Oubaste

**Oubaste** is a half-molten planet covered in volcanoes and ever-shifting rivers of lava.

Until recently, it was a habitable and verdant planet, home to an intelligent species called the Sachmet. The Stargate was on a warm, tropical continent, bordered on all sides by endless, uncharted seas. The Sachmet lived a city surrounding the Stargate, with the surrounding jungle gradually cut back to make room for their expansion.

However, about ten years ago, the planet was struck by cataclysm. The temperature skyrocketed, the plants died and the seas first rose and then receded, boiling away into nothingness over the course of mere months. Millions of Sachmet perished in the disaster, while almost a million were able to flee in time.

## History

The Sachmet grew and developed with a technology curve much like Earth's, affected of course by constant interchange with the other Andromeda cultures. The planet developed a strong trade network, exporting lumber and animal products from the lush jungle around them and importing metal and fabric. Their lifestyle and technology centred around combat and hunting.

At their peak, the Sachmet had firearms and electric lighting, short-range vehicles and something like telephones. Though they had constant strife with the natural world around them, the Sachmet were welcoming and hospitable to visitors.

### Cataclysm

A great disaster struck Oubaste about ten years ago. In a very short period of time, the planet was transformed from lush jungle and glittering seas to an ever-shifting landscape of molten rock and lava flows, wiping out all of the indigenous life save for a few Sachmet who were able to flee in time.

## Former Ecology

The plants of Oubaste were notably fast-growing and lush, and the native animals likewise grew fast and reproduced often. The Sachmet were an important part of the food chain as apex predators, keeping animal populations from exploding as they otherwise would have. Night stalkers were rare on this world.

## Former Society and Culture

The Sachmet were known for their hunting prowess and their sense of humour. Jokes (and pranks) played an important part of life on Oubaste, and it was said that a day without laughter is a day wasted. Even funerals were not considered sombre occasions, but rather celebrations of a life well lived and the best memories of the deceased. Still, the Sachmet could be serious when necessary, and many held their principles close to the heart.

The jungles of Oubaste were filled with especially proliferous wildlife, kept in check by the Sachmet. Hunting was a large part of life for them, not only their primary food source. From an early age, even children would hunt for food and for sport. Even small prey, which would more easily be trapped, would be hunted with claws, arrows, or firearms. Larger animals were hunted by teams of five to ten Sachmet, the leader of whom would carry a large ceremonial sword to deal a coup-de-grâce. These weapons were very heavy and cumbersome. The physical burden of carrying one, especially while on a hunt, was representative of the moral burden of taking a life.

The chief religion of the Sachmet concerns a Mother Goddess. There are two primary sects, still alive despite the planet's destruction.

One believes that the Sachmet were once gods who lived in a shining golden city under the protection of the Mother Goddess, but the city was destroyed by evil and envious dragons. The Sachmet fell out of heaven in the cataclysm and were forced to rebuild their civilization as mortals.

The other sect believes in a malevolent Mother Goddess who created the Sachmet in her image, but then grew envious of them and cast them out of heaven into a pit of silver-skinned monsters (the night stalkers), which the Sachmet barely escaped.

The Sachmet on Oubaste were hunters and artisans, but since the cataclysm, any survivors have been left to eke out whatever living they can find. Surviving Sachmet are generally derided and sidelined among other species, who look down on them as "creatures of lesser intelligence" with "no attention span" and "hairballs". Many also resent and distrust the refugees out of sheer paranoia.

## Former Technology

Before the destruction, the Sachmet had electricity and firearms, and were on the cusp of their own industrial revolution. Sadly, all of this was lost when Oubaste was destroyed.

## Former Government

Oubaste never had a central government, and was ruled by a set of guilds alongside religious leaders who handled day-to-day matters of life and spirituality (respectively).

## Former Military

The Sachmet never had a standing army, nor any need of one. The closest they had were hunting troupes.