Cabochon

Halvei, renamed Cabochon by The Trilliant Ring is part of the Oenon system in Hex #0007.

## Climate and Early History

Before The Scream Cabochon (formerly known as Halvei) and Briolette were colder worlds. Prior to the scream, the Oenon star husbandry platform, controlled and regulated the system's star for a forgotten purpose. When The Scream happened, the platform malfunctioned and accelerated the fusion cycle of the star before the platform imploded. This made the Oenon star a stage larger and that much closer to Cabochon and Briolette. This caused instant global warming on Cabochon and Briolette making them a magnitude warmer.

Before The Scream, Cabochon had a vibrant fledgling biosphere that was suited to the colder climate. Most of the land on Cabochon was tundra plains and large ice continents. This all changed after The Scream when the star expanded. In a couple of years all of the tundra and ice continents melted, raising sea levels and turning the planet into one massive ocean. Due to the melting an abundance of trapped inert gases were also released changing the atmosphere. Most of the native species perished, leaving only a handful of particularly hardy creatures alive.

## Population

### The Halvei Mandate

Before The Trilliant Ring’s arrival The Halvei Mandate held control of Cabochon (then called Halvei) through the use of their massive fleet-nation. No other native fleet could rival the vast number of ships the The Halvei Mandate possessed and they often drove rival fleet-nations away with their superior strength. Due to this might, The Halvei Mandate had the greatest number of resources available to their people. Excess resources were used to bribe other ships into their employ or even for them to join their fleet-nation, but if the offer is denied it was common for force to used to motivate instead.

The Halvei Mandate, like most other fleet-nations, have a classic naval hierarchy with Deckhand being the lowest member and Admiral being the leader of the fleet-nation. Unlike other fleet-nations promotions are not decided by merit, but by acts of devotion to The Halvei Mandate beliefs. These beliefs are: materialism is harmful to yourself and the fleet-nation; no one should have more than they need; inner beauty is the only beauty that matters; and that cherishing what you currently have and not what others have. Members with the intention of being promoted have to make a show of their devotion to these ideas. These acts of devotion can be anything from speeches to public relinquishing of one's possessions. If their act impresses the Admiral they will rise in rank. The Halvei Mandate leadership has promised that once they have swayed the whole of Cabochon to support their philosophy, they will dismantle the warships and create a utopia. However, concern and dissent brew among many members who argue that the Halvei Mandate's efforts seem to have no end in sight. Some foolish souls dare suggest that their leaders are intentionally dragging out the war, so that they can indulge in materialism in perpetuity.

The current Admiral is Kamala Ojeda and has been nicknamed the Rag Admiral for her literal refusal of wearing anything but rag--with the exception of a rebreather when necessary. Kamala is a firm believer that some members of the Mandate are actively hindering their pursuit of a utopia through sabotage and deceit. To combat this she has demanded more acts of devotion to be displayed and has branded those who refuse as a danger to the pursuit of a utopia. This has lead to a larger amount of over the top acts of devotions within The Halvei Mandate as members attempt to prove their dedication to the fleet-nation goals. This rhetoric has allowed the spreading of doubt and suspicion to set in. Members have started accusing particular leaders of being traitors to the fleet-nation demands ludicrous acts of devotion to prove their innocence. This has lead to some chaos the fleet-nation ironically hindering their expansion. But despite this The Halvei Mandate had progressed their ultimate goal of uniting all of Cabochon under their beliefs until The Trilliant Ring arrived to Cabochon and took over the planet with their advanced technology.

### The Capsized

The Capsized are one of the oldest factions on Cabochon and even ruled the planet after the Dark age. They controlled the planet through their strategic expertise and overwhelming force subjugating all other factions on Cabochon. Their rule was one advertised with unity and power, but many instead saw them as cruel and greedy. This resentment lead to a coalition of the most afflicted to create a new faction to oppose The Capsized’s greed. This coalition became known as The Halvei Mandate and with their numbers and allies they dethroned The Capsized. Since then The Capsized has vowed vengeance against The Halvei Mandate and wish to regain what they believe belongs to them.

To this day The Capsized possess no allies due to their past cruelty. They currently live on the crashed ships that are kept afloat by the generational knowledge passed down by the first of the crashed. A barely functional floating village made up of a handful of couple ships that escaped the revolt. Only their members know how to navigate this area without harm making this village secure from assault. Over time The Capsized became resourceful and gained a knack for retrofitting. They are still considered to be deadly combatants, but only possess a few salvaged ships limiting their strength.

The Capsized like most other fleet-nations have a classic naval hierarchy with Deckhand being the lowest member and Admiral being the leader of the fleet-nation. Deckhands are all given a simple set of “driftwood” armor providing minimal protection and a uniform look to others of the same rank. Raising through the ranks requires being recognized for successes in battle or retrofitting expertise. As a member rises in ranks they will acquire more pieces of “seastone” armor replacing the “driftwood” counterpart. The later ranks grant customized armor pieces based on the member’s achievements. The current Admiral is Gabrijela Yaa known as the Silver Admiral for her signature silver armor and silver great hammer she brandishes at all times. She is known for her ruthless, but elegant combat style and for her relentless pursuit of The Halvei Mandate’s allies. Under her leadership many raids had been conducted to weaken these allies in swift and precise attacks and to strain their alliance with The Halvei Mandate. Recently The Trilliant Ring offered Gabrijela Yaa their assistance in toppling The Halvei Mandate, but exchange they must relinquish their bid for control of the planet. Gabrijela Yaa accepted this deal as they wanted vengeance more than control.

### The Reef Hunters

The waters of Cabochon can be harsh and unforgiving, and those who are worn down by the waves of conflict brought by the Halvei Mandate often seek more shallow waters, literally and figuratively. One of these places is The Crimson Reef, a massive coral reef network that snakes around miles and miles of shoals. It is widely known that it is both difficult and risky to harvest The Crimson Reef, the game is elusive and the ecosystem is delicately balanced. Those who call themselves The Reef Hunters pride themselves on perfecting this trade.

The Reef Hunters have no formal government or leader figure, it is comprised of small tightly knit hunting bands who live and work on their fishing boats. When The Reef Hunters need to address something as a whole, such as a threat to the reef or a major trade deal with another faction, they gather at the heart of The Crimson Reef to form a temporary council. The hunters see themselves as neutral in the political situation of Cabochon, so most of the meetings concern the health of the reef and what adjustments need to be done in its care. Despite their disjointed organization The Reef Hunters have a lot of bargaining power on Cabochon. Together the hunting bands produce large amounts of high grade food from fishing and reef farms. Many rare ingredients for medicine and anesthesia only grow in The Crimson Reef and are carefully cultivated by hunting bands.

The delicate ecosystem of The Crimson Reef demands that no hunting band overfishes or otherwise upsets the balance, because of this The Reef Hunters are bound to a hunter’s code to not overstep their boundaries. If a single hunter, or a whole band, is found to have broken the code, they are likely to be exiled from the reef. These crimes could involve poaching another hunting band’s domain, or allowing their own domain to deteriorate. If it was found that they intentionally caused permanent damage to the reef for personal gain, those responsible would find an early grave at the bottom of The Crimson Reef.

Caring for The Crimson Reef is a burden that The Reef Hunters carry with pride. The reef provides a sanctuary in many ways; its riches provide an important bargaining tool, and its fragile nature keeps others from seizing the region because of the risk they run of destroying its resources forever.

### The Drowned Ones

The Drowned Ones are one of the most mysterious factions on Cabochon. Everyone knows they are assassins, but they do not openly take credit for their acts nor advertise their services. They only sign that they might have killed someone is that in almost all cases the victim drowned with a heavy object bound to their feet. This mysterious reputation is partially due to their expert stealth skills. They often attack at night using specially designed stealth ships that blend in silently and there has also been rumors that some of these ships can even go underwater. Contracting The Drowned Ones is done through intermediaries known as Anchors and are located in specific locations at night. Anchors will relay requests back to The Drowned Ones and if they are interested a contract will be given to the Anchor to deliver to the requestor for acceptance or denial. The Drowned Ones’ contracts are binding down to the letter and if one is ever broken it is said that the requestor and all they care about will end up at the bottom of the ocean.

Unlike most other factions The Drowned Ones are a true democracy. All full members must vote on their actions and no member can abstain (unless they are incapacitated), but each member can vote more than once. Often before a vote a debate is held to flesh out opinions. These votes govern contracts, supplies, tactics, and even recruitment. The Drowned Ones only recruit orphans and if orphaned due to their actions are more likely to be recruited. These recruits are normally kidnapped from their place of care at night. These recruits are taken to The Drowned Ones base of operation, a nameless sea cave who’s main entrance is located underwater. Here the recruits are raised and trained in their ways and if they survive when this trained by adulthood they become full members and receive their signature anchor tattoo with a chain.

The ultimate goal of The Drowned Ones is to delay the Return from finalizing. It is their firm belief that the current state of the ecosystem and rising sea level is because Cabochon is dying and that to renew itself it is vengefully returning everything to the sea. This Return has already destroyed most of Cabochon and if allowed to continue it will finish off all known life and start a rebirth for the planet. It is believed that it was only halted by the vast quantity of downed lives given to it during The Scream. To continue the delay The Drowned Ones drown their victims so that they can become offering to the planet delaying the Return. To this end the contracts they carry out are a means of performing their duties and sustaining their group with supplies. It is also their belief that only a small select number of people should know this truth because knowing this knowledge weighs heavily on their lives that few can withstand. To represent this as they complete contracts a link is added to the chain of their anchor tattoo signifying the added weight on their soul.

### The 77 Sails

The Seventy Seven Sails is one of the largest faction on Cabochon. True to their name they have seventy seven ships in their fleet. These ships range from massive frigates to fishing boats and sloops. The seventy seven ships is also a strict law that prevents adding ships to the fleet removal of another if there is no space. If the fleet is even under seventy seven then they quickly replenish their ranks with whatever ships are available. The fleet is also known to be very spread out throughout Cabochon and is stated that you can find a Seventy Seven ship anywhere just by looking at the horizon.

The Seventy Seven Sails are the Halvei Mandate’s greatest ally. They have been expanding and enforcing Halvei’s will since they helped them overthrow the tyrannical Capsized centuries ago. This partnership initially gave them a lot of power and resources and garnished praise from the citizens of Cabochon. At that time The Seventy Seven Sails had only the finest ships on Cabochon with the firepower no one can beat and they protected all law abiding citizens, but over the years Halvei has grown much stronger and have been consolidating their power at their expense. This has been slowly diminishing the quality of ships in The Seventy Seven Sails and has led most to declare the Halvei Mandate as the strongest fleet on Cabochon. To keep up the rising demand for resources The Seventy Seven Sails have succumbed to committing bribery and extortion against the people they were meant to protect. This has damaged their reputation and strained their relationship with the Halvei Mandate.

The Seventy Seven Sails like most other fleet-nations have a classic naval hierarchy for the entire fleet, but have seven admirals. Each admiral is in charge a squadron of ships with a set purpose and number. The higher the squadron number the higher rank you were considered among the fleet. The seventh admiral is not only the highest rank, but also the Fleet Admiral and the de facto leader of the faction. The current seventh admiral is Ashurbanipal Marek and under his leadership he has led a shadow campaign of harming citizens with the extremes of Halvei law in effort of turning the Halvei Mandate reputation to that of tyrants. This is all to have history repeat itself, but causing all other factions to band together again to remove the Halvei Mandate from power just like the Capsized before. When the time is right Ashurbanipal will have The Seventy Seven Sails announce their independence and lead the other factions against the Halvei Mandate as heroes saving the Cabochon.

### The Wave Eels

The Wave Eels is the most advanced faction and exclusive on Cabochon. While the rest of the planet are only TL2 The Wave Eels is the only faction that can be described as TL3+. They achieved this by hoarding all tech salvaged from before The Scream and enlisting the best minds on the planet to reverse engineer and study it. They have a particular love for energy generation and electrical application. The majority of their research is in their base of operation, a heavily modified sea spire lighthouse located in the far north known as The Luminarium. The Luminarium is not only their base of operation, but their largest ongoing project. It is equipped with their state of the art defence technology and “deterrents” developed over the years to deter all who approach it. The premiere “deterrent” is known as the FLEETBREAKER, a massive long range electromagnetic railgun capable of firing shock charges that damage ships with a wide area of effect. Despite this power at their disposal The Wave Eels have little care for the rest of the planet unless it affects their prime focus, which for the last couple of decades has been to reinvent TL4 space travel.

Recruitment into the The Wave Eels is difficult and only possible on New Year’s Day. During that day anyone wishing to be considered for a membership into The Wave Eels must make their way to the island near The Luminarium called Spark Isle. Possible recruits will be tested by senior Wave Eels members to gauge their intelligence and usefulness to the group. It is also heavily encouraged that possible recruits bring an invention of their own for demonstration. Those who get none of the senior members opposing their inclusion are offered a membership into The Wave Eels and all others are forced to leave.

The Wave Eels do from time to time have a list of services that they do provide, but only at a steep cost. These services range from ship modifications, weapon mounting, medical assistance, and even rebreather production. The most common price is a large shipment of raw material, but sometimes The Wave Eels might ask for a few crew members instead. This is due either this crew member being considered valuable to the faction as a member or the need of human subjects for future tests. Since the arrival of The Trilliant Ring The Wave Eels have ceased all activity sealing themselves in The Luminarium for some unknown reason.

## Regional Hegemon

This world has the technological sophistication, natural resources, and determined polity necessary to be a regional hegemon for the sector. Nearby worlds are likely either directly subservient to it or tack carefully to avoid its anger. It may even be the capital of a small stellar empire.

### Enemies:

* Ambitious general
* Colonial official
* Contemptuous noble

### Friends:

* Diplomat
* Offworld ambassador
* Foreign spy

### Complications:

* The hegemon's influence is all that's keeping a murderous war from breaking out on nearby worlds
* The hegemon is decaying and losing its control
* The government is riddled with spies
* The hegemon is genuinely benign

### Things:

* Diplomat carte blanche
* Deed to an offworld estate
* Foreign aid grant

### Places:

* Palace or seat of government
* Salon teeming with spies
* Protets rally
* Military base

## Seagoing Cities

Either the world is entirely water or else the land is simply too dangerous for most humans. Human settlement on this world consists of a number of floating cities that follow the currents and the fish. These city-ships might have been purpose-built for their task, or they could be jury-rigged conglomerations of ships and structures thrown together when the need for seagoing life become apparent to the locals.

### Enemies:

* Pirate city lord
* Mer-human raider chieftain
* Hostile landsman noble
* Enemy city saboteur

### Friends:

* City navigator
* Scout captain
* Curious mer-human
* Hard-pressed ship-city engineer

### Complications:

* The seas are not water
* The fish schools have vanished and the city faces starvation
* Terrible storms drive the city into the glacial regions
* Suicide ships ram the city's hull

### Things:

* Giant pearls with mysterious chemical properties
* Buried treasure
* Vital repair materials

### Places:

* Bridge of the city
* Storm-tossed sea
* A bridge fashioned of many small boat