Pentase

System: Pentase

Hex Location: 1131

Star Type: G7 V

Number of Worlds: 14

Gas Giants: 2

Planetoid Belt: None

Starport Type: A

World Size: Earth sized

Atmosphere Type: Earth like

Surface Water: 60%

Population: Large ~4 billion

Political Affiliation: Cilindarean Arm

Tags: Civil War, Eugenic Mania, Mining World

Notes: Pentase is one of the more "southerly" worlds of the Cilindarean Arm. It is a beautiful, very Earth-like planet, with multiple ecosystems and a reasonably large population, made up mostly of ethnic Cilindareans. It is also one of the few sources of pentase steel, a metal harder and yet less brittle than most, and highly valued by the Cilindareans, especially in the construction of their ships and armor and weapons. It isn't the only source of this type of metal, but it is such an important source of it that the metal is named after the system. Large deposits are found on the surface of the main planet, but they seem to be meteorite in origin, and asteroids and centaurs and other irregular bodies throughout the solar system, including some of the smaller rocky/metal worlds and their moons, are also good sources of the metal. For this reason, the world is very important to the Anaxaster. That said, it is not connected via Cilindarean controlled space lanes, and is somewhat geographically isolated from the rest of the polity. This has made the political scenario somewhat tense for the neighbors of Pentase, because they know that the Cilindareans would greatly prefer to have unimpeded space lanes to Pentase, and have no problem conquering other planets and exterminating or banishing the population already there if they do not accept their military occupation, but for now, the Cilindareans have treaties with a number of systems that allow them space lane access, and the peace—if uneasy—still remains. In fact, the locals of Pentase in particular value their position as an important stop on the space lane between the Machesk Frontier and the Emerus Marches, both Bernese colonies, and deliberately courts both to make sure that they remain the favored stop and that the space lane isn't rerouted. To be fair, there aren't very many other options, unless the Bernese make a treaty of passage with the Takach Kingdom, which the Takachans don't seem to be particularly interested in, but that could change rapidly if political conditions change on Pentase.

Pentase is also home to internal conflict rooted in the Cilindarean culture. Ethnic Cilindareans are very socially stratified. Only full citizens enjoy all of the perks of society, although they have lots of skin in the game and are expected to render a number of duties to the state in return. The mothakes (singular mothax) are another level in society that, while free, does not qualify for full citizenship. There is a great deal of envy among many mothakes for the status bestowed upon full citizens by right of birth, although curiously, there is a growing sense of envy among many citizens of the mothax for his freedom from certain responsibilities as well. A very prominent, wealthy and popular mothax, Harmost Lysander, has rebelled against the citizen planetary governor in Pentase, sparking a civil war in the system that, while sometimes quiet, still lingers. The anaxaster and the rest of the central government has resisted getting involved; while in theory, the planetary governor has the right of rule and Lysander is a traitor, it's a well-known fact that the planetary governor is both ineffective, petty and a tyrant. The anaxaster has decided that whomever wins this conflict will be granted legitimacy, as long as the conflict doesn't spill out of the system, or affect the greater Cilindarean Arm overall. This is a very Cilindarean attitude, where trial by combat is still considered a legitimate legal remedy for the settlement of disputes.

Part of this dispute is the eugenics mania among the citizens of Pentase. Both genetic engineering and cybernetic augmentation are extremely popular among them, as is a obsessive-compulsive focus on heritage. Lysander, and many of the rest of the Cilindareans, for that matter, see this as heretical or even abominatus. Because of this, Lysander has been receiving covert aid from a number of Cilindarean factions who think he should be promoted to full citizen status, or at least given the planetary governorship even though he's only a mothax based on his obvious merit. The Bernese colony of the Machesk Frontier, which borders the Pentase system, is also not so subtly in favor of his rise at the expense of the current governor, Alcibiades. This is one of the few times in which the nearby Revanchist colony of the Calder Settlements sees eye to eye with their Bernese rivals. However, the nearby Seraeans from Outremer are backing Alcibiades, and with less discretion than the others. This is threatening to become a full-blown diplomatic incident between the Cilindareans and the three Great Powers if it continues unabated much longer.

And finally, Pentase, as shown on the map, is within the Takach Nebula. This space hazard makes navigation somewhat difficult. It's just thick enough to confound some local sensors when traveling at sublight, and also can cause issues with the jumps into bulk space. This means that shorter bulk jumps within the nebula are common. For purposes of the game rules, assume that jumps are at risk if greater than two hexes rather than three if leaving from a space within the Takach Nebula. The exception to this is certain Cilindarean ships and their most favored allies and guests who may have the secret codes to access the Pentase Beacon, which allows bulk jumps out of the nebula like normal.