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Alan Hughes
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Overview
A muddy
planet inhabited by a few hundred people, descendants of a failed colony.
Soldiers from offworld guard an underground secret.
Quick Facts
D687264-2
- Starport:
D-class (poor quality, unrefined fuel)
-
Gas
giant and scout base in system
-
Diameter:
6,000 miles / 10,000 km (smaller than Earth)
-
Atmosphere:
Dense
-
Water
coverage: 70%
-
Population:
700
-
Government:
Captive government
-
Law
level: 4 (all firearms except pistols, revolvers, and shotguns prohibited)
-
Tech
level: 2 (wind power)
-
Trade
classification: Non-industrial
-
Space
lanes to: Vibex (jump-2), Enethy (jump-1)
Government, Law, and Diplomacy
Four
years ago, the Vibex military took control of Spragg, but they have no interest
in the locals or the planet itself. The native population can do as they see
fit, as long as they do not interfere with the Vibex operations.
Most Spragg
natives live in one of three villages, each governed by the local family
elders.
Interstellar Travel
In a
given week, ships with the following destinations may be present at the
starport:
- Vibex - 9+
chance
-
Enethy -
10+ chance
The Starport
Spragg’s
starport is built and maintained by the Vibex military, and is very simple. There
is always at least a courier ship of the Vibex navy there. Aside from Vibex
ships, traders on their way to Enethy stop by occasionally.
The village
of Mosfell is located near the starport.
Geography
Spragg
is a geologically inactive world, reflected in its mostly flat surface. The
highest peaks and the deepest depths do not reach more than couple hundred
meters above or below sea level. There are twenty-seven major continents or landmasses
spread across the ocean, all rather small.
The
planet’s moon gives rise to tides, which become quite drastic on such a flat
world. The coast of every continent consists of mud flats that stretch for
dozens of kilometres, submerged when the tide comes in. Indeed, nine of the
continents are all mud - disappearing completely at high tide.
Spragg’s
bedrock is quite porous, with many cave systems.
Ecology
The
stable parts of the land hold a thriving biosphere, with plants, trees, and
animals, but none of them grow very large. Animals are mostly fliers who hunt
in the mud flats after the tide goes out.
The mud
flats are full of life. Animals hunt and are hunted by each other, ocean creatures
left behind by the tide, and fliers from the land. The species most dangerous
to humans are the stranglers, animals resembling large centipedes that grab
land creatures and pull them down into the mud, where they suffocate. Humans
are bigger than the strangler’s usual prey, but even if a strangler fails to
pull human down, their grip is very hard to break. A person can get stuck and
drown when the tide comes in.
There is
almost no plant life in the mud flats, except for a hardy bamboo-like plant called
salt stem. It grows in large thickets, usually a few kilometres out from stable
land.
The Villages
There
are three villages on Spragg, all located near the southern shore of one of the
largest continents, with a distance of half a day’s travel on foot between
them. They are called Clermick, Arkult, and Mosfell.
The
three villages are quite similar, each with a population of around 200 people.
The people subsist on farming, supported by hunting in forests and in the mud
flats. The small trees of the land are useless for building. Instead, salt
stems are cut in the mud flats and brought ashore. Stem cutters become adept at
walking the mud, avoiding sinking mud and lurking stranglers.
Offworld
visitors are allowed to stay and eat in the villages for free, as long as they
behave themselves and help out with work if needed. Trade is done through
bartering. The locals do not use credits or any other type of money.
At
midsummer and midwinter, all three villages hold a festival where people make
offerings to the sea - food, art objects, and items received from offworld
visitors. They are left in the mud flats and taken by the tide.
Death’s Village
About
three days’ journey west from Clermick, the westernmost village, is a place
called Death’s Village. It is believed to be the place where people go after
they die. It’s not good for living people to go there; they might be unable to
leave or bring dead people back with them.
Death’s
Village is the ruins of the initial colony on Spragg, founded about 600 years
ago. It was built on solid land, but the ground was destabilized by the
construction. During a storm in high tide, the land gave way and sank into the
sea, along with the colony. The area was turned into mud flats, the buildings
partly or wholly sunken into the mud. Spragg’s inhabitants are descendants of
the survivors.
There
are still recoverable goods inside the ruins, including ten tons of steel, two
tons of copper, two tons of aluminium, one ton of tin, and one ton of special
alloys. Extracting the goods from the ruins and mud will be a challenge,
though.
The Vibex Military
The
soldiers from Vibex have set up two bases: one at the starport near Mosfell
village, and one at a wide hill half a day’s travel inland. Each base is manned
by about 30 soldiers. Travellers are not allowed to stay at or enter the bases;
they are told to seek hospitality from the locals instead.
The
inland base holds the secret reason for the Vibex presence.
About
fifty years ago, an Enethyan visited the Spragg system in its asteroid-ship.
Carelessly entering the planet’s atmosphere, the Enethyan and its ship burned
up. Locals saw it as a shooting star. Some of the Enethyan’s cells survived the
disaster, falling down to the planet. A few settled in a cave, where they found
silicon and other minerals necessary to survive. A new Enethyan started
growing.
Four
years ago, a spelunking tourist from Vibex found the young Enethyan deep in the
cave system. Shocked, he reported it to Vibex government. The government
forbade him from speaking of his discovery, and sent the military to Spragg.
The
government of Vibex had long feared what would happen if the Enethyans decided
to start expanding out of of their home system. This was the first known
instance of Enethyan “colonization” of another world. The military’s mission is
to quarantine the young Enethyan, study its biology, and keep it secret -
especially from Enethyan society.
The
young Enethyan is malnourished, as the bedrock of Spragg has a different
composition from the asteroids of Enethy. The Vibex soldiers keep it sedated
using intense radio frequencies.
Scenarios
- Death’s
Village becomes a sensation among the upper class on Vibex. Rich tourists flock
to Spragg to visit it. The people of Spragg are less than amused.
- If the
Enethyans were to find out about the young one trapped on Spragg, they would
discuss the matter and decide to rescue it, following their internal Treaty
Regarding Education and Care of the Newly Formed. They would enquire about or
estimate the number of humans on Spragg, then send a number of ships higher
than that number to the system. (This would be a fleet a couple orders of
magnitudes bigger than any human navy in the subsector.) Of course, since the
Enethyan ships can’t land on Spragg, they would need assistance in extracting
the young one.
