Crab Nebula
Region R22

Spoiler: Terrain
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The Crab Nebula is a cloud of particulates surrounding a large pulsar. Few other stars are present in the sector, and intelligent life was unexpected there. However, an aging, swampy planetoid rich in water, orbiting a star at the very edge of the Nebula was discovered which did contain life. This planet, home to the Krankot, seems to consist entirely of swampy lowlands and shallow seas, fading into icy tundras and tropical jungles at the poles and equator respectively. For a life-bearing world, it is not very geologically active, possessing nothing in the way of mountains, and is somewhat mineral-poor, but rich in certain durable metals excellent for the construction of vehicles.


Spoiler: People
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The Krankot (singular: Krank) are crustacean sentients living in a more or less feudal society which remained in division and turmoil for the last several centuries. They resemble giant crabs, their round shells about 5 feet in diameter, and possessing ten limbs, 6 which they walk on, 2 large pincers which they use as natural weapons, and 2 smaller arms for fine manipulation. They communicate by clicking their pincers and rhythmically drumming them against their carapaces
The Krankot's society is divided into roughly two classes. Peasants farm the plants they eat and mine for useful ores, while an upper class is divided into loosely united bands of knights who battle between each other to expand their holdings. These knights are most notable because they pilot massive mechsuits into battle. Traditionally, their combat was resolved by armed duels between representatives of each party, held to a strict code of honor between duelists. This tradition is now rarely called upon, and the knights more often do battle in conventional warfare. Mechduels, however, are a popular sport to watch, full of excitement and celebration.


Spoiler: History
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For the past several centuries, the Krankot were locked in war. As their technology increased, their commitment to their traditional codes of honor decreased, until their wars were as brutal as those of any other race. The arrival of the Syndrome changed much of that. They provided biological weapons unlike any the Krankot had seen to a small, desperate faction of traditionalists, who had been taking refuge in the icy south pole of the planet. With this advantage they conquered the planet and restored some of the traditional laws, such as trials by dueling and champion battles. In return for the Syndrome aid, they gave away stewardship of their space and added their most capable squadron of mechknights to the Syndrome military.


Spoiler: Government
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The feudal government of the Krankot was largely left alone by the Syndrome. Loosely organized bands of knights swear vassalage to those who best them, and their holdings and the peasants working them become part of the new, larger band. With their entire planet now under the control of one faction, the Krankot have made a hasty attempt at a democratic government, with the most celebrated duelists being able to vote in council on important issues.


Spoiler: Resources
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Resource: Mechsuits (minor)
The mech suits used by the Krankot are highly versatile. Their configuration is similar to that of a Krankot, possessing two heavy weapons, two light ones, and six legs. The most common weapons include hydraulic pincers, rocket launchers and railguns, although other designs are also present. Many mechsuits are adapted for flight, and in recent times, many have also been made spaceworthy for service to the Syndrome fleet.

Trade Post 1: Northern Manufactorium (Open)
The northernmost site of mechsuit production is situated on the continent which covers the north pole, around many mines where the metals needed for the suits are found in relative abundance.
Trade Post 2: Eastern Manufactorium (x)
East of the Krankot capital is a long dormant factory for mechsuits, damaged in the long war for dominance over the planet.
Trade Post 3: Island Manufactorium (x)
A secret production site on an island in the wide ocean of the planet is likewise dormant, the operators wiped out by Syndrome bioweapons.


Spoiler: Philosophy
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Although they are finally unified politically, the Krankot are far from united religiously. Their differing beliefs still cause strife amongst them.
Learning Center: The Chapel of Steel (open)
A structure made of so much metal some have advocated recycling it, the Chapel of Steel is a site of religious pilgrimage for newly initiated mechknights, where they are tested by an aging order of monks to see if they are worthy of their battle machines.


Stormwrack
Region S19

Spoiler: Terrain
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The Stormwrack is easily one of the most dangerous regions of space to the unprepared. A constant, violent energy storm rages throughout its space. The storm passes beyond normal spacetime, making any sort of travel at all through it highly dangerous and blocking many forms of communication. The worlds of the Stormwrack are desolate, scoured clean of life by the violent energies of the storm, and by the monsters that dwell in it. Scattered amongst those planets are the remnants of an ancient, interstellar civilization, wiped out by the storm. Another of their structures floats free at the exact center of the anomaly, where the storm is the worst, but it has defied all attempts at gaining entrance, and the four-dimensional alloy from which it is constructed is incredibly difficult to damage.


Spoiler: People
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The population of the System consists primarily of Syndrome researchers on orbital biostations located in areas of relative calm within the storm. A significant number of researchers from other neighboring powers, invited to study the anomaly, such as Iteans, Rothuun, Rass, and Duenem. A permanent Syndrome military presence is also there, protecting the research stations from the only native lifeforms to the region.

These are the Void-Terrors. They are creatures native to the storm which cannot survive outside it. They are halfway between creatures of flesh and energy, and they are 4-dimensional in nature like the storm. These combinations of traits provide them with several dangerous powers. They are capable of flying through the vacuum of space and passing through walls that are not themselves made from 4D materials. They are violently aggressive but not intelligent, known to attack anything that moves, even meteorites and missiles in flight. No two are quite alike, all looking like nightmarish, ill-defined shapes crackling with the energy of the storm.


Spoiler: History
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Long ago, an alien empire called the sector home. Through some incident, although of what sort, no one knows, they were wiped out in a cataclysm which also created the violent storm and first started the appearance of the Void-Terrors.
Much, much later, the Syndrome and later the Duenem arrived in the sector, the former seeking to expand their territory, while the latter worked towards economic gain. Both groups set up research and mining facilities in the region to benefit from its unusual properties. Missionaries from the Church of Rust also arrived, bearing their holy word and gaining a powerful religious foothold in the sector. Furthermore, the Syndrome invited their esteemed allies and neighbors (but only the esteemed ones) to send researchers to aid in learning to understand the anomaly.


Spoiler: Government
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The government of the Stormwrack mirrors that of the Syndrome homeworld. However on all matters scientific, a Council of Researchers meets to determine courses of action, selected from the best and brightest of the researchers present. Likewise, a Council of Protection meets to answer threats from the anomaly and from Void-Terrors approaching the stations.


Spoiler: Resources
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Resource: 4D Titanium (good)
One of the unique properties of the storm here is that metals exposed to its energy are altered, gaining a fourth dimension to their structure. This makes them exceptionally durable, and allows them to ward against communication and the jaunts of the Void-Terrors through the fourth dimension. The most prevalent of these is 4D Titanium, looted from the ruins of the ancient civilization long gone from the sector and mined on rocky asteroids amidst the flickering light of the storm.

Trade post 1: Outer Reaches (DNM)
The outermost parts of the storm have little 4D Titanium to extract, but they make up for it by being the safest to explore. Void-Terrors rarely venture that far from the anomaly's core.

Trade Post 2: Inner Reaches (Open)
Far more 4D Titanium can be found in the inner parts of the anomaly. Still safer than the core, it is considerably more risky, however, than the outer reaches, although the payoff for success is higher.

Trade Post 3: Anomaly Core (x)
In the center of the anomaly are the most deposits of 4D Titanium and the most ancient ruins, but there is also the most danger. Void-Terrors are constantly on the prowl, and are not easy to kill where the storms are so strong, strong enough to destroy ships.


Spoiler: Philosophy
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The message of the Church of Rust has taken root in the minds and souls of the researchers studying the anomaly. Out here, you need every bit of inventiveness and ingenuity to survive.

Learning Center: Interstellar Research Headquarters (Church of Rust)
A headquarters for research housed in an ancient orbital station on the edge of the storm, its construction from 4D Titanium preventing unwanted incursions by Void-Terrors. It is open to researchers from all neighboring powers.