Varilundr

System: Varilundr

Hex Location: 1535

Star Type: Star cluster, multiple types

Number of Worlds: 9

Gas Giants: 7 including hot Jupiters at some stars

Planetoid Belt: No belt as Varilundr doesn't orbit a single star, but rather sites in a star cluster recieving light and heat from many stars. The structure of the system is very different than normal

Starport Type: B High quality port

World Size: Earth sized

Atmosphere Type: Earth-like

Surface Water: 50%

Population: Medium-sized (~900 million)

Political Affiliation: Dhangetan Cartel, Desai Worlds

Tags: Forgotten, Oceanic cities, Hostile solar system

Notes: Varilundr was an old Marian world, but because of the unusual nature of the Varilundr system, where the planet doesn't actually orbit any star but is suspended in an unusual gravitational arrangement within a cluster of stars, it fell off of the charts during the dark ages and was forgotten. Just within the last generation or so, Desai the Dhangetan iconoclast served as a patron for an exploratory expedition using old fragments of star charts who rediscovered the world. He claimed it and set it up as the capital of his splinter Dhangetan group, the Desai worlds, and established an orbital station and a handful of planetside bases as well.

Of course, the world wasn't uninhabited. Descendents of ancient Marian settlers still lived here in the hundreds of millions, and live there still. Desai approached the leaders of the various nations surreptitiously and made deals with them. Most of the natives still don't believe that there are societies of aliens and non-Varilundan humans all over the galaxy, as they have no star travel technology themselves, and a propaganda campaign to paint those who do believe as conspiracy theorists and crackpots has managed to keep a lid on the concept. Sort of. It is also forgotten to most outside of the system, and very few star charts are aware of the settlement there, and even those who are have no idea how to actually find the world within the system, due to its unusual placement; mostly even those who think that anything is in the system at all think that it is merely an unusual place to pick up unrefined fuel from some of the gas giants that also float around disassociated in the system. These people usually refill and jump back out again fairly quickly, unaware that there is a Desai world located deep in the cloud of gas and dust that makes up the system. However, even this isn't advised by most star charts, because navigation within the cluster is very difficult; the stars often move in ways that charts don't manage to have in their data, and magnetic, gas and dust interference can wreak havoc on sensors, causing them to be unaware of solar flares, magnetic storms, centaurs or other planetoid sized bodies floating through space, or other hazards.

The natives don't live on the land very much, most of which is desolate volcanic lava flows, but the tidal flats and the coastal shelves away from the short are where their cities are. Because they are descended from the Marians as well, they don't really look too different from the Bernese, for instance, and because they are divided into multiple cultures and nations, some people from off-world can wander among them pretending to be locals but merely from a different part of the world, and most will believe it as long as there aren't any xenohuman or alien influence in their crew. Desai has sent some among them as ambassadors, con men, or worse who do exactly this.

Most who know of the situation don't believe that it will be sustainable for very much longer and knowledge of the greater galactic community will spread among the natives, as well as knowledge of the world itself spreading among the greater galactic community. The Establishment leaders have a vested interest in keeping this from happening for as long as possible and in managing the transition for their own profit, though, meaning that there is some drama, skulduggery and intrigue on the world. This is probably par for the course with any Dhangetan society, and Desai of course has many enemies. The local political situation is likely to become a major black swan event in the very near future, and how exactly that will play out is anyone's guess.

Their is no normal day or night on the planet, since it doesn't orbit a star like normal, but there is a kind of strange, glowing, massively star-filled sky at all times that is bright enough to be nearly dusk, with an orange glow to the sky like a sunset that never changes.