Khoedho has primarily served as an agricultural exporter to neighboring worlds.
The heavily populated world of Tsougak (Windhorn
3020) has always been its number one customer, even during the years of 17th
Disjuncture domination. During the decades of isolation from Tsougak, the
Urrghtuedzagoe corsairs defended the world as best it could. Ultimately all
ships, save one, were lost. This last ship was mothballed until the world was
re-contacted by the Tsougak. Overall, the world was spared bombardment and
infection by the Vakh. With its infrastructure mostly intact, Khoedho should
return to its Pre-Collapse tech levels in a relatively short period of time.
Despite its chilly temperatures (-17°C average), Khoedho has a long growing
season thanks to its long orbital period and long summer days. Plant life has
evolved a protein which produces an insulating coating to withstand the frigid
nights that occur even during the summer. While this coating is digestible by
local fauna, it must be treated with an enzyme to be digested by humans and
vargr. Failure to do so leads to severe gastrointestinal distress. When
untreated leaves are burned and the ensuing smoke inhaled, the resultant
irritation is often fatal, even at "campfire" levels, thus garnering the "taint"
atmospheric rating.
Despite being a desert world orbiting a hot blue-white dwarf, Uelueradza is
actually not unpleasant. While its atmosphere is very thin (0.3 atm) and
requires a compressor to ensure sufficient oxygen, the average temperature is a
comfortable 8.7°C. Nights (and winters) remain dangerous as temperatures
plunge below -60°C.
Kugagon Mining ran the show here with the Taghekhangae corsairs providing
security. Uelueradza was originally a prison planet for the Sunggoe
Combine. It was decided that the prisoners were just a needless drain of
resources. After the purchase, each case was reviewed. While the more violent
offenders were transferred to local prisons, others were offered the opportunity
to work off their sentences, thus providing Kugagon with some really cheap
labor.
When a Vakh fleet came up the Tsougak arm headed for the namesake world, it
overpowered the corsairs and destroyed their base. The sole remaining company
ship fled (its fate unknown). With no way off the world and no one delivering
supplies, the miners eventually ran out of food and perished.
Saelfaek was an agricultural exporter with markets in the Tsougak Trade
Federation and Sunggoe Combine and ultimately the 17th Disjuncture. With a
growing season three times standard (long rotation period and long days), the
world was able to keep up with demand. The government was the relaxed remnants
of its Vilani predecessor, a civil service bureaucracy which properly managed
the economy such that when times were good, enough wealth was set aside to
assuage the economy during the long winter. Unfortunately with the collapse of
interstellar trade, the economy dried up. Panic ensued and the government
crumbled. While the balkanized remnants get along with one another, there is
very much a "me first" attitude prevalent.
The taint rating is a by-product of the world's long growing season: high oxygen
levels. They peak during the autumn equinox and return to normal over the
course of the winter. Besides acclimatization issues for offworlders, there is
an increased risk of fire.
Zogvaeksu is an inhospitable world with a nitrogen-methane-ammonia
atmosphere. Its M4 V primary produces enough heat to keep its small ammonia seas
in a liquid state. It is also the moon of a small gas giant.
Most of the
world's inhabitants preferred orbital habitats rather than residing on the
dangerous surface; that went double for the corsair base of the Gnedzogvaeksu.
Typically only the "ammonia miners" ventured to the surface when it was their
shift. All perished when a Vakh fleet infected the system's technology.
Formerly Uenoegvazllarzuersall. Success on Urrgthe (Windhorn 3026)
inspired the Sugutadho Corporation to take over this world from its less than
prosperous natives in the 800s. Bringing their agricultural knowledge to bear,
they properly made use of the world's extended orbital period to build a
profitable enterprise. Unfortunately, the world's thin atmosphere sheds most of
its heat during autumn and winter, thus preventing the growth of anything but
annual crops. Livestock are housed in massive underground barns during this
time and fed from grain stores.
The corporation is also fiercely competitive. No ships from the Tsougak Trade
Federation worlds—even after annexation by the 17th Disjuncture—are
allowed to land on the planet's surface for fear of espionage.
Gvoksaedo is so far out from the red giant it revolves around that it takes
over 88.8 Imperial standard years to complete one orbit. As such, prosperity
ebbs and flows accordingly. Most people, even those with fur, aren't willing to
wait around a few decades for the weather to improve. As such, people immigrate
and emigrate according to the seasons. In 1120, winter has just ended, and the
world is just starting to warm up. Once it does, the fishing fleets will set
sail.
By 1202, the world had weathered the Collapse along with another winter. While
the population declined, infrastructure was intact. While the downport is
inactive, it won't take much work by a properly skilled outfit to get it back up
and running again. With exports down to nil, fish stocks have rebounded.
Finding nothing of value here, Vakh ships typically just refueled at the gas
giants and moved on.
Efforts to turn Ghudue into an agricultural powerhouse have come up short.
While the yellow sun seemed ideal and the atmospheric density was thought
manageable, the planet's average temperature is 32°C. Large arid regions
hug the planet's equator where temperatures soar to a blistering 60°C in
the summer. While mid-latitudes are sound places for farming, the thin
atmosphere makes winters tough.
There have been insufficient incentives to draw workers to Ghudue in order to
grow the agricultural segment of its economy. Most potential immigrants see
Sugutadho (Windhorn 3023) as a better opportunity.
During the First Imperium, Dueks was a popular world for aquaculture. With
their upheaval and subsequent retreat, Dueks was abandoned. Vargr later moved
in and rediscovered the bounty found in the world's oceans. But success always
brought those wishing to take advantage of others' hard work. As centuries went
by, prosperity ebbed and flowed. It was during one of these ebbs that the
Sunggoe Combine moved in and claimed the world, setting up a government that
reports only to the ruling body on Sunggoe. Infrastructure was lacking but
scheduled for upgrades. The establishment of the 17th Disjuncture killed the
upgrade, deeming the existing facilities adequate.
But when the 17th Disjuncture collapsed from Vakh infestation, a power vacuum
opened up on Dueks. The population splintered into factions and went to war with
each other. After decades of violence, famine, and lack of medical supplies,
the population crashed by two-thirds. While open warfare is a thing of the past,
border skirmishes over food and rumors of technological treasures still occur.
Aetosak is a nasty place with corrosive concentrations of various sulfur compounds. Sulfuric acid in the rain and the seas; sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere. Its inhospitable nature made it undesirable to everyone once the lanthanum deposits were tapped out. The infrastructure was bequeathed to those who wanted freedom from all law. It eventually became a sanctuary for corsairs, fugitives, and mercenaries. When the 17th Disjuncture took over, its quiet state of anarchy appealed to it.
Akofotsidano is not reasonably unpleasant during the day (average temp
15°C and dry), but its nights are considerably cold (temps drop 30°C)
as the atmosphere is unable to retain its heat. But that's not a big deal on
this low tech industrial world. There are ample coal reserves from the planet's
warmer and wetter past to burn for heat and to power the large factories. So it
should come as no surprise that the atmosphere is tainted with dust particles
and sulfur. Acid rain is a problem when it rains, though that isn't all that
often.
With so many mouths to feed, Akofotsidano's Agricultural Bureau spends the
majority of its resources on sourcing and acquiring offworld food supplies.
Joining the Sunggoe Combine was a boon to the planet as it took the uncertainty
out of the economy. There were plans on the table to boost the planet's
technological infrastructure, but the rise of the 17th Disjuncture threw a
wrench into the works. The response now is that Akofotsidano is a "world for the
future". That assumes, of course, that the world lasts long enough to see the
"17th Disjuncture" come to pass.
But if Virus and the ensuing Collapse was the 17th Disjuncture, there was no
paradise on the other side. Once food supply ships stopped coming, and reserves
ran thin, city-states accused one another of hoarding and went to war over
non-existent food supplies. The population crashed hard, first from the war then
from starvation. Cannibalism was common. There were rumors of mysterious ships
taking people away to other worlds where there was food, but none of these
rumors were substantiated.
Rogkhethala saw some activity during the First Imperium as mining concern. It never amounted to much and lay fallow for millennia, existing only as a fuel station. That changed during the Sunggoe's expansion period when they saw it as a bridge to worlds in the trailing subsector, Mersol. But like so many other expansion worlds, plans to upgrade the infrastructure were put on hold with the rise of the 17th Disjuncture.