Monday, May 01, 2017

Gesium

System: Gesium
Hex Location: 2129
Star Type: Triple G1 V, D (close), B4 V (distant)
Number of Worlds: 14
Gas Giants: 4
Planetoid Belt: Comet and 2 asteroid belts

Starport Type: B
World Size: Earth-sized
Atmosphere Type: Dangerous (effects are immediate, but not life-threatening—operating without a filter makes you sick, -3 to all d20 rolls)
Surface Water: 20%
Population: Medium sized population (40 million)
Political Affiliation: Bern Monarchy, Carrick Grand Marches
Notes: Gesium is a world shrouded in thick clouds and constant low light.  Part of a rare triple star system, the yellow star and the white dwarf make up a close pair around which the planets circle, but the blue star is a more distant companion, and has its own gas giant and other small, related planetary system.  Thick forests of strange, fungoid plants lined with bio-luminescent cells cover much of the surface, and present an edible—if not always incredibly palatable—feast for the colonists.

Typical Gesian forest
Gesium is famous for its high tech medical research as well, and they are a leading developer of cybernetic implants.  It's also famous for other high tech items as well.  Real military-grade stuff, I mean—one of the biggest challenges the people of Gesium face is the constant threat of espionage and smuggling.  Because of this, they have the full support of the Arch Duke in developing top of the line security as well.  Gesium is also infamous as being a difficult place to visit casually—although their security is certainly not completely air-tight.

Gesium also is a world of archaeological interest.  It was once a world of the Death Sages, and some of their older buildings, cities and other items of archaeological interest remain.  In fact, there are at least a few actual Death Sages that remain, and there has been cordial contact between them and the colonists, although they mostly ignore one another.  They are reticent about their reasons for abandoning Gesium, however, as it's clear that the hold-outs are just that and that the Death Sages otherwise retreated from Gesium in the past.  Persistent rumors of there being something hidden on Gesium that frightened away even the Death Sages remain, although no hint of it has been found so far.

The colonists are Carrick-normal; Bernese people for the most part, but there were also small populations of Idacharians who, undergoing a technological dark age, lost the ability to leave their world.  Their culture had evolved somewhat, and they no longer followed the Old Ones cult—in fact, since the coming of the colonists, they've heartily embraced the Bernese churches, and most follow a Christian confessional tradition.  They've also heartily embraced the technical acumen that the colonists brought with them, and added to it some of their own know-how—although the lost the ability to make jump drives, they had thoroughly explored their system using traditional drives, and had otherwise developed many other technical wonders of various types.

NOTE: With the publication of these details for Gesium, I've finished the Carrick Grand Marches.  The next step, which I think is obvious, is to detail the four or five systems that are contiguous to the Grand Marches and mostly allied with it, to complete the little area completely.  The Carthen Colony, culturally similar, but part of the Revanchists politically, seems like it would be the next obvious target for mapping.  After that... we'll see where I decide to bounce next.

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