Season 1 Voyage

A tabletop RPG campaign inspired by the 2009 film, Star Trek. Nero's incursion has devastated the quadrant and it will take a new breed of Starfleet officer to tackle the challenges of a hostile and unpredictable galaxy. Lady Blackbird (One Seven Design Studio)

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Season 1 Voyage

Post by nemarsde »

Here you will find pertinent details on the maiden voyage of the refitted USS Blakeney. It's mission to carry out a long-range patrol of the Borderland region of space, before arriving in the Paulson Nebula to survey dilithium compounds.
Timeline

Year 1
  • Stardate 2262.158. Day 1 of voyage
    Launched from Starbase 1, Sol System, jumped to warp
  • 2262.205. Day 47
    Docked at Starbase 12, Gamma 400 System. Took on board Embarked Ground Forces, battalion-strength marine unit
  • 2262.253. Day 95–100
    Layover at Risa, Epsilon Ceti System. Shore leave and marine exercises led by Hazard Team officers
  • 2262.263. Day 110-115
    SOS from Akaali System. Mount Draylan Supereruption and tsunami
  • 2262.347. Day 189–191
    Arrived in Rigel System. Peace-keeping mission on Rigel VII interrupted by SOS from Cestus System. Marine detachment left on Rigel VII as part of Operation Barb Wire
  • 2263.17. Day 224
    Cestus II rescue mission. Suzy Suzuki and et al rescued from SS Sabrina
  • 2263.53. Day 260–265
    Arrived back in Rigel System. Barb Wire wound up. Layover on Rigel II, shore leave. Joint investigation with Esterel Corp of impure dilithium stock. Captured wanted Orion criminal, Eddie Fas
  • 2263.59. Day 266-269
    Rotated marines with awaiting companies at Polar City on Rigel IV. Dropped off civilian passengers and prisoners
  • 2263.63. Day 270
    Welcomed aboard Ambassador Sybok. Rendezvoused with USS Carolina at Rigel X. Jumped to warp
  • 2263.143. Day 350
    Arrived in Neutral Zone, escort USS Carolina departed for Starbase 23. Talks between Ambassador Sybok and Romulan Star Empire, in re Vulcan Reunification ended with Sybok returning with Legate Ejiel, to Romulus. Hostilities narrowly avoided
  • 2263.145. Day 352
    SOS detected from Starfleet operation in Paulson Nebula, revealing location of Planet Koltaari and warning of hostile forces. Ship diverted to Koltaari, rendezvous en route with USS Carolina
Year 2
  • 2263.178. Day 385-401
    Arrived in Paulson Nebula, navigated to Koltaari. Lent aid to indigenous population vs Orion Syndicate. "Battle of Sentinel Minor IV" in orbit, vs Orion battle cruisers. USS Carolina destroyed, USS Blakeney disabled. Orion battle cruisers destroyed. After rescuing survivors of USS Carolina and effecting repair of ship, intercepted by USS Kongo at nebula boundary and escorted to safety.
  • 2263.243. Day 486-496
    Arrived in Iota Leonis System. Layover on Argelius II. Shore leave. Rigorous diplomacy. Erba Coca-Cola Drag Boat Race.
  • 2263.323. Day 576
    Originally due to arrive in Sol System, return to dock at Starbase 1
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Sol System

Post by nemarsde »

Notable places in the Sol System are Earth itself, with United Earth and Starfleet based in San Francisco and the United Federation of Planets based in Paris.

Starbase 1 orbits Earth, and the Moon is the site of the Lunar colonies, including the city of New Berlin.

The Martian colonies can be found on Mars, including the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, where starship powerplants are constructed. Wrigley's Pleasure Planet is a hollowed out asteroid in the Sol asteroid belt, and the most popular theme park in the Federation.

Jupiter Station is where Starfleet's advanced scientific research is conducted, with weapon testing ranges at Europa Base.
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Gamma 400 System

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Starbase 12 is a hardened, militarised Starfleet facility, built into a massive asteroid, ostensibly guarding the galactic south of the Founding Systems.

The asteroid is also home to a unique organism, a 300 km long, disembodied skin-reef, first discovered by the Tellarites. Named the Wuga by Tellarite scientists, this organism is host to a thriving ecosystem, including stchaka, a slime mould that eats hair follicles. A handful will bald a man's head in under 20 mins, simultaneously cleaning the pours. No chemical burns, no rashes, cuts, no stubble. How much? Commercial harvesting of stchaka by humans in the early 2250s led to its endangerment and severe damage to the skin-reef that enraged Tellar. The Federation was forced to protect the organism by creating the Wuga Conservation Zone and outlawing stchaka harvesting.
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Epsilon Ceti System

Post by nemarsde »

The busiest ship lane between the Alpha and Beta Quadrant runs from Federation space, out to the Rigel System and Borderland region.

Warp travel is a little like sea travel, and what should be a direct route is influenced by local gravity and subspace conditions, so that more circuitous routes are often safest, quickest or both. Detours are routine, and so too are layovers/shore leave.

For many Starfleet and Merchant Service ships, the planet of Risa is the last chance for R&R in Federation space en route to the Borderland.

Risa is a beautiful Class M world, with famous coastal resorts around the vast Bay of Sulaya. The pace of life here is almost Balearic, with laid-back cliff-side villas and hedonistic nightclubs in the busy town centres. It's a lovely Mediterranean climate in the Bay, coupled with near Earth gravity (slightly higher, around 5%) and more nitrous oxide in the air, shore leave on Risa often resembles a sleepy, relaxing beach holiday, with a whirlwind Saturday night on the town.

Swimming, rock climbing and hiking are popular activities around the Bay, and there are usually some windsurfers and sailboats out on the water. The waters of the Bay are calm and clear with great stretches of deserted golden beach. The cliffs are tall, swathed in thick verdure and with the odd secluded villa. Avenues of these white-washed villas overlook the high-rise, cosmopolitan towns, the outer face of which is usually the marina, esplanade or the beach.

So really the main activities around the Bay of Sulaya are probably dozing, sunbathing, and reading a good book.

The Risians suffer from infertility, linked to the twin suns, so the population is relatively small and sexual relations are more open than on Earth.

Generally speaking, Risians are socially monogamous; they pair bond much like humans, but they're not sexual monogamists. Committing to only one sexual partner is deemed worryingly anti-social, almost hermitic behaviour to most Risians.

But it's not like Argelius II, where sex is casual and refusing is a bit standoffish. Who you're breeding with is a hot topic of conversation on Risa. Risians don't date to find a sexual partner. When they're available and interested in breeding, if they find someone they're attracted to they'll simply ask. If the person says yes, it's tradition to send them a small fertility statue, often with fruit and flowers. The receiver displays this on their mantelpiece and it's all very quaint. The expected outcome of this is a child, with guardianship being retained by the mother. This emphasis on procreation does tend to put some Earthlings off.

Indeed, Risians may be humanoid but find Earthlings incredibly neurotic about sex. Most Risians would agree that the best approach is just to "send them a statue, explain later".
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Rigel System

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Located to the galactic south of Founding Systems, the Rigel System is a marvel and mystery. Four stars and 14 planets, five of which are Class M inhabited worlds, the Rigel System is home to a plethora of sentient races.

Based on scientific and archaeological evidence, it's believed that the Rigel System was created by the Empire of Orion ages ago, before the first Earth civilisations. The Empire of Orion was an advanced civilisation, composed of Orionoids, humanoids, and other races, that may have caused the downfall of the Iconian Empire. Most knowledge of the Empire of Orion was lost after its collapse at the hands of robotic planet-killers. Little else is known of the Iconians, the Empire of Orion or its destroyers.

Zamiareen dominate trade floor and board room positions at the Rigellian Trade Commission, with Chelon dominating office and accounting positions. Orions and humans are also well represented, though the Trade Commission is always at odds with the Orion Syndicate, which the Trade Commission regards as a corrupting influence in the United Rigel Colonies.

The United Rigel Colonies employ a fleet of small ships, heavily-armed corvettes and scouts designed for escorting freighters across the Alpha and Beta Quadrant. These ships tend to have a skeleton crew of less than 20 men but can lay down cruiser-class firepower in an opening salvo, so that they're an effective deterrent against most pirates.

Rigellian Orions have close ties with the Orion Syndicate, and privateers are usually Orion companies in their distinct sickle-like ships. These ships may employ the best technology money can buy, but the very best technology usually isn't for sale, and whilst they might dominate the Borderland region of space, they're eclipsed by Federation and Klingon cruisers.

The Colonies might be described as best friends with the Federation. They have even created a cantonment for the Federation on Rigel IV.
  • Rigel II. Jungle world, homeworld of Rigellian Orions, palace/casinos
  • Rigel III. Swamp world, homeworld of tortoise-like Chelon
  • Rigel IV. Industrialised world, homeworld of Zamiareen. Centre of United Rigel Colonies, and Rigel Trade Commission. Federation cantonment of Polar City
  • Rigel V. Homeworld of Rigellian Vulcanoids
  • Rigel VII. Homeworld of Rigellian humanoids and Kalar
  • Rigel X. Trading outpost, smugglers den
[According to the official Star Trek: Star Charts, the Rigel System is the real world Rigel (Beta Orionis, sixth brightest star in the sky), located roughly 860 light years from Earth. Using Roddenbery's warp factor scale, travelling at the Enterprise's maximum safe speed (warp 6, c*216) the Rigel System would still be an 8 year round trip from Earth! Oops.]



Rigel II, aka Mokalar

Homeworld of the Rigellian Orions, a colony dating back 40,0000 years to the Empire of Orion. A low gravity, verdant jungle world with a highly-oxygenated atmosphere, independent from any of the galactic powers it has become a mecca for hedonistic space-farers. Its economy is centred around the palace-casinos on the coasts, ruled over by powerful Orion oligarchs, although the greater population is amongst the most diverse, and transient in the galaxy. All pleasures are catered for on Rigel II, and visitors are often shocked that it does not have a seedy underbelly. It's seedy from top to bottom, like Las Vegas times Bangkok built in the ruins of Babylon, and there are even more mysterious depths to the planet.

Away from the coasts, the hot, steamy interior is teeming with pests and exotic diseases and feral Kalar tribes. Most animal life is pygmy-like, with no large, man-eating predators, these having been killed off over millennia of Orion occupation. Carnivorous, often poisonous plants are more of a danger. Even the poles are wooded, lacking ice sheets. Mostly unexplored and littered with ancient Orion ruins, the remains of proto-Chelon civilisation also lies deep in the jungle. Federation scientists would love to learn more about the Empire of Orion and its technology, which far surpassed that of the Federation. But modern Orions seem to have little interest in this lost history and disdain research into it. It's believed the infamous Orion wing-slug originates from Rigel II, and the vast swarms of them in the jungle are enough to discourage day-trippers.

The planet is protected by well-funded privateers, and through bilateral agreements with the United Rigel Colonies and the Federation (Rigel II has no unified planetary government).



Rigel III, aka Chelar

Homeworld of the reptilian Chelon. Although Rigel III is commonly known as a swamp world, it does have some highlands and shallow seas. Life is abundant here, varied and unusual, and the Federation Science Bureau runs a joint research programme here with the United Rigel Colonies. The slow, lumbering Chelons, with their scaly, knobbly skin and hard tortoise-like shells, appear to be primitively evolved. Parrot-like beaks and black eyes limited their facial expression and add to the popular misconception that they're dumb brutes. But the Chelon have highly evolved brains and their robust hands, three short fingers and an opposable thumb, are nearly as dexterous yet far tougher than human hands. They're as intelligent as humans and have a greater short term memory capacity. A space-faring race, they and the Zamiareen are the backbone of the United Rigel Colonies. Chelon abhor violence and have no stigma about servitude. So although they think of the Federation as a little befuddled, they appreciate its dedication to study and peaceful pursuits.

The mist-shrouded swamplands of Rigel III are inhospitable to humans, the moisture itself is harmful to the skin and microbial infections are so rife, early explorers died in their droves or were bed-ridden for months afterwards. Nowadays human settlements tend to be built on the slopes of the highlands, where the climate is pleasantly dry and fresh. Expeditions demand the latest environmental suits.



Rigel IV, aka Zamiar

Homeworld of the Zamiareen. They and the Chelon may be the only races native to the Rigel system, the Zamiareen being the first, evolving during the reign of the Masters of Orion. Obviously one of the Preserver races, the Zamiareen have some similarities to Andorians, Vulcans and humans. They have the hermaphroditic ability to change sex during adulthood, creating four genders, they have green, copper-based blood, and have a diverse society and ethos little different from humans.

Zamiareen have an almost Neanderthal appearance, pronounced cheek bones, heavy brow, sloping forehead, with thick, leathery skin and coarse hair, both in varying shades of grey-brown. Tribal fashions are in, with tattoos, bridge piercings, braided hair and beaded jewellery all very popular and mainstream.

Rigel IV has near Earth gravity and is perhaps an example of what pre-war Earth might have become. Just about race in the United Rigel Colonies and the Federation can be found on Rigel IV, in droves. At night the planet's surface is ablaze with light, 10 billion inhabitants crammed into a gamut of megacities. Border controls are lax, trade and commerce rules, everything has a price. Polar City in the north is a densely populated Federation cantonment of around 30 million people. One year on Rigel IV lasts 1125 years and it has a severe axial tilt, creating seasons that last almost three centuries. It's expected to be summer for the next 100 years, but daily weather on Rigel IV is still very unpredictable.

Zamiareen dominate trade floor and board room positions at the Rigellian Trade Commission, with Chelon dominating office and accounting positions. Orions and humans are also well represented, though the Trade Commission is always at odds with the Orion Syndicate, which the Trade Commission regards as a corrupting influence in the United Rigel Colonies.



Rigel V, aka Torek

Homeworld of the Rigellian Vulcanoids. This high gravity world is dominated by the southern continent, a hot, dry desert of shifting sand seas. It was colonised by a Vulcanoid splinter faction 1,500 years ago. Eschewing the logic of Surak and the fascism of the Romulans, they came to believe that a simple, agrarian lifestyle would be their salvation. There are two tribes, the H'ravd (farmers) and the V'geln (nomads). For centuries they've dwelt on Rigel V, and have overtaken the wild Kalar tribes as its dominant race. Their history on the planet isn't bloodless, they first had to vanquish the Kalar of the southern continent.

There's some evidence that the northern continent was once very much like Rigel VII, but that the Kalar overthrew or were abandoned by their masters around the time of Empire of Orion's fall. Although the northern continent was mostly unmolested by the Vulcanoids, constant tribal wars and lack of medicine has restricted their population growth.

Although the Vulcanoids are members of the United Rigel Colonies, they're isolationists and wish to be left alone. Easy enough, the world is considered a boring backwater by most space-farers and ignored anyway. They'd only get the cold shoulder if they did land. However, ever since Vulcan was destroyed, the Federation has redoubled its diplomatic mission on Rigel V. United Earth humans have a lot in common with these Vulcanoids, and tend to get on well with them. Much better than Vulcans do.



Rigel VII, aka Aulia

Homeworld of the Rigellian humanoids, Rigel VII is famed throughout the galaxy for two things. Firstly, the breath-taking beauty of its sky, eerie and alien, and dominated by the moon, Golia. It has inspired countless songs and poems. Secondly, the gigantic Kalar warrior caste, bred by the Empire of Orion in ancient times. Renowned as the fiercest warriors in the galaxy, they are nonetheless found only as slaves or savages.

The main continent of Rigel VII is criss-crossed with straits and gulfs, bounded by vast tidal zones. The close proximity of the moon creates immense tidal waves of up to 50 metres high in places along the coast, and destructive tidal bores that scour the rivers. This has severely limited population growth on Rigel VII, with civilisation only surviving above the tidal zone and near to calm bodies of water. Competition for the prime locations has led to a feudal system and decaying city states, the strongest of which is Zemtar, located on the shores of a sheltered bay.

These fortress cities are mostly of ancient Orion origin, and although the people are indistinguishable from humans, culturally they have evolved from Orions. The Kalar are the most enduring legacy. With feral tribes on Rigel II and Rigel V, and elsewhere bought as labourers or thugs, Rigel VII has the only remaining Kalar war bands. These have become an ever increasing strain on the dominions of Rigel VII. It is a time of peace. So far the United Rigel Colonies haven't assisted in developing the world so it can gain membership; Rigel VII has no unified planetary authority anyway, and even the Federation aren't interested, so why bother?

Rigel VII has one thing going for it. Prestige. "The Moon over Rigel VII" is a romantic cliché for a reason, and owning land and titles on Rigel VII is timelessly fashionable. Regardless of how marginal they are, the tsars command a pageantry, pomp and grandeur lost to most space-faring races. There are many who'd mourn the loss of this quaint, anachronistic civilisation, and it's protected (in more ways than one) through bilateral agreement with the United Rigel Colonies.



Rigel X

Is a planetoid, a barren rock with a trade outpost built into the surface. It's a dive with old, badly maintained systems, leading to erratic air mix and artificial gravity. Although operated by the Rigellian Trade Commission, corruption prevents it from being modernised and the Orion Syndicate controls most of the business. Rigel X is on the same smuggling route as Deep Space K-7.
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Cestus System

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The Cestus System lies at the edge of the known galaxy, just off of the Pacifica Corridor and within Gorn space.

Ships travelling between Starbase 133 and Starbase 82, en route to Pacifica can take a slight detour, "off the beaten trail" through the Cestus System. This is popular with luxury space cruises, as they can see Cestus III, a reputed Gorn funeral world, and possibly even have a Gorn scout ship shadow them (if they're lucky).

The Gorn Hegemony is mysterious and elusive. The Federation has no relations with it whatsoever. All reliable information of the Gorn has been gleaned from the Klingon Empire, who have warned the Federation against colonising planets in that sector. The Gorn may seem tolerant of violating their space, but land on one of their planets and they'll attack on sight, leaving none alive.

Cestus III is an M-class planet with one supercontinent, semi-arid highlands and lowlands of salt plains and estuaries, and isn't actually much to look at compared to its neighbour, Cestus II. "What's so funereal about it?" Is a question commonly asked by bemused tourists. It's the fossils, is the best guess.

This small, volcanic planet with its hot, acid atmosphere and vertical magnetic field, is alive with awesome electrical storms. From orbit, visitors are treated to a natural spectacle as flashes of coloured light dance across the surface. This is not without danger, as Cestus II is surrounded by a debris field, what remains of its moon.
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Nimbus System

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The Nimbus System is located in the Neutral Zone, in unincorporated space between the United Federation Planets, the Romulan Star Empire, and the Klingon Empire.

The system's only place of interest is Nimbus III, a Class H desert world with two moons.

Around 2 million years ago it was an ocean world, but geological activity on the planet died out and the oceans shrank into a string of seas around the tropics. The surface of Nimbus III is now mostly comprised of soft minerals, either in bare rock plains or sporadic mesas and sand seas.

Although having an Earth-like atmosphere and gravity, the fine, soft sand on Nimbus III is so soft it can often seem greasy and is a serious health hazard when breathed in. Although temperatures are mild, ranging from freezing to the mid-thirties, there's no shelter and no rain outside of a thin band around the inland seas. Nimbus III is inhospitable, but has great potential in terraforming terms. Unfortunately, someone would have to claim it first.

There are areas of Nimbus III with completely flat, featureless terrain in all directions for thousands of kilometres. Deserts where it never rains, humidity is zero, and an unprotected human will have the moisture sucked from their body. It's not unheard of for miscreants to be marooned on Nimbus III as punishment. It's a slow, lingering, and excruciatingly painful death.
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Paulson Nebula

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Lying across the Romulan Neutral Zone, unconfined by mortal politics, is the beautiful and mysterious Paulson Nebula. Given a rather prosaic name by the United Earth Space Probe Agency, it has remained one of the unsolvable riddles of the Beta Quadrant for over 100 years.

Purple through violet, with flashes of searing white, newborn stars, this cloud of gas and dust is noted for being 82% dilithium hydroxyls, magnesium and chromium, with many of its vanes being impenetrable to sensors, let alone starships. It's a navigation hazard, even at impulse speed, and no starship can bulldoze through over 11 light years of crystalline brash.

There are shifting but navigable channels through the nebula. These are extremely treacherous and almost entirely uncharted, as the Paulson Nebula is in constant motion, moving in all directions at over 1,000 km/s.



Koltaari

In 2242, USS Newton was surveying the nebula when it wandered across a channel leading to an area of clear space within the nebula. This bubble contained a rogue planet, lit and warmed by the stars being born nearby.

From orbit, the planet appeared like shining silver, with most of the surface buried under 4 km thick ice sheets. Yet there was an "eye" of unfrozen land and sea, some 8,000 km across, the rich, natural colours of a Class M inhabitable world.

Two continents, bounded east and west by the ice shelf, sea to the north and south, it's seasons and days dictated by its own spin and obstructions passing between it and nearby stars. Host to immense, briar-like jungle and swamps, where the entangled, arching canes were so huge they could bridge a river. There were deserts of a bone-like substance, crusted over lakes of a clear, water-based plasma, and forming tall, alien outcrops.

And then there were the crystal forests, growing amongst rugged peaks, creating their own tunnels and caverns. Elsewhere, crystal thickets were littered across the land, often hidden in forest glades or overgrown with grass. These crystals were mostly clear or coloured cormaline, intermingled with boulders bearing pink dilithium, smoky white bilitrium and bright and yellow pergium.

The planet was like a defused bomb, adrift in space, but it was also the greatest find of mineral resources in Federation history.

But the Newton also found the planet was inhabited by an Orion subrace, and most importantly, a small Vulcanoid population, the last remnant of Admiral Debrune's fleet, lost since the Time of the Sundering.

The Vulcan High Council insisted that the Prime Directive be upheld, the Debrune left in peace and seclusion, and reluctantly the Federation agreed.

Such a find couldn't be left unattended, but there was a risk of alerting the Romulan Star Empire to the planet's presence. Starfleet Science Division set up a cultural observation post, in the shadow of the eastern ice shelf. It was linked to the rest of the galaxy by dedicated subspace relays, and then the whole thing was slapped under General Order 7, Starfleet's classified list of planets that did not officially exist.

For 20 years, the Planet Koltaari remained secret...



The Koltaari are the people after whom the planet is named. Their myths say the planet was created from Koltaari, so the two are one and the same. It may be that the colony was created from Koltaari; they're an Orion subrace, probably diverging from the main branch after the fall of the Empire of Orion, 40,000 years ago. Unlike the Rigellian Orions, who've had constant relations with the homeworld since then, the Koltaari have lived in isolation.

The planet is swamped in harmful radiation, straining the resilience of even Orion and Vulcan biology. The Koltaari have darker green skin than Orions, often nearly black, with white hair in loose curls that yellows with age. They have a distinct look, evolved from living on a rogue planet that can experience erratic periods of twilight, and freak weather, whatever the season.

Gravity is higher than Earth, the atmosphere thicker. The environment is so rich in exotic minerals, it's like a world-wide toxic dump to humans. The indigenous animals that live here are very alien, mostly small species of six-legged, reptile-like insectoids, adapted to the jungles and crystal forests, and the giant eight-legged "slinks", varying in size from 2 to 15 metres long. Some plant-eating slinks are ridden, used as beasts of burden and for their meat. The meat-eating variety are best avoided. The 7 metre long blood-toothed slink feeds by biting its prey, and sawing its head back and forth to tear off a hunk of flesh.

"Fay" are a tiny, phosphorescent insectoid that swarm in the billions. Swirling, glowing clouds that would weigh hundreds of thousands of tons, that feed on soft pergium salts and are themselves fed upon by dragora. Dragora are a flying reptile-like insectoid, growing over 8 metres long. Smooth and aerodynamic filter-feeders, they fly much like a hummingbird, gliding and hovering amidst the crystal forests. Flying into a fay swarm, baleen plates in the mouth capture the dragora's meal. The pergium is digested in a natural fusion process, generating the copious energy that keeps the dragora aloft.

The Koltaari avoid the deepest crystal forest though, mainly due to the ruggedness of the terrain. They're found elsewhere across the land, in civilised kingdoms or barbarian tribes. To the human observer, their culture might seem like a collision of Indian and Japanese, with a menagerie of gods and demigods. Sacred to them is the Sunfire, a power that the gods sought to possess but it chose mere mortals, the Koltaari, to be its keepers. The Sunfire = The power to defy the gods.

The bearer of the Sunfire has been a female Koltaari for the past 5,000 years, seemingly chosen at random by the Sunfire itself. What the Sunfire's true nature is, and extent of its powers are unknown, but the Koltaari consider the bearer to be sacred, a symbol of liberty, the people's princess. For 600 years, she has been protected by the Sword Sisterhood and been mentored at the Temple of the Missing Moon.

What is the Sunfire? Latest reports suggest it's a non-corporeal being able to inhabit a Koltaari host, perhaps a psychic symbiote. What it gets from the relationship is unclear, but Koltaari history shows that it cannot physically manifest without a host, favours peace and quiet, hence the seclusion, and is distressed by negative emotions. Mastery of the Sunfire's powers depends on the host. There have been some hosts with little or no mastery, who have been destroyed by the power within them.

Koltaari use a wide variety of Mediaeval-style armour and weapons. Mail-and-plate and lamellar armours are most common. Swords tend to have broad blades, designed for cutting or hacking, whether curved or straight. Arrow and spear heads are often made from crystal for a sharper edge. Gunpowder and other more exotic explosives are used on the battlefield, in cannons, bombs and rocket-propelled arrows.

The Debrune lost most of their technological know-how in their first wars against the Koltaari, but there are still traces of it, especially on their island refuge of Vorl. Nomadic Debrune live in the wilderness as hunter-gatherers, building bivouac camps that they occupy for a few weeks at a time. Staying away from larger Koltaari settlements, they often have an amicable relationship with small, farflung Koltaari villages and trade outposts. They tend to speak the Koltaari-Orion dialect, though their own language is closely related to Romulan.
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Iota Leonis System

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Any starship returning from the galactic south to the Federation core systems will almost certainly take the Hyrelan Conveyor and so stop by Argelius II to resupply.

Orbiting Argelius B, this Class M world has a more extreme climate than Earth, with gravity roughly 12% lighter. The most inhabited regions tend to be dry and hot, but with plentiful robust vegetation. Starfleet personnel often remark how similar the area around the port city of Erba is to Southern California. Argelius II is a member of the Federation, but the humanaoid people are quite unique even if, physically, they're nearly indistinguishable from Terrans.

Much like the Vulcans, the Argelians underwent a so-called Great Awakening; theirs being around 200 years ago. After bio-weapons were used in war and spiralled out of control, the planet was forced to unify under one government to contain the devastation and save the race. Antiviruses, vaccines, genetical engineering and eugenics were all employed, but still only a remnant of the Argelian people remained. All this time later, the Argelians are a thriving, pleasure-loving people with strict, pacificist beliefs, an open approach to offworlders and a remarkable resilience to STDs.

Argelians are highly promiscuous. Friendship is a sexual relationship. A boss and a secretary are assumed to have sexual relations, assuming they actually like each other. A husband and wife might sometimes get together with friends. But otherwise the culture isn't so different from the Earth median, and many offworld visitors are surprised to find Argelian society is reserved, complex, and not a planet of carousing and debauchery. Rowdy, loutish and drunken behaviour is largely frowned upon, and its the offworlders who lower the tone. Tourist hot spots can be repellant, even to tourists.

Catering for all the tourists has created a massive industry on the planet, mostly owned by offworld interests from across the Federation and beyond. A busy city like Erba has nightclubs, bars, casinos, hotels, restaurants and shopping precincts of every description, of every stratum. The pristine glass spires and mirrored high-rises of the Marina District contrast with the quaint, gawdily decorated and festooned streets of the Old Town. On the road to the space port the city becomes more seedy, run-down, cluttered with warehouses and the occasional neon-drenched hot spot; the city's underbelly occupying the wasteland between it and one of the busiest transorbital shuttle runs in Federation space.

The Marina at Erba hosts a stage of the Tamarin Frost Drag Boat Racing Championship, which has led to a surge in popularity of the sport. Race fans will travel light years for race day and the opportunity to make new friends. The wealth, glamour, pageantry and bikinis of the event are a dream that sells itself.
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