Demetra

A pict-capture of Demetra and its moon from a passing freighter

The fourth planet in the Persid System, **Demetra** is a sufficient distance from its sun that complex organic life can flourish. It was designated as an Agri-world and given over to the direct rule of the Imperium's main bureaucracy: the Adeptus Administratum.

## History

Demetra was deemed suitable for agricultural exploitation by a Mechanicus explorator fleet in late M.35, but colonisation of the system was delayed due to the turmoil of the Age of Apostasy. By the time attention was returned to the Persid system, it was the beginning of M38. Demetra was inhabited by a primitive xenos race which was rendered extinct by the terraforming process. The Mechanicus did not consider cataloguing them a worthwhile endeavour.

### Recent Events

Lately a small but growing consistent discrepancy between the recorded census and the observable population has been noticed by government Adepts. The matter is being investigated.

## Production

Demetra is the breadbasket of the Persid system and adjacent territories. It produces enough food to reliably supply the local Hive World *and* export the surplus across Sub-Sector Zephyros. In addition to its primary staple, Demetra also hosts herds of grox which are tens of thousands strong at any given time.

The planet's large oceans are also cultivated via mass aquaculture. Millions of tons of aquatic life are grown, refined and transported across the Segmentum Solar.

Once a field-sector has been harvested, the crop is delivered to vast warehouses linked to orbital elevators which lift it into low orbit for collection by bulk freighters. Crop management is mostly carried out by servitors operating bulk loaders, assisted by human labourers and overseers.

Because the planet is directly under the Adeptus Administratum's direct authority, they can subject it to the highest possible tithe grades.

## Population

The majority of the population are descendants of the first generation of settlers who came with the colonisation fleet. These people spend their time working in the fields, as volunteers in the Planetary Defence Forces or training to become Administratum adepts. A select few have been trained to be freighter pilots. A small but growing minority of workers are more recent immigrants from the hives of Sophia's Rest, lured to Demetra by the promise of cleaner air and an easier life. Too late they learn that the labour expected of them on Demetra can be just as torturous as that they left behind. That said, many of the former hivers seem to be able to work for hours and days longer than the indigenous residents. Administratum bureaucrats put this down to laziness on the natives' part.

## Planetary System

Demetra has a single moon: Kora. The Adeptus Administratum has established a processing centre to facilitate, bureaucratic oversight of the planet, and the efficient expedition of its tithe requirements. This facility also serves as the centre of the Administratum's influence over the entire Persid System. All reports and communiqués are run through this centre; everything is catalogued in tedious detail. As with almost every other face of the Administratum in the rest of the galaxy, the pace of events has outpaced their records by at least 200 years.