Ar'Satros

A desert planet at the far reaches of the outer ring, Ar'Satros is notably dry and arid. Only in its coldest regions - its polar caps - does water flow. Even here, the planet is mild, rarely dipping below zero degrees celcius. The planet closest to its sun and with a thick ozone layer formed over millions of years, Deimos is being constantly baked by the immense solar heat.

Most of the inhabitants of the sparingly poulated planet live among the dunes, farming water from the air on great moisture sails, from deep wells that pierce the crust's water table, or from moisture collectors which trawl the skies on nuclear powered rotors. Rarely, the people of Ar'Satros form cities with thousands of citizens to streamline industry and production on a world to which no outside help comes.

## Resource Wars

Resources are scarce on the desert planet, and water especially is prized by its hundred million residents. Moisture sails and aerial collectors account for about half of the planet's water supply, but the deep underground saltwater lakes supplement the supply greatly. These lakes are accessed from the surface via wells which pierce kilometres into the planet's crust, and the water drawn is purified by immense desalination plants on the surface. Numbering only 13, these desalination sites are hotly contested.

Steel is almost as prized as water. Ar'Satros has scarce steel, and much of what is refined or scavenged is forged into immense war machines used to police highly volatile inter-clan borders. Sites of battles between these war machines are quickly swarmed with scavengers before the precious steel is submerged in the ever-moving sands of the desert.

## Technology

The most well known technology on Ar'Satros is the sandrider, the beetle-like adaptation of the ocean battleship for Ar'Satros' sandy deserts.

Nuclear power is commonplace, and fission is used to fuel most powered population centres on Ar'Satros. While nuclear weapons exist on Ar'Satros, the technology to annul nuclear activity and its fallout is accessible, so these weapons are almost never employed - all cities on the planet employ some form of nuclear annulment in the case of an emergency, and most sandriders maintain more compact versions of the same technology so as to avoid disaster should their onboard reactor fail.

## Cities

### Whiann

A city nearly a million strong, the military dictatorship of Whiann is the largest city on Ar'Satros. On a galactic scale, Whiann is tiny, but on the all but uninhabited world of Ar'Satros, it is large enough to command a significant region of the desert including several splinter towns which pay taxes in exchange for protection and emergency supplies when they are needed.

Alhough technically a military dictatorship, Whiann is ruled by a generally beloved leader: Shin Bau-Long. As with any dictatorship, there is opposition to the Bau-Long rule, but between a 70% approval rating and a strong military police, Shin Bau-Long has comfortably been in power for several decades. Bau-Long's approval rating is greatly attributed to his "no one left behind" policy - a policy which guarantees that all citizens pledged to Whiann will always have food and protection.

> "It is impossible for a leader to keep all of his people happy all of the time. But if all of his people have full bellies, they will remain as loyal as they need to be." - Shin Bau-Long
>
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Whiann is built on a partially artificial rocky plateau raised a few metres from the desert dunes. As Whiann expands, so does the plateau, and hundreds of people are employed in the importing and installation of great cut stones harvested from the cliffs around the desert to this end. The city itself is tall and mostly walled for protection, and its extensive military both defend and police the people from their various stations around the perimeter and in the city.

### Thassaria

Clinging to the harsh cliffs at the edge of the Ealion desert in the southern quadrant of the planet, Thassaria is the most enigmatic city on Ar'Satros. Its 200,000-strong population has built great walls from volcanic stone to protect the city from the sun and from the creatures that roam the desert, so the city sits like a great fortress embedded in the cliff wall. Despite its guarded exterior, the interior of Thassaria is awash with bright colours on the thousands upon thousands of traditional *selapia*, or embroidered tapestries, and filled with simple, joyous people.

At the heart of Thassaria is its Chamber of Thassar, a deeply sacred, ancient room dominated by a vast, glowing glass orb. This dazzlingly coloured orb has a diameter of over twenty metres, and is said to be the home to the fire god Thassar, deep in his hundred-thousand year meditation. Around the orb, the room's volcanic stone walls, floor, and ceiling are decorated in vast murals painted over the centuries by the chamber's attendants, known as Thassar's Viziers. It is said that Thassar created the city in beginning, shaping its stone walls with his volcanic powers.

Thassaria is divided into inner and outer sections, although the division between these sections is mostly symbolic. Outer Thassaria refers to the section of the city built beside the cliff, and Inner Thassaria the section built into the cliff and up its side.

#### Outer Thassaria

Built on the rocky outcrop extending from the base of the cliff, Outer Thassaria is the Southeastern half of the city. This section of the city is mostly exposed to the sun save for a few overhangs, and houses many of the farmers and healthcare workers of the Thassaria. It is here that most of Thassaria's farmland is maintained, mostly devoted to hardy desert plants which feed the people and *buntu*, the capyraba-like burrowing animals native to the desert region. In turn, the *buntu* feed the people of Thassaria with their meat and spongy eggs which they lay in the hundreds.

#### Inner Thassaria

Built into and up the cliff wall, Inner Thassaria is more vertical than Outer Thassaria. It is mostly shaded from the harsh sun of Deimos, and inhabitants use specially farmed glowing red lichen to light the twisting pathways through the buildings hewn into the rock. Here, the holy people and craftspeople of Thassaria mostly live, using the cool darkness to turn the raw products farmed by the outer city into consumable products. The holy people contibute too, believing that Thassar rewards those who help and guide their people in practical ways as well as spiritual.

## Flora and Fauna

Besides the domesticable *buntu*, Ar'Satros is home to thousands of native species. Most of these species are harmless plants such as spinifex-like desert grass and squat cacti, but others are large and violent animals.

### Animals of the Desert

The most notable creature on Ar'Satros is the large and violent *galu-galu*, a hippopotamus-like animal with powerful jaws capable of ripping off a human's entire lower body. *Galu-galu* are universally feared by the people of Deimos, and during the mating season in winter, the nomadic tribes of the desert retreat to semi-permanent residences on high plateaus and cliffs, well out of reach of this aggressive species.

Also dangerous are the o*uen* bears. Not as violent as *galu-galu*, but fiercely protective of their young, the *ouen* bears travel in packs, and have no qualms with breaking into the relatively safe human camps to rest. On the occasions when these beasts invade, most people will cut their losses and abandon their settlements for fear of high casualty rates a long way from quality medical care. In large packs, *ouen* bears have been known to attempt to invade cities.

*Gargatolin* is the name given to the giant mammalian spiders of the desert. While the desert is mostly harsh and dry, the *gargatolin* has grown to such a size that it is able to trap over a hundred litres of water in its specialised fur overnight. *Gargatolin* are not voilent, however their great size make them almost impervious to piercing attacks. It is relatively common for a *gargatolin* adult to stroll through a desert camp by accident, ruining homes and crushing people. Several families of *gargatolin* attempt to breach the walls of Whiann each year, and an evacuation procedure has been put in place for such an event. Specialist *garg-u --* giant-eaters -- train for years and form clans of up to a hundred to follow groups of *gargatolin* near human settlements and kill or redirect them when they invade in exchange for supplies and lodging. *Garg-u* are welcome in most places, and are given friendly treatment in reverence of the vital but dangerous work they do. Whiann, the largest city on Ar'Satros, has its own live-in clan of *garg-u* who respond quickly when *gargatolin* are nearby.