Perchta

System: Perchta
Hex Location: 1328
Star Type: Single M6 VI
Number of Worlds: 14
Gas Giants: 2
Planetoid Belt: Kuiper belt and asteroid belt

Starport Type: E
World Size: Earth-sized
Atmosphere Type: Earth-like
Surface Water: 85%
Population: Medium (94 million)
Political Affiliation: Seraean Empire, Outremer, Principality of Tan Kajak
Tags: Death world, Local Specialty, Xenophilia
Notes: The native inhabitants of Perchta are relatively primitive.  Dangerous conditions on the planet meant that they early lost much of the tech that the original settlers arrived with, and they were unable to develop more of it.  Their ethnic origin is unknown, but probably mixed Earth, Altairan and maybe something else.  They have dark eyes, "icy" colored skin and dark blue hair, for the most part; a kind of unusual combination that the Seraeans in particular find oddly and exotically attractive (kind of like Seraeans with a bit of blue, they say.)

Today, they live in relatively protected enclaves and cities, where they have thrived and their population has grown.  This is due to the arrival of the Umbral Crusaders, who built these cities.  Most importantly, these Umbral Crusaders used their high tech fighters and military might to beat back the gigantic, voracious predators that have made life on Perchta so dangerous to the natives that they couldn't expend any of their personal capital for generations (since before the fall of the Marian Empire when the settlers were effectively "lost" from the galaxy) on doing anything except trying to survive.  These gigantic life-forms, which come in a bewildering array of forms and shapes, are not gone, of course, but have learned to avoid the cities of the Seraeans, except when they get really cranky.  This does happen on occasion, at which point the maddened beast tears the town, kills hundreds if not thousands or more of people, until finally chased off or killed by the Seraean war machine.

There are persistent and disquieting rumors that the beasts are evolving to better face the Seraean weapons, and that one day in the near future they will be as intractable to the Seraeans as they were to the native Perchtans before their arrival, but others dismiss this as crazy talk.

Because of the perception that that Seraean conquerors tamed the wild beasts and raised the standard of living for the natives, they see them as deserving almost whatever tribute that they wish, although as they gradually become more and more aware of the greater galactic context, they are becoming more and more likely to simply try and flee the world if they can find a way to do so.  But today, they still provide tribute in the form of slaves that go to Seraean nobility, mostly, as well as highly prized and valuable items made from elements of the corpses of the slain beasts, including items made from their amazingly tough hide, bones, and armored scutes especially.