* * * S Y S T E M P R O F I L E * * *
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System Name: Xhosa
Hex: 0115
Starport: E Frontier
Size: A Large: 15,200 - 16,799 km
Atmosphere: 9 Dense (tainted)
Hydrosphere: 5 Wet World, 45-54%
Population: 1 Low - tens
Government: 2 Participating Democracy
LawLevel: 4 Moderate law - light assault weapons
TechLevel: 4 Industrial - internal combustion, 1900
Bases: -
Trade Classes: Lo Ni
Travel Zone: -
Population Multiplier: 9
Gas Giants: 0
Planetoid Belts: 1
Allegiance: Na
High:
Low:
N O T E S
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According to local history, Xhosa was a stronghold for
advanced Imperial military units during the First
Frontier War until a Zhodani naval detachment bombarded
the planet with nuclear bombs and germ warfare. The
only current inhabitants are scholars combing the ruins
for artifacts and trying to make the plant habitable
again. Not only is the planet dangerous with radioactivity
and virii, but some strains of the virii have no known
cure -- meaning anyone who catches them must be
quarrantined on the planet for the rest of their lives.
Nothing is as it appears. Xhosa is actually the home
system of a colony of immensely powerful and benevolent
psionics and psychohistorians. They foresaw the
shattering of the Imperium decades before it occured,
but still too late to avert it entirely. They
immediately began efforts to minimize the effects of
the shattering and try to prevent another Long Night.
They are still carrying out their plans. The most
prestigious among them are the Speakers, and the most
powerful of them the First Speaker. The stories about
the radioactivity are only partially true -- the planet
was once bombarded during the First Frontier War. The
stories about the virii are completely fabricated --
designed to scare people away from actually visiting
the planet. Satellite beacons orbit the planet
broadcasting warnings about this mythical virus.
Unbeknownst to Norris, his right-hand man (the same one
manipulating the PC's on his behalf) is also not only a
member of this colony, but the First Speaker himself.
(evil laughter....) The First Speaker and the whole
colony generally support Norris as a strong candidate
to reunite the Imperium. They would dearly like to get
close enough to Strephon to determine whether or not he
is truly alive, but none of them have been able to do
it yet.
- ---
Ed Driscoll
The University of Michigan
[email removed]