Lying just outside the habitable zone, Oksathughhaedzae is cold (avg temp
-16°C) and dry (30% water). Its isolation in the Windhorn (four parsecs
from its closest neighbor) made it a backwater world by default and a sought
after destination for those tired of raiding and wars. Two million people have
formed 362 nations and live as they see fit. Virtually anyone that can eke out
a living from the land they claim as their own can be a sovereign nation.
However, there is a codified set of laws that the existing nations agreed upon
centuries ago and require all newcomers to abide by. A mutual defense pact keeps
the peace and drives out anyone who refuses to abide by the rules.
Very little changed after Virus was released. Cut off from interstellar trade
for decades and lacking the technological base to maintain a starport, it fell
into disrepair and is now considered "E" class. However, it is undamaged, and
it wouldn't take much to restore its former "D" rating.
Without outside support or trade to rely on, the multitude of tiny nations
consolidated their resources and skills down to 54 nations. Survival through
co-operation proved a smart strategy. Furthermore, a concerted effort has been
made to advance the world's knowledge base. Friendly competitions have spurred
innovation and limited manufacturing has begun.
The Tagan Pack contacted Oksathughhaedzae in 1202. Due to distance and the
Tsougak Trade Federation separating the two entities, no formal trade or treaty
was established. Envoys from the Pack promised to return in the future to check
on their progress.
One of three rift worlds in the subsector, Tagan lies four parsecs from its
closest neighbor, Igodosakfell (3013). Tagan's temperature
climate made it ideally suited for agriculture. In essence, it's been the
breadbasket (or "cattle ranch" considering the vargr diet) for the
industrialized world of Igodosakfell for centuries.
The world remained independent during the formation of the Tsougak Trade
Federation due to the isolationist tendencies of its populace. It proved to
be a wise choice when the the 17th Disjuncture annexed the trade
federation. When Virus overran the pillaging polity, Tagan, who remained on its
neighbors' good sides, received ample warning and sealed itself off from the
worlds of the Tsougak Main.
Years later, an expedition reconnected with Igodosakfell. Realizing that their
sacrifice shielded Tagan from catastrophe, the Tagans sent as much aid as
possible to the Igodosakfellians and guided them in their rebuilding efforts.
Refugees have boosted Tagan's population, however the world remains a net
exporter of food and other agricultural products.
Despite Igodosakfell's recovery, Tagan remains the capital of the Tagan
Pack. The world is revered by others in the Pack for the lifeline it
extended to them. The leadership on Tagan has been careful not to abuse this
loyalty, putting the needs of the Pack ahead of its own ambitions.
The Corsairs of Oudhoegzen primarily made their living attacking
lawbreakers: belters mining without permits (Oudhoegzen has three asteroid
belts), illegal exports, smugglers, etc. And they weren't above acting as
mercenaries or raiding large corporations on occasion. They tended to leave the
little guys alone, provided they stayed within the local laws. "Bullies with a
code of ethics" was how one politician described them.
They ignored the general recruitment notice of the 17th Disjuncture,
finding their methods unsavory. In turn, the Corsairs of Oudhoegzen chose to
raid the Disjuncture's worlds instead. While the Disjuncture could've crushed
them if they'd brought their military might to bear, they were too consumed with
their mission to be bothered.
Not joining in the fray saved Oudhoegzen. The corsairs heard through their
connections about poisoned booty and went into retirement while the rest of the
sector burned.
Years later the Corsairs of Oudhoegzen resurfaced and ventured back into the
subsector. They've held their world together by scavenging the ruined worlds
for the parts people have needed and selling it to them for a reasonable price.
When the Tagan Pack reached out to Oudhoegzen, the world joined in despite the
"nay" vote of the Corsairs who preferred to be left out of political
entanglements. While the Corsairs abide by the Pack's few rules, they are not
above finding ways to provide for Oudhoegzen and earning a profit along the way.
One of the less successful members of the Tsougak Trade Federation.
The generally tropical climate didn't attract many settlers, perhaps due to the
frequent fierce cyclones (or the sand fleas). The humans that settled here
didn't seem to mind.
With no central government, few local laws, and no major industry to exploit,
the 17th Disjuncture ignored the world and took its indoctrination efforts
elsewhere. The official word was that the world's culture was considered
acceptable as is.
The world was attacked by a few Vakh ships over the decades but managed to
survive. The system's four gas giants proved more convenient a refuelling source
than descending into the gravity well. The threat rallied the population to
organize itself to an extent. Rather than going their separate ways, groups
coordinated their efforts with others. The end result was that most of their
technological base was preserved along with their starport, albeit in diminished
capacity.
The world was contacted by the Tagan Pack in 1202. Unbeknownst to them, the
revived Tsougak Trade Federation had already been there.
Before the latest Imperial Civil War, Igodosakfell served as an industrial
powerhouse for pre-stellar tech manufactured goods. It anchored the coreward end
of the former Tsougak Trade Federation, but refused to stop trading with
its rift neighbor, Tagan, an agricultural world. Theirs was
an obvious sybiotic relationship. When the trade federation was annexed by the
17th Disjuncture, it did not budge from this policy, despite assurances
that other worlds could pick up the slack.
When word of Virus reached Igodosakfell, it sent a courier to Tagan to warn its
neighbor and insisted they seal themselves off from any further traffic. This
self-sacrifice would later be greatly rewarded by the people of Tagan.
In the interim, Igodosakfell suffered repeated attacks from Virus, seeking to
exploit its industrial base and A starport to manufacture starships and robots
to further its own ends. However, Igodosakfell's tech level fell just short of
what Virus needed to thrive. Unable to maintain its hold, Virus-infected ships,
or Vakhs, opted to bombard the world in punishment.
Once the Vakhs realized Igodosakfell wasn't worth their time, they took their
wrath elsewhere. Unfortunately Igodosakfell's suffering wasn't over. Primarily
dependent upon agricultural imports, their farming community was woefully
inadequate to meet the world's needs. Famine ensued, quickly followed by civil
and international warfare. All told, over 800 million people died.
Out of one of the larger nations came a leader named Kaelthaen. Through many
trials and tribulations, he united several nations who preferred a non-violent
means of survival. His message spread, and though his alliance had to resort to
violence for self-defense, he won over a majority of the world's population.
Those that disagreed with his policies went their own way, peacefully. By the
time the Tagans arrived Igodosakfell was ready to re-build. And Kaelthaen even
recruited his critics to take part, saying, "The Tagans are here for all of us,
not just my packmates."
Working with Tagan engineers and scientists, Igodosakfell, which had fallen to
TL-7, recovered and surpassed its pre-Collapse status. Now the world functions
at TL-11, with a newly constructed naval base for defending the Pack. Resources
are now being invested into rebuilding the starport to "A" class.
Kaelthaen resigned his national presidency to devote himself fulltime to being
Igodosakfell's Urrkhoerrol ("the wolf that united us"). Although
Igodosakfell has surpassed Tagan in strength, Kaelthaen has not dropped his
allegiance to Tagan's President Aedzueras. It's a feeling of mutual admiration,
which the Pack's population finds highly admirable. Looking forward, Kaelthaen
is getting on in years and they have taken a toll on him. Pundits estimate that
he'll have the strength for only another four to six years before he'll need to
step aside. As the Urrkhoerrol is a new position that arose organically, there
is no established path or precedent for finding a successor.
Ourrgkhuzugh was a rock whose principle exports were ores mined from its
surface and the asteroid belt. The corsair band, Ngidazerrzaghz, made
their home here. While they never raided ships carrying exports, they felt that
they were entitled to first pick of the imports. As they also acted as the
system's defense force, there wasn't a whole lot anyone could do about it. The
Ngidazerrzaghz didn't abuse this power, but they lived well.
A Tagan Pack recon expedition learned that greed eventually got the better of
them. Infected merchandise was brought to their base where it quickly took hold
and snuffed them and Ourrgkhuzugh City out by exposing the inhabitants to
vacuum. Bodies in vacc suits were found but they died of puncture wounds from
various implements.
The Tagan Pack Security Force considers Ourrgkhuzugh to still be contaminated
and recommends that all citizens avoid the system.
Tsougak was the capital of the Tsougak Trade Federation before it was
forced to join the 17th Disjuncture or be invaded. While the world was
balkanized and didn't have one true leader, the nations of the world could
certainly agree upon the benefits of free trade and acted accordingly.
The world was pleasant, albeit warm, with a balanced mix of agriculture and
manufacturing. Leadership changes were always peaceful; transitions non-violent.
While many believed that resisting the Disjuncture was the right thing to do,
it was decided that war was bad for business and there was no certainty that
they would prevail. They acquiesced and advised the rest of the trade federation
to do the same.
At first, it was business as usual under Disjuncture rule. Within a year, most
of the naval base's warships were confiscated for the state's campaign against
the Imperium and neighboring states that weren't on board with their philosophy.
Over time, the Disjuncture took an increasing share of the goods manufactured
and food grown on Tsougak and the Federation's former worlds. When Tsougak's
leaders united in opposition to the strenuous demands put upon them, a military
governor was appointed to Tsougak to ensure that they met their quotas. Those
that resisted were executed.
On their initial foray up the Tsougak Main, Vakh ships encountered stiff
resistance from Disjuncture forces in the Tsougak system. Victory proved
pyrrhic, however, as most of the remaining vessels were destroyed. An
overconfident rear admiral marshalled every available ship that was still
jump-capable and set a course back down the Main to "take the fight to the
enemy." Neither he, nor any of the ships ever returned.
Left to defend itself with a naval base that only had a few ships—none of
which were in top shape—Tsougak struggled to fight back with each
encounter. A war of attrition was fought over time. The starport was lost along
with orbital cities, the shipyard was destroyed, and the naval base ran out of
ships. Fortunately, the frequency of attacks diminished and Tsougak was able to
hold onto a handful of small ships.
A year after the last Disjuncture fleet departed, there was a coup led by
Faegllidzae, a general in the local defense forces. It was followed by a violent
purge of all Disjuncture officials, and they were all summarily executed. With
justice done, Tsougak began to rebuild with Faegllidzae leading the way. Those
states with spaceflight capability patrolled the reaches of their star system
and made sure it was free of Vakh. Some of the more intrepid states insisted
that the only way to be truly secure was to explore beyond their own system,
perhaps find some salvageable ships in other systems. The Tsougak Trade
Federation was re-started in hopes of rebuilding the old trade network. Initial
forays were down the Tsougak Main into Sunggoe subsector. Having exhausted that
jump-1 route, the TTF is now exploring up the Main, towards the Tagan Pack.
Despite it's cold temperatures (-25°C avg temp), Gvunaeknun is
technically habitable. The world's sole continent lies along the equator where
the ocean remains ice free year round. While the polar latitudes are covered in
ice, an abundance of cold-tolerant life abounds beneath. The few brave souls
that resided year before the Collapse made their living preparing a regionally
popular variation of sushi, introduced by the local human population.
Before the Collapse, Gvunaeknun served primarily as a refuelling station for
ships passing back and forth to Igodosakfell. With four gas
giants in-system, many ships opted for wilderness refuelling instead of hitting
the starport. Luckily for the inhabitants, Virus followed a similar pattern.
With the starport deliberately taken offline and the locals' insignificant EM
signature, it wasn't difficult to hide. When a Tagan recon patrol made contact,
they found the world's infrastructure intact. Those refugees willing to brave
the cold resettled here and have accepted the ways of the natives, who welcomed
them with open parka-clad arms.
Loudzaedze is in the midst of its 8.5 (Imperial standard) year spring. The
ice retreats upon the world ocean and the island dwelling inhabitants return
to harvesting the sea. The influx of refugees has boosted returns from fishing
boats and archipelago farms.
The Collapse claimed the orbital starport but the downport was spared. Like
Gvunaeknun, Virus turned a blind eye toward Loudzaedze and
plowed on up the line to Igodosakfell. Once the latter
proved to be a bust, Vakhs skipped the coreward end of the Tsougak Main
and sought easier targets elsewhere.
Llaedh is a beautiful world with a temperate climate that runs a little on
the chilly side in the polar latitudes. Its distance from its sun makes for long
seasons, giving farmers enough time for a proper harvest.
A rigid, impersonal bureaucracy, a holdover from the First Imperium, has always
maintained a glacial attitude towards change. The vargr that have settled here
see this as a plus, prefering stability over the more chaotic nature of their
brethren.
Amazingly enough, this staid approach proved to be a correct one when faced with
Virus. Lacking any useful infrastructure, the system was bypassed. A rationing
of parts and supplies kept the downport functional, albeit at a reduced
capacity.
Since being contacted by the Tagan Pack, the populace has grown restless. They
see what their neighbors are trying to accomplish and wish to do the same. The
government, in an effort to retain control, has relaxed many restrictions but
still maintains tight immigration quotas. The Llaedh leadership may be forced to
change their policies to reflect the times or find themselves confronting more
drastic calls for change than they can handle.
With an average temperature of -40°C, Guekha was already an inhospitable
place. Its atmosphere is a mix of nitrogen, methane and a surprisingly large
percentage of Argon (11%). The world's oceans are covered in a 35-meter layer of
ice. Life is known to exist at depth but it has not been properly studied.
The world made its living selling mining rights to its asteroid belt and the odd
lot of compressed Argon. When word of Virus reached Guekha, the citizenry opted
to abandon the world and resettle on Gvunaeknun. The
starport was destroyed to prevent it from being infected by Virus.
Largely ignored for millennia, due to perceived limited economic
opportunities, Korstsouth branched out from fishing when geologists discovered
that the sulfur taint in the atmosphere was due to undersea volcanoes. Deep sea
mining isn't the easiest of jobs, but it appeals to some. Island chain was
pitted against island chain as each sought to exploit the newly realized mineral
wealth. Conflict often broke out over disputed areas.
This enmity proved to be disastrous when Vakh ships came upon Korstsouth. Vakh
ships overran the naval base, destroying those that resisted infection (The
locals still avoid it for fear that something may still be lurking there). They
then turned their attention to the world below. One island nation after another
was bombarded into ruin while the surrounding islands looked on with the
attitude, "Better them than us." But their stay of execution was short-lived. In
the end, their refusal to work together resulted in the loss of roughly 92% of
the population.
While the surviving island nations have maintained their sovereignity, there are
now mutual defense pacts and treaties of cooperation. The ruins of the starport
have been cleared of debris. While it isn't functional, starships can land.
When scouts from the revived Tsougak Trade Federation arrived, it was understood
that a revenue sharing plan would be established to revitalize the starport and
other lost infrastructure.
Before the Collapse, Irkoetae specialized in fruit production (tropical and
desert) and was home to a pharmaceutical research company. High carbon dioxide
levels coupled with a very warm climate made for a laid back culture as
exhaustion was all too easy. The naval base, located out among the gas giants,
utilized the planet for R-n-R.
After the Collapse, the starport fell into disrepair for lack of parts and
technical savvy. Virus ignored the mainworld and went straight for the naval
base, purging it of its occupants. It is believed to have been the base from
which Igodosakfell was attacked for years and is likely to
have attacked other worlds in the region. The Tagan Pack was forced to destroy
the base in a heated battle after infiltrating it proved impossible. It was the
Pack's first major military operation in the Wilds.
Khugz was an unwanted world for centuries after its meager lanthanum deposits
were exhausted. The planet's frigid climate, corrosive atmosphere (nitrogen,
methane, and ammonia), and seas of ammonium hydroxide made operating costs too
high. The Khugz corsairs, as ruthless as the planet itself, claimed it as their
own and established a base beneath the surface in the old mining facility. Few
disturbed them there.
With help from the Khugz's former competitors, the Tagan Pack found the base and
discovered that it had been exposed to the elements. Suspecting Virus was the
culprit, the Pack recon mission departed without extracting any ships or
equipment.
The Tagan Pack Security Force considers Khugz to still be contaminated and
recommends that all citizens avoid the system.