chap3

Part 3: Chaos in Doomspace

Chapter 7: Trust Issues
To save their world from the Xaryxian Empire, the characters embarked on a dangerous voyage across Wildspace. Along the way, they joined forces with a giff commodore, helped a vampirate captain quell a mutiny, and rescued a princess from the brig of the vampirate’s ship—not just any princess, but the daughter of their enemy!

Princess Xedalli reveals that her evil twin, Xeleth, orchestrated the attack on the characters’ world in accordance with the dying wish of their father, Emperor Xavan. If the characters help her become empress, Xedalli vows to save their world.

To have any hope against Prince Xeleth’s forces, the characters must travel to Doomspace and find Warwyck Blastimoff, Commodore’s Krux’s former comrade-in-arms. Warwyck has been trying to raise an armada with the help of a mercane arms merchant named Vocath.

Princess Xedalli
Xedalli, a chaotic neutral astral elf aristocrat (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie), wears a ring of shooting stars and is initially friendly toward the characters. She shares the following information with the characters if she learns about the attack on their world:

DISPLAY IN VTT
“We both want the same thing: revenge. As my father lies on his deathbed, my scheming brother, Xeleth, denies me my birthright. He seized control of my father’s navy, banished me from court, and left me in the clutches of his sycophants. He orchestrated the attack on your world, bombarding it with astral seeds harvested from Xaryxis, our dying star. Once the crystal vines have drained all the energy from your world, they will discharge that energy in a beam of light back to Xaryxis, replenishing it.

“Xeleth instructed his minions to deposit me on your world so that, as I died, my energy could contribute in a small way to the light of Xaryxis. Fortunately for me, my ship was disabled and boarded by vampirates. Help me become empress, and I will undo the damage Xeleth has already caused your world.”

Xedalli is determined to help the characters, though she admits her motive has more to do with vengeance than sympathy. Understandably, Krux is hesitant to trust a princess of the Xaryxian Empire, but the commodore is willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, if only to gain insight into the empire’s weaknesses.

Roleplaying Xedalli
Xedalli presents herself as a rational, compromising alternative to her ruthless evil twin, but she’s nonetheless a scornful manipulator who would sooner die than surrender her claim to the imperial throne.

Xedalli knows she must be patient to ascend the throne. Over the course of the adventure, the princess feigns empathy and uses some of her abilities to aid the characters in their efforts while keeping under wraps her most potent magic (such as her ability to summon a solar dragon).

If Xedalli learns that the characters are on their way to Doomspace to join a coalition, she bides her time, hoping the alliance will be strong enough to challenge her brother’s claim to the throne.

What Xedalli Knows
Given a chance, Xedalli reveals the following additional information, most of which is true:

Xedalli and Xeleth were meant to share the throne upon the death of their father, Emperor Xavan. (True)
The death and funeral of the emperor are the final stages in his ascension to godhood. His dying wish was that he become one with the light of Xaryxis, when the star is at its brightest. That wish prompted Xeleth’s attack on the characters’ world. (True)
The only way to save the characters’ world is to destroy Xaryxis, the star at the heart of Xaryxispace. If the star dies, the crystal vines on the characters’ world die as well. (True)
A member of the imperial family can destroy Xaryxis by performing a ritual at the Astral Font in the Temple of Light, which is located in the imperial fortress. (False)
The imperial fortress will orbit Xaryxis until Emperor Xavan ascends to godhood, after which the fortress will return to the Astral Sea. (True)
Xedalli conceals one important fact from the characters: one doesn’t need to be a member of the imperial family to destroy Xaryxis, if one has a ring of shooting stars like the one Xedalli wears.

Old Wounds
After conversing with Xedalli, the characters find Commodore Krux sulking by himself.


MAJOR WARWYCK BLASTIMOFF
What’s Wrong, Big Guy?
If the characters ask Krux why he’s sulking, he reveals the source of his shame. Long ago, the commodore tried to destroy the imperial fortress in the Astral Sea, but his fleet was routed by the elven armada. Krux’s flagship was one of a handful of vessels to escape, though only after it suffered terrible damage from Prince Xeleth’s solar dragon mount. Krux lost many comrades that day, and his hatred of the Xaryxian Empire is equaled only by his disgust at his own cowardice and failure.

Raising Krux’s Spirits
Characters can persuade the giff to “buck up” with a successful DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion) check. Those who motivate the commodore with a rousing speech or a healthy dose of tough love have advantage on this check. On a successful check, Krux regains his resolve and stands ready once more to tackle the Xaryxian Empire. On a failed check, the giff sulks in his cabin; when he emerges 1d8 hours later, he is pickled in equal measures of ale and shame.

What Krux Knows
If his spirits are raised, Krux shares the following information:

He plans to locate his former adjutant, an old giff comrade-in-arms named Warwyck Blastimoff, who left for Doomspace to join the coalition months ago.
Krux and Warwyck used to communicate regularly by using sending stones, but Krux lost his stone on the Rock of Bral a few days before the characters encountered him.
When the two giff last spoke, Warwyck was in Doomspace, on the moon of Aruun, looking for allies to join the coalition. When he arrives in Doomspace, Krux plans to use the Wildspace orrery to locate Aruun.
Into the Astral Sea
As the characters leave Wildspace and enter the Astral Sea, read:

DISPLAY IN VTT
The colors of Wildspace grow more muted, fading into a deepening silver haze. Soon your ship is immersed in the starry silver clouds of the Astral Sea.

The ship’s spelljammer need only think about the destination—Doomspace—to travel there. The Astral Sea takes care of the rest, with the ship arriving at the edge of Doomspace in 21 days.

Bonding with the Crew
As they travel to Doomspace, the characters can engage with other crew members. Commodore Krux, Grimzod Gargenhale, and Topolah are particularly fun to be around.

Commodore Krux
If he isn’t sulking, Krux practices his aim with his firearms, and he invites the characters to join him. Five wooden targets line the port bow, each bearing the poorly drawn visage of an astral elf. Each target has AC 15 and 7 hit points. If a character destroys a target in one hit, the act sparks a rousing old war story from Krux, and that character gains inspiration.

Grimzod Gargenhale
The vampirate captain likes to gamble with other crew members in a game called Dead Hand’s Dice. The buy-in is 5 gp per game unless the characters are feeling lucky and want to up the ante. The rules are as follows:

Each player chooses any number of d6s and shakes them in a cup.
Everyone rolls and reveals their dice at the same time.
The player with the highest total wins, but anyone who rolls a 1 automatically loses.
Topolah
Topolah spends her time making fishing poles and lures, then gives them to characters she likes (see “Astral Fishing” in the Astral Adventurer’s Guide).

Random Encounter
The characters have at least one random encounter in the Astral Sea. Determine what they encounter by rolling on the Astral Sea Encounters table, which appears in Boo’s Astral Menagerie or choose an encounter you like.

Arrival in Doomspace
As the characters leave the Astral Sea and enter Doomspace, read the following boxed text:

DISPLAY IN VTT
The silvery haze thins as the ship enters a system that appears to have no sun. The ship glides between colossal fragments of smoky-gray crystal—remnants of an outer shell of fantastic proportions. As silent and lifeless as a graveyard, Doomspace gives new meaning to the phrase “dead of night.”

After three days of travel through the labyrinth of crystal shards, you catch sight of a yawning black vortex limned in dim light.

If the characters use the Wildspace orrery they acquired in chapter 5, read:

DISPLAY IN VTT
The Wildspace orrery shows the black vortex with two planets slowly spiraling around it. The system also has twelve moons—one close to the vortex, one orbiting each planet, and nine outer moonlets.

“There,” says Krux, pointing at the biggest of the outer moons. “Aruun is just seven days away. With luck, that’s where we’ll find my old comrade, Warwyck Blastimoff. His mission here is to create unity out of chaos, and knowing him, he’s done a bang-up job.”

For a map of Doomspace and more information about this Wildspace system, see the “Doomspace” section immediately following this chapter.

The Aartuks of Aruun
With the help of the Wildspace orrery, the characters arrives at Aruun in ten days. As the ship approaches the moon, read:

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Flashes of light on the surface of Aruun can be seen from orbit. As the ship descends toward the moon, you see a wasteland dotted with pillars of rock. Arcs of lightning leap from pillar to pillar.

The ship heads toward a plateau that is one hundred feet tall, a mile wide, and covered with jungle foliage. Knowing the ship can’t land safely, Krux gives the order for the ship to hover just above the treetops, then shouts, “Mister Flinch, drop the ladder!” On that command, the hadozee releases one end of a rope ladder that extends fifty feet to the ground.

The jungle below is alive with the sounds of wildlife. “Who shall join me on the Away Team?” asks Krux.

Krux is eager for the characters to meet Warwyck, so he insists they accompany him to Warwyck’s camp. Once all the team members set foot on the plateau, read:

DISPLAY IN VTT
A shot rings out. A few seconds later, a uniformed giff bursts through the foliage with a musket in one hand and a look of panic on his face. “Apologies in advance!” he shouts as he makes his way to the rope ladder.

Pellets of radiant light fly through the air, narrowly missing you as several starfish-like plant creatures creep out of the jungle and advance threateningly.

Warwyck Blastimoff, a lawful good giff shipmate, is out of ammunition and in a hurry. The creatures pursuing him are six aartuk weedlings and an aartuk starhorror (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie for their stat blocks). The aartuks are hostile and 30 feet away from the characters at the start of this encounter. The starhorror tries to snare Warwyck with its tongue while the weedlings pepper the characters with radiant pellets or engage them in melee.

Once the aartuks are defeated, Warwyck lets out a long sigh of relief, salutes Commodore Krux, and asks, “Permission to come aboard, sir?”

Bulette Time
Before Krux can formally introduce Warwyck to the characters, two bulettes erupt from the ground in the characters’ midst:

DISPLAY IN VTT
The earth heaves as two massive, armored creatures burst from the ground. Warwyck shouts, “Bulettes!”

Here ends chapter 7.

Wildspace System: Doomspace
Part 3 of the adventure takes place in a Wildspace system called Doomspace, which consists of two worlds and twelve moons spiraling toward a vortex that used to be the system’s sun.

Doomspace in a Nutshell
Thousands of years ago, a war between gods and primordials ended with all gods being banished from Doomspace. After the war, the primordials encased the system in a crystal sphere that kept the gods at bay.

After being kept out for eons, the gods finally found a way to shatter the crystal sphere, but no one knows exactly how. The destruction of the sphere filled the outermost region of Doomspace with crystalline shards as big as asteroids.

What happened next isn’t known for fact, but speculation abounds. Some say the gods appeared before the leaders of Fyreen and Malas and demanded to be worshiped. When they were rebuked, the gods vented their fury by collapsing the sun, leaving behind a spiraling vortex called the Eye of Doom. Those who deny the existence of gods refute these claims and turn to ancient myths for explanation. Perhaps the angry sun was slain by a primordial foe taking the form of a comet, or perhaps the sun was the shell of a great dragon’s egg that finally hatched, and the so-called Eye of Doom is the hatchling’s hungry maw.

The Doomspace table and the accompanying diagram provide an overview of this Wildspace system.

Doomspace
Planet or Moon	Type	Distance to Outer Edge of System
Valt	Spherical earth body (detached moon)	1,500 million miles (15 days’ travel)
Fyreen	Spherical earth body with one moon (Crios)	1,400 million miles (14 days’ travel)
Malas	Spherical water body orbited by a moon-sized spindle of ice	1,200 million miles (12 days’ travel)
Aruun (one of the nine moons of En)	Spherical earth body	1,000 million miles (10 days’ travel)
Locations in Doomspace
The following locations are depicted on the map of Doomspace.


DOOMSPACE
VIEW PLAYER VERSION
Eye of Doom
The Eye of Doom is the remains of Doomspace’s sun. This swirling, lightless vortex is slowly pulling the system’s planets, moons, and crystal shards into it. Each orbit around the Eye brings Valt, Fyreen, Malas, and the nine moons of En closer to the vortex.

What happens to a creature or an object that enters the vortex? That’s up to you. Although most creatures in Doomspace assume the vortex is a destructive force, it might be a gate to another dimension, an alternate reality, or another Wildspace system.

Valt
Valt was one of Fyreen’s moons until it was ripped from the planet’s orbit by the Eye of Doom. It is days away from disappearing into the vortex.

Fyreen
Fyreen is a volcanic world despoiled by dragons. The planet’s remaining resources are hotly contested, giving rise to tyrants.

Temperatures on Fyreen plunged dramatically after the sun collapsed, but the planet generates enough heat on its own to keep it from freezing.

When the sun collapsed, dohwars and mercanes (both described in Boo’s Astral Menagerie) evacuated thousands of creatures from Fyreen. Many of these creatures were deposited on the nine moons of En (which provide temporary solace at best) or borne safely to other Wildspace systems. Millions more creatures were left to be swallowed up by the Eye of Doom.

Crios, the smaller of Fyreen’s two moons, still orbits the planet. But the same thing that is happening to Valt will happen to Crios in about a month.

Malas
Malas is a water world now sheathed in ice. Its surface is covered with sheer-sided mountains and deep canyons. A moon-sized spindle of smooth ice believed to be a shard of the planet orbits Malas. The spindle is home to a nation of highly intelligent but xenophobic yeti, among other things.

Nine Moons of En
En was a spherical air body—a titanic gas giant. It is said that the primordials used the gases of En to help produce the crystal sphere that enclosed Doomspace, scattering En’s nine moons in the process.

Aruun. This large moon is home to rampaging tarrasques. Aartuks (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) and other smaller life forms live in the forests that grow atop Aruun’s rocky pillars and plateaus, beyond the reach of the tarrasques.

G’vek. This moon is dotted with sheer mountains that have become home to families of aarakocra evacuated from Fyreen. B’rohgs (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie), death dogs, gorgons, hydras, and other monsters stalk the foothills.

Inivar. Inivar is a swirling ball of multicolored gas. An intense, flickering light emanates from the moon’s core, creating a sort of celestial beacon.

Lesk. The largest of the nine moons of En is a dark desert. Here, clans of ssurran (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) eke out a harsh existence.

Shalar. Shalar is an ice moon with a ring of ice crystals circling its equator. Humans evacuated from Fyreen have built large camps on Shalar’s polar ice caps, and dinosaurs roam the frozen landscape, feeding on scant vegetation and each other.

Thrydd. Deep canyons crisscross the surface of this giant ball of ice. The canyons are heated by thermal vents and inhabited by braxats,* gaj,* megapedes,* remorhazes, ssurran,* and thri-kreen. (Creatures marked with an asterisk are described in Boo’s Astral Menagerie.)

Vocath. This moon, composed entirely of toxic green gas, is featured in chapters 8 and chapter9.

Yisheen. This small, barren moon is covered with black frost and belongs to Yisheen, a miserly adult lunar dragon (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) that abides no solicitors.

Yort. This cold, swampy moon is strewn with the petrified skeletons of kindori (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie). Humanoid evacuees from Fyreen have taken to building shelters among the bones.

Shattered Sphere
Smoky gray shards of crystal, each one a mile thick and hundreds of miles long, float in the outermost regions of Doomspace. These shards are all that remain of the immense crystal sphere that once enclosed the entire Wildspace system. At that time the sphere was thought to be indestructible, though clearly that is not the case. Various kinds of creatures have tried to harvest the crystal, only to find that it can’t be chipped or broken by any magic or force known to them.

Chapter 8: Arena of Blood
Eager to join a coalition against the Xaryxian Empire, the characters arrived in Doomspace to find the system on the verge of collapse. Commodore Krux led his crew to Aruun with the goal of finding an old comrade named Warwyck Blastimoff, who was tasked with organizing a coalition in advance of taking the fight to the enemy!

The two bulettes that appeared at the end of the previous session can be fought, or the characters can retreat to the safety of their ship.

After thanking the characters for their timely rescue, Warwyck Blastimoff informs them that the coalition to defeat the Xaryxian Empire doesn’t exist—but that a mercane arms merchant named Vocath might be the key to creating one.

If the characters want to form a coalition, they must first persuade Vocath to call in his debts. The leaders of various space-dwelling factions are beholden to Vocath and therefore willing to listen to him, and they command enough spelljamming ships to form an armada. To gain Vocath’s help, the characters must perform in a gladiatorial arena for his amusement and thereby earn the mercane’s respect.

What Coalition?
Once he is safely off Aruun, Warwyck explains the current situation in Doomspace:

DISPLAY IN VTT
“My efforts to create a coalition have been unsuccessful. The factions of Doomspace have little interest in battling the Xaryxian Empire, which seems only a distant threat to them. They would rather fight among themselves. You saw for yourselves how prickly the aartuks were. My peaceful entreaty seems to have offended them.

“The only thing these factions seem to have in common is their hunger for ships, spelljamming helms, and weapons—things I can’t provide. War is everyone’s native tongue here, and the ones most fluent in it are the mercanes. The blue giants are making a killing by selling ships, helms, and weapons to the other factions in exchange for raw mineral resources.

“But all is not lost. I’ve learned that the factions are in debt to a mercane named Vocath. He might be willing to help us … for a price.”

Questioning Warwyck
Characters who have questions about Vocath can get the following information from Warwyck:

Vocath the Mercane. Vocath evacuated hundreds of aarakocra, hadozees, thri-kreen, and ssurran from the doomed world of Fyreen, then sold ships and spelljamming helms to them for next to nothing. All the factions strive to earn his favor.

Vocath’s Base. Vocath has a base that orbits one of the nine moons of En. He has renamed the moon after himself. (The characters can use their Wildspace orrery to ascertain that getting from Aruun to Vocath will take 3 days by spelljamming ship, since the two moons are currently 300 million miles apart.)

Vocath’s Arena. Vocath enjoys blood sports, and his base houses a gladiatorial arena where champions do battle with fearsome creatures that Vocath has transported from Fyreen. Factions send their greatest warriors to fight in the arena to get Vocath’s attention or to win supplies, weapons, or both.

Vocath’s Base
The three-day trip from Aruun to Vocath is uneventful, and Commodore Krux spends much of the time catching up with his good friend, Warwyck. Characters who observe the two giff notice that Warwyck’s mere presence raises Krux’s spirits, filling the commodore with hope and optimism.


VOCATH’S BASE
When the characters arrive at Vocath’s base, read:

DISPLAY IN VTT
Floating above the luminous green clouds of Vocath is a structure made of gray and black stone, with large crystal formations jutting from the underside. Docks radiate outward from a building that is capped by a crystal dome. Several ships are moored here, including a galleon and four others that are shaped like a wasp, a scorpion, a lamprey, and a bird, respectively.

Attached to the main building is a tower that has its own private dock near the top. At the end of this dock is a ship shaped like a damselfly, its metal hull painted bright blue. Flanking this dock are two identical forty-foot-tall statues, each one depicting a thin, blue, well-dressed giant.

Crews of aarakocra, aartuks, hadozees, ssurran, and thri-kreen congregate on the docks near their ships, keeping to themselves as they wait for the next round of gladiatorial games to begin. Seven githyanki warriors (see “Tattooed Guards” below) keep the crews from fighting one another. The guards and the crews are indifferent toward new arrivals.

The docks are numbered 1 through 8 on the accompanying map of Vocath’s base. Docks 1 through 7, which are used by visitors, are situated along the base’s gravity plane. Dock 8 is the mercane’s private facility.

The following ships, each of which is equipped with a spelljamming helm, are docked at Vocath’s base when the characters arrive:


VOCATH
Dock 1. The Skyrra, a shrike ship, has a crew of eleven aarakocra and one aarakocra spelljammer (use the mage stat block, but give this aarakocra a flying speed of 50 feet).

Dock 2. The Remora, a lamprey ship, has a crew of twelve aartuk weedlings, three aartuk starhorrors, and one aartuk elder (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie for their stat blocks).

Dock 4. The Tarrasque, a space galleon, is crewed by four hadozee explorers, fifteen hadozee warriors (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie for hadozee stat blocks), and a hadozee druid.

Dock 5. The Gadabout, a wasp ship with a torn-off leg, has a crew of two ssurran defilers and three ssurran poisoners (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie for their stat blocks). Its cargo hold has been turned into a ssurran egg nursery.

Dock 6. The Vrusk, a scorpion ship, has a crew of eight thri-kreen hunters, three thri-kreen gladiators, and one thri-kreen mystic, who serves as the spelljammer (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie for their stat blocks).

Dock 8. Vocath’s yacht, a damselfly ship called the Devil’s Deal, is moored at the end of this dock. For more information about this ship and its crew, see area 6 later in this chapter.

Docks 3 and 7 are clear of ships. If the characters are traveling aboard the Second Wind and Krux is in command, he chooses to berth the vessel at dock 3. If the characters are traveling aboard the Last Breath and Gargenhale is in command, he chooses to berth the vessel at dock 7.

Krux, Gargenhale, Topolah, and Flinch remain aboard the ship while the characters handle the negotiations with Vocath. Warwyck offers to join the characters and will fight alongside them in Vocath’s arena if they ask him to. Princess Xedalli wants to accompany the characters as well, but she won’t take part in the arena battle.

Tattooed Guards
Vocath employs giff and githyanki guards, each of whom has the mercane’s personal sigil tattooed on the back of their right hand. Having this mark allows its bearer to bypass certain security features (see “Magical Effects” below). As an action, a bearer of Vocath’s sigil can use the tattoo to cast the message spell, communicating only with Vocath.

Magical Effects
Several magical effects are present on Vocath’s base:

Extended Telepathy. Vocath can establish telepathic contact with any creature on the base that Vocath can see or that is tattooed with Vocath’s personal sigil.

Lighting. Vocath’s base is brightly lit with continual flame spells in braziers, lamps, and sconces.

Walls of Force. Transparent, soundproof walls of force separate areas 1, area2, and area3. Vocath can pass through these magical barriers, as can creatures that are tattooed with his personal sigil. Vocath can suppress or reactivate one of these walls (no action required), even if he can’t see it. Otherwise, nothing can physically pass through these walls. A disintegrate spell destroys a wall of force; a wall is otherwise indestructible and can’t be dispelled.

Where’s Vocath?
When the characters first arrive at Vocath’s base, the mercane (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) is in his audience chamber (area 4), being attended by his personal bodyguards: Y’thraka, a jovial, lawful neutral githyanki knight with an eye patch, and Sergeant Burt Fluke, a foul-mouthed, chaotic neutral giff shock trooper (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie). These two accompany Vocath wherever he goes.

When Vocath decides to stage a gladiatorial contest, he notifies the base’s other guards so they can herd spectators onto the arena balcony (area 1). Vocath and his bodyguards then relocate to the mercane’s private viewing box overlooking the arena, from where Vocath presides over the spectacle.

If Vocath is in danger, his bodyguards escort him to the damselfly ship berthed at area 6, which the mercane uses to escape from the threat.

Vocath’s Base Locations
The following locations are depicted on the map of Vocath’s base.


VOCATH’S BASE
VIEW PLAYER VERSION
1: Arena
The arena is a 60-foot-high octagonal chamber with a crystal dome overhead. The floor is blanketed in sand, with a few broken, unusable weapons and chunks of stone here and there.

Balcony. A stone balcony circles the room 30 feet above the floor. This balcony is where spectators congregate to watch arena battles.

Private Box. Twenty feet higher than the main balcony, 50 feet above the arena floor, is a private box where Vocath watches the contests, flanked by his two bodyguards. An ornate throne sized for the mercane is situated here, with two smaller chairs on each side of it for honored guests. Behind the throne, a shimmering wall of force (see “Magical Effects” above) fills an archway that leads to area 2.

Treasure. Mounted to the underside of Vocath’s private box, visible to creatures on the arena floor, is a mirror of life trapping whose command words are known only to Vocath. The mercane has trapped the following creatures inside the mirror and releases some of them during the “Arena Battles” event later in this chapter: one braxat,* two b’rohgs,* two hook horrors, one megapede,* one brown scavver,* one gray scavver,* three space clowns,* and one space guppy.* (Creatures marked with an asterisk are described in Boo’s Astral Menagerie.) Creatures released in this manner materialize in unoccupied spaces on the arena floor as close to the mirror as possible. If the mirror is shattered, all creatures trapped inside it are released at once.

2: Armory
Two walls of force (see “Magical Effects” above) seal off this chamber, where three giff shipmates (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) and three githyanki warriors stand guard. Racks and shelves holding armor and weaponry are mounted to the walls behind them (see “Treasure” below).

Treasure. The weapon racks and shelves hold ten longswords, ten suits of half plate, four muskets, four pistols, two hundred bullets, twenty bombs, and five kegs of gunpowder (see “Explosives” in the Dungeon Master’s Guide for more information on firearms, bombs, and gunpowder).

3: Vestibule
Stone ramps from the docks ascend to this vestibule, where walls of force (see “Magical Effects” above) block access to areas 2 and 4. Two giff shipmates (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) and two githyanki warriors guard the vestibule.

Visitors seeking an audience with Vocath are expected to wait here until the mercane allows them into his audience chamber (area 4).

4: Audience Chamber
DISPLAY IN VTT
This circular chamber has an ornate throne opposite the entrance, and the walls are lined with art objects, tapestries, paintings, and weapons on display.

A wall of force fills the archway leading to area 3 (see “Magical Effects” above).

Teleporter. While he is in this room, Vocath can take an action to teleport any number of creatures of his choice that he can see in the room to the arena floor (area 1) or to his tower sanctum (area 5).

Treasure. On display are thirty painted statuettes of famous figures from across the multiverse (25 gp each), six blue quartz busts of Vocath displaying various poses and expressions (250 gp each), and eight model ships (750 gp each), as well as four elaborate tapestries (750 gp each) and four paintings of space-dwelling fauna (750 gp each). Racks hold ornate weapons and armor, including a suit of +1 chain mail and a +1 greatsword. Vocath is willing to sell these magic items for 2,500 gp apiece or trade either one for a different rare magic item.

If a creature other than Vocath touches any of the items on display, a mental alarm alerts Vocath, letting him know which object was touched.

5: Vocath’s Sanctum
DISPLAY IN VTT
The perimeter of this fifty-foot-high room is lined with silk-draped windows that afford panoramic views of the luminous clouds below and the distant, dark void that was once Doomspace’s sun. Soft music plays throughout the room. Low tables are sprinkled around the floor, topped with refreshments. In the middle of each table rests a stout pedestal surmounted by a cerulean bust of Vocath.

An unlocked stone door leads out to Vocath’s private dock (area 6). The music permeating the room is created by magic. Vocath can change the music and control its volume at will (no action required).

Teleporter. While in this room, Vocath can use an action to teleport any number of creatures of his choice that he can see in the room to area 4. A creature can negate the effect on itself by succeeding on a DC 14 Charisma saving throw.

6: Private Dock
A private dock juts out from Vocath’s tower 80 feet above the public docks. The base of the pier is a wide platform anchored to the tower. An unlocked stone door leading to area 5 is guarded by two giff shipmates (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie), who stand between two 40-foot-tall stone statues of Vocath.

Devil’s Deal. Vocath’s damselfly ship, the Devil’s Deal, is berthed at the end of the dock. The ship’s crew consists of Vocath’s two personal guards (see “Where’s Vocath?” above), five githyanki buccaneers, and a githyanki xenomancer who pilots the ship when Vocath doesn’t want to (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie for the githyanki stat blocks). Vocath has turned the ship’s cargo hold into his personal bedchamber.

Treasure. The spelljamming helm aboard the Devil’s Deal is a legless chair carved from petrified wood. Black crystals on the underside of its concave seat project a circle of purple light on the floor that stabilizes the helm while allowing it to swivel.

Characters who search Vocath’s bedchamber find a folded-up portable hole, inside which the mercane has hidden 500 pp and thirteen gemstones (corundums worth 100 gp each).

Meeting Vocath
To speak with Vocath, the characters must first interact with one or more of his guards, who use their sigil tattoos to contact the mercane and inform him of the characters’ arrival. Interested to hear what the characters have to say, Vocath instructs the guards to bring them to the audience chamber (area 4), where Vocath greets them:

DISPLAY IN VTT
Vocath, a slender blue giant wearing elegant robes, sits on a large throne flanked by two bodyguards: a battle-scarred giff and a githyanki with an eye patch. Both are clad in plate armor.

“I can’t say you look particularly important,” drawls the mercane. “So speak. Don’t waste my time.”

Vocath is cold, smug, and oozing with pride. He knows that all the factions in Doomspace compete to please him. He is as dismissive of emotional pleas for the alliance of the Doomspace factions as he is of anything that doesn’t turn him a profit.

If the characters mention the conflict with the Xaryxian Empire, Vocath’s demeanor turns cold, since that is not an event he sees as ending favorably for him. If Xedalli is present, Vocath assumes she’s either the characters’ prisoner or a traitor to the Xaryxian Empire; for her part, Xedalli follows the characters’ lead, keeping her identity hidden or disclosing her royal title as appropriate.

If the characters plead for Vocath’s help, read:

DISPLAY IN VTT
“Enough with the ‘me, me, me,’” Vocath says. With a mean glint in his eye, he adds, “I’ll arrange a private meeting for you with the faction leaders if you can survive three battles in my arena, with no rest between them. Representatives of the factions will be watching, so fight well. An excellent performance might win their favor.”

If the characters agree to his terms, Vocath makes a dismissive gesture, teleports the characters to the arena floor (area 1), and heads to his private box to watch them perform. If Princess Xedalli is present, Vocath invites her to join him in his private box and watch the spectacle by his side—an offer she accepts politely.

Arena Battles
After teleporting the characters to the arena floor, the mercane instructs his guards to usher spectators out onto the surrounding balcony, where they begin cheering in anticipation of the spectacle to come. Vocath acknowledges the throng from his private balcony. The characters have 1 minute to prepare before the first challenge begins.

The characters roll initiative at the start of each match, and they have no time to rest between matches. Victory in a match goes to the side that reduces all combatants on the other side to 0 hit points.


Match 1: Thrasher and Gnasher
Two b’rohgs (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) appear on the arena floor. They stand fifteen feet tall, have burnt-orange skin, and look somewhat befuddled as the crowd screams excitedly.

The b’rohgs have disadvantage on their initiative rolls as they adjust to the sudden uproar and their new surroundings. The rocks scattered around the arena floor are big enough for the b’rohgs to use as ranged weapons.

Match 2: Brutus the Braxat
Brutus, a braxat, is joined by a brown scavver and a gray scavver (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie for their stat blocks). They fight as allies.

Match 3: Queen Gorma
DISPLAY IN VTT
Vocath shouts, “Well done. Now prepare yourselves for the Terror of Doomspace!”

Out of nowhere, a three-foot-long, wide-eyed space guppy appears before you, wagging its tail in a friendly manner.

The characters have a moment to assess their foe—a space guppy (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie)—before Vocath realizes, to his dismay, that he has released the wrong creature. Realizing his mistake, Vocath throws his arms into the air and says, “Forgive me. Let’s try this again.”

Queen Gorma, a one-hundred-foot-long megapede (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) appears, snaps up the guppy, and swallows it whole. Meanwhile, the crowd shouts, “Gorma! Gorma! Gorma!” The megapede isn’t a picky eater and targets foes indiscriminately.

Xeleth’s Big Entrance
When the last arena match ends, but before the characters have time to rest or take any further actions, read:

DISPLAY IN VTT
A portion of the dome above the arena shatters, startling the spectators and causing shards of crystal to fall like rain. A serpentine dragon with scintillating scales and nebulous wings sweeps down through the hole. Mounted on its back is an armored figure whose face is hidden behind a visor.

The figure calls out, “I am Prince Xeleth of the Xaryxian Empire. I’ve come for my sister, Xedalli. Surrender her to me, you rats, or be annihilated.”

Here ends chapter 8.

Chapter 9: Discord and Diplomacy
To build a coalition against the Xaryxian Empire, the characters came to terms with a mercane named Vocath and fought monsters for his amusement. At the end of the final battle, Prince Xeleth of the Xaryxian Empire appeared on a dragon, determined to take Princess Xedalli into his clutches!

The session opens with Princess Xedalli trying to keep her hopes alive while protecting everyone around her from the wrath of her brother, Prince Xeleth, who has Vocath’s base surrounded. Xeleth has come for his sister. If Xedalli is either dead or presumed dead, obtaining her ring of shooting stars (the symbol of her right to the Xaryxian throne) is enough to satisfy Xeleth, because he can use it as proof of Xedalli’s demise.

If Xeleth gains custody of Xedalli or claims the ring as proof of her death, his fleet withdraws from Doomspace, allowing the characters to renew their efforts to unite Doomspace factions against the Xaryxian Empire. Xeleth’s attack on Vocath’s base is proof of the threat posed by the astral elves, giving the factions a common enemy.

The Xaryxian Threat
Prince Xeleth is a chaotic evil astral elf aristocrat (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) who wears a ring of shooting stars. After learning of his sister’s escape from custody, Xeleth used the power of the Astral Font (see chapter 11) to cast divination. This spell enabled him to determine the whereabouts of his sister’s ring of shooting stars.


PRINCE XELETH
The young solar dragon (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) that appeared at the end of the previous session was summoned by Xeleth using Summon Solar Dragon. The figure riding the dragon, however, is not Xeleth himself but an illusion of him, created by Xeleth’s mislead spell. As long as he maintains concentration on the spell, Xeleth can interact with anyone present through this illusion. If the characters attack the illusory Xeleth or the dragon, the dragon retaliates.

Star Moth Fleet
The real Xeleth is safely aboard the Xaryxia, one of twelve star moths surrounding Vocath’s base. The star moths form a ring around the base while staying 250 feet away from it. Their weapons open fire on any ship that tries to leave the base. (See chapter 2 of the Astral Adventurer’s Guide for information about star moths and their weaponry.)

If the characters decide to attack Xeleth’s fleet, use nonplayer characters such as Commodore Krux, Warwyck Blastimoff, Princess Xedalli, and Vocath to make it clear that doing so would be tantamount to suicide. Each star moth is crewed by an astral elf honor guard, who serves as the captain; an astral elf star priest, who serves as the ship’s spelljammer; and eleven astral elf warriors. The fleet is under the command of an astral elf commander named Vael, who also serves as Xeleth’s bodyguard aboard the Xaryxia. (See Boo’s Astral Menagerie for the astral elves’ stat blocks.)

Vocath’s Reaction
Annoyed that the characters have brought Prince Xeleth’s fleet to his doorstep, Vocath does all he can to prevent the characters from dragging him deeper into their conflict with the Xaryxian Empire—first by insisting that the characters comply with Xeleth’s demands, and then by discouraging the Doomspace factions from doing anything that might escalate the current conflict at his base. If Xedalli is by his side, the mercane quietly and politely suggests that she surrender to her brother without a fight.

Roleplaying Xeleth and Xedalli
If the characters ask Xeleth why he wants his sister, he replies:

DISPLAY IN VTT
“Our father is dead. When I become emperor, I want my sister present at my coronation.”

News of Emperor Xavan’s death comes as no surprise to Princess Xedalli. But she knows her brother well enough to assume he’s not being entirely truthful about the rest of it. Xedalli clarifies Xeleth’s motivation, addressing Vocath and the characters with this reply:

DISPLAY IN VTT
“Not everyone in the Xaryxian Empire supports Xeleth’s claim to the throne. He needs me to legitimize it and prevent any unrest that might otherwise occur. No matter. I see that I have no choice but to return home with my brother.”

Xeleth doesn’t deny his sister’s accusation, nor do her words change the present situation. Xedalli sees no better option than to accompany her brother back to Xaryxispace. As the encounter unfolds, however, she uses the same trick as Xeleth: she casts mislead, turning invisible while creating an illusory duplicate of herself. While invisible, Xedalli addresses the characters through her illusion and praises them for their heroic attitude while discouraging them from getting involved in Xaryxian politics. While her illusion chatters on, Xedalli surreptitiously removes her ring of shooting stars, drops it on the sandy arena floor, and uses a sending spell to communicate the following information to a character she can trust to act on it:

DISPLAY IN VTT
“You’ll need my ring to save your world. I’ve dropped the ring in the sand. Keep it safe. I’ll be waiting for you in Xaryxispace.”

After giving up her ring, Xedalli moves back into the space occupied by her illusory image and ends her mislead spell, making it seem like she was there the whole time.

After parting with her ring, Xedalli surrenders to her brother. If Xeleth’s solar dragon is still around, it bears her safely to the Xaryxia, where she is taken into custody. If the characters defeated Xeleth’s dragon, Xedalli travels to her brother’s ship on the back of another solar dragon she summons for herself. After his sister is aboard the Xaryxia, Xeleth orders his fleet back to Xaryxispace. As long as Xedalli is his prisoner, Xeleth doesn’t care about what happens to her ring.

If he thinks Xedalli is dead, Xeleth assumes the characters have her ring and demands that it be tossed into his dragon’s mouth (so that the dragon can safely transport it back to Xeleth’s ship). If his dragon is defeated before it can deliver the ring, Xeleth orders Commander Vael to teleport to Vocath’s base with eight astral elf warriors, obtain the ring at any cost, and teleport back to the Xaryxia. Vocath, if he’s alive, helps the astral elves retrieve the ring. He hopes they’ll leave in peace afterward, which they do.

Xeleth Denied
If Xeleth is unable to obtain Xedalli or her ring, his fleet opens fire on the ships docked at Vocath’s base. (These ships are detailed in chapter 8). After 5 rounds of bombardment, the following ships are destroyed before their crews can mount a defense: the Skyrra, the Remora, the Vrusk, the Tarrasque, and the Gadabout.

Neither the characters’ ship nor the Devil’s Deal (Vocath’s damselfly ship) is damaged in the initial bombardment. But if either ship tries to leave Vocath’s base, the astral elves unleash their next flurry of ballista bolts and mangonel stones against the fleeing ship.

After the astral elves’ initial bombardment, Vocath casts dimension door and boards Xeleth’s flagship to negotiate an end to the conflict. If Xedalli is nearby, the mercane takes her along, and together they work out a deal in which Xedalli surrenders to Xeleth and the astral elves leave without further incident.

If Vocath isn’t around to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict, Xeleth’s fleet docks at the base and deploys troops once it’s safe to do so. Enemy leaders are rounded up and executed, and any hope of forming a coalition among the Doomspace factions is lost. (Skip over the “Alliance in Doomspace” and “Assemble the Fleet!” sections.) When the characters are ready to leave Doomspace, continue with the “Red Dragon Rider” section at the end of the chapter.

Alliance in Doomspace
After Xeleth is placated and his fleet withdraws from Doomspace, Vocath arranges a gathering in his private sanctum (area 5 of Vocath’s base, as described in chapter 8). This meeting is attended by the characters and representatives of the five Doomspace factions. Vocath and his bodyguards are also here, observing the proceedings in silence.

To forge a coalition, the characters must redirect the factions’ animosity toward the Xaryxian Empire. The representatives with whom they must speak are summarized in the Faction Representatives table.

Faction Representatives
Representative	Faction
Dakaer (neutral hadozee explorer*)	Hadozee
Rika (neutral good aarakocra)	Aarakocra
T’kitka (chaotic neutral thri-kreen mystic*)	Thri-kreen
Vortshu (chaotic neutral aartuk elder*)	Aartuk
Zoth’ess (neutral ssurran defiler*)	Ssurran
*See Boo’s Astral Menagerie for statistics.
Forming a Coalition
A faction’s attitude toward the party depends on what the characters have accomplished:

Two of the factions (determined by you) are friendly toward the characters by virtue of their victory in the arena battles. The remaining three factions are indifferent toward the characters.
If the characters did anything to antagonize a faction, that faction is hostile toward them, regardless of their performance in the arena battles.
The characters can improve a faction’s attitude toward them by influencing that faction’s representative (see the “Faction Representatives” section below). The best the characters can hope for is to align the factions against their common enemy, the Xaryxian Empire.
To convince a faction to join the coalition, a character must make a case to the faction’s representative and succeed on a Charisma check using Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion, as befits the approach. Another character can use the Help action to grant advantage on the check, but only if that character makes a meaningful contribution to the conversation. The difficulty of the check depends on the faction’s attitude toward the characters: DC 20 if hostile, DC 15 if indifferent, or DC 10 if friendly.

On a successful check, the faction joins the coalition. On a failed check, the representative declines to join the coalition, and the characters can’t change that representative’s mind until they convince another faction to join the coalition (discounting any factions that have already joined). The “Vortshu and T’kitka at Vocath” sidebar shows these rules in play.

VORTSHU AND T’KITKA AT VOCATH

The following is an example of the “Forming a Coalition” rules in play.

A character approaches Vortshu, the aartuk elder (who is indifferent toward them), and tries to convince Vortshu that war against the Xaryxian Empire would give the aartuks new worlds to conquer. But the character gets a failure on their DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, so Vortshu refuses to join the coalition, perhaps making the argument that the thri-kreen are a greater threat to the aartuks than the Xaryxian Empire. Further attempts to sway Vortshu fail automatically until the characters convince another faction representative to join their coalition. Having previously won over the aarakocra, the characters now set their sights on T’kitka, the thri-kreen representative.

Like Vortshu, T’kitka is indifferent toward the characters. To improve T’kitka’s attitude, the characters give her the spelljamming helm they took from the Dark Star in chapter 2. This fabulous gift is enough to improve T’kitka’s attitude to friendly. A character then succeeds on the DC 10 Charisma (Persuasion) check, convincing T’kitka to join their coalition. With the thri-kreen now on board, the characters can make another attempt to convince Vortshu to join the coalition.

Faction Representatives
Each faction leader is described below.

Dakaer
Hadozee Representative

Dakaer commands the Tarrasque, a space galleon. He often sounds terse, even when he is speaking unemotionally. He and his crew dress plainly and wield weapons made from bone.

War is not something Dakaer longs for, but he seeks to acquire better weaponry nonetheless. His crew also clamors for healing kits, tools, and musical instruments.

Attitude Adjustment. The characters can improve the attitude of the hadozee faction by one step if they offer Dakaer a worthy gift, such as one of the following items:

A set of artisan’s tools or navigator’s tools
A healing kit or potion of healing
A musical instrument
A magic weapon
Rika
Aarakocra Representative

Rika is the oldest crew member of the shrike ship Skyrra and chief advisor to its captain, Kree’esh.

Rika’s faction is concerned about personal freedom. Rika looks forward to guiding his people to a new Wildspace system where they can thrive.

Attitude Adjustment. Characters can improve the attitude of the aarakocra faction to friendly if they offer Rika a worthy gift, such as one of the following items:

The Wildspace orrery acquired from Topolah
A navigational chart for another Wildspace system
T’kitka
Thri-kreen Representative

T’kitka serves as the spelljammer aboard the scorpion ship Vrusk and is keen to acquire more spelljamming helms and food supplies for her faction. She admits that the thri-kreen have taken to eating aartuks because of the scarcity of food in Doomspace (which hasn’t endeared the thri-kreen to the aartuk faction).

Attitude Adjustment. Characters can improve the attitude of the thri-kreen faction to friendly if they offer T’kitka a worthy gift, examples of which are as follows:

A spelljamming helm
At least 30 days’ worth of food
Vortshu
Aartuk Representative

Vortshu, the captain of the lamprey ship Remora, is a warmonger who instigated a conflict with the thri-kreen. The thri-kreen have since acquired a taste for aartuk flesh. Characters can appeal to Vortshu’s adversarial nature to win his support.

Attitude Adjustment. A character can improve the attitude of the aartuk faction to friendly in one of the following ways:

By challenging the thri-kreen representative to a duel (which T’kitka declines, but the challenge alone is enough to win over Vortshu)
By defeating Vortshu in a wrestling match, which requires the character to succeed on three DC 14 Strength (Athletics) checks before failing three of those checks
Zoth’ess
Ssurran Representative

The ssurran of Fyreen are acclimating to life in Wildspace. Their leader, Zoth’ess, commands the wasp ship Gadabout.

Zoth’ess needs money to repair her ship’s broken leg and pay off debts to Vocath. She demands treasure in exchange for her support.

Attitude Adjustment. Characters can improve the attitude of the ssurran faction by one step if they offer Zoth’ess a worthy gift, examples of which are as follows:

At least 500 gp in coins, gems, or art objects
A magic item of uncommon rarity or better
Assemble the Fleet!
Each faction that joins the coalition brings a certain number of ships to it, as summarized in the Coalition Fleet table.

If the characters convince at least four factions to join the coalition, Vocath decides their cause is worth supporting and telepathically reaches out to some of his mercane allies, who send additional ships. These ships come with their own spelljamming helms and crews. The mercane ships have crews pulled from different factions. The mercanes themselves stay out of the fight.

It takes ten days for the coalition fleet to assemble, during which time the characters can rest and make any final preparations before heading to Xaryxispace.

Coalition Fleet
Faction	Ships
Aarakocra	5 shrike ships, including the Skyrra
Aartuks	5 lamprey ships, including the Remora
Hadozees	3 space galleons, including the Tarrasque
Mercanes	2 hammerhead ships (one crewed by humans, the other by thri-kreen) and 5 squid ships (each one crewed by members of a different faction)
Ssurran	6 wasp ships, including the Gadabout
Thri-kreen	4 scorpion ships, including the Vrusk
Red Dragon Rider
From now on, the adventure makes no assumption about which ship the characters are traveling on, but it is important for the characters to be together.

A few hours after they return to the Astral Sea, the characters have the following encounter:

DISPLAY IN VTT
The silvery fog catches the light of distant stars and coalesces into clouds that vaguely resemble faces as inscrutable as they are enormous. Perhaps these are the visages of gods watching over you, or perhaps they are merely figments of the Astral Plane—stray thoughts given form.

None of that matters, however, as a distant roar draws your attention to one of the cloudy visages, from whose mouth emerges a large red dragon. Riding the dragon is a knight clad in golden armor, their face hidden behind a fearsome visor shaped like a dragon’s scowling visage!

Here ends part 3 of the adventure. Each character should gain a level before the next session.