Armistice

Armistice was a frigid planet in the crystal sphere of Winterspace, which played a significant role in both the First and Second Unhuman Wars. Because of its snow-covered surface, it was also known as the Ice World.

Description
From wildspace, Armistice looked like a white ball with white streaks, the result of continuous snow and ice cover and clouds. The planet had a radius of 15,000 miles (24,000 kilometers) and was nearly perfectly spherical.

The planet was tilted on its axis, giving it seasons, and its day–night revolution was once every 60 hours. The gravity on the surface of Armistice was three times stronger than that of Toril or Oerth.

Armistice had three large moons, each a large size E world. These were named Vesta, Lacerne, and Vardig. Each was in a tight orbit about their planet. From the surface of Armistice, the moons looked like massive, crater-covered disks. One of the moons appeared amber in color, another lavender, and the third white tinged with green. In combination, they reflected multicolored moonlight off the restless waves or the white snow, a deliriously beautiful effect. Most scholars recorded that none of the moons had atmospheres of any kind.

The close proximity of the moons resulted in severe tidal forces, affecting not only the oceans but also the level of volcanic activity. At highest tide, the oceans were 50 feet (fifteen meters) higher than at lowest tide. This range could double in narrow inlets and bays. Tidal currents could rush at up to 25 knots (46 kilometers per hour) during normal conditions, and waves crashed against the shore about three times more quickly than they did on Toril.

The three moons would align in their orbits once every 1,680 hours, which was once every 28 Armistice days or 70 Toril days. When this occurred, the intense tidal forces would trigger violent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions over a period of about ten hours. Most such eruptions resulted in smoke and flame and most lava flows remained near the peaks of the volcanoes.

Geography
Armistice had five main continents. The three largest were Grishnakh, Taliak, and Ugrek. The two smaller were named Rakhar and Toborg. Despite the high levels of volcanic activity on the planet, the continental drift was slower than might be expected.

The frigid waters were divided into four major oceans, the Sea of Vengeance, west of Taliak; the Sea of Hatred, north of Taliak and west of Ugrek; the Landlost Ocean, between Taliak, Ugrek, and Grishnak; and the Sea of Woe, between Grishnak and Rakhar.

Once every 25 Armistice years, the alignment of the three moons on the opposite side of the planet results in a massive land bridge forming between Grishnakh and Taliak that otherwise was underneath the ocean. The bridge was crossable for several days before being flooded by the ocean again.

Numerous mountain ranges covered each of the continents, formed by volcanic activity and each with at least one major active volcano. Beyond the mountain ranges, the rest of the planet was relatively flat; the mountains seemed to jut straight out from the surface.

Climate
Armistice was covered in snow and ice all year round. The exception was the warmed craters of the volcanoes. The oceans were not frozen, because of the violent tidal forces acting constantly on their waters. In contrast, all direct sources of fresh water, such as lakes, were frozen solid.

Temperatures on Armistice varied with the season and the latitude, reaching highs of only a few degrees above the freezing point of water in the summers at the equator and dropping as low as −60 °F (−51 °C) in the winter at the poles. These temperatures did not take wind chill into account, and the winds were a near constant factor, with blizzards being commonplace.

The only precipitation was in the form of snow, which was likely to be falling four or five days out of every six.

Cloud cover over the planet was common but rarely total, so the sun was usually visible, though it did little to warm the world, as it was so near to the edge of its crystal sphere.

Flora & Fauna
Few native plants or animals lived on Armistice, but the exceptions were dangerous ones. The surface contained remorhazes and tunnel worms or creatures very similar to them. These preyed upon several primitive rodents about the size of dire rats. Some claimed that even larger tunnel worms also lived at the bottoms of the oceans.

The oceans were void of any mammals or reptiles, but they contained many varieties of fishes, including large sharks such as the megalodon and ugly, spiked eels.

The only plants known to the surface were primitive mosses and lichens that covered the exposed rocks of the volcanically heated mountain peaks and giant-leafed plants that grew at the equator and kept low to the ground to capture as much sunlight as possible.

The oceans contained a variety of species of very large kelp-like seaweeds. These were known to spacefaring races as being highly toxic to non-native creatures.

History
Geographers believed that the continents of Toborg and Ugrek were once joined, as were the continents of Grishnakh and Rakhar. Ancient tales told of a sixth continent, a large one lying between Grishnakh and Ugrek where the Landlost Ocean later existed.

In 1362 DR, in Realmspace, the Cloakmaster, Teldin Moore, was able to see through the eyes of the Spelljammer by means of a magic amulet. When he described what he was seeing to his friends Hectate and Vallus Leafbower, they suspected that he was seeing Radole, another planet in Winterspace. A course was plotted for this crystal sphere in response.

Shortly after entering the sphere, their ship, the swan ship Trumpeter, was ambushed by bionoids and forced to make an emergency landing on Armistice, which was the nearest planet.

Appearances

 * The Radiant Dragon