Ragged Worlds

“The Ragged Worlds may not be any safer than Winterscale’s Realm, or any richer, but it’s certainly easier by half to make money here than anywhere else.”
–Cornelius Argyl, semi-retired Rogue Trader
The Ragged Worlds are an isolated cluster of star systems
located high up in the galactic plane and spinward of
Winterscale’s Realm. This tiny region, once thought
to be the total of the Koronus Expanse during the “Mistaken
Age,” has been all but abandoned for centuries. Once the
true scale of the Expanse was realized with the first warp
routes through the Maw and the discovery of Furibundus,
Rogue Traders fled the Ragged Worlds in droves. The lure of
boundless riches, ancient wonders and vast stretches of empty
space to conquer won out, and the Ragged Worlds fell into a
quiet obscurity that lasted for centuries.
The region itself is relatively small compared to other
charted areas of the Expanse---a few hundred star systems and
countless thousands of planets, moons, nebulae and asteroid
fields packed tightly into an area only a few dozen light years
across. Thanks to this density, and the region’s close proximity
to the mass of warp storms that separate the Koronus Expanse
from the Calixis Sector, traversing the region is arduous and
sometimes deadly. The region is constantly lashed by storms
and temporal disruptions, and the warp tides created by so
many gravity wells in so small an area are a navigational
nightmare to even the most seasoned Navigator. There are a
few stable warp routes in and out of the region, but they tend
to be small and are under constant threat of collapse thanks
to the forces of the Screaming Vortex.
The Ragged Worlds are also short of natural resources and
exploitable assets. There are a handful of deposits of valuable
ores to be found among its solid planets and asteroid fields,
and few, if any, of its gas giants are composed of anything
but the basest, most common elements. What civilizations the
region possesses are typically so benighted and backwards that
they are of little interest to anyone but press gangs or the God-Emperor’s missionaries. The few ancient human and xenos
ruins discovered were picked clean long ago, and the death
worlds like Burnscour are so dangerous and difficult to exploit
that most consider them hardly worth the effort. Despite this
stellar poverty, Rogue Traders fought bitterly for centuries for
what paltry wealth they could glean from this sparse region,
and the blasted wrecks and blackened bones of those unlucky
in their endeavors litter the systems of the Ragged Worlds.
Within the past few decades however, residents of
the Expanse have once again turned their eyes toward the
meagre riches of the Ragged Worlds. The steady influx of
traders, pirates, scoundrels, missionaries and the Imperium
into the Expanse, along with the endless bloody feuding
in Winterscale’s Realm, has driven many Rogue Traders to
look elsewhere for their livelihoods. While some have gone
rimward toward the Accursed Demesne and the Unbeholden Reaches, many have taken up residence in the formerly
abandoned Ragged Worlds. Despite its previous short and
violent inhabitation, vast stretches of the region remain
uncharted. Here among these quiet and isolated worlds the
newly arrived pioneers see decent potential for trade in the
undeveloped regions. They also feel that slightly reduced
profits expected in so impoverished a region are a small price
to pay for the freedom from the constant fighting and clamor
found elsewhere. This has led to the slowly-increasing
popularity of the Ragged Worlds, and the recent discoveries
of some heretofore undiscovered systems containing dead
hive worlds and mysterious xenos artefacts has created a small
but fervent gold rush mentality.
While there are myriad unremarkable worlds within the
region and possibly thousands more to discover, a few worlds
have gained notoriety and are recognized as places with great
potential. Burnscour is one such place, with its burgeoning
beast trade and lethal weather. Others have been found to
harbor previously unknown xenos ruins, unexplored ancient
human outposts and even vast, planet-scale sepulchers. While
none of the worlds can match the unbridled wealth of those
found in Winterscale’s Realm, they still generate a small but
respectable income stream for those with the right kind of
vision and enough strength.
==Straying from the Light==
Karthom Laui was a pious missionary who fell to temptation.
Grounded deep in the Ragged Worlds, he was
not seen for another 45 years until
his homeship Aurum Veneratus
returned, and the landing party
was ambushed as their craft was
overrun by hordes of fanatical
natives now lead by their All-Father Karthom the Beneficent.
His mind twisted by the long
years of isolation, he remade the
Imperial Creed into a glorification
of himself and became a god
of the savage tribes. Laui was
presumed killed in the ensuing
series of attacks throughout
the system, but
rumors of his insane vision persist, and his followers are still
sometimes encountered on other undeveloped planets.
==Planets==
*Aubray's Anvil
*Burnscour
*Gallant
*Redemption
*Seldon's Folly
Category:Koronus Expanse
Category:Koronus Expanse Regions