OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To test out the waters of planet creation for the first time and create a fun new pirate themed backwater system for ORC to expand out into.
- Image Credit:
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Planet Name: Freehold
- Demonym: Providian
- Region: Outer Rim
- System Name: Providence System
- System Features:
Squall
Squall is a Class M red supergiant, bathing the entire system in a warm crimson glow that belies the ferocity of its occasional solar storms which wreak havoc on sublight travel out to the heliopause.
Magnar
Providence 1
A molten planetoid and the first orbital body in the Providence system, Magnar is far too close to Squall for its surface to be habitable, but its dark side is survivable for brief periods and a warren of subterranean mining facilities dedicated to extracting precious durelium and lommite. Working the Mines of Magnar is a fate consigned to those unfortunate souls who run afoul of a captain with influence.
Freehold
Providence 2
The system's primary habitable world, Freehold is a tropical paradise situated precisely far enough from Squall to be optimal for human comfort, and surrounded by a veritable maze of moons with varying levels of atmosphere and wildlife of their own. An island world, much of the surface is covered in ocean which has contributed to its predominantly nautical and disenfranchised culture.
Calypso
Providence 2.1
Calypso is Freehold's largest moon. It has more or less been terraformed into one massive shadowport and shipyard, notorious for its near lawless state and a willingness to cater to anyone. The system's main source of industrial labor, Calypso is little better than places like Nar Shaddaa or Point Nadir. What little bureaucracy has been established to keep commerce flowing is thoroughly corrupt, and roaming press gangs who kidnap urchins and force them into indentured servitude are all too common.
Providence 2.2-40
Freehold has 39 other moons, some of which are airless and featureless but others have breathable atmosphere and ecosystems all their own. Each moon is claimed by one of the system's most powerful mercenary crews. Some serve as no more than hideouts, while others are miniature lunar colonies in their own right. Inter-lunar strife is not unheard of.
Gorgon Asteroid Field
A massive ring of asteroids that shields the inner worlds from most stellar collisions, Gorgon has collected some planetoids as large as small moons in their own right and lesser crews make their home throughout its vast reaches.
Cytrine
Providence 3
On an orbit that strays dangerously closely to the Gorgon asteroids, Cytrine has no atmosphere of its own and is subject to random asteroid impacts on a near constant basis, but its surface is covered in rare and valuable gems from simple lapis to rare star sapphires and even agrocite.
Reckon
Providence 4
A blue green gas giant with a breathable atmosphere at the uppermost levels, Reckon is a rich source of Clouzon-36. Made wealthy off their trade, the gas barons live opulent lives on floating repulsor cities which are well known for their avarice. Gambling, flesh, and refined hyperspace fuel are all on offer here.
Serpentis
Providence 5
No one lives here. No one lands here. It is barely possible to survive on the surface without equipment, and not for long. Serpentis has a dark reputation among the system natives, and beyond orbital sensor sweeps hasn't been explored. There are dozens of myths and legends about pirate treasure buried on Serpentis, but if any crew has been bold enough to search they've never been heard from again.
Anchorage Nebula
Just outside the star system is a brilliant nebula which scatters subspace signals and wreaks havoc with improperly shielded hyperspace drives. While it is possible to ford this crossing with enough preparation, Anchorage isolated the Providence system from other deep rim colonies and makes it such an effective shadowport today.
- Coordinates:
- Major Imports: Foodstuffs, Textiles, Consumer Technology, Stolen Cargo
- Major Exports: Starships, Starship Components, Durelium, Lommite, Gemstones (Lapis, Star Sapphire, Agrocite), Clouzon-36, Stolen Cargo
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
- Gravity: Standard
- Climate: Tropical
- Primary Terrain: Oceans, Scattered Island Chains
- Atmosphere: Type 1
- Major Locations
Freeport
De facto capital city and originally the largest spaceport in the entire system before construction began in earnest on Calypso, Freeport is the planet's most populous urban center. It is where the Brethren Court meets, where goods are shipped in from offworld, and where young bravos from distant islands go in search of a patron crew or decent wages.
Hyperion Wharfs
Although far removed from surface troubles, Hyperion Wharfs is simply the greatest of many deep sea colonies that cover Freehold's subsurface landscape. Submarine travel is a common means of transport, and trade lanes which follow the dominant ocean currents are well traveled. Conflict is known even here, Hyperion maintains a contingent of large submersibles for defensive purposes.
Horizon Bay
Not content to spread out over both land and sea, the natives of Freehold have also colonized the sky. Massive repulsor powered city ships float over open water, and the gulf between floating settlements is known as Horizon Bay. Airspeeders and repulsor carriers are another common method of transport, and the largest cities field patrol squadrons to defend against the constant threat of raids from competing air crews.
Mount Ash
Only the most savage, dark minded crews make their home on these cursed shores. Mount Ash has a haunted reputation, and some of the planet's most infamous figures have taken advantage of those dark legends to prey even on their own kind from a volcanic island sanctuary. Only the strongest, cruelest men survive the mountain.
The Abyss
Less a landmark and more a supernatural event, many on Freehold believe that the Abyss is nothing more than a myth, an old sailor's tale. But the fearsome storms which seem to hunt anything that stays in one place for too long on the ocean waters are very real. Unbeknownst to the simple corsairs, their world is home to a very old force nexus.
Primordial Ruins
Very little remains of the ancient primordial civilization which originally called Freehold home. Only a few scattered ruins buried deep under the waves linger, mostly eroded by pressure and time. For some reason, these half-forgotten structures seem to draw the largest and deadliest ocean predators. Any expedition to investigate the planet's extinct forebears is a dangerous proposition.
- Force Nexus:
Intent: To add a supernatural element to Freehold that can be used to explain unnatural weather phenomenon and vicious deep sea predator attacks.
Nexus Name: The Abyss
- Nexus Alignment: Neutral/Elemental
- Size: Large
- Strength: Moderate
- Accessibility: The Abyss is not a static location, but never seems to stray too far from the submerged primordial ruins. Sail out over the deep waters and it will eventually find you.
- Effects: Although definitely supernatural, this nexus manifests as a violent weather phenomenon. Lightning infused cyclones roil over an ocean maelstrom which violently swallows anything unfortunate enough to linger in its path. This raw elemental energy can be channeled by force users regardless of alignment.
POPULATION
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Immigrated Species:
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Population: Heavy
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Demographics:
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Primary Languages: Galactic Basic Standard, Bocchi
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Culture: Scattered island settlements punctuated by a few major cities on land air and sea has given rise to a proud sense of nautical tradition, Providians are known as swashbucklers in the same vein as their majority Corellian ancestors. Once ruled over by an aristocracy known as the Tide Lords, while modern Freehold is lawless there is still an almost feudal sense of class mentality.
Unlike practically everywhere else in the galaxy, pirates are not seen as monsters but romantic folk heroes. The pirate crews of Providence are treated as public servants, they provide defense for the people, oversight for labor, and additional income from raids.
GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY
- Government: Freehold and its surrounding system is an anarcho-syndicalist nation state largely governed by a kind of pirate nobility. What little law exists depends on how influential a captain is, which in turn depends on how many blaster arms makes up their crew. Once a budding isolated colony, after several corrupt government regimes the planet's outlaw class banded together to overthrow their rulers and established a 'Pirate Republic of Freehold'.
- Affiliation: Independent
- Wealth: High. The Providence system is abundant in natural resources, and its mercenary crews often bring back ill gotten gains to further pad Freehold's coffers. These economic gains are unevenly distributed between fabulously wealthy pirate nobles and near destitute commoners.
- Stability: Low. Freehold is in a constant state of civil war. Allegiances are divided by island, by city, by crew. The land wars with the sea which wars with the air, all the while raiding one another. Settlements closer to the system's edge are only slightly more stable.
- Freedom & Oppression: Theoretically lawless space, in practice the word of whichever crew is closest and strongest goes. Pirate clans of various repute act almost like feudal liege lords, pledging to watch over work communes in exchange for resources and manpower. The largest, most successful crews run their own cities and moons while those less fortunate are forced out to lurk among the Gorgon field.
MILITARY & TECHNOLOGY
- Military: Hive of scum and villainy though it may be, the Pirate Republic boasts a substantial if disorganized standing navy. One of the galaxy's most implacable criminal strongholds, Freehold can stand up to anything short of an organized invasion by one of the major galactic powers.
- Technology: After reestablishing contact nearly two centuries ago, Providian technology which was only a few hundred thousand years behind has long since caught up to the modern galactic standard. They are known for their unique repulsorcraft, sail barges, and submersibles.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
First settled hundreds of thousand of years ago, until relatively recently the Anchorage Nebula kept Freehold isolated from the greater galaxy. The first colonists crash landed on the tropical island paradise after their sleeper ships suffered severe equipment malfunctions passing through the nebula. With much of their advanced technological data lost, within a few generations the planet had regressed to a pre-industrial state.
Spreading out across the planet's many island chains, the Providians eventually began to develop a strong maritime tradition and experienced their first internal strife as communication began to break down largely across racial lines. Dividing into smaller nation stations over thousands of years, by the golden age of the original Galactic Republic the planet had reunified under a noble class of master seamen, the Tide Lords.
Around the Age of Rebellion, the first of the Tide Lords rose to name himself Oceanmaster, planetary sovereign of Freehold. The first oceanmaster colonized the seas, and subsequent oceanmasters were expanded their empire to the skies and eventually the stars. Upon discovering their system was abundant with natural resources, Freehold entered a rapid space age before it was wracked by political strife while the rest of the galaxy suffered under the Gulag Plague.
Now known as the Tidal Interregnum, nearly a century of political infighting and resolvable conflict between Tide Lords over who would be chosen next to rule. Branded as monsters by a corrupt and dysfunctional planetary government, the increasingly marginalized criminal class who lived free from Tide Lord rule staged a successful coup.
Occupying Freeport and rallying the people behind communalist rhetoric, the Brethren Court of Freehold waged a war of 'liberation' across the system that stamped out most of the old world elite and saw themselves established as a new ruling class. While just as dysfunctional as the government which came before and far lighter on bureaucracy, the Providence system at least has the merit of being a kind of savage meritocracy where only the strongest or sharpest survive and prosper.
Since contact was reestablished with the wider galaxy, the Brethren Court maintains a mostly antagonistic relationship with most civilized powers. Unrepentant over their continued raids along outer rim hyperlanes, many foreign marauders have swelled their ranks, drawn to Providence by the stories of a grand pirate stronghold.
