Kubishush System circa 1202 Christopher Griffen (chris.griffen@octel.com) Kubishush (Inar: Deneb/0917) A8B6AAA-E Fl Hi V:0 101 RE M3 V M8 V G=1.60, Day=43:14:01.68, Year = 46d 17:13:23.1* Atmo=6.10, Weather Control Temp= +41.88 (7/lat +21 to -49) (season +9 to -27.0, 27 deg lat) Daily temp range 565.24 (+471.86 to -93.38) Ores, Compounds; Metals, Non-Metals; None; Recordings, Software, Documents Conservative/Indifferent, Unaggressive/Peaceable, Discordant/Friendly Legal: A-B77D6 Tech: EB-EFEFF-EFEE-BC-G * Kubishush orbits a small gas giant, Oolvig Naseena. Oolvig Naseena orbits the system's primary star, L'gnng Uuvon. The "Year" entry shown above is Oolvig Naseena's orbital period around L'gnng Uuvon. Kubishush orbits Oolvig Naseena at a rate of 9y 126d 19:23:43.36. [NOTE: DGP's article on Deneb Sector, featured in MegaTraveller Journal #3, was used as a resource for this RICE paper. I would like to acknowledge the authors of the DGP article, James Holden, Mike Makesh and Nancy Parker. This RICE paper is intended to build upon the information they have provided.] Kubishush, or Unan Olov as it is known to its natives, is one of the more hostile places one may visit in the Regency. The native minor race, the Gl'lu, are friendly enough, but the buckling terrestrial surface and corrosive nitrogen-rich, ammonia-tainted atmosphere of the planet tend to make even a routine stopover an adventure. To get to know Kubishush, one need only get to know the Gl'lu. The Gl'lu have, at least to human perceptions, formed an entire civilization based on planetary cataclysms. Their world, a roiling hell by the standards of any of the major races, is so subject to natural catastrophes that its entire sentient culture is based upon surviving its earthquakes, storms and volcanic explosions. With 11 tectonic plates and a seismic stress factor of over nine, Kubishush is highly unstable. Constant earthquakes and aftershocks rock regions throughout the planet's dozens of major faultlines. Kubishush is known to have 13 to 16 continents at any one time, with occasional continental separations and convergences increasing or decreasing the number from time to time. Immense mountain ranges crisscross the planet's continents like a web. While the geological and meteorological upheavals of Kubishush are great enough to cause dozens of small catastrophes every year throughout the globe, every decade or so, a quake, storm or volcanic eruption hits that is so severe it warrants the title of Yulangngol, or "Great Cataclysm." These events are so commonplace on Kubishush that they have been integrated into the Gl'lu culture. Many Gl'lu religious groups hail these events as signs from otherworldly deities. Secular Gl'lu groups look at these natural disasters as opportunities to prove Gl'lu prowess in the areas of environmental and disaster recovery technology. At the time of first contact by the IISS, the Gl'lu had independently achieved a high-common technology level of 8. After Kubishush was incorporated into the Imperium in 188, IISS representatives offered technological aid to lessen the impact of the planet's frequent catastrophes. The IISS was politely refused in the characteristic Gl'lu way. Such technological assistance, ruled Gl'lu leader Sananes Nuruva Gogonas, would upset the balance of Gl'lu culture. Most Gl'lu heartily agreed. The basis upon which one socially advances in Gl'lu society is proving one's skill at averting the affects of natural disasters and helping those less fortunate Gl'lu who are vicitimized by the whims of nature. The Gl'lu Sananes, literally translated as "young one," is the solitary ruler of the entire planet. Sananes are elected by a council of elders from among the dynastic families of the Unaga, or "exalted ones." The Sananes rules from early adolescence until it reaches maturity at about the age of 32 human years. Geriatric effects set in so quickly after maturity for Gl'lu that their culture has developed the tradition of bestowing leadership upon its youth. The position of Sananes is an honored one, but little fought over. The 17 electoral gerontocrat seats, however, are vehemently sought by Unaga who pass maturity. A gerontocrat electoral seat is held for the lifetime of the Gl'lu who acquires it. Because of the long lifespan of the Gl'lu (about 120 human years), opportunities for gerontocrat positions are few and far between. Selection of gerontocrat positions is determined by the outcome of a peculiar tournament, in which all eligible mature Gl'lu compete with one another for the available seat. Humans visiting Kubishush during gerontocrat selections have compared the game to "marbles," a game commonly played by human children on low-tech worlds in which small opaque glass spheres are rolled or hurled at each other. Perhaps the greatest Sananes ever was S'lmar Vovon, who lived from 1098-1192. S'lmar developed and administered the global recovery project following arguably the worst Yulangngol in Gl'lu history. In 1108, over two billion Gl'lu died when the convergence of two tectonic plates created a quake so severe that Kubishush's smallest continent effectively sank below the surface of one of the planet's ammonia oceans. S'lmar Vovon directed the recovery project so efficiently that other than the fatalities, little evidence of the catastrophe's effect on Gl'lu society could be seen five years after the incident. Over the post-Imperial contact centuries, trade with the Imperials inadvertantly raised Gl'lu technology to the point where they could not help but develop better disaster recovery methods. While most Gl'lu do not enjoy the benefits of TL-14 technology, the elite Unaga developed ways to protect themselves from planetary catastrophes. The most popular method utilizes borrowed elements of Vincennezi technology. The Unaga began to build floating cities with gravitic capabilities to lift them into the upper reaches of Kubishush's atmosphere during times of high seismic and/or meteorological activity. Low-common technology generally reflects the technology of the land-based Gl'lu, or Kilig Gunati, who comprise the majority of the population. The Kilig Gunati on the whole do not benefit from the technological advancements made by the Unaga and continue to be subjected to the violent upheavals of the planet. While only about 10 percent of the Gl'lu enjoy high-common technology, the centuries of imbalance have allowed the Gl'lu to increase their population from approximately 800 million at first contact with Imperial surveyors to about 14.7 billion inhabitants at the present time. Because of the disparity in technology levels between the Unaga and the Kilig Gunati, however, the Gl'lu currently have a large surplus of "elite" citizens. One might think that the Kilig Gunati would resent this arrangement. Surprisingly enough, they do not. Gl'lu on the whole are extraordinarily accepting of ewang'vn or "fate." Because of a natural propensity for lending a helping hand to fellow Gl'lu, the Unaga are known to do whatever they can to help the Kilig Gunati through the turmoil of natural disasters. This extensiveness seems to curtail resentment of the social inequalities that exist on Kubishush. Unaga factions are surprisingly paternal and territorial over the groupings of Kilig Gunati they protect, however, and are not likely to assist a rival faction with disaster relief. Parcels of Kilig Gunati territory are unofficially under the protection of individual Unaga factions that report to the Sananes. So it is that the ambiguous traits of racial extensiveness and internecine competition meet in Gl'lu society. Gl'lu possess unique physiological characteristics. The Gl'lu are hermaphroditic septapods whose metabolism is based on the oxidation of ammonia in Kubishush's atmosphere. Upon first meeting a Gl'lu, the first feeling most humans have is revulsion. Their porous mottled skin, six slimy appendages and periscope-like eyestalk make them look like a cross between a Terran octopus and a slug. Upon first encountering the race during the Grand Survey, scouts mistook them for a far-flung colony of githiasko or genetically altered hivers. The Gl'lu consider Oolvig Naseena, the gas giant around which they orbit, as sacred ground, not to be desecrated by travellers wanting to skim for fuel. A considerable fleet of Gl'lu SDBs enforces this holy law, infraction of which is punishable by death. Gl'lu SDBs will not attempt to disable and board offenders of the interdiction, but rather will destroy offenders' ships or blast them into Oolvig Naseena's unforgiving gravity well. Kubishush's turbulent atmosphere, dense over-ocean grav traffic and high number of floating cities make skimming its ammonia oceans a dangerous task, effectively eliminating them as wilderness refueling sites as well. In addition, no other planets in the system have any hydrosphere whatsoever. In order to compensate traders for the lack of viable wilderness refueling sites, the Gl'lu sell imported fuel at their orbital and planetary starports for approximately 50 percent of the normal price found throughout the Regency. Political pressures from outside the system and the need for trade have influenced the Gl'lu to grant such generous dispensations of fuel. Gl'lu architecture is universally the most sound and durable one is likely to find. The Gl'lu mastery of materials technology gives them the ability to produce TL-14 bonded superdense alloys. The most common shape for Gl'lu buildings is a flattened sphere with an interior "rolling sphere." During large quakes, the rolling sphere within rotates on its transverse axis, thereby protecting the inhabited interior structure from toppling onto its side. The rounded edges, spherical rooms, elliptical entryways and portals of the interior remind many cosmopolitan travellers of aslan architecture. A closer look, however, will reveal numerous microstruts and jambs throughout the interiors of Gl'lu buildings, intended to ensure the integrity of each and every wall and doorway. The Gl'lu are nothing if not meticulous about safety and the strength of their constructions. Following punishing earthquakes and storms, Gl'lu corporate buildings and housing complexes are frequently found intact hundreds of meters from their original locations. Their inhabitants may be frightened and perhaps bruised, but most often protected by the strength of the building hull. So strong is the outer hull of these buildings that they can often be recovered even after slipping into crust fissures during particularly heavy quakes. Cities on Kubishush are generally regions dotted with hundreds or even thousands of these flattened spheres, with nothing by dry rocky land in between. Huge grav tugs are employed to transfer buildings to other regions when a corporate headquarters or factory requires relocation to another Kubishushi region. Because of the frequent movement of Kubishushi buildings, both natural and unnatural, the planet has no "cities," per se. Regions are sometimes given unofficial names or nicknames, but due to the everchanging nature of the Kubishushi landscape, the convention of naming geographic regions is almost obsolete on Kubishush. Because of the Gl'lu obsession with safety and security, their starships are also unique within the realm of Regency Space. The Gl'lu are accustomed to inhabiting small spaces and require only a fourth of the space necessary to lodge the average human. Staterooms, generally built to house up to eight Gl'lu, displace only four metric tonnes. Gl'lu starships contain hardy ammonia filtration systems to keep the nitrogen atmosphere comfortably tainted. Humans visiting Gl'lu starships have noted the constant meter-high fog that covers the floors of the ship. Many humans marvel at the tight accommodations and seeming uniformity of all rooms on the ship. Many touring humans have been known to become lost in Gl'lu ships, unable to differentiate one room from another, an occurrence from which the Gl'lu derive great merriment. Perhaps the strangest feature of Gl'lu starships is their obsession with backup systems. All Gl'lu starships have two maneuver drives, one on each end of the ship, negating the need for turnaround and retrofire. Any ships built for planetary landing also employ two contra-gravity units as well. While these are the most common redundancies on Gl'lu ships, many Gl'lu are known to install their ships with backup power plants, jump drives, bridge workstations and large quantities of backup hull material. To a human, this lack of concern for wasted space is ludicrous, but to a Gl'lu, humans are living on borrowed time in their poorly backed up ships. Most Gl'lu starships and spaceships are built in the familiar flattened sphere configuration, with large ovular openings for maneuver drive, jump drive and antenna surface space. It is currently popular to build modular ships with interlinked spheres. Multiple-sphere modular ships look something like giant metallic earthworms. Uplifted by Imperial and Regency technology, the Gl'lu have become a minor starfaring race. Thousands of Gl'lu traders can be found throughout the region, selling their high-grade materials and innovative environmental products. Through years of study, the Gl'lu have found ways to implement their knowledge of catastrophe-defying technology into usable products by humans, vargr and droyne (the three most common races in the region). Though the Gl'lu have also invented high-tech environment suits and PLSSs to protect them and nourish them with ammonia-tainted nitrogen, they generally do not stray too far from home. Few worlds present an atmosphere that is breathable in the long term for the Gl'lu and even fewer are dense enough to provide a comfortably high gravity level. Kubishush is a tumultuous world filled with mystery. Geological and political concerns make unravelling the mystery all the more difficult. While the Gl'lu are an amiable and sociable minor race, eager to trade and exchange ideas with their human and vargr neighbors, they often appear secretive about their history or motivations. People who know the Gl'lu are aware that this apparent secrecy is not secrecy at all but rather acceptance. Living in an environment as harsh as Kubishush's, the Gl'lu have learned to accept impending fate and the frequent death of friends and family members. Discussing such events at length or the long history of Kubishush's cataclysms serves no purpose as far as the Gl'lu are concerned, other than to prolong one's sorrow for lost compatriots. Kubishush System Details Orbit Name UPP Remarks Primary L'gnng Uuvon M3 V 0 Oolvig Naseena Small GG Size 60 3 Ring System YR00000-0 5 Sanunnga Y20036B-C Va 9 Kubishush B8B6AAA-D Fl Hi (Known as Unan Olov to the Gl'lu) 40 Gaumng Nol Y400000-0 Va 60 Yil'anan G100300-C Va 1-2 (Empty Orbits) 3* Magae' Nannga M8 V 4 A'man'a Y200000-0 Va *Companion Star.