Strategic Location: The Imperium Sphere of influence.
Temperature: 180% standard.
Atmosphere: Standard, with somewhat higher than usual
percentages of methane.
Hydrosphere: 48% of the surface of Skathos is covered
in water, though the atmosphere has far greater concentrations of
water vapor than usual for planets with that amount of surface
water, due to the world's thin crust, which causes numerous
volcanic eruptions and other seismic disturbances.
Gravity: 184% Standard.
Terrain: Tropical Rainforest.
Mineral Resources: Substantial reserves of iron and
duridium, most of which have been fully played out.
Length of Day: 45 standard hours.
Length of Year: 300 local days.
Sapient Species: Skathos is the homeworld of the Skathelon.
Capital City: Suthuk Al is the capital city of Skathos
and of all the Skathelon.
Other Cities: Masthus, Osthicas Shee, and Thesko are
the other major cities of Skathos.
Starport: Suthuk Al has a galaxy class port, and there
are numerous smaller ports across the planet. The largest port on
the planet is the galaxy class military port at Shar Ulim, the site
of the first Skathelon flight into space.
Population (within +/- 1%): 23,550,345,010 Skathelon.
Government: The planet is ruled by a council of elders,
who control all the internal matters of the Skathelon.
Interstellar policies are decided by the Pangritai Central Council,
which meets on Eshabien, a world that was captured by the unified
Pangritai.
Tech Level: Space.
Major Exports: Warriors, technicians, manufactured
goods.
Major Imports: Foods, Imperial technology, Imperial
workers
System: Skar-Athas
Star: Skar-Ath
Name
Planet Type
Moons
Sheketh-Om
Swamp World
3
Shathrak
Toxic World
1
Skathos
Terrestrial
4
Thisoth
Ice World
1
Mithor
Frigid Rock
2
System Capsule:
Sheketh-Om: The first of the worlds that the Skathelon
expanded out to after they developed space flight.
Shathrak: Naturally highly radioactive, Shathrak is mined by
the Skathelon for nuclear fuel, and rods for their power plants.
Skathos: See above.
Thisoth: Frigid, but habitable, Thisoth has never been
settled by Skathelon, due to their preference for warmer climes.
Mithor: Located at the edge of the Skar Athas, Mithor is the
site of the system defence fleet base.
Planetary Capsule:
Flora and fauna: Skathos is a typical tropical
rainforest world. Once past the forest margin, the forest has
something of the air of a cathedral, with little undergrowth and
massive, arching tree trunks. Numerous varieties of broad leafed
plants and woody vines can be found in the forests, as can some
truly spectacular orchids and pitcher plants, some of which are
large enough to swallow full sized humans. These forests are home
to a wide variety of life forms, from velvet furred warblers, to
arachnid monkeys, to razor fanged night serpents.
Sentient Species: The massive reptilian Skathelon are
the only sentient life on the planet.
History: During the early years of it's civilization,
Skathos went through thousands of years of conflict between warring
petty kings and princes. Contacted by galactic traders of some
sort (the records are unclear), the Skathelon acquired the secrets
of hyperspace travel, and began expanding out to the stars, still
bearing the disunity of their homeworld. The feuding Skathelon
colonies proved easy prey to the Yrotha, and they soon found
themselves enslaved. Skathos itself held out a bit longer, but
soon fell to the Yrotha.
During the years of Yrotha domination, the Skathelon became
organized under the council of elders, and when the Yrotha grew
weak, the Skathelon rebelled against their Yrotha masters, and soon
found themselves both independent and in possession of some of the
Yrotha's most powerful warships. Working from these models, the
Skathelon soon developed a relatively high level of technology and
began their war of conquest. While their fleet was not as advanced
as that of many of their foes, it was somewhat larger, and the
Skathelon are fearsome ground fighters, large enough to use high
scale weaponry without adjustment.
As the Skathelon expanded, they incorporated other races into
their empire, using them as sources of labor and technical know-
how. Skathos reflected this prosperity and power, as extrastellar
goods and slaves poured into the economy. The world was soon
dotted with massive estates, the products of the years of plunder.
The Skathelon seemed destined to rule the sector, until they
met the same stumbling block that the Yrotha had, the Ien Yaeger
humans and their allies. The Skathelon war ended in a tactical
draw, as the Yaeger were not able to penetrate into the Skathelon's
core, and the Skathelon were not able to capture the Yaeger
planets. However, the Yaeger succeeded in the end, because once
the Skathelon stopped expanding, their empire began to falter, and
soon collapsed under it's own weight. Skathos's economic collapse
was even more dramatic. No longer able to support itself, when the
flow of resources from newly conquered areas was cut off, the
planet suffered from famine and rioting. Most of the merchant and
military estates were destroyed and looted. Only the council of
Elders remained untouched, protected by the full force of the
Skathelon military.
When the Asber began their expansion,
the Skathelon quickly formed an alliance with them, which resolved
the situation on Skathos. Genetic investigation soon determined
that the physical similarities between the two races were a good
deal more than skin deep. The Skathelon and the Asber are genetic
siblings, both descending from a far more primitive race, the
Gritai. The Asber-Skathelon alliance became the Pan-Gritai, and
later the Pangritai.
When the Empire came, the Pangritai were one of their most
enthusiastic recruits, seeing the Empire as an opportunity to
challenge the then superior military might of the Ien Yaeger. They
soon found out that they had signed up for more than an attack at
an old foe, but by that time Doran had large enough forces on their
homeworlds that they could not change their minds. Skathos has
recovered somewhat, though the Imperial presence and the relative
austerity that Imperial government imposes has changed the pace of
life there somewhat.