Re: Halowon Subsector
Halowon Planets
0918, 1011, 1111, 1115, 1211, 1420, 1618, Blanton, Jung, Zeitlin – Resource poor and/or inhospitable, these systems never had permanent populations. Jung and Zeitlin (along with Nestor and Vauclain) are claimed by Halowon, but other powers do not recognize that claim.
Anapa – A minor colony in the Krim system, Anapa has the same government and cultural norms as Chelou and Kieran (see below).
Antioch – A warm, wet world, surface temperatures average 30C, with high humidity. Large oceans allow the formation of powerful typhoons, which regularly pound the east coast of the only sizeable continent with savage fury. Antioch’s inhabitants have a reputation for being as hot and tumultuous as their planet. Social structures place value on family honor and personal standing. Unless properly handled, disputes can quickly become vendettas. Outsiders should become familiar with Antioch customs before arriving or should hire a “fixer” (a local go-between) to prevent problems. Colonized in the second wave, Antioch is the seventh most populous planet in the sector. One of Antioch’s moons, Damascus, is also colonized. It is ruled from Antioch and is home to a violent separatist movement.
Ashton – A minor farming colony in the Halowon system.
Caliban – Perhaps the least visited and least known inhabited planet in the subsector, being even more remote than Dekker or Espiaux, rugged Caliban is parsed into a dozen or so cantonments, none having more than a couple hundred thousand souls. Each cantonment’s economy is geared for local consumption, producing little of value for offworld trade.
Callisto – A smaller world in the Trinity system whose atmosphere and water supply are tainted by high levels of arsenic, Callisto has but a fraction of the population of nearby Titania. Workers on Callisto are heavily unionized, and the unions have traditionally exercised significant power in the Callistan parliament. Imports to Callisto are heavily controlled, though not to the same extent as on Titania.
Carsten (Botany Bay) – Unlike its namesake, Botany Bay was not a penal colony. Still a relatively small settlement in 5644, it was hit harder than most by the plague. It was abandoned shortly thereafter and has not been recolonized to date. The planet was renamed Carsten in 5736 in honor of Empress Gina’s father, though Botany Bay is still in common use.
Chelou – Meaning “Steep Road” in an ancient and obscure Terran dialect, the name could refer as easily to the planet’s sweeping views and breathtaking mountain vistas as it could to the high concentrations of volcanic sulfur in the atmosphere. The sulfur reacts with water vapor in the lungs of people and animals, causing respiratory degradation and eventually death. Like neighboring Kieran, the first colonists on Chelou believed in the principle that “the government which governs least governs best”. Therefore, government meets for only two weeks each quarter. The members of government are ordinary citizens, chosen at random to serve in government for one year (four two week sessions), after which the citizen is barred from ever serving in government again. Military forces are reserve only and are constituted in the same way as government, except that citizens may be called to serve multiple terms in the military reserves. The only exceptions to this policy are a small, professional police force.
Dekker – A small, tide-locked, resource poor, dirtball world orbiting close to a dwarf star, it is unlikely Dekker ever would have been colonized if it did not lie on the jump-3 route to Halowon. As it stands, Dekker marks the farthest edge of Halowon expansion to spinward. Dekker only has one settlement, near the south pole, with a mere three thousand residents.
Duglach – A Halowon military base, approach to Duglach is strictly prohibited. Little is known of the facility’s size or capabilities, other than the fact that at least two squadrons of Centurion fighters are based there.
Exeter – A military research outpost in the Halowon system.
Frandrich – A frigid, ice-bound world, Frandrich lies on the J-1 route from the Halowon Empire to Krim. A handful of prospectors and squatters maintain an extremely rudimentary starport near the planet’s equator.
Halowon – With a surface gravity of 1.04G, Halowon is the highest gravity planet in the subsector. This is far from its most notable trait, however. Halowon is renowned for its stunning natural beauty. From the majestic sweep of its mountains, to its verdant plains and white sand beaches, Halowon is a pristine garden world with a wide variety of climates and abundant natural resources. Halowon possesses a high standard of living and the inhabitants take great care to preserve the natural beauty and environment of the planet. Relatively powerful, thanks to the world’s high WDP, Halowoners take their preeminent position for granted and are often naïve regarding offworld affairs, leading one critical politician in the commonwealth era to dub Halowon, “The world of the clueless”. As long as interstellar affairs don’t directly impact Halowon, the locals seem content to give the Emperor plenty of discretion in governance. In addition to a fair-sized colony on Ashton, Exeter is home to a Halowon Empire military research base.
Janus – A small, poor, backward world, Janus employs a unique system of democracy, based on vocation. Those possessing a trade have suffrage, while unskilled workers do not.
Jarrett Belt – Long thought to be not economically viable, Jarrett Belt was recently targeted for colonization by Halowon. It is unclear whether new mineral resources have been found or whether the belt was settled for reasons of imperial pride.
Jervis Bay – A tiny world with a dense core, Jervis Bay’s handful of settlers were evacuated in 5645. Even though the world has little to recommend it and lies in an astrographic backwater, Halowon claims to have recently re-settled it.
Kieran – Similar in size and age to Chelou, Kieran has the fortune of being more stable tectonically, thanks to a more distant orbit around the massive gas giant Krim, but the corollary misfortune of having been recently struck by a rogue comet. The impact spewed a large number of tiny particles into Kieran’s upper atmosphere, many of which are still suspended. These particles can irritate mucous membranes.
Kipplinger Belt – Formerly host to scattered prospectors, the belt is now completely uninhabited.
Nestor - Recently re-colonized by a small group from Tupolev claiming to be the descendents of former colonists, Nestor has applied for admission to the Halowon Empire. No polity other than Halowon recognizes the validity of the group's claim to sovereignity over Nestor, and the case is complicated by the presence of a small group of squatters on the planet who also claim legitimate ownership of the world.
Nikolishin – Recently colonized by the Principality of Svetlana, a few hundred surveyors and mineral exploration teams are scouring the planet’s surface to determine whether or not it warrants further investment.
Oberon – Whereas Titania’s and Callisto’s governments grew stronger during the plague years, Oberon’s collapsed. Anarchy dominated in several areas on the planet as the streets lay choked with the dead and dying, except for a handful of corporate enclaves. These enclaves, separated by the planet’s resource poor wastelands, leveraged private militias and aggressive use of force to establish “no-man’s lands” as buffers against contagion. Once the plague subsided, the companies banded together in a loose confederation of mutual interests. No formal government has been reconstituted and corporate policy is law in each company’s enclave. Some corporations on Oberon, such as Corvus Enterprises, are pushing for greater planetary unity whereas others would prefer to remain independent.
Olga – A royal military base and shipyard, access to this moonlet is tightly restricted.
Ozawa – Colonized in 5733 by Ozawa Lines, Ozawa is little more than a single small town and a handful of tiny outlying settlements. The town of Morgan consists of a mere 14,000 souls, while none of the outlying settlements is larger than 500 persons. The planet had no indigenous industries other than modest agriculture for local consumption and a large amount of construction for further colonization. The economy of Ozawa is based almost entirely on interface and transshipment of goods and services between the Free Republic, the Halowon Empire, and Svetlana. Ozawa’s merchant fleet operates on a “hub-and-spoke” model, using Ozawa as the hub.
Perseus – A reasonably pleasant world, Perseus is divided into six different polities. The largest, the Grafdom of Miranos became incorporated into the Principality of Svetlana when its ruler’s daughter married the Crown Prince in 5720. Three others, Hei, Memij, and Sethri are broadly authoritarian countries, whereas the city-state of Kidman District and the Republic of Qorom are more democratic. The Republic of Qorom has made a name for itself as an interstellar banking and tax haven.
Prothero – Water ration coupons are used as legal tender on this lightly populated, but heavily contaminated world.
Redmond – A neighbor to Jervis Bay, Redmond’s few inhabitants were either wiped out by the plague or died in the lean years afterward.
Redstone – A desolate, waterless, airless rock, Redstone’s only permanent human presence is a handful of Svetlana personnel manning a refueling post to support exploration and colonization of the Jakhontsk subsector to rimward.
Santander – The sector, the dusty, bone-dry world-let Santander is considered by most legitimate spacers a desolate hole and a nest of criminal activity. It has been ruled since 5737 by a former starship captain and mercenary, Kalvin Ajun, who styles himself the Lord of Santander. Although it is true that the Svetlanan Navy fought an action against pirates in the Santander system in 5737 and that pirate activity is not unknown in the subsector, Santander’s reputation as a pirate planet is probably exaggerated. Bar rumors aside, Santander is built around its starport, which is fairly advanced for the size of the population. A disproportionate number of Santander inhabitants become spacers or mercenaries, while the remainder work at the starport, doing cheap, low-quality repairs and modifications or toil in menial jobs in the squat, dirty township nearby.
Somerset – A reasonably pleasant world, apart from unusually high pollen counts which act as an airway irritant in some people, Somerset has one crucial Achilles’ Heel which has tremendously slowed its development. A geological oddity, the Somerset system is critically short of elemental iron. What little iron is recoverable goes directly into medicine and husbandry for use as dietary supplements for people and livestock. As a consequence, Somerset industry has had to adapt to use other materials, such as aluminum, tin and wood, for uses that would normally be fulfilled by steel. Consequently, a large portion of Somerset’s imports each year are of steel, which uses tonnage that would otherwise carry higher technology goods. The most visible sign for most visitors is Somerset’s architecture, which tends to be lower and squatter than most planets, due to the lack of steel rebar. Somerset is a full member planet of the Halowon empire, but is considered somewhat backward by Halowoners.
Suffolk – A moon of Somerset, Suffolk is odd in that it possesses more advanced technology and better infrastructure than much more populous Somerset. Suffolk was colonized by Halowon, after the plague, to control Somerset. The Halowon military base on planet drives the local economy and very little commercial traffic visits the world.
Svetlana – The most populous planet in the sector, the broad expanses of Svetlana’s plains are well-suited to agriculture. The relative ease of achieving high crop yields means Svetlana suffered very little food deprivation following the plague. Cultural conservatism and the sociological scars left by the plague means a higher percentage of the populace than necessary remains engaged in agriculture. This has somewhat depressed the planet’s economy and under-industrialization has slowed technological recovery. The current Crown Prince of Svetlana is trying to reform his planet, but must struggle against the dirt-bound nobility. Svetlana also maintains a farming colony on Natalya and a military base on Olga.
Titania – A verdant, bountiful world, Titania was deeply affected by the plague. After the first waves epidemic wracked the planet and killing millions, the populace of Titania demanded protection from their government. The government complied, forming a council of military, law enforcement, and medical leaders to ensure public safety. The measures undertaken were draconian, including shooting inbound ships without question and forcibly relocating hundreds of thousand urban Titanians into agriculture. The planet became roughly self-sufficient, but at a terrible cost to the standard of living. The Council continues to rule Titania today and remains broadly popular. Although the planet no longer destroys incoming merchants on sight, import and quarantine restrictions are the most severe in the sector. Titania has begun exploring nearby moons in recent years, apparently searching for offworld resources. Additionally, the Council has signed a number of arms agreements to import military hardware from Halowon, including a number of Executioner Class System Defense Boats.
Trinity – (see elsewhere for Caliban, Callisto, Janus, Oberon, Prothero, and Titania) Several minor moons in the Trinity system have been the target of preemptive landgrabs by various polities. These include: Tyro (Callisto), Puck (Oberon), Volcana (Oberon), and Hyperion (Titania). Some of the claims are hotly disputed and skirmishing over claims, especially Tyro and Puck, is not unknown.
Troy’s Rock – Due to its strategic location, the Principality of Svetlana maintains a modest refueling base on Troy’s Rock to facilitate trade.
Tupolev – The crossroads of the subsector, Tupolev is a planet in transition. Halowon pulled Tupolev into its sphere fifty years ago, by providing weapons, advisors, and logistic support to a guerilla movement dedicated to the overthrow of the corrupt, repressive local government. Once the revolution was complete, Tupolev applied for, and was accepted as an independent protectorate of the Halowon Empire. Some Free Republic wags note that an independent protectorate is a bit of an oxymoron, nonetheless most Tupolev residents enthusiastically support the current political arrangement. As a consequence, Halowon rules on Tupolev with a somewhat lighter hand than elsewhere in the empire. On of the main drivers of popular support is the rapid increase in living standards over the past five decades. The old regime allowed Tupolev’s infrastructure to crumble and the economy stagnated. Once it was toppled, Halowon provided as much technological aid and infrastructure building technology as the limited number of starships available allowed. Physically, the planet’s defining features are the heavy atmosphere and a tough local tree known as the Bluewood. Bluewood groves are thick and dense at lower elevations, where the atmospheric pressure is unpleasantly high for humans. The atmospheric pressure at 4000-5000M elevation is very pleasant for humans, though a bit cool. -5C to 10C temperatures are common. Dry cereals, such as some strains of winter wheat, grow well at Tupolev’s higher altitudes.
Vauclain – A smallish world with a thin atmosphere, Vauclain responded to the Plague by rejecting technology. Technological standards dropped precipitously on the planet after 5644. Life expectancy, education, and standard of living all declined as the populace struggled to achieve self-sufficiency without industrialized technology. Halowon and the Free Republic intervened in Vauclain’s affairs in 5729. The powers fought a major space battle (called the Battle of Fortin by Halowon and the Battle of Vauclain by the FRE), which the Free Republic Navy, with Pathfinder support, won. Free Republic Marines and Nighstalkers also fought several skirmishes against Halowon troops on the surface. As a result of Halowon’s defeat, the Free Republic has barred Halowon ships from entering the Vauclain system and the Free Republic Navy maintains a continuous presence in the system. For Vauclain, interference by outsiders meant the fall of the Luddite regime and several years of civil disorder. A new, progressive government has been formed, but it remains unclear whether it will be effective.
Wellesley – Located deep within the jump shadow of a massive star, Wellesley is difficult to reach as well as being dry and inhospitable. The planet’s small quasi-Luddite community seems to prefer it that way.
Zhukov - A secondary world in the Tupolev system, Zhukov lacks all but the merest trace of an atmosphere. The colony was in danger of destruction due to technological degradation as the manufacturing base on Zhukov was insufficient to repair and maintain the life support systems needed past a certain point. Fortunately, the Halowon Empire stepped in and stabilized the planet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:28, Sat 08 Jan 2011.
