Editing Stars Without Number: Back in Black (section)

== List of systems in the State ==

[[File:StateRevised.jpg]]

You may assume there are thoroughly charted drill routes between each adjacent system.  

=== The Navy ===

While not a star system, this is the most convenient place to list the State's current military assets.
*Battleships: Odin.
*Cruisers: 2 Militarized, 2 non-militarized
*Frigates: 8 Militarized, 6 non-militarized
*Shuttles: 15
*Fighters: 15



*[[Nyx Cluster]] 04.04
*[[Golden Empire]] 04.02
*[[Wolf -- SWN]] 05.04
*[[Anumati]] 03.04
*[[Abaddon]] 05.03
*[[Corsica]] 03.02
*[[Inari]] 02.05
*[[The Reef]] 04.03
*[[Sisters]] 03.05
*[[Towers]] 07.04
*[[Blue Heaven]] 06.05
*[[Gabriel -- SWN]] 06.03
*[[Tenebrous -- SWN]] 06.06

=== Nyx Cluster ===

The Nyx Cluster is the center of the State.  In practical terms it is capitol of a loose federation of the known human worlds, and has hegemonic influence over some of them.  The precise demarcation between the State and the government of the Cluster is not entirely well-defined, a source of frustration for the systems that have been strong-armed into it.  It is referred to as a "cluster" because it has so many inhabited worlds, all with a single central government.  The Cluster contains two Earth-like worlds, a dozen major moons, and probably a score of large asteroid colonies and space stations, with a large population of humans and a double handful of AIs.  It is by far the most wealthy and powerful system in the State, and it is relentlessly attempting to regain the ability to manufacture pretech goods.

The Nyx Cluster is the most solidly TL4 civilization in the State, and they use this to maintain their influence.  They are capable of producing drugs and treatments that reverse the aging process.  A seventy-year-old member of the political or economic elite can be rejuvenated to a biological age of 30.  The cost for this treatment tends to be phenomenally high - and usually payable in favors and influence as well as more mundane currency.  It is administrated, in fact, by a branch of the government, and is not normally available on the market.


'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 04.04
*Government: Constitutional Republic
*Laws & Restrictions: Possession of personal weapons requires a license; armed starships must dock at spaceports rather than planetside.  Slavery is outlawed, indenture is restricted. 
*Population: 8B
*Languages: English, French
*Technology: TL4, specialization in medical and anti-aging.
*World Tags:
*Fleets:  1 Militarized Cruisers, 2 non-militarized cruisers, 4 militarized frigates, 5 non-militarized frigates.  10 non-militarized shuttles, 10 fighters.  Nyx has full NIFP protection and is fully equipped with space stations.  Their ships are usually third-generation.

'''Trade'''
*Supply & Demand: Medical -2, Military -1, Luxury +1, Pretech +2.
*Goods: 1. Postech Housewares. 2. Postech Medical Supplies. 3. Small Arms, Energy. 4. Drugs, Recreational. 5. Parts, Postech Industry. 6. Parts, Starship Maintenance. 7. Tools, Medical Equipment. 8. Tools, Astronautic. 9. Tools, Industrial. 10. Clothing.
*Trouble: As per cosmopolitan worlds.
*Friction: 4
*Notes: Pretech goods are nearly unavailable for purchase.  The Nyx government will pay handsomely for recovered pretech artifacts. Nyx is the primary source of anagathics, and their Dethanatonic clinic is capable of actually reversing the aging process (at phenomenal expense in some combination of money and favors.)

=== Golden Empire ===

The Golden Empire is a system of only one inhabited world, mostly TL1.  It imports higher TL equipment whenever it can sneak them past customs, and ruthlessly keeps it under Imperial control.  Aesthetically the world of the Empire is similar to Medieval China, and seems to have based its post-scream and collapse culture on those records purposefully.  Mandarin is the most common language (although the educated elite also learn English.)  

The Golden Empire is an exceptionally fertile world which managed to retain numerous genetically engineered crops through the Silence.  Even with only primitive farming techniques it produces a large surplus.  It manages a few valuable exotic agricultural products, and also attempts to trade in slaves (although the State does its best to stamp this out.) Further, the Empire produces an unusually high number of psychics for its population (for which there is no apparent explanation), although they are by no means numerous.  

The State is currently attempting a Prometheus Project on the world, which has been partially successful.  The Emperor cooperated and allowed it to continue, until he had sufficient TL2 capacity to tighten his grip, and then began to stonewall the project.  He has been resisting all further efforts to spread greater technology, because he fears it will end his rule.  He doesn't dare have open military conflict with the agents of the State, but there is currently a heavy shadow war and layers of intrigue between the Emperor, the various nobles, and the NGOs administering the Prometheus Project.

Trade to and from the Golden Empire is not discouraged, per se, but cargo will be inspected thoroughly both coming and going.  The State maintains a geosynchronous space station with a beanstalk lifter.  Atmospheric craft are NOT allowed to land on the planet.  All persons and cargo must go through customs at both the top and bottom of the beanstalk, and they are deadly serious about what you may or may not take with you.  

The State thus has tacitly interdicted the Empire.  They will not allow the Empire to gain any spaceflight technology, or full membership in the community of worlds, until they take on a less tyrannical form of government (Ideally, a puppet emperor.  Is that less tyrannical, really?  The State thinks it probably would be.) They also have nuclear-equipped gravity rods on the station, and can obliterate the Golden Empire with button-pushes whenever they want to.  However, the loss of life resulting from the ensuing crisis of instability would kill millions.  The Emperor, the Nobles, and the State are all aware of these facts.  It's really only a question of how much blood will be shed in the process of civilizing this world.  

The Emperor himself is allowed a single unarmed shuttle equipped with a Spike drive, but refuses to submit himself or his diplomats to State Customs via the Beanstalk.  For that reason, it sits unused on the station.  

'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 04.02
*Government: Tyrannical Empire, with meritocratic bureaucracy
*Laws & Restrictions: State-imposed embargo on technology in or out.  Planetary society is tyranny, whether anything is illegal or not depends entirely on the sufferance of the empire.  Expect any goods above TL1 to be seized, with or without compensation.
*Population: 30M
*Languages: Mandarin, English
*Technology: 28M TL1, 2M TL2.
*Fleets: 1 Non-militarized shuttle.  1 Geosynchronous station with beanstalk that terminates near Imperial Capital, space-side customs controlled by the State.  No NIFP protection, no extraplanetary facilities.

'''Trade'''
*Supply & Demand: -2 Agricultural, -1 Sapient, +1 Postech, +2 Military.
*Goods: 1. Slaves. 2. Clothing. 3. Livestock, Common. 4. Livestock, Gengineered. 5. Metawheat. 6. Housewares, Basic. 7. Metal Ingots, Common. 8. Native Artwork. 9. Tools, Basic Hand Tools. 10. Pretech Junk (!).
*Trouble: As per Tyrannical Worlds.
*Friction: 5. 
*Notes: Trade is heavily restricted.  Have a plan, friction can be modified downward and price substantially upward with the application of Adventure.

=== Wolf ===

Wolf is a TL3+ world that is part of the influential "core" of the State.  Their heavy industrial capacity reaches TL4 in some areas, although their ability to manufacture TL4 goods in other areas is limited.  Outside of construction and starships, their technology is TL3 (and even for Starships, they tend to import rather than manufacture the electronics and computer equipment.)  The most common language here is descended from English and is barely recognizable, but it is so heavily dialected that outsiders cannot understand it without Culture/Wolf 0.  It had heavy crossbreeding with some of the norse and germanic languages common here before the Scream, and they all intermingled during the long Silence.  The natives are almost universally able to communicate in standard English as well.  There are also a few areas of the planet where Russian is dominant.

Wolf is a slightly colder world than Earth-normal, but plentifully fertile for its inhabitants (the world is considered fully colonized, but only about two billion people live there.  They like their space.)  There are also substantial colonies elsewhere in the system.  Wolf is a highly rational and clear-headed society, even if the people there do tend toward melancholy and contemplation of moral and philosophical dilemmas.  There are heavy strains of Norse, Scandinavian, Germanic, and Russian culture running through it.  They are not expansionist or militaristic, precisely, but they do believe in self-defense.  They can manufacture vehicles of up to Frigate class easily with their own shipyards, and can manufacture Cruisers with difficulty.  

'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 05.04
*Government: Scandinavian Social Welfare, Mix of Parliament & Direct Democracy, Vestigial Monarchy.
*Laws & Restrictions:  Personal weapons require licenses which are easily available.  Armed ships are allowed on-planet at the discretion of the authorities.
*Population: 2B
*Languages: Wolf Dialect, Russian, English
*Technology: 1.5 TL3, .5B TL4, Prometheus project due to end in two years, specialty is heavy industry.
*Fleets: 1 Militarized Cruiser, 2 Militarized Frigates, 5 Non-Militarized Frigates, 8 non-militarized shuttles, 8 fighters. 2 Beanstalk-equipped geosynchronous stations for full planetary defense, full NIFP protection.  Numerous asteroid and other extraplanetary bases.  Wolf has mostly 2nd-generation craft, but is beginning to manufacture 3rd-generation and configurable hulls.

'''Trade'''
*Supply & Demand: -2 Survival, -1 Astronautic, +1 Consumer, +2 Mineral.
*Goods: 1. Colonial Materials 2. Colonial Supplies 3. Fusion Plants 4. Postech Building Material 5. Parts, Starship Maintenance 6. Tools, Astronautic 7. Tools, Industrial. 8. Small Arms, Projectile 9. Small Arms, Energy Weapons 10. Metawheat.
*Trouble: As per industrial worlds.
*Friction: 3
*Notes: Home of Spacekea prefab colony kits.  There are several specific items purchasable here that are not available anywhere else.
**Spacekea Black Box Fusion Core. 50,000cr to purchase, takes up twenty tons.  This requires its own building to be set up in, but is ruggedized and completely enclosed.  It can be maintained by natives if they can read, and requires only water as a power supply.  Gives enough electrical power for 5,000 homes or one factory.  Does not come with its own electrical grid.  
**Spacekea Prefab Villa: Takes up 10 tons of cargo space, costs 50,000cr, and includes its own integral fusion power supply.  Constructs a habitation and small workspace for 25 people.  Rated to last for over a century if properly maintained.  Includes hydroponics for scrubbing atmosphere and water, but not for food.
**Spacekea Prefab Manor: Takes up 30 tons of cargo space, costs 150,000cr, and includes all amenities and features of the above Villa.   Constructs a generous habitation and workspace for 50 people. The manor is lightly fortified, and it comes complete with tools, supplies, survival and exploration gear, rugged housewares, fabrication equipment equivalent to a workshop, a small armory and basic medical facilities.    
**Nuke Snuffers, Slingshot Scout Vehicles, Rimworlder rifles, all per the Suns of Gold book.  
**Larger prefab colony facilities are available through special order, including prefabricated spaceports.

=== Anumati ===

Anumati a system focused around a single world.  Anumati has slightly more surface area covered by water and its continents broken up into much smaller pieces.  There are around a dozen landmasses in the size range between Greenland and Australia, and none larger.  The common language is Hindustani.  Their world is slightly warmer than Earth normal and is subject to occasional severe storms, but no major tectonic upheaval.  The system has a wealth of asteroids with rare elements in them, and Anumati is therefore unusually wealthy.  There are probably three billion inhabitants in the system.  

Anumati is TL3+.  They have excellent ability to manufacture personal and computer goods, and also medicine.  Essentially, the cyberpunk package.  However, their heavy industry and starship manufacturing capability lags behind.  They can manufacture fighter and shuttle hulls on the surface, but must import spike drive parts and cannot build frigates or orbital facilities with any ease.  They have a space station and a large fleet of in-system craft, but cannot sustain much in the way of interplanetary ambitions with a paltry fleet of five frigates (purchased and negotiated from other worlds.)

Anumati bristles at its lack of capacity, but doesn't have a strongly unified government.  The megacorporations that rule it are unwilling to unite in common interest and continually squabble and make underhanded attacks on each other.  The State is somewhat reliant on this state of affairs to maintain Nyx supremacy.

Anumati is also home to the Merpeople - victims of Mandate-era genetic engineering who were redesigned to survive underwater.  There are enough of them to stay healthy and avoid inbreeding, but the rigors of spaceflight are difficult for them to survive and so they are bound to this world.

'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 03.04
*Government: Corporatocracy
*Laws & Restrictions: Almost anything is legal so long as you buy an expensive license.  Be aware of differing megacorporate jurisdictions.
*Population: 1B + 10M Merpeople.
*Languages: Hindustani
*Technology: .6B TL4, .4B TL3. Specialty is personal electronics and cybernetics.
*Fleets: 2 Militarized Frigates (1st and 2nd Generation.)  10 Shuttles (1st & 2nd Generation), 8 Fighters (1st Generation.)  No 3rd-generation craft. 2 Beanstalk-equipped geosynchronous stations (neither exceptionally good, but they have them), and full NIFP protection.

'''Trade'''
*Supply & Demand: -2 Consumer, -1 Medical, +1 Postech +2 Astronautic
*Goods: 1. Cybernetics. 2. Housewares, Postech. 3. Medical Supplies, Postech. 4. Tools, Postech Medical. 5. Small Arms, Projectile. 6. Recreational Drugs. 7. Metal Ingots, Rare Alloys. 8. Exotic Jewels. 9. Entertainments, postech. 10. Clothing.
*Trouble: As per Savage World.
*Friction: 4 for outsiders.
*Notes: Ruled by corrupt megacorporations, who are not overly fond of competition.  Anumati cyberclinics will do cybernetic implantation and similar procedures at half price, including a number of procedures that are illegal or unavailable elsewhere.  Medical tourism is not uncommon.  There are rumors of merchants that deal in sapients, although this is close enough to Nyx that the business stays underground.
**Cybernetics are a new good not listed in Suns of Gold.  They are TL4 to manufacture.  They cost 50,000cr per unit, and have the types of Postech, Medical, and Biotech.
**Entertainments are an adjunct to housewares, and specifically mean personal electronics, music, movies, TV series, toys and games, etc.  They will typically have a tech level equal to the society that creates them.  Postech Entertainments cost 10,000cr per unit, and have the types of Cultural, Consumer, and Postech.

=== Abaddon ===

Abaddon contains a dozen utterly lifeless and uninhabitable worlds that contain the ruins of human or other civilizations, and the Black House.  Probably all of humanity in the entire State together could move to the Black House and live there comfortably, but there is a bit of superstitious dread regarding the system.  Probably because no one has any clear idea of what rendered all those worlds uninhabitable. The State, for reasons of its own, has been pushing a colonization attempt on The Black House, with mixed success.  There are a few tens of thousands here, but little more.  The lifeless worlds and asteroid fields provide many opportunities for mining, the vast landscapes of the Black House contains unlimited space for agricultural projects.  But people simply do not want to live here.  

There are currently rumblings in the State government to consider dotting the landscape of The Black House with penal colonies, or settlements for political dissidents.  The Nyx Cluster's relatively tolerant democratic government doesn't feel the need to persecute its own dissidents, but if the lesser civilizations in the State feel the need to do so, then why not turn a problem into an opportunity?

Every common language is in common usage here, and English is the universal tongue.  Classes at the Academy are taught in English, and if a new student arrives who does not speak it, they are taught in short order.  Psi education is available up to Level 6 disciplines.  Some characters have knowledge and power in excess of that, but they are rare and their abilities secret.  They are usually simply referred to as The Masters, and their precise identities are concealed.  The students do not know which of the teachers have attained the rank of Master.  Allegedly, all of them are in cahoots with the State's intelligence apparatus.

Abaddon does not have its own government beyond the purely local (which is dominated by the academics.)  It has non-trivial planetary defense capability, but generally no more than a couple frigates in the system.  It has very little manufacturing (a black eye considering the State's emphasis on self-sufficiency) and by itself would probably quickly drop to a TL1 status.  However, its close connection to Nyx and sponsorship by the State means that TL4 goods and equipment are available there.

There are currently no more than a few hundred students studying at the Black House.  The supply of psychics in the State is extremely limited.

'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 05.03
*Government: Geniocracy (Psychics)
*Laws & Restrictions: Personal sidearms are allowed.  Traffic control is relatively strict, persons attempting to approach the Black House must have a valid reason for doing so.
*Population: 30k, 500 Psychics.
*Languages: Officially English, all languages spoken to some extent.
*Technology: TL4, some TL5 Psitech, unsustainable.
*Fleets: 1 Militarized Frigate (3rd generation), 5 non-militarized shuttles (2nd Generation.)  No station, spaceport is a bit ad-hoc other than serious landing control.  There are planetary defense weapons, and full NIFP protection.

'''Trade'''
*Supply & Demand: ???
*Goods: ???
*Trouble: ???
*Friction: 5. For your group, adjusted down to 3.
*Notes: ???


=== Corsica ===

This was one of the first systems recontacted by the Nyx Cluster after they regained Spike Drive technology.  Corsica had a strong intellectual culture and a number of Corsican thinkers and politicians became very influential in the burgeoning State.  For that reason, Corsica has influence well above the range of its actual power.  It is currently agitating for a space station and other facilities, which the State does not wish to provide at the moment for budgetary reasons, and which no one on the private market is able to.

Corsica is considered very tourist-friendly, and is certainly able to market itself that way.  It is probably the most popular travel destination in the State for the kind of people who are able to travel for pleasure.  It also has very little restriction in the way of customs, and people are generally allowed to bring any TL4 goods they would like.

'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 03.02
*Government: Social Democracy, Parliamentary System, very populist.
*Laws & Restrictions: No weapons allowed, all other goods are fine. Armed vessels must use a special restricted spaceport.  Strong tradition of intellectual freedom.  Will actually arrest people for "crimes against humanity" committed off-planet.  
*Population: 500M
*Languages: French, Spanish Dialect
*Technology: .5B TL3  
*Fleets: 1 Non-Militarized Frigate (3rd Generation), 5 non-militarized shuttles (2nd Generation), 10 militarized fighters (1st Generation.) Full NIFP protection.  A few extraplanetary facilities, but no real station.

'''Trade'''
*Supply & Demand: -2 Cultural, -1 Livestock, +1 Consumer, +2 Postech
*Goods: 1. Clothing. 2. Fine Liquor. 3. Small Arms, Projectile. 4. Metawheat. 5. Native Artwork. 6. Livestock, Common. 7. Parts, Basic Industry. 8. Postech Building Material. 9. Tools, Basic Hand. 10. Housewares, Basic.
*Trouble: As per Cosmopolitan World.
*Friction: 2
*Notes: Corsica is an incredibly easy place to do business, and they'd like to see more of it. Unfortunately, they're in kind of a backwater.  They are seriously interested in anyone that can open up a trade route to rumored worlds out beyond their system.


=== Inari ===

Inari is a TL3 world with a specialty in agricultural products, and a population of one hundred million.  The common language is Japanese, and there is an unusually strong Buddhist tradition in several areas of the planet, despite the secularizing influence of contact with spacefaring civilizations.  They were roughly at the height of 1950s-era technology when Contacted, and are now beginning the slow crawl toward TL4 capacity.  There is a lively debate in the planetary government about what area (if any) of TL4 technology they should concentrate on developing first.

Inari is most interesting for its wildly varied biosphere, and the current belief is that it was seeded with life from many different worlds as part of some Mandate-era experiment (or accident?)  Even now, Inari has an unusual reliance on domesticated wildlife and a highly sophisticated agricultural system built on dozens of exotic plant and animal products.  

They don't seem terrifically excited about expansion in and of itself, and are actually slightly insular.  Their primary motivation to bootstrap up is so that they cannot be pushed around, which has produced some conflict in the State as to whether they should be ''allowed'' to be insular.

'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 02.05
*Government: Constitutional Theocracy.
*Laws & Restrictions: Weapons are disfavored and must be justified.  Violence is heavily restricted.  Planet is effectively an enforced vegetarian state, do not attempt to import meat.
*Population: 100M
*Languages: Japanese
*Technology: 98M TL3, 2M TL4.
*Fleets: 5 non-militarized shuttles, 2nd Generation. Full NIFP Protection.  No stations.

'''Trade'''
*Supply & Demand: -2 Agricultural, -1 Livestock, +1 Medical, +2 Mineral.
*Goods: 1. Laughing Buddha Hydroponic Farms. 2. Livestock, Gengineered. 3. Livestock, Luxury Pets. 4. Metawheat. 5. Native Artwork. 6. Fine Liquor. 7. Parts, Basic Industry. 8. Postech Building Material. 9. Clothing. 10. Tools, basic hand tools.
*Trouble: As per agricultural world.
*Friction: 3
*Notes: The animals bred here are for byproducts only.  They get really serious if people start selling animals for meat.
**There is one TL4 good that Inari makes, and they make the best in the State.  They can produce unparalleled hydroponics systems.  
**The Laughing Buddha Modular Hydroponic Farm weighs 10 tons when packed for transport, and costs 50,000cr.  It includes four modules, each of which requires roughly half of a barn worth of space when put together.  Each module is enough to feed 75 people once it is running continuously.  Setup requires the addition of a great deal of water and biomass, which should be easily available in most environments, and a continuous (but not necessarily high-intensity) power source.  The hydroponics facility requires maintenance from someone with Tech/Medical or Science skills and access to the manual.


=== The Reef ===

Some huge disaster befell this system before or after the Scream, and it was uninhabited when first discovered.  It has no remaining planets, only vast fields of more or less huge asteroids and a few bodies that were formerly probably very large moons.  The common language is English, and the appropriate culture skill is Spacer.

The Reef is the greatest colonization success story, and one of the first ones.  The mining and heavy industrial opportunities here were top notch, and there were a few artifact habitations that were still partially intact.  The system is now a network of hundreds of major habitations, up to the size of small cities, and countless smaller ones, all sustained by hydroponic technology and space industry.  

As an almost entirely spacefaring society, the Reef is TL4 and has a substantial navy.  


'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 04.03
*Government: Local Town-Hall Democracy plus system-wide Cybersynacy, effectively a client state of Nyx.
*Laws & Restrictions: Weapons are restricted to shipboard-appropriate.  Strong physical security measures.
*Population: 20M
*Languages: English plus others
*Technology: TL4
*Fleets: 1 Militarized Cruiser, 2 Non-Militarized Cruisers, 4 Militarized Frigates + 5 Non-Militarized frigates, 10 Shuttles, 15 Fighters. Mix of generations.  Without any real planets there is little need for space stations per se.  Copious docking bays and all other services are available here.

'''Trade'''
*Supply & Demand: -2 Astronautic, -1 Tool, +1 Agricultural, +2 Luxury
*Goods: 1. Fusion Plants. 2. Metal Ingots, Common. 3. Metal Ingots, Rare Alloys. 4. Tools, Astronautic. 5. Tools, Industrial. 6. Parts, Starship Maintenance. 7. Housewares, Postech. 8. Colonial Materials. 9. Clothing. 10. Parts, Basic Industry.
*Trouble: As per industrial world.
*Friction: 1/3
*Notes: Purchases are exceptionally easy here.  Sales are by-the-book difficulty without local contacts.

=== Sisters ===

This system contains the worlds of Antillia, Thoth, and Utu.  All three are earthlike worlds with a TL of 0 or 1, depending on what part of the planet you land on.  They tend to be plagued by voracious megafauna, which have never been successfully wiped out due to the large areas of wilderness.  None have a unified planetary government, or even a body of governments.  These three were clearly terraformed worlds, and their biospheres are simply not that old.  As such, they lack the fossil fuels that would have allowed them to maintain or increase their tech levels without support.  Each planet has at least one civilization that kept records and remembered.  On each world, there were at least a few who had read the oldest books, and knew that their people had not come from there, and that there might be other humans out among the stars.  On Antillia, the common language among the most educated is Spanish.  On Thoth, it is Afrikaans.  On Utu, it is Arabic.  These were the languages that the oldest books had been written in.  So, while they may have been dead languages at the time contact was re-established, they were quickly made use of.  In all three cases this resulted in the most advanced culture on the planet being the point of contact with starfaring civlization, but since each world has something like a billion people on it, that isn't an overwhelmingly large contact to have.

The State is currently trying to slowly unify these worlds under a single government per planet, preferably one that is under State control, without having a humanitarian disaster or otherwise completely losing control of the situation.

This presents much different challenges to those of the Golden Empire.  The Empire is unified, but has a powerful and cunning leadership who oppose the State's hegemony.  The Sisters have no unification, but also no organized or unified opposition.  It is largely a case of playing one faction against another faction of the same planet, but not doing so with such vigor that the grav tanks have to come out to prevent a crime against humanity.  It's like walking a tightrope with a balancing pole occupied by angry cats.

Dealing with worlds such as these is stretching the resources of the State in a way that the Golden Empire doesn't, and the State presence in this system is arguably much too thin.

'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 03.05
*Government: Various Primitive
*Laws & Restrictions: Purely local
*Population: 10M/10M/10M
*Languages: Spanish, Afrikaans, Arabic.
*Technology: 5M TL1, 5M TL0.  That is the natural TL, no Prometheus Project has begun yet.
*Fleets: 2 1st-generation Non-Militarized Shuttles per world, total of 6. 

'''Trade'''
*Supply & Demand: -2 Agriculture, -1 Livestock, +1 Tools, +2 Postech.
*Goods: 1. Clothing. 2. Drugs, Raw Materials. 3. Housewares, Basic. 4. Livestock, Common. 5. Metal Ingots, Common. 6. Metal Ingots, Rare Alloys. 7. Metawheat. 8. Native Artwork. 9. Slaves. 10. Tools, basic hand.
*Trouble:  As per primitive world.
*Friction: 1d4+1 for each world, determined randomly the first time you visit.
*Notes: The economic character of the three worlds is pretty similar.


=== Towers ===

Towers is a black sheep in the community of worlds.  They sit on the edge of the State and joined it reluctantly.  They have a dozen frigates, all armed, but no cruisers, two geosynchronous stations with beanstalks that are in mediocre working order, and partial NIFP protection.  They are actually only partially TL4, there are areas of the planet where TL4 goods and services are not yet commonly available.  Psychics are illegal, and there are hotly contested covert programs to help psychics escape from this world.  The most technologically advanced areas of Towers are actually the Hives, which are habitable megastructure arcologies.  Millions of people can live in a single Hive.  There are still wide ranges of the planet that contain imiscible plant and animal life, and there are constant efforts to drive those species extinct.

The dominant language is Russian.  Towers has a strong interest in technological advancement, and will pay for alien or pretech artifacts if they are functional.  Towers is not a particularly egalitarian place, and there are small groups of people with absolutely phenomenal wealth and power.  There are probably more people here that individually own starships than anywhere else.

'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 07.04
*Government: Nepotocracy
*Laws & Restrictions: Highly Repressive
*Population: 2B
*Languages: Russian
*Technology: .5B TL3, 1.5B TL4, 
*Fleets: 5 Militarized Frigates (1st and 2nd generation.)  10 Non-Militarized Shuttles.

'''Trade'''
*Supply & Demand: -2 Military, -1 Low Tech, +1 Luxury, +2 Sapient
*Goods: 1. Clothing. 2. Metawheat. 3. Parts, Basic Industry. 4. Tools, Basic Hand Tools. 5. Small Arms, Energy Weapons. 6. Small Arms, Projectile Weapons. 7. Housewares, Basic. 8. Tools, Industrial. 9. Postech Building Material. 10. Tools, Astronautic.
*Trouble: As per decadent world.
*Friction: 5.
*Notes: Not really a safe place to do business at all.  However, it deviates strongly from the State standard, and so it may be possible to purchase things here that are unavailable elsewhere...
**Balrog Laser Pistol: This is a bulky, inaccurate laser weapon preferred by thugs and degenerates all across Towers.  It has a range of 50/100, deals 2d4 damage and takes ''two'' Type A energy cells. It has a magazine of 12 and is capable of burst fire. 600cr.

=== Blue Heaven ===

This is, in fact, a remarkably beautiful world.  The Scream and the Silence hit it extremely hard, and it was apparently not fully colonized at the time.  It has very slowly increased its population, civilization, and tech level on its own ever since hitting bottom.  It is generally a low TL2 or high TL1.  The locals can make antibiotics, steam engines, factories, telegraphs, and firearms, but internal combustion engines and radio are not universally available.

It's viewed as a sleepy backwater, and that is a fairly accurate impression.  The two largest governments on the planet have each been given a pair of spike-drive equipped shuttles, and State personnel to maintain them.  There are no space stations, but space ports exist in the sense that there are large clear areas near several major cities, with port authorities to count crates and write your name down on a list.  Remarkably, there are no current trade restrictions.  The governments here value a laissez-faire approach to things, and the State has largely respected this local practice.  Blue Heaven is attempting to bootstrap itself up to TL3 without government intervention, by letting market actors hire outside experts and outside businesses set up on the planet.  They are suspicious of the way the State provides training for Psychics, but willing to tolerate it since they don't have a better option.

Large areas of Blue Heaven have a wild west atmosphere, and visitors are encouraged to carry sidearms and wear suitably low-profile body armor (the armored undersuit is an incredibly popular accessory for visitors.)  Merchants will usually find ready buyers for outside tech, especially of the long-lasting and easily maintained variety.  The problem is that the locals do not usually deal in Credits, because they barely have any.  The bigger problem is that finding anything from Blue Heaven that is worth selling somewhere else is an enormous challenge.  The current fashion among speculators is to buy up large amounts of real estate, on the assumption that it will become worth more as the planet develops.


'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 06.05
*Government: Minarchy
*Laws & Restrictions: Whatever.
*Population: 50M
*Languages: English, Mandarin
*Technology: 24M TL1, 26M TL2. Prometheus Project is at 1M per year.
*Fleets: 4 non-militarized shuttles, 1st Generation.

'''Trade''': 
*Supply & Demand: -2 Agriculture, -1 Luxury, +1 Tools, +2 Military. 
*Goods: 1. Drugs, Raw Materials. 2. Housewares, Basic. 3. Livestock, Common. 4. Metawheat. 5. Native Artwork. 6. Slaves. 7. Small Arms, Projectile Weapons. 8. Tools, Basic Hand Tools. 9. Fine Liquor. 10. Pretech Junk.
*Trouble: As per a savage world.
*Friction: 1 
*Notes: It is basically a western movie every time you land here.

=== Gabriel ===

A system that roundly rejected standard naming conventions, the major inhabited planet is called Gabriel's Tear.  It has an earthlike climate but is an ocean world, with only perhaps 20% of the land surface area of ancient Terra.  The population is small, only half a billion people, many of which live in floating cities.  Civilization here dropped to TL0 or 1 at some point during the Silence, and the silence-era civilizations built many huge monuments and monoliths during that time. They are considered cultural treasures and access to them is restricted.  The system has a wealth of rare minerals, and the people take naturally to space mining, so it is considered a zone of substantial economic opportunity.  Gabriel's Tear is currently TL3 with a major language of Afrikaans.  The government has historically been a system of city-states, each one focused on one of the islands that make up the world's limited land-area.  They have now created a sort of UN to handle extraplanetary affairs, but it is weak and the nations often compete with each other to undercut it.  The State is slowly gaining more of a hold here by playing one nation against another.  Three nations have currently been bribed with the use of spike-drive equipped shuttles.

'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 06.03
*Government: Federation of democratic city-states, strongly technocratic.
*Laws & Restrictions: Varies by individual polity.
*Population: 30M
*Languages: Afrikaans, French, Arabic
*Technology: TL3
*Fleets: 6 non-militarized shuttles, 1st Generation.

=== Tenebrous ===

This is the civilized jumping-off point into the PCs' claimed sector.  The two primary points of interest are Tenebrous III and IV.  Tenebrous IV is a massive Terran Mandate space station.  It was long-dead when discovered, and all human life in the system had in fact apparently been extinguished in the aftermath of the Scream.  People still occasionally find long-mummified bodies in out-of-the-way corners of the station.  State engineers have it up and running again, although they don't entirely understand all of the pretech systems.  The PCs have a lease on a landing bay and some light industrial/office space.<br/><br/>

Tenebrous III is a planet with a burgeoning colony.  The wreckage of the pre-scream settlements have been picked thoroughly clean.  At this time there are five colonies scattered around the planet, essentially one in the most hospitable part of each continent.  The science of terraforming is still badly understood, and this planet is considered a testing-ground for the field.  Biologists are regularly introducing species that are more harmonious with human civilization, and attempting to manage the ecological destabilization that results from adding a few dozen invasive species.  <br/><br/>

Very much a wild-west atmosphere.

'''Vital Statistics'''
*Coordinates: 06.06
*Government: Elective Monarchy (temporary)
*Laws & Restrictions: Highly Libertarian
*Population: 100k
*Languages: Various. English is the official language of government and port control, Arabic is heavily represented planetside
*Technology: TL4, unsustainable.
*Fleets: None surviving.  Currently occupied by rotating Naval detachment.

'''Trade'''
*Supply & Demand: -2 Agricultural, -1 Livestock, +1 Tools, +2 Postech
*Goods: 1. Clothing 2. Drugs, Raw Materials 3. Livestock, Common 4. Metal Ingots, Common, 5. Metal Ingots, Rare Alloys 6. Metawheat 7. Native Artwork 8. Tools, Basic Hand Tools 9. Housewares, Basic 10. Pretech Junk.
*Friction: 2

=== Unknown System ===

Stargazer, you happen to gain access to a junkyard for wrecked ships. Your scavenging instincts lead you to dig through their hard drives in case any data was left behind. You manage to find two uncorrupted drill routes.  One goes from the Golden Empire (04.02) to an unknown system (06.01). [http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?717974-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-II-Space-Oddity&p=17657243#post17657243 OOC2-40]

=== Shadowfax ===

Pre-scream, there was a Mandate mecha base in a system called Shadowfax. The known drill route started out in Sisters (03.05) and went two hexes directly south (03.07). The facility was on the third planet out from the sun. There are no drill charts for this route.  [http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?717974-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-II-Space-Oddity&p=17663582#post17663582 OOC2-125]