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.

Shoji

First visited in GSC 203 by an expedition led by Zoe Bonnard, Shoji (From 諸寺 in Japanese, meaning various temples) was a barren, airless world a little larger than Earth.  It was named for its many sites of natural, if desolate beauty.  Shoji also had many rich veins of valuable minerals, and the Planetary League decided to terraform and settle it.

Shoji lacked an active core, so an electromagnetic ring was constructed around the planet (an immense undertaking that required decades to complete), and atmospheric conditioners were set up.  Various mining interests came for the resources, and tourism to see the planets various natural wonders formed the backbone of the colony's economy.

Years passed, and Shoji flourished, a complete biosphere was established, large cities sprang up, and many industries came to call Shoji home.

In GSC 836, an event happened that would forever shatter the tranquility of Shoji.  A group of bio-prospectors, laden with samples from Mefitis, on their way to a Cosmid laboratory accidentally contaminated the planet with a variety of diseases from Mefitis due to poor containment practices. 

The Mefitis Plague ravaged the population, turning most of the inhabitants into mindless, shambling zombies.   Various attempts were made to contain the contagion, including such drastic measures as nuclear and chemical weapons.  All attempts failed, and the once thriving world was left in ruin.  The planet was placed under strict quarantine, and its name was changed to 所持, meaning possession, but which is also written and pronounced Shoji in English.  The Planetary League maintained a naval blockade of Shoji to enforce the quarantine, until all ships were recalled late in the Great Reckoning.

Shoji became a chaos world early in Era-2, and the Galactic Republic destroyed the planet after the War of Galactic Unification.

Albion 4

The planet known as Albion 4 is littered with overgrown ruins, the remains of a civilization, roughly at the medieval level of development.  The apparent cause of the collapse was a disease that wiped out the population.  The ruins include castles, towns and elaborate temples, perfect for adventurous explorers and archeologists.  A number of squatters and grave-robbers also made the planet their home.

Albion 4's celestial neighbors include two hot Jupiters (gas giants close to their star), and a burnt out Chthonian planet.  Albion 4 its self has three major moons.  This arrangement makes eclipses a fairly common event, and there is evidence that this factored heavily into the myth and religion of the now extinct natives.

Being relatively close to Aldebaran 2, Albion 4 was the site of much archaeology and research during Era-1.

During Era-2, Albion 4 was largely ignored by the Holy Empire of Man. This helped make it a popular hiding place for those who opposed the Empire.  Whenever the rebels and outlaws on Albion 4 got too ambitious, however, the Empire would launch a suppressing raid, or even an occasional small-scale invasion to re-assert authority.

Life-Forms

Albion 4 is the home-world of the Sporlak, a large, amphibious animal resembling a sauropod.

Midori

Geography

Midori is a tropical planet. Its landmasses are largely covered in jungle and the seas are thick with algae, giving it an overall green appearance when seen from space.  Volcanic mountain ranges wind through the interiors of most of Midori's eleven large landmasses.  Midori has no polar ice caps, as even the poles are warm year round.  Deserts are few and small, as Midori is a very wet world.

Biosphere

Midori has a complex biosphere, dominated on land by jungle biomes, with some mountainous regions and few deserts.  There are large and fearsome apex predators, that will attack humans, biting and stinging insects, and a wide variety of diseases, many of which will occasionally cross species to infect humans.  The sea is thick with algae, and contains a wide variety of fish-like species. Many of the lifeforms were either engineered or introduced by Cosmid during the colonial period.

History

Midori was discovered early in Era-1, (GSC 210 to be exact) by the famous explorer, Zoe Bonnard.  Shortly after discovery, the planet was claimed by the Cosmid corporation, and used mainly for research.  Later, in the year GSC 250, a group of settlers was brought in, under the pretense of establishing an agricultural colony.  What Cosmid was actually doing; however, was conducting experiments in mind control on the colonists at the behest of certain elements within the Convergence, in exchange for access to genetic-manipulation technology.  One of these experiments was the creation of the Church of God, a religion that would go on to become one of the founding institutions of the Holy Empire of Man. 

Saint Valgar, an important figure in the spread of the Church of God was born on Midori in GSC: 842.

Midori attracted the hardiest, most fiercely independent colonists.  This was due to the harsh jungle environment, but also played into Cosmid's plan to learn to control even the most independent minds.  As time went by, however, the colonists turned on Cosmid.  Many of them could tell they were being manipulated, and the members of the Church of God had ambitions of their own.  Citing the casus belli of freedom of conscience, the people of Midori rebelled midway through Era-1.

The rebellion was short, but intense.  It saw the founding of the infamous Midori Guard, an elite force of fighters hardened by life on Midori.  When Cosmid responded by using deadly biological weapons that could lie dormant in the environment for years between outbreaks, the people of Midori founded the Legion of Fate.  The Legion of Fate consisted of those struck by the biological attacks, who would rather die on their own terms, performing suicide missions to defeat Cosmid.  At the end of the rebellion, the people of Midori established the Midori Republic.

The Midori Republic was one of the few states that would survive Era-2, and the Holy Empire of Man.  During the Great Reckoning, several planets from the Planetary League voluntarily joined the Midori Republic, including Bonnard's World. 

During the War of Galactic Unification, the rest of the Midori Republic voted to join the Galactic Republic, but Midori its self was one of the few planets that chose to remain independent. 

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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The Lucifer System

The Lucifer system was named after its tragic secret was discovered by explorers from the Planetary League.  Later, the Lucifer system was the location of an important battle in the War of Galactic Unification.

Tragic Secret

The first scout from the Planetary League reached the Lucifer System in GSC 190. The scout noticed that Lucifer 4 seemed to have the right conditions for life, and left a beacon orbiting Lucifer 8 to alert future explorers. On GSC 201.24, Captain Zoe Bonnard and the PLS Excelsior arrived in the system and made a series of discoveries.

Weak radio signals around the system belonged to a number of simple exploratory probes.

One planet had a small research outpost that still contained the remains of an exploration team.

There was a black hole about as massive as a planet that orbited in the star's habitable zone.  Apparently someone on the planet had discovered how to create a black hole artificially, and the creation had swallowed the planet and all its inhabitants.

System Details

Lucifer is a middle-aged orange star (K-class).

Lucifer Prime:  a rocky, Chthonian planet close to the star, lightly explored with a few probes.

Lucifer 2:  A rocky planet.

Lucifer 3: Ice giant world.

Asteroid ring

Lucifer 4:  Once inhabited by a technological civilization, it was swallowed by an artificially created black hole.

Lucifer 5: Rocky, airless world, had an inhabited research outpost before the 4th planet was destroyed. There were no survivors of this outpost.

Lucifer 6: Gas-giant, had a few probes.

Lucifer 7: Ice giant.

Lucifer 8:  Gas-giant, with many moons.

Neo-Polynesia

In early Era-1, with ocean levels rising on Earth, many Polynesian cultures were losing their homes.  As the Pacific ocean rose, islands flooded and people were displaced. 

When the planet of Paradise was discovered, the Planetary League set aside part of that planet as a resettlement area for those people, and as a cultural preserve.  Numerous archipelagoes and no significant continents, along with a warm, tropical climate made Paradise the perfect place for this project.  Numerous plants and animals were brought along by the settlers, as well as their cultural traditions. 

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.