Into the Void

Into the Void by Nigel Findley is book two in the Cloakmaster Cycle, a six-book series for the Spelljammer campaign setting. It is set in the Forgotten Realms. "Plunged into a sea of alien faces, Teldin Moore isn't sure whom to trust. His gnomish sidewheeler is attacked by space pirates, and Teldin is saved by a hideous mind flayer who offers to help the human use his magical cloak&mdash;but for whose gain? Teldin learns the basics of spelljamming, and he seeks an ancient arcane, one who might tell him more."

Synopsis
Teldin Moore, a farmer from Krynn, leaves his home world behind as a passenger aboard a gnomish sidewheeler, the Unquenchable. As he watches his planet grow farther and farther away, a gnome named Horvath teaches him about crystal spheres.

Horvath invites Teldin to join him and three other gnomes on a smaller craft to examine the extent of damage taken to the gnomish spelljammer in a previous battle. Shortly thereafter, the Unquenchable pulls away from them, and they see that it has fallen under attack from space pirates. The Unquenchable damages one of the pirate vessels and then flees with the two other craft in pursuit. The damaged pirate ship comes at Teldin and the four gnomes. They avoid being killed and delay their capture long enough to be rescued by the crew of a passing hammership, the Probe.

After being helped aboard by the first mate Aelfred Silverhorn, Teldin is surprised to learn that the captain of the Probe is an illithid named Estriss, despite the rest of the crew being human. Estriss claims to be an historian and philosopher and welcomes Teldin and the four gnomes aboard. The Probe is on its way to Realmspace and Toril, to the port of Rauthaven in Nimbral.

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