Chidale

System: Chidale

Hex Location: 1234

Star Type: Double close M5 V and K6 V

Number of Worlds: 15

Gas Giants: 4

Planetoid Belt: 2 asteroid belts 1 Kuiper belt

Starport Type: B

World Size: Earth-sized

Atmosphere Type: Completely unbreathable

Surface Water: 74%

Population: Medium (~30 million)

Political Affiliation: Bernese; Emerus Marches

Tags: Industrial world, quarantined world, mining world

Notes: Chidale is an interesting world, in that it provides much of the industrial base of the Emerus Marches, and even farther afield, as a world rich in metals and other raw materials, and a world where much of the processing of that ore into usable metals and even manufactured products takes place. Margrave Longonz values this world highly, and protects it diligently. This has been true for many generations now, which is why, most likely, when the Sereans expanded into the region forty standard years ago, they established Outremer nearby, but passed over the Emerus Marches and Chidale in particular without making any attempt to scout it out or show any aggression towards it. In spite of its obvious appeal as a world to hold on to, Chidale is also a strange world, and few people go to it who don't already live there.

For one thing, there is a compound in the atmosphere that is almost instantly fatal to any human who breathes it. This applies equally to humans who are originally of Earth-extraction as it does to xenohumans like Altairans or Sereans or others. Dangerous wildlife, much of it obviously native and not the result of the Old Kingdoms terraforming and reptomammalian genetic designs which populates most of the other inhabitable worlds, but rather truly alien and often quite hostile to the efforts of any to explore the planet. And the planet has relatively low vertical relief, being extraordinarily smooth and flat. This means that seas are very shallow, and much of the landmass is at least partially flooding and grows in vast brackish swamps. The plant life in these swamps is extremely fecund and fast growing, and travel and colonization efforts are hampered by the aggressive nature of the swamps and jungles that cover most of the land above sea level. Fresh water, on the other hand, is significantly rarer, and most of the water that is consumed here is treated salty or brackish water.

However, the reptilian cepheids, or ickes, as they are sometimes called, can live here. While they generally thrive under conditions very similar to that which fosters humanity, they need less fresh water, and the compound—which they call atmospheric spice—which makes the air deadly and almost instantly poisonous to humanity actually stimulates much of their biological activity, and ickes who live on Chidale can often be bigger, stronger, faster growing, and even more intelligent than those from the Bernese Main. While ickes are often associated with the Monarchy and are more frequently seen in the Bernese Main, few of them have had any interest in colonization, and they are subsequently much more rare in the colonial territories, but Chidale is one of the few planets where they make up almost the entirety of the population, and thrive here. However, those who thrive under the influence of atmospheric spice find that they struggle in "normal" environments in some ways—perhaps like a physiological withdrawal—so few leave Chidale once they get here, and many from the Bernese Main or who otherwise kick around in the colonies avoid the place. In fact, the residents have become so worried about the world outside of their own, that they petitioned the Margrave's predecessor to make the planet a legal protectorate that nobody other than those with extremely rare passes can land on. As long as they continue to provide the mining and industrial products that the area requires, they have relatively generous autonomy and can operate their own society without interference from the Bernese or anyone else. This is strictly controlled and patrolled, and security forces and remote sensor equipment make this an extremely difficult place to visit for the uninvited.

However, this does not extend to the system overall, just to the surface of the planet itself. A fairly high class orbital starport services the area, and does a brisk business in interstellar shipping and barge traffic. More mining is done in the asteroid belts in the system, and fuel from the nearby gas giants (Chidale itself is close enough to one of the smaller, Neptune or Uranus like gas planets that it can almost be considered a double planet) is refined and sold—and even shipped—from nearby space.

Curiously, it is here in this more human dominated space in the system that is off of the surface of the main planet that an interesting development has started to occur. For the most part, the Bernese (as well as everyone else, for that matter) and the Sereans see themselves as rivals if not outright enemies for territory within the greater sector boundaries. Chidale is reachable in a single bulk jump from four Serean worlds and an allied world mostly ruled by Idacharians; respectively 1135 Veile, 1034 Koschei Prime, 0934 Rograde, 0936 Burislav and 0935 Flentuum. And a fair bit of traffic does come from all five of those worlds to the Chidale system, but not in aggressive piracy or conquest, but rather in friendly commerce. It is, however, more difficult to jump out of the Chidale system because of the interference of the Takach Nebula, which Chidale is smack in the middle of and which frustrates navigational computers attempting to leave the nebula, so the most common traffic is from the nearest of those worlds; Veile and Koschei Prime. Regardless, the relatively friendly relationships among the Sereans here and the Bernese; as well as the multiethnic independent world not too far away of Zorga, are intrigueing, because they point to the gradual change in the Outremer colonies away from the mother cultures of the Monarchy and the Empire respectively and more towards a new, local culture that embraces more local relationships rather than ones driven by the mother nations. And to be fair, this isn't unique to Chidale, although it is perhaps most marked here compared to most other spots where this is developing.