Arsallum

System: Arsallum
Hex Location: 2333
Star Type: Single M5 V
Number of Worlds: 8
Gas Giants: N
Planetoid Belt: Cometary belt

Starport Type: B
World Size: Earth-sized
Atmosphere Type: Earth-like
Surface Water: 20%
Population: Medium (400 million)
Political Affiliation: Vorgan Than Viceroyalty (Seraean Empire)
Tags: Regional dominance, Warlock Academy, Tomb World
Notes: The capital world of the Vorgan Than Viceroyalty and the oldest settlement in the Vorgan Than.  In fact, it's the whole reason that the Empire turned its gaze this direction in the first place; as they allied with scattered Old Ones cults, the Idacharians wanted to reclaim an old world that they had once controlled from the time of the Old Kingdoms, before even the rise of the Marian Empire.  Arsallum had been abandoned for many centuries, with the exception of scattered reports of bands of pirates or worse.  An expedition sponsored by the Empire, but staffed with more Idacharians than Seraeans came to Arsallum, cleared the planet of its refuse, and established new colonies.

Ancient Idacharian tomb

What they found was that the planet was a vast graveyard; millions of old tombs of Idacharians dating back thousands of years were piled across the dry, rocky surface.  Death sages had picked over much of the world in past years, looting tombs when possible, stealing even the bodies in some cases.  But there was a treasure trove of information about the Old One cult, its early years, and the daemons and other malevolent entities from the Outer Darkness that the early cult was familiar with—much of which had been lost in the intervening years.  This isn't always a good thing, even for occultists, as learning about these entities often calls their attention, and many do not survive even hearing of them, much less learning how to make any use of the occult knowledge the old cult used to have.

Modern Imperial archaeologists estimate that they've only barely scratched the surface of what can yet be discovered here in terms of occult information.  This prompted a flood of interested warlocks and others.  The colonial bureaucracy is second only to guilds that sponsor exploration and categorization of the many, many tombs on Arsallum, and the Arsallum Academy; one of the finest warlock academies in the entire New Alderamin sector (if one that's fairly sinister compared to many others.)

Arsallan cyber-corpse

Alongside the colonists, the haunted graveyards that make up much of the continental interiors (the modern settlements are mostly on the coastlines of the modest seas and oceans that Arsallum does have) gravely disquieting wildlife roams the landscape; much of it clearly the result of thaumaturgical experimentation, or cross-breeding with monstrous DNA from beyond the confines of the normal universe.  Lingering pirates may yet have strongholds in the barren wastes, and there are even old settlements of those who succumbed to madness while exploring the ruins, and yet live in oddly dysfunctional yet lingering villages of the insane.  Death sages still come here, and some may yet linger from before the establishment of the colony, which is not surprising, given the proximity to Voormellei, although they are rare.

The general lack of moral compass associated with the death sages and the Imperials both has meant that a great many disturbing things have come out of the research on Arsallum.  One of the worst is a new kind of cyber-corpse zombie-like drone that can serve as a menial, as a foot soldier, or in any number of other capacities.  They are not hard or expensive to create, so on Arsallum (and increasingly elsewhere in Vorgan Than and elsewhere among Imperials) they are taking the roles that robots serve in other cultures.

The Vorgans particularly like to turn the corpses of their enemies into cyber-corpses, to better intimidate them if they can.  This has occasionally backfired, and Arsallum has endured a few raids, and even more serious events that bordered on turning to war with the Carrick and the Reavers, and a few others, but in general, things have calmed down in recent years.  There are still numerous cyber-corpses on Arsallum, however, and those from there frequently travel with them.