Tome of Obscure Knowledge

Tome of Obscure Knowledge

Excerpt from the Tome of Obscure Knowledge, by Valymup the Sage

“The inhabitants of the planet upon which Alech’nor rests have never agreed on a single name for it, or, indeed, seen much practical use in giving it one. The few who know of anything beyond Alech’nor, or their birth village, for that matter, simply call it “The World.” The few Spelljammers (See Chapter 37) who occasionally pass through the planet’s Crystal Shell have assigned it a name on their navigational charts, however. They call it Thraekon, which is said to mean “Slave Source #3” in the language of the neogi (again, Chapter 37).

“Thraekon, the celestial travelers say, is the third of six planets (in order from the sun) in its Crystal Shell (this had been confirmed by sages who study the night sky). The Shell itself, named after their word for Thraekon’s sun, Sel-Rasooth (meaning unknown), is some good ways off the usual trade and invading routes, in a far-flung stream of the Phlogiston, and considered mostly a backwater, notably chiefly for the War Against the Faceless Ones that preceded its creation (see Chapter 2), and as a good place to hide from the various celestial law enforcement agencies of the Material Plane. The other planets in the Sel-Rasoothian system, all of which, like Thraekon, orbit Sel-Rasooth, in order form the sun, are:

Vika, said to be a tiny ball of rock inhabited by fire serpents. Metravia, said to be inhabited by a single, planet-spanning, sapient plant, among whose leaves and roots lives all manner of savage beasts and primitive humanoids. Dolmus, a gargantuan planet, said to be hollow, and inhabited by the descendants of aberrations from the Far Realm. Stories say they are surprisingly decent fellows who trade magic items for electrum. What they do with so much of it is anybody’s guess. Faevelok, a world said to be cubical in shape and a vast library on the inside, is supposedly inhabited by the Ancient Masters of Kai, great sages who are allegedly the remnants of one of the first intelligent races on the Material Plane. Rumors say they have a trapped Time Elemental, and using its power can travel freely in time. Ulron, a very distant and cold ball of ice, said to be uninhabited. Throughout the Shell are known to roam a host of meteors, comets, and asteroids, about which very little is known. “

“As anyone who looks into the night sky knows, Thraekon as two moons, commonly known as Greater Night Light and Lesser Night Light. What very few know is that Greater’s real name is location:pellucidar, and it is inhabited by several races of humanoid: the ruling blue-skinned, the warrior red-skinned, and the subservient green-skinned. Chief in the kingdom ruled by the Blues is said to be a Moon Princess, who, it is claimed, has designs on invading Thraekon one day.”

“Lesser’s real name, according to celestial travelers, is location:heex, and it is ruled by very strange beings called yuk, who are said to sail its deserts in sand ships and have heads shaped like the Common letter “Y”. They are alleged to have great psionic powers.”