Rekhron


Type: Mountainous rainforest.
Function: Undeveloped world.
Region: Border Regions.
Trade Route: Breakneck Run.
Sector: Yaeger Sector.
Strategic Location: At the edge of the Yaeger Sector, outside of any of the major spheres of influence.
Temperature: 120% standard.
Atmosphere: Thick, with much higher than average percentages of water vapor and nitrogen.
Hydrosphere: 71% of the surface of Rekhron is covered in water, of which 94% has a salinity of between 1% and 3%.
Gravity: 130% standard.
Terrain: Broken, with large numbers of cliffs, rift valleys and volcanic activity, caused by high amounts of movement within the tectonic plates of the world.
Mineral Resources: Some reserves of gold and diamonds, particularly in the areas of high volcanic activity. Smaller reserves of silver, copper, nickel, and quantazine.
Length of Day: 29 standard hours.
Length of Year: 310 local days.
Sapient Species: The nocturnal, gliding Shastam are the only known sentient species of Rekhron.
Capital City: Shastam families are nomadic, having no fixed cities of any type. The largest of the failed development ventures of the world is the Laconis Combine, a very large mining facility.
Other Cities: Rekhron is dotted with failed mining ventures of various sorts, most of which have been partially or completely reclaimed by the forests.
Starport: None.
Population (within +/- 1%): 9,310,800 Shastam.
Government: Tribal (Family).
Tech Level: Neolithic.
Major Exports: None.
Major Imports: None.
System: Hurabine
Star: Hurab
Name Planet Type Moons
DomuAirless Rock0
RekhronTerrestrial1
KalthisDry Terrestrial3
AluIce World0
GredonAirless Rock2
SalforGas Giant9
NaardGas Giant10
Hurab-8Gas Giant5
Hurab-9Airless Rock2
Hurab-10Airless Rock0
Hurab-11Airless Rock1
Hurab-12Artificial Satellite0

System Capsule:

Domu: Domu is a shortening of the Shastam name for this world, which mean "The light of new sun dawning", Domu is a completely molten world.
Rekhron: See above.
Kalthis: The full Shastam name for this world means "Moon's companion", and it is inhabited by an number of races of airborne, sentient fungi.
Alu: "The torch that drives away" is a particularly bright world, which is home to a large subsurface mining operation, a product of independent prospectors.
Gredon: "The old one drifting" is a small, pale grey world, with little of interest to recommend it.
Salfor: This giant, deep crimson world is known to the Shastam as "The eye of the destroyer", and is thought to be a source of great evil. There are some ruins on one of Salfor's moons, but they have yet to be investigated in any serious manner.
Naard: Smaller than Salfor and much more distant, This bright yellow world is barely visible on Rekhron, and as "The spear of the distant" is seen as a counter to Salfor's malignance.
Hurab-8: Around the same size as Naard, Hurab-8 is too far from Rekhron to be visible to the naked eye, and is thus not figured in the native cosmology. Several of the moons of Hurab-8 contain large quantities of Tumanium, a rare ore useful in the construction of superior quality hyperdrive units, but these reserves have yet to be discovered and exploited.
Hurab-9: A relatively large world, Hurab-9 apparently originated in another solar system, and was drawn into Hurab's orbit late in it's planetary history.
Hurab-10: Much smaller than 9, Hurab-10 is apparently the remnant of a larger planet destroyed at around the time that 9 was drawn into Hurab's orbit.
Hurab-11: Hurab-11 and it's moon, 11a, are though to both be parts of the same world as 10 once was, though both 11 and it's moon are larger than 10.
Hurab-12: Cataloged as essentially a lump of volcanic rock, Hurab-12 is actually a spaceship of some sort, albeit covered in a thick layer of obsidian, and may hold the secrets of an early, pre- Republic spacegoing civilization. It is also not inconceivable that the 12 was somehow responsible for the destruction of the planet whose debris form 10, 11, and 11a.

Planetary Capsule:

Flora and fauna: The warmth and moisture of Rekhron, combined with immense fertility of the soil have made Rekhron a salubrious environment for the development of numerous species. Typically classified as a rainforest world, Rekhron is home to an array of life even wider than that of most rainforests. Defined by large volcanic mountains and steep cliffs, the flora of Rekhron has developed forms capable of clinging to even the most vertical of surfaces. The blue giant lianna has been known to drop tendrils down into the very cauldron of volcanos, and the creeper mango can be found on numerous cliffs with negative inclinations. In addition to these particularly adventurous species and thousands like them, Rekhron is also home to the sort of cathedral tree that are a common feature of rainforests everywhere, as well as the vines, shrubs, ferns, and orchids that one would expect. Of particular note are the yellow star orchids, small flowers whose nectar can be refined into a powerful analgesic, used by the Shastam in herbal medicine, and the death orchid, a deadly carnivore who uses soporific spores to incapacitate it's prey.

The fauna of Rekhron is equally varied, from the giant chintia, a massive bipedial rodent that can reach ten meters in height, to the dwarf whitefly, a persistently annoying pest. Some of the other notable creatures of Rekhron include the mischievous gliding spider monkeys, who enjoy stealing just about anything shiny or otherwise interesting, the bahare, a giant relative of the weasel who can prove a deadly, insanely homicidal, and tenacious fighter, the shagreen viper, whose poison is lethal enough to kill a full grown chinta in four seconds, and the gold backed mril, whose scent glands can produce chemicals that induce tearing in the eyes of just about any animal in the known universe. There are hundreds of thousands of other species native to Rekhron, each with their own peculiarities, and most of which have been noticed and named by the Shastam, a feat almost unparalleled by a society as primitive as theirs.

Sentient Species: The nocturnal, gliding Shastam are the only sentient species native to Rekhron. These predatory creatures have worked tirelessly to protect Rekhron from exploitation.

History: Over the years, numerous space level civilizations have discovered Rekhron, and many of those civilizations have seen great value in the planet. The climate is warm, the soil fertile, and there are substantial reserves of rare metals that are relatively accessible. However, despite these inducements to colonization, there has never been a colony planted on Rekhron that lasted for more than a few years, and the reason for that is the Shastam.

With an ingrown ecological conscience born of an essentially animist religion that has the trees of the forest as central deities, the Shastam are hostile to development simply because of the disruption it is bound to cause to the environment. While not averse to taking on settlers with bow and spear, the Shastam are generally aware that that is not a method that will succeed against most cultures with superior weaponry. For that reason, they tend to use much more subtle techniques, using their knowledge of the wildlife against the interlopers.

A traditional Shastam assault against a colony would include such attacks as secreting death orchid pods around the settlement, burying milarm grubs near the compound, and hiding a pregnant shagreen viper where it is likely to get stepped on. Sooner or later the costs that the native wildlife inflict on the operation will cause it to fold, and the Shastam are very patient individuals. For that reason, despite the natural wealth of Rekhron, it remains unclaimed by any of the major powers.
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