlogiston that is attracted to The Jewel through the Sphere.

Defense
The Buildings of Marraga have existed for as long as the sphere itself. They are practically indestructible. If a Marraga building or it’s owners or inhabitants are significantly threatened the buildings will move out of harms way, along the pulse veins. If the threat is great enough the buildings will move to another part of the sphere millions of miles from the threat, dispersing into groups tens of thousands of miles apart and regrouping a few minutes later.

Eyeport
There are thousands of distinct settlents on the Marraga network the largest of which is the human town of Eyeport. This is where the majority of trade happens as it is a neutral ground at which all races and most intersphere travelers can meet and trade. This is where the Arcane maintain their greatest presence: The Golden Helm.

Settlements
Air breathing is not a requirement for all creatures and there are thousands of settlements that are shaded from the sun’s rays or submerged in water. The more exotic are made of fire, drowned in acid, frozen, solid stone etc etc. Any race’s particular needs can be accomodated and the network’s indestructible nature allows it to support even the harshest environments.

Skelton's Hope

From the high branches, hundreds of feet above the base of the cliff, they could see the sun setting. It lingered above the giant stone head of a dwarf that was nestled in the ramshackle wooden town of Skelton's Hope. The stars twinkled in the sky as the sun set. Long shadows draped the farmhouses and barns and the wooden fences threw creeping shapes along the roads that lead from town. Charon rose slowly softening the encroaching darkness. – The Scorpion crew’s first view of Skelton’s Hope.

Lord Adekumbé's Head
A dwarven citadel shaped like a giant head is the primary structure. It sits on the edge of mile wide asteroid. A large rickety shantytown has built up around it. There are a thousand people living, killing and dying there. It is lawless. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany.

The Forbidden Zone
While the town is an unpleasant blot on the edge of the landscape, the rest of the asteroid is extremely fecund. The 'topside' is bisected by a cliff topped with a wall of giant trees. On one side of the cliff is the town and surrounding farmland. Beyond the cliff is a deep green forest with a small lake. The 'underside' holds lush tropical jungle with a ziggurat reaching up from its center. No ships ever approach the underside or the forest beyond the cliff. The weapons of the Skelton's Hope Citadel and docks are deemed to be more welcoming than the wild areas.

Trade at The Docks
Any items commonly found in a small coastal town can be found here, as well as illegal trade goods and spelljamming supplies.
There are usually around half a dozen ships in port, typically hammerships, a squidships, a galleons, a scorpions and well armed tradesmen.
If you see a mosquito made of solid gold and covered in angry glowing runes or hammerships painted black with glowing skulls all over the deck, steer well clear.

The Wretched Hive
The main inn is called The Wretched Hive It hangs over the edge of the cliff that the town is perched on. It is composed of several levels, connected through ladders, ropes, rigging, stairs, banisters, holes, tunnels and doors. A DC10 Intelligence check is required to find anything in the rambling maze. This check is made with advantage while intoxicated.
The air is usually thick with oily smoke from the patrons pipes, the kindori oil lamps and blackpowder.
It smells of smoke, sweat and alchohol and it is darkly lit with a flickering smokey light.

Thieves Guilds
There are two rival gangs of thieves on Skeltons hope.
The Bottom Rung Gang are beggars, cutpurses, catburglars and spies and report to Leechcraft.
The Skulls are gun toting pirates and slavers. They are aggresive thugs who act as a corrupt and brutal police force when it is needed.

Notable Personalities
Adekumbe Lord of The Skulls, Leechcraft of The Wretched Hive, Seguin The Forbidder.