From the Geonomicon: Travels in the Arcane Inner Flow
Vyapor: When I first laid eyes on this planet, I thought it was an odd asteroid belt. Honestly, it seemed as strange and alien to me as the concept of space flight must seem to groundlings! Vyapor is, mostly, air. But within that absolutely enormous ball of air - for Vyapor is one of the largest planets I have come across - lie several hundred floating islands, all orbiting a central core of insanely hot steam. Most of the islands are inhabited, and some are formed into loose coalitions or minor kingdoms. Despite the size of Vyapor, the overall population isn't large. Even the biggest of the floating islands won't support more than a thousand people at best, and the majority cannot support more than a few hundred. Minor scuffles between the inhabitants of the islands is not uncommon, and attempts to create land-bridges between islands have been tried in the past.
As I journeyed among the people of this strange pseudo-planet, I came across the ruins of many such attempts. Stone sentinels, perched at the edge of the island, usually with the crumbling remains of a bridge-head still attached. While people are friendly, they tend to be wary of travelers, especially on the lower islands, closer to the planet's steaming core. High up on the outermost islands is where you will find the Spelljamming ports, and the largest, most stable governments.
The Kingdom of Zemekis has been around for several centuries, and while it is in a slow state of decline, it is still one of the most powerful nations on Vyapor. While they embrace Spelljamming as a method of leaving the planet, they prefer to invest in something called a dirge-ibble. A large basket of sorts is hung below an enormous silk bag, divided into sections, and filled with steam collected from the planet's core. Such dirge-ibbles serve as transportation between the islands as well as machines of war! Beyond that, Zemekis is your typical human kingdom, such as one would find on most planets. They eschew blackpowder weaponry, or did at the time of my visit, but train excellent archers. Much of their food supply is based on the various flying waterfowl that frequent the islands of this odd planet.
Across the planet, far on the other side, lies the Republic of Cal're'dor. An odd country, centered around the city of Re'dor on the island of the same name. They are a peaceful lot, given to trade with any who would engage them in such a manner, their main population split between several kinds of unusual bird-kin! Look not for meat on the menus in this country, but cheese and dairy is common, as is all manner of grains and breads! Their music must be heard to be believed, and the bird-kin have taken the concept of stringed music instruments to an unusual end! I cannot describe the sounds they can produce, it must be heard. The Republic, as I mentioned, welcomes traders of all kinds, and as a guest they treated me kindly. While I am but a traveling bard, they welcome new stories and tales of events elsewhere in the sphere and enjoy all kinds of faires and events.
Finally, there is a small enclave of kobold merchants from the moon Silgis on Vyapor. They have taken over a small, mountainous island roughly halfway around the lee side of the planet between the Republic and the Kingdom of Zemekis. Calling themselves the Silgi'srii, they mine the mountainside for ores and gemstones, raise sheep, and trade with their neighbors.
Alas, my exploration of Vyapor was forcibly cut short one day when I made the mistake of dallying with the daughter of the King of Zemekis, Lucas IV (the Fat). He took some umbrage at my boldness, and I had to leave the planet rather quickly, taking a post on the first Spelljamming ship leaving for other parts of the sphere...
