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.
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
Thamuir
Desert World
2
Ilbasar
Marsh World
1
Shuua
High Gravity Terrestrial
1
Masep
Gas Giant
19
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.