Azure Pearl
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Contents |
Campaign Background
About the Campaign
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The Planet
The Azure Pearl is a gas giant, lying within the habitable zone of its star. Although massing some 15 standard planetary masses, its lower density combines to give it a surface gravity just below standard, and the unusual (for a gas giant) heavy nitrogen concentration in it atmosphere gives it both the banded shades of blue that lead to its name, and renders the atmosphere while not breathable by humans, also not actively harmful to them. At certain altitudes within the atmosphere where the pressures are reasonable, a human can operate exposed to the external atmosphere with nothing more than an oxygen pack attached to a breathing mask.
Picture: An image of the planet Azure
The System
The Pearl is the center of a system of some 17 moons that are of any notable size, plus a further collection of orbiting rock, some of which is concentrated into a small ring system (the Glitter Band) common to so many planets of its type. It describes an orbit of about 2 standard years about its large main sequence primary, and the Pearl itself has an axial rotation of roughly 36 standard hours.
The Population
Human habitation on the Pearl is concentrated in a baker's dozen of floating platforms that lie high in its atmosphere, which are kept aloft via advanced suspensor pods, the technology for which is supplied through an agreement with the 9. The platforms are also equipped with large turbine jets which serve both station keeping functions, and also to move the cities out of the way of the large storm systems which periodically work their way though the vast atmosphere of the giant. The largest of these platforms (actually a conglomeration of platforms) is Azure City, with a population of nearly 900,000 people, and the rest of the major habitations range in size from 100,000 to 600,000. The official human population of the Pearl is just over 5 million.
Other population centers include:
- Changshai Platform (pop 600,000), approximately 2 hours by ornithopter from Azure City, known for its upscale entertainment and recreation facilities. Many nobles maintain estates on its upper terrace.
- Uruqaumi Station (pop 30,000), fengshan herding outpost, approximately 16 hours from Azure City by ornithopter, or 2 hours by suborbital shuttle.
The Environment
The motivation for human habitation in such an unlikely environment are the fengshan, huge buoyant filter feeders like kilometer long living dirigibles, who move majestically through the Pearl's atmosphere in giant herds. For the Pearl has a biosphere of fantastic creatures who live, floating or flying, ever on the wing, for to plunge downward toward the Pearl's unseen rocky core is to be crushed to death by unfathomable pressures. They range from the microscopic aeroplankton upon which the great behemoths feed, to strike rays, delta winged aerial predators whose rapacious hunger fuels their endless flight.
The fengshan themselves exhibit a fascinating set of metabolic processes, one of which is the production of copious quantities of He3, by which the great creatures maintain their buoyancy. This also means that the inhabitants of the pearl, by careful husbandry, provide cheap fuel to the fusion reactors of several hundred worlds. Several other profitable byproducts are also harvested from the great beasts, but He3 production is the primary engine of the economy.
The Nobles
The ruling House Azure is a minor but proud family, tracing their lineage from the ancient Terran pirate queen Ching Shih. Observing strict matriarchal descent, the current Baroness Ulyana Tianlan has recently celebrated her 13th birthday and is under the protection of a regent. The circumstances surrounding her mothers death, the Baroness Nadyezhda Tianlan, are unclear. Her father, the Baron-Consort remains alive, but has withdrawn from active politics since the death of his wife.
Viewing their great ancestor as the consummate business woman, the Azurites promote a philosophy of unrestricted capitalism within their sphere. Everything and anything is for sale.
The Rumors and Legends
There are many legends about what lies at the center of the Azure Pearl. Some say that there is a massive weapon that was hidden away there for fear of its use. Others believe that there is an ancient mechanical brain that can see the future. It is not uncommon for sailors to report seeing strange things in the vapors of the Azure Pearl. Some even claim to have fallen over board and woken up on a strange platform that lead down into the giant. Details always get fuzzy when they describe what happened next. What is the truth, who can say? What we do know is that if it is true then the Azurites, the 9 and the Jihad all have a great interest in it.
Notable Nobles
The Baroness
Lord Marius "Rook" Oberion, Regent and Warmaster
- Player: JudaicDiablo
Rangseui "Bishop" Mao Oberion the Analyst
When Rangseui Mao was born, his malformed legs led some to whisper that he was an abomination against the sacred bloodline. But the Countess was of an enlightened attitude and, noting the child's quick affinity with numbers, she allowed him to begin analyst training. But when the old Countess died, young Rangseui's fortunes plummeted. Without patron, he was reduced to becoming an outcast with nowhere to go. He was mocked at court and reduced to relying on the charity of various nobles to survive.
But survive he did. Rangseui cultivated his image as a ridiculous simpleton and used this reputation to avoid entanglement in the sometimes deadly intrigues of court. Whevever he could, he cultivated the friendship of other family outcasts, castle servants, and common citizens. In time, his considerable network of spies gave him significant power, if hidden power, at court.
Under Regent Rook, Rangseui has risen to the role of royal spymaster. He excels in tactics of misdirection while using his great intellect to plan for the future. No one would guess that he runs the planet's foremost undergound television station as a covert arm of the royal office of intelligence. His value is such that his patron overlooks his curious mental state and odd political opinions.
The Swordmaster
The Pirate
Friends of the State
The Marine
Marine Commander Hanza - Marine Squad Commander in the Azure Fleet
Notable Relationships
- for Lord Rook Oberion
- Marcus Sirus - 2nd in Command of the Azure Fleet
- Sensor Tech Hiaying - Sensorium Expert in the Azure Fleet
- for Bishop Oberion
- Girder Monkey - Hard Hitting Underground Reporter.
