Shuaa


Type: Heavy gravity savannah.
Function: Homeworld and port.
Region: Border Regions.
Trade Route: Long Path.
Sector: Yaeger Sector.
Strategic Location: At the center of the Confederation of Unaligned World's sphere of influence.
Temperature: 127% Standard.
Atmosphere: Thick, but with lower than average concentrations of oxygen.
Hydrosphere: 34% of the surface of Shuaa is covered with water, 97% of which has a salinity between 2% and 4.3%.
Gravity: 454% Standard.
Terrain: Rolling hills, marshlands.
Mineral Resources: Substantial reserves of duridium and naturally refined crystalline Amaerth. Some small deposits of Opaline Sunstones and precious metals.
Length of Day: 34 standard hours.
Length of Year: 303 local days.
Sapient Species: Shuumar.
Capital City: Thandlar.
Other Cities: Umpiron, Narasin, Melktor are the largest other cities of the world.
Starport: Thandlar houses a planetary class port. The other major cities each have standard class ports, and there are several smaller facilities scattered across the planet. Shuua's moon, Athuraa, is the site of a partially completed galaxy class port, which currently functions in the planetary range.
Population (within +/- 1%): 5,723,843,992,800 Shuumar
Government: The Shuumar are currently ruled by a direct democracy, which appoints a military commander for five year terms, and an ambassador to the Confederation Council, for an equal term.
Tech Level: Space.
Major Exports: Hyron grain, beef Borchuk, mid tech.
Major Imports: High tech.

System: Banabarin
Star: Banabar (single mid-sized green)
Name Planet Type Moons
ThamuirDesert World2
IlbasarMarsh World1
ShuuaHigh Gravity Terrestrial1
MasepGas Giant19

System Capsule:

Thamuir: This dry and arid world is rich in numerous metallic compounds, and is the site of a Shuumar mining colony.
Ilbasar: Archeological evidence seems to indicate that this world once held sentient life until an asteroid caused a nuclear winter.
Shuua: See Below
Masep: This pale ocher world houses several Shuumar gas mining cities.

Planetary Capsule:

Flora and fauna: The terrain of Shuua is defined by the Gla-shu savannah, a vast grassland region that stretches nearly from pole to pole. The grasses of the savannah include the whipsaw, the perinon, and the yellow broadflower. Scattered across the grasslands are individual stands of tree that are uniformly short and squat, either having stubby branches, or longer branches spread out across the ground. Despite the surface similarities between these types of trees, they are genetically quite different, coming from seventeen different species. Particularly worthy of note are the deeprooted Hamkri, which bring up water in even the driest areas, and the highly toxic Temprona, whose needle sharp poisonous runners kill anything that walks across them to provide fertilizers for the tree. The only other major flora type on Shuua is the pyramid forests. Clusters of the bizarre looking, uniformly pyramidical Fluon trees slowly spread out across the savannah until they reach the limits of their fluid supplies. The pyramidical shape of the Fluon is designed to allow them to survive, and maintain structural integrity in Shuaa's heavy gravity.

The savannahs of Shuua are filled with life. The large, burly Bortchuk are the primary herbivores of the plains, though the deerlike (though heavily limbed) Ghren, and the small and reptilian M'lgrim are also common. The flat bodied Ghrimbar lions, the savannah pythons, and the web spinning Flenmdar prey on these creatures, and on any Shuumar who lets his guard down. No avian species can remain airborne in Shuua's gravity field, so instead of vultures, the fast running Khlel lizards fill the scavenger role. The wildlife of the pyramid forests is quite different. Numerous varieties of small lagomorphs feed on the Fluon, and they are in turn preyed upon by the Ractagin spiders and the forest vipers. The Fluon trees themselves break down dead organic material, negating the need for scavengers.

Sentient Species: The short, stout, and muscular Shuumar are the only native sentient species.

History: The incredibly dense core of Shuua has given it a gravity even higher than that which would be expected due to it's large size. Life was slow to develop on Shuua, and when it did develop, it developed in particularly robust and powerful forms, capable of withstanding the effects of the planet's great gravity. The Shuumar were as slow to develop as many of the other species of their world, taking millions of years to reach sentience.

The Shuumar developed hyperspace technology on their own, and slowly started expanding out to nearby systems. The Yrotha expansion never reached the Shuumar's borders, and they never found any need to develop military technology. When the Empire came into the sector, the Shuumar fell, almost without a struggle. The physically powerful Shuumar were shipped off their homeworld to serve as slaves in Imperial facilities across the sector. On Shuua itself, the Imperial presence was limited to facilities which used modified repulsor technology to moderate the intensity of the planet's gravitational field.

The Shuumar were very docile slaves, and the Imperial overlords believed them to be so cowed that they neglected to take even the most basic security precautions. When the Shuumar finally decided to revolt, it was so unexpected that it took the Imperium completely by surprise. Shuumar had to return to their homeworld for one month a year to retain the edge of their high gravity power, and they successfully disabled Imperial communication on their world for a full twelve standard months, enabling all the Shuumar to be freed. Since that time the Imperium has revoked the Shuumar's status as a slave race, in an attempt to regain control, and then attacked, in order to destroy them utterly before their model could be copied.

The battle over Shuua was brief and intense. The Imperium was unaware that the Shuumar had captured three Victory class Star Destroyers, and had been working on the construction of military craft. Not only did the Shuumar win the battle, their model was copied, and now Shuua is the unofficial capital of the Confederation of Unaligned Worlds, with meetings taking place in one of the old Imperial pressure domes, to allow the non-high gravity races a chance to remain upright.
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