Ovid

History

When human explorers from Cosmid first reached Ovid in GSC 443, it was a barren rock, devoid of life with a thin atmosphere of methane and nitrogen deep in the Tartarus Sector.  Cosmid managers decided that it would be an ideal place to test out new terraforming techniques, and perform experiments far away from the human core-worlds.  Terraforming started almost immediately, and Cosmid settled a corporate colony there in GSC 480.  Ovid was named for the Roman poet who authored the Metamorphoses, in anticipation of the radical changes that could be brought to the planet.

Being in such a remote corner of the galaxy caused Ovid to develop an insular culture, connected only to Cosmid, inc. 

One of the largest experiments that dominated the colony was a study on the effects of gene-therapies and modifications on society.   All manner of experiments were conducted, creating one of the more diverse populations of any planet in the galaxy. Since many of the experiments failed in one way or another, Cosmid also set up a fairly robust safety net for those unable to contribute to the bottom line (as it was cheaper than dealing with a rebelling population of high-powered mutants).

In GSC 1016, Cosmid (now a part of the Holy Empire of Man) officially abandoned its research colony on Ovid, so it could focus its resources on fighting the Great Reckoning.  As a result, the colonists and test subjects abandoned on Ovid were left to find their own way.  In GSC 1070, Ovid would become one of the first planets to join the Galactic Republic, after refugees from the Planetary League flooded the sector.  The garden-world would be the breadbasket of the fledgling Galactic Republic.

Ovid, circa GSC 1070

Environment

As Ovid was terraformed, the land on the planet settled into four main continents.  The eastern-most continent (known as Cronenberg) was the location of the capitol city (Biopolis).

All the life on Ovid was imported by Cosmid, or developed locally through that company's R+D efforts. Ovid was the first "Garden World", specially engineered to have a mild climate with a mix of ornamental and edible life without any apex predators.

Ovid orbited a stable orange dwarf star that rarely had significant solar-flare activity.

Ovid had three main moons, and several orbiting stations that were initially built to aid in terraforming.

Notable Ovidians

Sarnak the Immortal was accidentally created on Ovid.

Berwynne's Reach

Berwynne's Reach is a binary star-system in the middle of the Sagittarius Gap, far from any other stars or inhabited planets.  Millions of years ago, an asymmetrical supernova near the current location of Paradise tore a rift in space-time (later to be known as Berwynne's Rift) that leads almost directly to the Berwynne's Reach system.  

History

First reached by Ichigo Berwynne in GSC 160, Berwynne's Reach was a promising locale as a jumping-off point for journeys to the Sagittarius Arm, and the Centaurus Arm from the original human core-worlds.  In GSC 168, the city of Berwynne's Gate was founded as the capitol of the new Planetary League colony on the surface of Kempe (named for Margery Kempe), the lone terrestrial world in the system. Kempe was also the home of a large and well known temple of Eris.  Later the system capitol was moved to Dunningston.  The System also contained significant asteroid belts, and several other planets.

Berwynne's Reach quickly became a major hub for trade, and for colonists leaving for the frontier.  As the Sagittarius and Centaurus arms developed through the third and fourth centuries of Era-1, Berwynne's reach prospered.  A few dozen star-gates were built leading to major systems, and a large number of space-habitats sprung up.

During the Great Reckoning, most of the star-gates were destroyed by the defenders of the Reach in order to prevent the Holy Empire of Man from attacking the system, which had become a major evacuation point for the old-core systems.  This left only Berwynne's Rift as a feasible route of attack, and this was constantly guarded by the remnants of the Planetary League fleet that had sought refuge there.  

Over time, the memory of the war faded, and Berwynne's Reach became a major center of commerce during Era-2.  The remnants of the Planetary League, and various rebel elements used it as a center of organization, although officially the system's government was politically neutral.  Berwynne's Reach became a haven for pirates, bounty hunters, rebels, heretics, and other assorted riff-raff.  The Yatagarasu (aka the Star Crows) had a substantial presence within the system, and often used it as a base of operations.  Berwynne's Reach remained independent throughout Era-2, although the HEM often laid siege to it, and actually succeeded in briefly occupying the system during the War of the Empires.

Businesses

Mr. WOW!, inc., maker of Mr. WOW! soft-drinks was headquartered on a large space station orbiting Kempe.

Points of Interest

Berwynne's Gate is an arcology on Kempe, and was briefly the capitol of the system.

Dogur-dann

Dogur-dann started out as a terrestrial world, with an advanced civilization (similar to Earth in the 1990s).  Another star passed close to their star, pulling the planet out of its orbit, to wander interstellar space.  Luckily, because of their advanced technology, the Dogarri (the local technological species) had advanced warning of the impending disaster, and prepared the best they could.  This was mainly accomplished by burrowing underground, and learning to live off their planet's geothermal heat.  All life on the surface froze, and even the atmosphere condensed into ice, but the active core of the planet kept the Dogarri alive.

On frozen Dogur-Dann, the Dogarri burrow deep beneath the surface to survive on geothermal heat.

This is the state Dogur-dann was in when it was discovered by the Planetary League, near the colony world of New Promise in GSC 138.  Trade and diplomacy was established between the main factions of the Dogarri and the Planetary League under the newly passed Alien Assistance Act.  Eventually, the leading factions of the Dogarri joined the Planetary League, while others remained independent.

Most of Dogur-dann was conquered after the end of the Great Reckoning by the Holy Empire of Man.

The Dogarri rebelled and joined the Galactic Republic during the War of Galactic Unification.

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Mars

The first planet to be colonized, Mars early became the second most populous planet after Earth.  Mars was one of the founding members of the Planetary League.

The Mariner Valley Incident in GSC 16 was a huge landslide that killed many colonists, and an important early event in the history of the Tardigrades. 

One hundred years after the Mariner Valley Incident, a large, bronze sculpture, called "The Bell of Remembrance" was placed at the site.

Mars was the birthplace of Amadeus Krieg.

History

GSC 58, The Cydonia Incident: A group of Markovian researchers was caught performing unethical experiments, turning public opinion against the Markovians.

During the Great Reckoning, Mars was conquered by the Holy Empire of Man.

During the War of Galactic Unification, Mars joined the Galactic Republic.

Due to the slow process of terraforming an entire planet’s atmosphere, large-scale urbanization preceded blue skies on Mars by thousands of years.

Dionysus

History

Dionysus orbits a G-class star (like the Sun), in a solar system with about a dozen planets.  

When it was first visited by explorers from the Planetary League, ( in GSC 155) Dionysus was home to a large number of hunter/gatherers and a handful of city-states at a bronze-age level of development.  The local people look essentially human, except for some distinct ridges on their foreheads, and are known as Dionysians.  

An important feature of the planet is that many of the fruit trees have evolved in such a way that the fruit has a high alcohol content.  The fruit comes in a wide variety of flavors and forms, and is a highly sought-after commodity. After the Planetary League arrived, the alcoholic fruit became Dionysus's chief export. Within about a century, many of the local cultures had created an ad-hoc government that moved immediately to join the Planetary League. The ad-hoc government and the Planetary League were careful to protect the locals who had relatively little exposure to the outside world, but in the later years of era-1, outside business interests were able to start exploiting the planet and its people.

Dionysus was conquered by the Holy Empire of Man after the official end of the Great Reckoning, before the War of the Empires.  The local garrison was small, and the battle was one-sided.  Dionysian fruit graced the tables of the Emperor and the imperial court throughout Era-2 until Dionysus joined the Galactic Republic, after a short, relatively peaceful revolution during the War of Galactic Unification.

Notable native life-forms

Del-Brikki is a tree that bears alcoholic fruit, and is one of Dionysus’ chief exports.

Dionysians are the native inhabitants of Dionysus.

Gabriel

History

Gabriel is a planet deep in the heart of the Veil of Fear, a nebula famous for making human visitors feel uneasy due to its slowly oscillating magnetic fields.  Being a little too far from its star, extensive terraforming was needed when it was colonized by the Planetary League late in Era-1. 

Even after terraforming, the dominant biomes were arctic, taiga, and steppes.  Despite this, it was still strategically located, and populated enough to become a regional capitol, and supported the largest garrison in the sector.  

At the end of Era-1, a young and aggressive general, Potus Clarke, was assigned to lead the garrison.  Clarke had bigger ambitions, however, and when news got out that the Planetary League had made contact with the long rumored and dreaded Empire of 1,000,000 Suns, he seized the opportunity.  Assisted by the Church of God, (an extremist religious group, combining elements of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and a number of mega-corporations, Clarke founded the Holy Empire of Man.  

Gabriel was the capitol of the Holy Empire of Man throughout Era-2, even though the Emperor did maintain a palace on Earth after the end of the Great Reckoning.  

At the end of the war of Galactic Unification, after the Emperor's defeat, the remaining loyalists to the Empire rallied on Gabriel for a final stand.  There was a brief siege, and an even briefer battle as the Galactic Republic took over the planet.

In Era-3, Gabriel was largely turned over to parkland, historical memorials, and museums with some agriculture and industry. 

Bonnard's World

History

Discovered by Zoe Bonnard early in Era-1, Bonnard's World orbits Bonnard, an F-class star, in its habitable zone.  

Bonnard's World had a simple ecosystem consisting of single-celled organisms based solely on RNA.  After discovery, the Planetary League set up a research station.  

After considerable study, it was determined that the planet would be ideally suited for a terraforming project to recreate the conditions of the Triassic Period as part of an initiative to restore extinct species.

A local economy grew up around the Triassic nature preserve, and several areas were set aside as hunting grounds where people could hunt dinosaurs for a fee.

During the Great Reckoning, as the Planetary League was crumbling, Bonnard's World joined the Midori Republic.  

For a period in the run up to the War of the Empires, the Holy Empire of Man did capture Bonnard's World, but the Midori Republic took it back during the War of the Gods.

During the War of Galactic Unification, Bonnard's World joined the Galactic Republic by popular vote.

Fitzgerald's World

Description

Fitzgerald's World is a very Earth-like planet, orbiting a G-class Star.  

The biosphere of Fitzgerald’s World is one that sustains complex plant and animal life, but lacks intelligent species.  This lack of a native intelligence may stem from the fact that Fitzgerald’s World doesn’t have any land-based predators larger than an insect.  Not having predators means that the populations of land-based herbivores regularly explode, and then collapse, as they eat all the vegetation in one area, and then quickly die off due to starvation.  The herbivores also lack a lot of the specific adaptations that are typically used to escape or fend off predators.  They tend to be large and slow-moving.  Many are brightly colored, in order to attract mates.  Since there are no notable predators, adjacent ecological niches tend to be hyper-developed.  Scavengers are common and highly aggressive, and there are a wide variety of deadly pathogens as well.  Fortunately, most of the pathogens don’t generally infect non-native species very easily.  One exception to this is Fitzgerald’s Lung Rot, a debilitating, and occasionally deadly infection.   

Notable Life-forms

A notable herbivorous species is the Fitzgerald’s Landstrider, a towering creature that stands as tall as a ten-story building, and eats trees whole when fully grown.  The backs of these creatures are occasionally fitted with enormous howdahs by visiting intelligent life-forms, and used as living transportation for entire tour groups.

The Juffalope is a grazing animal noted for its unusual coloration, and small head.  During Era-2, it was raised for its hide and meat.

The Spud Bug is a native species, of a type most similar to terrestrial insects.  It is approximately the size, shape and color of a large potato, hence the name.  The Spud Bug is a scavenger that lives off the bodily waste, and remains of the larger herbivores.  Spud bugs have two large, yet vestigial black wings on their backs, and breathe through a series of visible openings in their sides.   The most disconcerting aspect of these bugs is their instinct to follow any large, moving thing, including humans.  The bugs are harmless scavengers, but they often sneak up on people, who tend to react violently.  Unfortunately, these bugs have stowed away on various ships and are seen as a nuisance throughout much of the galaxy.  They are sometimes taken as pets by Cielioids (who have a biologically-driven affection for insects), and by teenage boys (who like to gross people out).

Economy

The main industries of Fitzgerald’s world (after colonization by the Planetary League during Era-1) are agriculture and ecotourism.  Ranchers, especially, thrive here because of the lack of predators, and several of the local species have been domesticated.

During the Great Reckoning, Fitzgerald's World was conquered by the Holy Empire of Man.

During the War of Galactic Unification, Fitzgerald's World joined the Galactic Republic by popular vote.