As a public service, the Guide will attempt to describe Minarra’s place in the Universe/Prime Plane in terms that both Real World denizens and spelljamming adventurers can understand—no mean feat, we assure you!

     For those who want "reality"… ;-)

     Minarra is the fourth world in a star system of six planets, an asteroid belt, and an Oort cloud at its farthest reaches. The Minarran sun is a mainsequence star of spectral type K, giving it a distinctly orange cast when gazed upon from Minarra. It is a tiny star system, in which the "border" of interstellar space lies within the orbit of Uranus.

     Minarra rotates upon its axis once every 24 hours. Its axial tilt is but 19.4° (as opposed to Earth’s 23.5°), making its seasons a bit less harsh (and its polar caps less widespread) than those of Earth. It is a relatively small world; with a diameter of but 10,450 km (6,482 miles), it is noticeably smaller than Venus. The Minarran orbital period is 432 days, a period so precise that leap years are unnecessary. Were it to be placed in our Solar System, Minarra would occupy an orbit between Earth and Mars.

     Unusual for a body its size, Minarra is graced by three moons, each smaller than Luna yet considerably more massive than, say, the tiny moons of Mars. The two inner moons, Phalgeron the Gold and Myr’phala the Silver, occupy more-or-less equatorial orbits that take 18 and 27 days to traverse, respectively.

     The outer moon, Sandophal the Blue, is a confounding mystery. Sandophal has a circumpolar orbit of 36 days, which defines the word "month" for most Minarran cultures. By the laws of physics, this is an extremely unstable situation; the gravitational attraction of the three moons should have destabilized such an orbit ages ago. Minarran tides are extreme, even freakish by Earth standards, and those few tidal charts that exist are the result of centuries of patient observation. (An interesting side note: on a cloudless evening with all three moons waxing full, the illumination is nearly twice that of a full moon on Earth.)

     [For more data on the Minarran moons, click here for astronomical information or here to learn of their nature as divine beings.]

     ... And for those who brave the dangers of Wildspace!

     Notes on Minarran Wildspace:

     Like Athas, the world of the DARK SUN, Minarra resides within a closed sphere. No natural or artificial portals exist upon the surface of Minarra’s crystal sphere, effectively shielding it from any form of Prime Planar contact or influence. (One consequence is the total absence of spells created by mages of other worlds, such as Bigby or Mordenkainen.)

     Perhaps the oddest features of Minarran wildspace are the Air body Rylis and the asteroid ring known as the Gossamer Belt. These celestial fixtures actually occupy the same orbit about the sun, with Rylis like some jewel crowning a great silver ring. On evenings with little or no moonlight and clear skies, the Gossamer Belt can be easily seen from Minarra.

     Once every 210 years, all the worlds of Minarran wildspace are in their nearest approach to each other. In the hours before dawn, Eirox, Rylis, Diamos, and the Malangthan (the three moons of Minarra) shall shine as one at nearly the same place in the night sky. Then, during the day, both Fy'aal and Ilessar eclipse the sun. This Union of Wandering Stars always takes place on New Year's Day.

     Minarran Spelljamming:

     Research into the possibilities of spelljamming has begun only within the last 300 years. Progress has been slow, since no researcher is aware that anyone else is doing similar work. There are less than a dozen individuals pondering the problem in all the world, and their efforts to date have produced little of value aside from an intriguing theory or two.

     A pity, for unbeknownst to the inhabitants of Minarra, there is another inhabited world orbiting their star—Ilessar, the orb next door. Though sister worlds in many respects, there are notable differences. Ilessar is a warmer, more bountiful world, but intense population pressures in some locales have made some wonder if there is more space somewhere beyond the skies. The Ilessari have actually crafted a handful of functioning artifurnaces, and have begun to discover the natural resources of their world's beautiful rings.

     Given Minarra’s status as a closed sphere, there is virtually no hope of a spelljamming vessel from the Flow bringing the technology in "from the outside". But perhaps one day Minarrans might take to wildspace after all—if the Ilessari should ever arrive to show them how.

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