Gas Giant of Ruined Floating CitiesSource Starfinder #4: The Ruined Clouds pg. 62
Location The Vast
Settlements Istamak
Diameter x12; Mass x110; Gravity x1 (at the cloud tops)
Atmosphere Special
Day 18 hours; Year 10 years
The pinkish skies of the gas giant Nejeor VI are home to the sporadic ruins of an ancient civilization, floating among the planet’s cloud tops. Ranging from mighty metropolises to long-abandoned refineries, these decrepit structures maintain their altitudes through unknown combinations of science and magic, and most are either overgrown with implanted flora or pitted, decaying wrecks. One of these hovering cities, Istamak, has survived to this day and is detailed starting on page 38.
The constantly churning gases of Nejeor VI’s atmosphere are laced with high concentrations of valuable metals. These gaseous metals are easily ionized, leading to frequent lightning storms that illuminate the clouds from within, making them as beautiful as they are deadly. Under thousands of miles of clouds, however, is an immense layer of liquid hydrogen that surrounds the planet’s solid metallic core. The occasional large chunk of rubble that can be discovered deep inside this liquid-hydrogen ocean hints that perhaps more islands once floated high in the skies above, before time laid them low.
The weather in Nejeor VI’s atmosphere makes it next to impossible to sustain aerial life beneath the world’s floating ruins, though the storms here occasionally attract extraplanar beings composed entirely of lightning. These creatures rarely remain on the planet for more than a day or so before returning to their place of origin, their motivations a complete mystery. On the other hand, Nejeor VI’s massive sea of liquid hydrogen teems with unusual forms of biology. Translucent, six-armed cephalopods hunt brightly colored pelagic sea anemones amid the sluggish currents. Patches of this interior ocean are heated by radiation emitted by the core, giving rise to a whole host of giant isopods whose exoskeletons are as reflective as silver; some have evolved razor-sharp claws to better fight off predators, while others exude psychotropic chemicals that drive other species insane. Strange bioluminescent creatures acclimated to extreme pressure exist closer to the planet’s core, while only microscopic life can survive on the surface of the core itself.
Nejeor VI has three moons, none of which have been fully charted or even named. The smallest moon has a very irregular orbit, as it is constantly pulled between the planet’s gravity and that of its two siblings. The moon’s crust experiences a large amount of friction, causing mountain ranges to rise and fall on the surface over the course of decades. The largest moon isn’t much more than a ball of frozen methane riddled with deep crevasses. The shadows of precise geometric shapes can sometimes be spotted deep within the ice, but they are effectively invisible to modern sensors, as they give off no signs of energy. The rocky surface of the third moon is scarred with thousands of impact craters from countless meteorites attracted by the immense gravity of Nejeor VI and the third moon’s strong magnetic core; veins of an unknown blood-red ore can be seen at the bottoms of these craters.Aliens found at Nejeor VIKish - CR 4; Medium humanoid (kish)
Rebuilt - CR 7; Medium aberration
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