Falling Star: Planets

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Ord Meteia
Type: Terrestrial
Atmosphere: Type I (Breathable) (See capsule)
Hydrosphere: Moderate
Gravity: Standard
Terrain: Mountains, Oceanic
Length of Day: 25 standard hours
Length of Year: 99 local days
Physical Diameter: 13,342 km
Sapient Species: Humans; Neimoidians
Starport: Stellar Class
Points of interest:
Population: 60 million
Planet Function: Mining
Official language: Basic
Government: Imperial; Democratic/ Theocratic Tribal
Major cities: HomeSpike
Tech Level: Space
Major Exports: Garothin Ore
Major Imports: Technology; foodstuffs
Affiliation: Galactic Empire
System: Hrstha (hers-THAY)
Sun: Hrstha
Moons: 0
Sector: Seswenna sector
Region of Space: Outer Rim Territories

Capsule:
The star Hrstha produces an extremely high amount of ionizing radiation. That, coupled with the star system's high dust density has created a system that for a number of years was extremely dangerous to navigate. The high metal content of the planetary nebula and the star's intense shifting magnetic field creates great arcs of sweeping plasma clouds.

Ord Meteia, the only planet sized body within the system also suffers from the intense electromagnetic output of the star. Its atmosphere is naturally highly ionized creating huge electric discharges, massive storms with winds reaching nearly 500 kph, and a magnetic field of its own prone to violent shifts.

This combination of factors would ordinarily make the planet unsuitable for any useful development, and despite the planet's vast mineral wealth, it went unsettled for thousands of years. However, nearly 150 years ago, the Trade Federation, seeing a rise in the demand for certain minerals found plentifully on Ord Meteia, decided to task their scientists with finding a solution.

The solution was a complicated one. The biggest concern was the massive buildup of plasma and energy at the planet's magnetic poles. To even out the charges, Trade Federation Sciences Division built a large network of charge attenuators, field dampeners which extend all the way to the planet's mantle and up from the planet's surface to a height of over a kilometer. They are strung out at 1.4 km intervals between the poles; essentially bisecting the planet. The towers themselves balance out charges These towers are linked by by an energy corridor which allows the network to balance out charges between poles and loosen the worst of the planets storms both electrical and meteorological. The network is maintained by a massive station that continually circles the globe along the energy corridor and repairs the stations as needed. The CrossPolar Transverseing Repair Platform(aka Wavestrider Station) itself is maintained at the equator by an even larger station known as HomeSpike. Only at HomeSpike are the massive energy shifts neutralized sufficiently to allow landings on the planet.



One side effect of this massive network was to segregate the planet by hemisphere. The massive energy corridor forms a de facto wall preventing significant commerce or contact between the planet's continents, and the energy disruptions prevent repulsorlift vehicles from functioning anywhere on the planet. In fact, the only way to get from one side of the planet to the other is by traveling through HomeSpike, which is maintained entirely by Submarine navy, the only way to safely travel in the ocean (surface storms are too intense; even submarine travel is hazardous


This segregation has lead to and understandable divergence in the cultures of Eastern & Western hemispheres. While the planet is ostensibly under Imperial rule since the dissolving of the Trade Federation after the Clone Wars, the eastern nation, Nosapa (No-SAH-puh) has developed a deeply religious population with a tribal hierarchy, whose beliefs are an offshoot/corruption of ancient Neimoidian beliefs, where as the Western nation, M'dollvo (Em-dool-voh) has formed a democratic government; the descendant of the Mining Union. Both are loosely governed by the the Imperial Governor, Abiel Lod, but her policy for the last 10 years has been one of hands off as long as mining quotas are maintained.


In recent months, both sides have become more resistive of Imperial rule. Specifically it is feared that the religious zealots of Nosapa may elect to sabotage the dampener network and completely cut off the planet from the Empire rather than continue to live under Imperial rule. Given that it took nearly 12 years to complete the massive network of dampeners, and how desperately the materials are needed, the Empire wishes to avoid this at all costs.



Nosapa
Current Leader: High Priest Pel Joloon (Nemodian Male)
As the Neimoidian population dominated the Eastern continent it was always likely that the Neimoidian's would dominate that culture. Even though the Trade Federation maintained some control over the world up until the Clone Wars, that conflict quickly saw the dissolution of any Trade Federation alliances (culturally the Nosapa split from the TF long ago; they were simply too isolated to maintain significant ties. About 15 years ago, Pel Joloon rose from the ranks of the miners and began to preach a message based (loosely) on traditional Nemoidian beliefs including Sun worship. Something in his teachings resonated with the people of Nosapa and within 2 years he was elevated to a leadership position and then by popular demand, was given absolute power within their nation.


M'dollvo
Current Leader: President Mell Barshos
With the collapse of the Trade Federation on Ord Meteia, workers in the Western continent were quick to unionize. Not so foolish as to abandon the profits that continued mining will bring they quickly established a leadership and work as a worker-owned Corporation. Mel Barshos has risen to the top of that organization and her worker-owned company has vastly outperformed the religious zealots of Nosapa, producing nearly four times their eastern counterparts. It is felt by Imperial leadership that if no accord can be reached between both sides, Mell Barshos should simply be placed in charge of the whole planet; however religious reprisals are feared.
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GM of Falling Star: D6 Star Wars Campaign Podcast

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CrossPolar Transverser Station AKA Wavestrider Station
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GM of Falling Star: D6 Star Wars Campaign Podcast

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GM's notes:
History:2 years ago, M'dollvo discovered a large underground cache of Trade Federation military hardware including battle droids and Vulture droids. It its suspect that this was intended to be a depot for resupply during the Clone War. The war material was not well shielded enough to operate in Ord Meteia's EM-Soup atmosphere, but the M'dollvo techs have been making adaptations. They intend to seize control of HomeSpike and use it to ferry military forces to the Nosapa side of the planet and take control.

Unless the players take action, M'dollvo is certain to win any conflict between the two, given that neither side has anyt air defenses and only M'dollvo now has several hundred Vulture droids and nearly 10,000 B1 battle droids shielded against the intense EM activity of the planet.

(The M'Dollvo could import EM Shielding equipment without suspicion, but not weapons or repulsors, which is why the Vulture droids are such a boon)

Both sides do have tiny submarine navies which largely consist of sub-freighters, but no standing army beyond their police forces.

Neither side wishes to see actual harm come to HomeSpike or Wavestrider station (or the network) but either side might use a mutually assured destruction philosophy as a weapon of last resort.
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http://swfallingstar.podbean.com
GM of Falling Star: D6 Star Wars Campaign Podcast