The Maelstrom

Created by Spyglass

The Maelstrom is a region of distorted spacetime within the core region of the astral sea, at the center of which is a vast black hole called the Cataract. Several systems reside within the Maelstrom: Cloudspace, Sailspace, Songspace, Stonespace, and Pyrespace. Because of the Maelstrom's distortion of spacetime, the planar boundaries are weaker here, strengthening the influence of interplanar magic on the local systems. Four major systems bear notable influence from one of the four primordial elements, while a fifth has a strong manifestation of the Weave and an unusual connection to the outer plane of Arvandor and a sixth is so deep within the Maelstrom that the Material, Feywild, and Shadowfell planes blur together.
The ripples in the fabric of spacetime present within the Maelstrom create strong currents in the parallel ethereal plane, which lead the peoples of the Maelstrom to develop a unique form of spelljamming called weftsailing. Weftsails harness the arcane power of the ethereal plane through harmonic interactions with the Weave, in a similar way to the "vanes" of certain advanced types of etherdrive. The currents provide expedited travel in certain directions around the Maelstrom, while impeding it in others.

Geography

The systems of the Maelstrom all orbit within the distorted spacetime radiating from the Cataract, the massive black hole at the center of the region. Most systems orbit in the outermost eddies of the great cosmic whirlpool, where the temporal consequences of distorted space are extremely minimal; however, some systems such as Witchlight orbit much closer and suffer great distortion of time as a result. Spacers must be very careful whilst navigating the Maelstrom in order to avoid any anomalies.

Maelstrom's Edge

• Songspace
• Cloudspace
• Sailspace
• Stonespace
• Pyrespace

The Vortex

• Loopspace
• Splitspace
• Witchlight

The Eye

• Gatespace
• Palace of Time
• Cataract

Type

Spatial region (spheroid)

Astronomicon Designation

Maelstrom Region

Location

Sector 8

Alternative Name(s)

The Great Whorl, Hurricane Cluster

Creator's Note

The Maelstrom was originally pulled from the fan-made section of the Spelljammer 3e Database, but in my process of adapting it for the Midnight Sea I eventually stripped it down to just the name and started building the concept from scratch.

— Spyglass