* Includes excerpts from The Flaming Eye. All library info is dated circa 1120.
Kaso's pleasant yellow primary put the system high on a list of places to
explore. With exploration along the Vilani Main moving quicker than long range
telescopes could scrutinize neighboring systems, surveyors rushed to the
system, only to have their hopes crushed by an airless rock.
Once the initial giddiness of jump drive wore off, a proper survey of the system
was done. The Bureaux moved in and began small scale mining operations. Even
hydrogen was skimmed from the gas giants, refined, and sold to worlds that
lacked gas giants or easy access to comets and other icy bodies. In those days,
the Ziru Sirka had no enemies other than change.
Progress was held at manageable levels in the controlled economy of the Ziru
Sirka. Kasoans could make a living, but they couldn't prosper. But once the
technological limitations of the Ziru Sirka were removed, an economic
partnership was formed with the belters of Silverring
(Lishun 0414) and the aquafarmers of Pryden (Lishun 0316) that led to an
economic boom.
The last remnants of the stifling Bureaux were swept aside by several groups of
anarcho-capitalists. Pooling their resources, these groups invested heavily in
industrial capacity. With no environment to spoil, they were able to "get dirty"
with manufacturing. Profits were sunk back into research and development to
advance their technological and production capabilities. The economic boom
attracted all sorts of immigrants: from low skill laborers to specialists of
myriad scientific fields.
The Kasoans firmly believed that the Ziru Sirka stifled them culturally as well.
Hand-in-hand with economic freedom came socio-political freedom. At first,
there was complete anarchy, but when that proved unworkable a charter was
drafted outlining the rights and responsibilities of the citizenry and corporate
entities. Still, very few laws curbing the activities of the populace have been
enacted. A "live, and let live" philosophy dominates where the judicial system
settles disputes between citizens rather than pre-occupying itself with legal
minutiae. Newcomers are shocked to see everyone walking around armed. But rather
than being, to coin an old Solomani phrase, the "Wild West", it's just the
opposite. The fact that there are no easy prey for thugs to mug, and that
vigilante justice is acceptable, keeps crime to a minimum. The end result is a
libertarian paradise.
So why have the freedom loving Kasoans rejoined the stifling Ziru Sirkaa? In one
word: Silverring. With Lishun overrun by corsairs and vargr pirate nations and
Lucan seemingly apathetic towards their plight, Silverring seceded. As
Silverring's shipyards are an important part of Kasoan independence, as
Silverringers go, so too the Kasoans, albeit grudgingly. However, if the Bureaux
attempt to quash Kaso's freedoms, they'll be in for a rude awakening.
Silverring gets its name from early Vilani astronomers who noticed that when the
light from the star, Adruzagdiimashna, reflected off of the asteroid
belt, it made a musha irdasunig, a silver ring. When the Solomani rose to
power, the system was renamed with the translation.
Belters have been in the Silverring system since the beginning of the First
Imperium. Lying on the Vilani Main, souls brave enough to mine here (there are
no gas giants in the system) have prospered. Rather than squander their early
profits, the belters pooled their money and bought the rights to Olny
(Lishun 0412). The investment paid off several times over. Agricultural exports,
and later an anagathics industry, boosted their incomes. Many belters took
their riches there and retired early, to enjoy the fruits of their labors. But
over the centuries, the two worlds have grown culturally distant, such that
Silverringers are only interested in their Olnian investments and no longer view
the world as a "retirement community."
Once the technological limitations of the Ziru Sirka were removed, an economic
partnership formed with Kaso (Lishun 0214) and
Pryden (Lishun 0316). The metals mined from the belt were sold to the
industrial world as raw materials for their burgeoning industries. In return,
the money enabled Silverring to purchase the rights to use Kasoan intellectual
property to elevate its technological base. The prosperity of these two have
gone hand-in-hand through the Third Imperium and both are at the height of
technological prowess.
Silverringers have done well for themselves over the centuries and they've
passed laws to protect their prosperity from outsiders. The Department of
Foreign Relations encourages would be freeloaders to "get a job" on Kaso or move
on to the lushness of Olny rather that breathe recycled air. Getting a job on
Silverring typically requires several referral letters and unemployment
compensation is only available to citizens.
It came as a bit of a surprise that Silverring seceded from Lucan's Imperium to
join the Restored Vilani Empire. Lucan's withdrawal of Lishun's naval assets,
despite threats of vargr corsairs and nations invading, drove them into the
arms of the Ziru Sirkaa. But with the Bureaux seeking greater control over the
economy and limits being placed on innovation, Silverring may have placed
itself in an equally dire predicament: economic strangulation.
Barring the occasional colony, Gishinridu has remained unoccupied through
history. Being nothing more than a snowball with few resources of worth it is
not surprising.
This total lack of value to civilians and businesses made it easy for the
Imperial Navy to establish a base here during the Vargr Campaigns (210-348). In
the centuries since then the Third Imperium kept the base as part of a second
line of defense against future vargr incursions. However in 1117, Lucan ordered
the recall of all non-reserve fleet. Seeing the Imperial border lightly
defended, vargr corsairs and nations rushed in to attack.
Gishinridu's reserves have held the line as best they can. Being next to the
RVE border, they gained some protection via proximity. Disappointed that Lucan
has abandoned Lishun, the Gishinridu naval forces have expressed no desire to
ally themselves with him. While they haven't officially declared allegiance
with the RVE, a treaty of mutual cooperation against vargr invaders exists
between them.
In the late 1080's a religious sect, known as the Ka-rosas, founded a
colony here. They maintain a vigorous amount of trade with nearby worlds.
Pilgrims come and go to preach their xenophobic gospel. Their violent racist
policies, and rumors of vargr sacrifice (in order to "restore order to the
universe"), garnered the world an amber rating. They insist on remaining
isolated from all the "unclean aliens" of the universe.
The Vilani first visited Lashlaminan over 7,000 years ago, long before the
founding of the First Imperium. These first traders discovered that all
lifeforms on the world existed in pockets scattered all over the globe. This
included the dominant sentient species, the Lass-lumminm.
The Lass-lumminm have a lifespan of 300 years and an extremely low rate of
reproduction. Like all other life forms on the world, the Lass-lumminm only
reproduce at death. This birth rate has kept the population size in check
through millenia. There is about a 1 in 10,000 chance for twins.
The mentality of the Lass-lumminm, or Lashies as the scouts are want to
call them, conflicted with that of the Vilani. They believe that the individual
is supreme. Maximum freedom should be available to all and they should be free
to pursue anything they desire, even if dishonesty is called for. For their own
protection, the Vilani labelled the world, amii (specialist trade only),
and avoided it.
A scout base was established in an uninhabited region of the world by the Third
Imperium. A team of biologists and xenosociologists operates out of the scout
base and, with escort, study the planet's lifeforms and culture. The
Lass-lumminm constitute 95% of the UWP population digit.
The amber rating remains in place as offworlders should exercise caution when
dealing with the Lass-lumminm. Although the Lass-lumminm are eager to trade with
offworlders, the old saying "let the buyer beware" should be considered rule
number one when dealing with them, as they have few scruples.
The First Imperium passed over Larkarda. The presence of sulfur compounds in its
atmosphere made this otherwise habitable world inhospitable. With so many more
habitable planets around, it was hard to justify establishing a colony here. Not
one to pass on a challenge, the world was finally settled by Solomani during
the Rule of Man.
Those early settlers discovered that Larkarda's local plant life made for exotic
food and drink. Even the native animals proved to be quite edible. These were
exported to many nearby worlds. Still, the atmosphere's irritant quality
required the colonists to live in domes. Once the Long Night fell, the
world's population shrank to 10% of its original size.
After the establishment of the Third Imperium, offworlders from the desert world
of Phago (Lishun 0810) came to Larkarda. It wasn't long before they
seized power and claimed the world for Phago. The descendants of the original
Phagoans still hold much of the wealth and power on Larkarda and they live in
extensive and plush domed dwellings.
In the last few decades, several million vargr refugees, fleeing corsairs in the
Extents, have settled on Larkarda. They continue to reside in "reservations",
which are the older, obsolete settlements that the humans no longer inhabit.
Environmental accidents are common and thousands of vargr have died.
In 1125, Larkardan independence groups, notably Equal Rights for Vargr
(ER4V) and the Larkardan Liberation Army (LLA), launched terrorist
campaigns in an effort to spur public pressure to get the Phagoan Authority to
begin negotiations to address their concerns.
Apmudurduna is one of many small worlds whose atmosphere is the result of
terraforming. While its sister moons and parent gas giant provide enough
gravitational tug of war to keep a sub-ice surface ocean liquid, its red dwarf
sun provides meager heat. The First Imperium started the practice of bombarding
its surface with small moonlets. The impacts provide enough volatiles for a
meager, and temporary, atmosphere. The world is overdue for another strike as
atmospheric pressure has dropped to 0.14 atm and cooled to an average of
-57.2°C. If something isn't done sometime over the next few decades, its
atmosphere will dissipate to "trace."
The Apmudurduna system primarily serves as a refueling stopover, an interstellar
truck stop. Besides supporting interstellar traffic, other local industries are
primarily ore and volatiles extraction and refining, as the system's four gas
giants have numerous moons to exploit.