Sargasso

(Credit to https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/profile/122962-bloody-malth/)

Sargasso, Mid-Rim Planet

Major Cities: Nadezhda Gohraht, Spokoynoy Nochi

Location: Mid Rim, Galactic northeast, around P9

Sector: Ghost Nebula

System: Sargasso system

Class: Terrestrial

Atmosphere: Type I breathable; some cities Type II breath mask suggested

Sun: Solntse Svet

Moons: 4; 3 observable

Language: Sargassan

Climate: Terrestrial, mostly temperate with extremes at the poles and near equator

Gravity: 2.03 galactic standard in terraformed areas; around 1.0 galactic standard in enclaves; 3.13 average in others

Population: 12 Billion

82% human

7% Atoan

5% Umbaran

3% Bith

1% Ithorian

1% Trandoshan

less than 1% Hutts

less than 1% other (mostly attachés to the Hutts)

Even though Sargasso is located within the Mid Rim, its position within the Ghost Nebula means the planet has as much smuggling traffic and underworld dealing as an Outer Rim world.

The Hutts were the first intragalactic organization to capitalize on the potential of Sargasso as a trading hub. The planet had been colonized several times in the past, but its occupants were industrialized humans when the first agents of the Hutts met with them. Sargasso saw little trade with the Republic at this time; the Ghost Nebula made communication and travel into the sector very difficult and outside observation is still impossible to this day.

Which made it a perfect Mid Rim smugglers’ cove. Unfortunately, the Hutts did not know, or care, that travelers to Sargasso experience physical distress and tire easily without specialized training to compensate for the heavy gravity, training the Hutts did not provide for their first wave of ambassadors. The Sargassans were interested in expanding into galactic trade, but were unimpressed by the weakness of the Hutt’s merchants.

Eventually, the Hutts and other elements, interested in the anonymity that Sargasso could provide, persisted in opening up the markets of the Ghost Nebula world. The planet has developed into a northeastern galactic space nerve center; the large cities have terraforming modules, some thousands of years old, that mold their gravity. Hutts and other visitors keep enclaves with standard gravity in all the cities and it is possible, though unlikely, that a Sargassan could be born and grow up entirely within standard gravity.

It’s thought that Sargasso was discovered by the Duros, but their frail physiology was ill-suited to the planet’s 3.13 standard gravity, even when it was artificially reduced. Many of the ancient terraforming machines deep in the hearts of the cities are of Duros origin, but there are humans who theorize that the human race was the first to colonize Sargasso and their ideas have some traction with the proud Sargassans. Certain areas of Sargasso maintain their original gravity and the gravity in the cities can vary from enclave to enclave, but natives of the planet are comfortable with these vicissitudes.

The 4 moons and the sun of Sargasso usually keep the tides and the seasons to a very predictable schedule, but every once in awhile they shift wildly. Sargassan meteorologists are able to forecast these changes in advance.

The Hutts on Sargasso are there as merchant ambassadors for their kajidics. They don’t control all of the criminal activity on Sargasso, but they are deep in it. The surveillance of the Empire, like the Republic, cannot penetrate the Ghost Nebula. Sargasso serves as a sort of clearing house for smugglers on the run, dirty credits, and hot property, but although Sargasso is infamous with the lawless and the nefarious, the scope of illegal trade is often exaggerated. For the most part, Sargasso is home to a typical spacefaring society.

Sargasso is one of the few planets where travelers from Umbara and Atoa can be seen. The people from the latter two planets rarely venture outside the Ghost Nebula, but their emigrants have become comfortable in Sargasso’s cities, especially Spokoynoy Nochi.