Post by vargr1105 on May 8, 2012 15:27:43 GMT -6
0 - INTRODUCTION
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Musical Theme: k003.kiwi6.com/hotlink/juqbu5k3gz/xiralta.mp3
Known then, that it is the year 62,011 AD...
Our tale begins in the world of Xiraltá, a minor planet orbiting a red-orange star smaller and cooler than Sol.
Xiraltá is overwhelmingly reddish in hue where its surface is not covered by the ever-receding patches of green vegetation introduced from off-world long ago, thanks to a soil rich in bauxite. Those that have been to old Mars notice a certain resemblance when viewing the world from orbit.
The planet was slated for long-term terraforming by House Thurd with little priority, as more than one other star in the vicinity held either better prospects or even Garden-class worlds. The orbit of Xiraltá was slightly altered to give it a Terran day-night cycle but the extremely limited green-zone orbit of its star didn't permit a major change of the length of its year.
The process rate was decelerated and eventually abandoned completely. About the time the native land fauna and flora (with the exception of a particularly resistant red-brownish moss) had been mostly replaced by imported species, prospectors on the second continent discovered uncommonly vast quantities of radioactives and rare metals. To this day Imperial planetologists are still at a loss to explain this occurrence satisfactorily in a world that is not particularly rich in mineral resources; the most widely accepted theory attributes the origin of these fields to a planetary collision or metal-rich meteoric showers long ago.
The colonization of Xiraltá shifted from attempting to create a garden/agricultural planet to massive exploitation of the 2nd continent's mineral wealth; and has remained thus since. Vast numbers of proles were transported from offworld and set to work on the mines. The mining was done seeking only efficiency and production; as time went by the 2nd continent's surface became unfit to live, tainted by radioactive particles and waste products.
The proles now live in large underground settlements. The oceans fared little better, being used as a dumping ground for the mining activity. The shores of the 2nd continent are dead, and the rest of the planet's marine ecology is degrading, nearing a point of no return.
Airborne radioactive particles taint the atmosphere and shift around with the winds. Every settlement on the first continent has detectors and a system of alarms to warn the locals when masks or filters should be donned to go outside. The particles in the air rarely get to very high levels in the 1st continent, but sometimes strong intercontinental winds make people shut themselves in for weeks.
The higher classes live mostly in Domurbias, a local colloquialism to refer to town-sized settlements away from the city fully enclosed in a transparent dome. Sealed from the outside the Domurbias have their own atmosphere, climate control and even ecologies, richer, greener and healthier than what is found outside on the planet's surface.
When Xiraltá began turning into a world "not very nice to live", it was handed down to Minor House Pixul, a subject noble lineage of House Thurd. As long as the mineral profits keep coming, the Thurds care not how their subjects handle the world.
Today the ecological damage is reaching alarming levels. The introduced ecologies on the 1st continent are receding and local farming yields have dropped. The loss of land and sea flora decreased the rate of oxygen replenishment and the percentage of that gas in the atmosphere is nearing catastrophic lows.
Despite all this, easy money and a lax attitude by the authorities have made Xiraltá into a beacon for many Shadows, traders and persons of questionable repute. Several local and at least one interstellar Crime Syndic are known to operate here. And the only Starport in town won't pose too many questions about the provenience of your cargo.
SHIP'S LIBRARY PLANETARY DATA
System Title: Xiraltá
Location: Ketyel House Thurd Space
Ownership/Administration: Private feif of House Minor Pixul, subject of House Thurd.
Surface Gravity: 0.92 norm
Atmosphere: Standard Terran nitrogen/oxygen/inert mix with variable level of contamination by radioactive particles. Oxygen percentage is 19.9% and declining.
Hydrographics: 81.2% percent, mainly shallow seas. Three major landmasses.
Surface Mean Temperature: 18ºC, ample variation during day-night cycle.
Local Day: Terran-standard.
Local Year: 272.64 days-standard.
Moons & Satellites: None.
Ecology: Primitive fauna and flora mostly extinct on land, oceans undergoing beginning of possible mass extinction event. Most land biosphere composed of introduced Terran & Alien species. Most ecological niches currently in regression.
Tech Level: Mixed, lacks sufficient native industry to maintain a Super-Scientific society without interstellar trade.
Population: Precise figures unknown. Resident and transient population combined estimated between a quarter and a half a Billion.
Major Exports: Lanthanum, Iridium, Uranium, trans-Uranic elements, Rare Earth metals.
Minor Imports: Technology, Luxury goods and foods.
Starports: One (1). Super-Scientific, surface facilities near planetary capital. No Highports present. Abandoned spaceport facilities on second continent.
-------------------
Musical Theme: k003.kiwi6.com/hotlink/juqbu5k3gz/xiralta.mp3
Known then, that it is the year 62,011 AD...
Our tale begins in the world of Xiraltá, a minor planet orbiting a red-orange star smaller and cooler than Sol.
Xiraltá is overwhelmingly reddish in hue where its surface is not covered by the ever-receding patches of green vegetation introduced from off-world long ago, thanks to a soil rich in bauxite. Those that have been to old Mars notice a certain resemblance when viewing the world from orbit.
The planet was slated for long-term terraforming by House Thurd with little priority, as more than one other star in the vicinity held either better prospects or even Garden-class worlds. The orbit of Xiraltá was slightly altered to give it a Terran day-night cycle but the extremely limited green-zone orbit of its star didn't permit a major change of the length of its year.
The process rate was decelerated and eventually abandoned completely. About the time the native land fauna and flora (with the exception of a particularly resistant red-brownish moss) had been mostly replaced by imported species, prospectors on the second continent discovered uncommonly vast quantities of radioactives and rare metals. To this day Imperial planetologists are still at a loss to explain this occurrence satisfactorily in a world that is not particularly rich in mineral resources; the most widely accepted theory attributes the origin of these fields to a planetary collision or metal-rich meteoric showers long ago.
The colonization of Xiraltá shifted from attempting to create a garden/agricultural planet to massive exploitation of the 2nd continent's mineral wealth; and has remained thus since. Vast numbers of proles were transported from offworld and set to work on the mines. The mining was done seeking only efficiency and production; as time went by the 2nd continent's surface became unfit to live, tainted by radioactive particles and waste products.
The proles now live in large underground settlements. The oceans fared little better, being used as a dumping ground for the mining activity. The shores of the 2nd continent are dead, and the rest of the planet's marine ecology is degrading, nearing a point of no return.
Airborne radioactive particles taint the atmosphere and shift around with the winds. Every settlement on the first continent has detectors and a system of alarms to warn the locals when masks or filters should be donned to go outside. The particles in the air rarely get to very high levels in the 1st continent, but sometimes strong intercontinental winds make people shut themselves in for weeks.
The higher classes live mostly in Domurbias, a local colloquialism to refer to town-sized settlements away from the city fully enclosed in a transparent dome. Sealed from the outside the Domurbias have their own atmosphere, climate control and even ecologies, richer, greener and healthier than what is found outside on the planet's surface.
When Xiraltá began turning into a world "not very nice to live", it was handed down to Minor House Pixul, a subject noble lineage of House Thurd. As long as the mineral profits keep coming, the Thurds care not how their subjects handle the world.
Today the ecological damage is reaching alarming levels. The introduced ecologies on the 1st continent are receding and local farming yields have dropped. The loss of land and sea flora decreased the rate of oxygen replenishment and the percentage of that gas in the atmosphere is nearing catastrophic lows.
Despite all this, easy money and a lax attitude by the authorities have made Xiraltá into a beacon for many Shadows, traders and persons of questionable repute. Several local and at least one interstellar Crime Syndic are known to operate here. And the only Starport in town won't pose too many questions about the provenience of your cargo.
SHIP'S LIBRARY PLANETARY DATA
System Title: Xiraltá
Location: Ketyel House Thurd Space
Ownership/Administration: Private feif of House Minor Pixul, subject of House Thurd.
Surface Gravity: 0.92 norm
Atmosphere: Standard Terran nitrogen/oxygen/inert mix with variable level of contamination by radioactive particles. Oxygen percentage is 19.9% and declining.
Hydrographics: 81.2% percent, mainly shallow seas. Three major landmasses.
Surface Mean Temperature: 18ºC, ample variation during day-night cycle.
Local Day: Terran-standard.
Local Year: 272.64 days-standard.
Moons & Satellites: None.
Ecology: Primitive fauna and flora mostly extinct on land, oceans undergoing beginning of possible mass extinction event. Most land biosphere composed of introduced Terran & Alien species. Most ecological niches currently in regression.
Tech Level: Mixed, lacks sufficient native industry to maintain a Super-Scientific society without interstellar trade.
Population: Precise figures unknown. Resident and transient population combined estimated between a quarter and a half a Billion.
Major Exports: Lanthanum, Iridium, Uranium, trans-Uranic elements, Rare Earth metals.
Minor Imports: Technology, Luxury goods and foods.
Starports: One (1). Super-Scientific, surface facilities near planetary capital. No Highports present. Abandoned spaceport facilities on second continent.