iFlow

This is a place travellers usually avoid. Smoug is small, densely populated and miserable. The inhabitants live in tunnels and some tarnished domes. Severe mismanagement in the government has led to widespread poverty. The results are easy to see: The poor have created their warren of tunnels, ruled by gangs. Occasionally, a new leader arises among them, inevitably leading them against the priviledged in violent uprisings. But so far, the state has proven to be stronger. This is quite easy as only the police is allowed to wear weapons and possession of weapons of any sort is prohibited by law. The police go down very hard on display of weapons of any sort. The steak knife is not the most common murder weapon by chance either.

The government lets out only a small amount of people each local year, and these must face severe harassment – to the point of public humiliation by running the gauntlets to the starport. This leaves most emmigrants traumatized and seldom able to start a new life on other planets. The government sends agents after them to cover their story, leading to additional stress. All this serves as an additional deterrent for the citizens of the Citizen’s Republic of Smoug, the CRS.

The priviledged employees of the state-owned corporations live in sealed domes and clean corridors. The actual digging work gets done by the worker class who get priviledge vouchers based on work load. With a good amount of sweat, workers can send their kids to the right schools and prepare them for recruitment. That is, barring emmigration, the only way to get out of the squalor.

There is a thriving black market with raw minerals taken from the Rat-Tunnels. Traders do this usually only on a last resort basis since the colonial navy comes quite hard down on those it gets. Nonetheless, a shipment of radioactives at the right time can pay an overhaul.

Smoug exports radioactives as well as heavy and anti-social elements.

Olympia, Palace of the Star-Born. Such is the official title of the starport. It is placed on a snall moon of the main-world. The main world itself is a Red-Zone and may not be entered. The reason is one part dislike of foreign intrusion and one part protection of a culture that holds starflight in religious reverence.

So the traveller only ever sees the moon palace, but that is quite enough. Built of marble and quartz-glass, it is cold white beauty rising out of the moon’s thin atmosphere. While the main thoroughfares are undecorated, the monk’s dormitorium and religious area are decorated with elaborate carvings in marble.

Speaking of monks: The religious high-priestess and shadow-emperor of Olympia Primus is the so-called Star-Born, a female of indeterminate age, rumored to be cloned of former high-priestesses. The actual procedure is not known as the Olympians don’t like letting others see into their cards.

The palace also houses the Olympian Archive – a massive structure rumoured to be armored as tough as any Imperial depot. In there the whole history of Olympia is recorded – and probably some more as the Archive has deals with several foreign universities and research institutes. For a price, the archivers may answer your question.

The spaceport section is very clean and nice, with monks working everywhere to keep the place spotless. Since they do not allow foreign businesses to lay a foothold insystem, the monks are also the chefs, barkeeps and consierges of Olympia Starport. Since they are recruited from the planet it does lead to certain funny moments when new acolytes take up their first jobs.

All in all, the system is so beautiful, passenger ships frequent it just for entertainment value. Especially when the time of the great pilgrimage comes, the look is quite magnificent. Serveral hundred miniature space-ships, flying by the power of the solar wind make the voyage through the abyss to the Palace of the Star-Born.

The populace of Adabicci is a very devout one. This is reflected in the great temples they built – and tore down – in obedience to their faiths. Likewise, their governments are always theocracies. Over many centuries, new sects have sprung up, gained root and revigorated the old beliefs. Over time, there were religious dictatorships, councils of world religions, oligarchies of church elders and more.

True Faith

According to official statistics, about 94% of the planet’s population are adherents of the One Faith. Of these, another 86% belong to the True Church, while the rest put their faith in splinter sects of various types. This high number of believers in Hegemon Takovley and his True Church is a result of the Hegemon’s suppression of by means of missionaries, bureaucratic hurdles and sometimes even force.

Free Faith

Recently, a group comprised of all ‘free religions’ have started to wage a terrorist war against the Unified World Council and its leader, Hegemon Takovley. The Imperial Navy, which has a base insystem, is none to happy about this. Commodore Aarunkeliish, commander of Adabicci Base, has urged all parties to join into peace talks. He was successful but didn’t count in the fervor of local beliefs. After the peace summit Takovley ‘excommunicated’ the delegates of the Free Faiths, making them free targets for any believer in the True Church. A mob stoned the delegates on their way home. Widespread street fighting between the followers of different religions followed. In retaliation, Templars of the True Faith clamped down on all resistance in Church-held provinces. Additionally, Takovley pressured many other provinces to do the same.

Path of High Resistance

The situation is continually deteriorating as demonstrators clash daily with government forces. The system’s Imperial representative, Marquis Ninslev, was repeatedly called to the Duchess’ Palace, to no avail. Ninslev, himself a high-ranking member of the True Church, seems unable and unmotivated to put an end to this burgeoning civil war. Instead, his coffers swell with confiscated goods.

Furenet – The Planet

The main world of the Adabicci System, Furenet, is a dry stone ball with a tainted atmosphere. The taint is a remant of a religious ritual during which large amounts of a local wood variety were burnt. Although the ritual was only praticed for ten years, the result was a permanent taint in the atmosphere. The problem comes less from the ash and dust still floating in the air, but more from biological pollutants bound in the tree’s resin. Otherwise, the place is quite green and healthy. Imperial geneering took care of pollution related problems concerning fauna and flora.