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Post by TheGlyphstone on Aug 13, 2004 11:29:00 GMT -5
After much toil and work, I've finally finished the standard representation for Karnak, my "tracked city mining planet". Sorry for starting a third thread, but I figured this counted as separate topic. And without further ado, Karnak!
World Name: Karnak World Class: Mining World Population: 13,600,000 Tech Level: 10 Tithe Grade: Decuma Particular Aestimare Grade: B77
Orbital Distance: 0.4 AU Equatorial Diameter: 11,040km Gravity: 0.85g Orbital Period: 11.1 days Length of Day: 268.25 standard days Atmosphere: Dense Surface Atmospheric Pressure: 2.00 Surface Temperature: 815.1484°C Hydrosphere: 0% Life Forms: microscopic life only Moons: None
Planetary Description: From a distance, Karnak resembles a simple, unadorned black sphere. But closer up, the resemblance changes to that of a lump of coal. The majority of the planet is scorched flat by frequent flares from the sun, far too close for comfort. Only the poles still have any sort of terrain remaining, and thus they are very rocky and mountainous. The rest of the world is a flat, blasted wasteland of blackened rock and shimmering, crystallized seas of glass.
On the lighted side, nothing can live except microbes adapted to the infernal heat. But on the darkened, cooler side, the silence is broken be the din of a thousand drills and the deafening thunder of as many wheels. No stationary habitation could withstand direct exposure to the sun, but the mineral wealth of Karnak was too valuable to pass up. Thus the Cities were built, a gigantic modular metropolis mounted on equally massive treads. The Cities moves at the same speed that the planet rotates, ensuring that it remains in the dark and in safety.
The Cities
When Karnak was first colonized, each of the 60 mini-cities was designed to be self-sufficient, rolling across the ground without trouble. But time proved otherwise. Several were lost when their drive systems failed, and most of the residents killed. Others were ruined by bands of pirates which descended upon them and overpowered the mini-city’s meager defenses. The surviving cities quickly realized that they must join together for survival, and did. The machines were steered towards the equator, where there was enough space to move as one. Giant transport tubes, lift tunnels, and enclosed walkways were strung up, evermore tying the crawler cities together. Now one mighty leviathan trundles through the endless night, always one step ahead of the blazing sun. They are called by one collective name, the Cities, symbolism of their individual origins but and current union.
{NOTE: In any below entries, a Karnakite day is used in place of a yearly measurement, the lengths being roughly equivalent. A “year”, that is, one orbital period, is used as a “week”. True Karnakite days are completely artificial since the surface where the city remains is perpetually dark, but they conform to the standard 24-hour period for convenience. To simplify: 1 Karnakite week = 1 orbital period (year) 1 Karnakite year = 1 axial rotation (day) 1 Karnakite day = 24 hours}
Government Power at the top of the political structure on Karnak is divided into two groups: The Arcadian Board of Directors and the Citizen’s Forum.
The Board of Directors The Arcadian Board of Directors is the supreme authority, consisting of the company’s Chief Executive and Imperial Commander Darius Arcadia (a descendant of the original Horman Arcadia), the Head of Security, the Chief Financial Officer, two representatives from the Citizen’s Forum, and two members of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Board serves as the highest judicial court, as well as the executive power.
Darius Arcadia is a strong man, with an open heart hardened by the necessities of running a planet-wide corporation. He appears much older than his thirty-three Karnakite years (approximately 42 Terran years), with grey streaks running through his coal-black hair. His days are consumed by the daily running of his family’s company, from the regular reports on productivity to the occasional security threat from pirates or rebels, to mechanical crises that arise. Most of his time not spent with the company is occupied with keeping his teenage daughter and only child, Mai Rosa, under control, her mother having died some ten years previously. Mai is next in line for the executive position of the Arcadian Corporation, but is personally concerned with other things. She is a constant headache for the Arcadian security detail, enjoying slipping away and exploring the cities anonymously. But Darius does get some moments alone, and these are spent learning and practicing the finer arts of an archaic Terran tabletop game known as “billiards”. He is also an accomplished grandmaster at the modern, multi-dimensional form, but prefers the classic flat style.
The current Security Chief is Rutherford Haraden, a ruthless man with no qualms against ordering someone’s execution, or carrying it out himself. His sole loyalty is to Darius and the Arcadian family, serving as their primary bodyguard. His duties, aside from guarding the Arcadians when they venture out of the heavily guarded central apartments, are serving as the Commander-in-Chief of the planet’s PDF and also as head of the Internal Police. He wields tremendous power, and is kept in check only by Darius’s restrictions.
Holding the post of Chief Financial Officer is Reon Realasha. Realasha has the instincts of a hunting tiger, and about as much conscience. She watches over the financial records of the Corporation with a hawk’s eye, keeping constant track of minerals collected, supplies imported, and resources shipped offworld for sale or trade. To assist with this monumental task, a customized computer implant was surgically inserted into her cortex. The chip is linked to the computer mainframe of the Corporation and supplies her with a constant flow of updated information on the material well-being of the company. She has a special knack for spotting anomalies in the records, and embezzling dropped to near zero after she took the office and made a few examples with the various brutal executions she requested from Chief Haraden.
The two citizen representatives are elected from the Forum to serve two-year terms, and thus change frequently. Typically one is a man and one a woman, though there is nothing that requires this. They theoretically have an equal share in the power, but in practice obey the wishes of the Chief Executive.
The final members of the Board are the two emissaries from the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Techno-Magus, head of the Adeptus Mechanicus presence on Karnak, and his subordinate, the Tech-Priest Majoris. The Magus is viewed by his followers as the embodiment of the Machine God on Karnak, and is primarily occupied with religious matters and ceremonial duties. The significant power behind the Adeptus Mechanicus is actually his second, Tech-Priest Majoris Kylm Corazono. Corazono is in charge of the daily running of the great machines that keep the city alive, constantly overseeing routine maintenance and other duties. But this is his lesser concern, as he busies himself with scheming and plots revolving around tightening his hold over the already doddering Techno-Magus, who is slowly approaching the point where not even bionics or replacement body parts can stave off age, and eventually to replace him. Few suspect him of these ulterior motives, as he hides them beneath a seemingly simple shell of devotion to the Machine God, having the entire left side of his body stretching from toes to ears replaced with bionic materials.
The Citizen’s Forum Laws are formed by the Citizen’s Forum, a congress consisting of representatives from each of the city-blocks. During Karnak’s prime, all 360 seats were filled, one from each of the major population levels in each of the 60 mini-cities. But time has taken its toll, and only 43 of the original 60 remain intact, the others having long since broken down and abandoned, the supplies and equipment salvaged, as well as however many people can be rescued, before the devastating rays of the sun peer over the horizon and annihilate whatever remains. The flats are littered with small heaps of rubble, the only remnants of these once-proud behemoths. The Forum has similarly degraded, the 258 representatives constantly bickering and at each other’s throats over minor matters. Only rarely do they accomplish anything noteworthy, and any respect for a member of the Forum is minimal if there at all.
RELIGION
Religion on Karnak is split twofold, between the standard Imperial Creed and the worship of the Machine God. The majority of the citizen workers follow the Emperor as normal, going to weekly worship in one of the abundant nearby chapels. But a significant portion of the population is what strict Preachers would consider heretics, being adherents to the Cult of the Machine and the Tech-Priests of Mars. Most of these are members of the Mechanicus Initiates, while the rest are ordinary people who aspire to become one. They are naturally closemouthed about their devotion, but still observe daily prayers to the Machine God. Once a month, adherents will gather in the great halls of the Adeptus Mechanicus for long ritual worship sessions in the arcane techno-tongue of the Tech-Priests. They view the Emperor to be just another facet in the face of the Machine God, his mortal and fleshy form.
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Post by TheGlyphstone on Aug 13, 2004 11:29:17 GMT -5
SOCIETY AND LAW Daily life for a citizen of Karnak is a dreary, monotonous existence. Everyone over the age of 10 is an official employee of the Arcadian Corporation, with jobs inherited from a parent, or assigned at random if the new worker in question is an orphan and ancestry is unknown (not an uncommon occurrence). Thus, if your father was a refinery technician, you will be trained as a similar technician. Many workers run and maintain the smelters and refineries, processing and extracting raw materials for export. Most of the remainder are active miners, venturing outside the Cities to mine minerals for processing, with the exception of the pilots. These brave, often reckless men and women drive the hover-trucks and cargo copters, hauling loads of fresh resources back to the Cities. Being a copter pilot is one of the most prestigious jobs, envied by many. However, the profession also has one of the highest death ratios due to the pilots’ recklessness in general. Once a job is assigned, it remains the same for life. The only ways to change professions is to commit a crime serious enough to warrant reassignment, or to become too old to engage in heavy labor. The former is the least preferable option, as you have no say over your new job and it will never be something enjoyable or easy. The latter option is the better, though you still have no say over your replacement job, since it will invariably be something more intensive than watching a readout and notifying a superior of any changes. But both occur rarely, as major crimes are generally kept in check by the sever penalties.
Every year, a select few people are chosen by the Mechanicus Initiates to be trained in the workings of the Cities’ most precious pieces of equipment: The mighty treads that propel them across the flats and the rare, antiquated antigrav jets that serve to ease the load on the drive systems. Out of those chosen come an even greater honor, the one or two people selected for entrance into the ranks of the Initiates. They are given rudimentary bionics, generally a simple part like an eye. Progression through the ranks of the Initiates is accompanied by increasing numbers of mechanical aids, much like that in the Adeptus Mechanicus itself. Those especially gifted in the ways of the machine are sometimes shipped to Mars for induction as a true Tech-Priest. Even the Initiates left behind still enjoy great status, forming an unofficial elite among the classless society of Karnak. They have some of the most spacious living quarters, courtesy of the A.M.’s extensive influence, and are granted special access to items others must do without normally, such as expensive fresh fruit from offworld (as opposed to the dry and bland dustmelons grown in contained incubators on Karnak, one of the staples in the average worker’s diet).
For those less privileged, life is less enjoyable but much more simple. Daily existence is a steady plodding of work and toil, broken up by occasional breaks. During rest times, employees gather in crowded clubs and bars, socializing with great abandon before their time has expired. A typical employee’s meal consists of dustmelon, grown for its concentrated proteins and not its taste, a hunk of synthbeef, a slice of the thin, yeast-free bread called crysp, and the ration of water allotted for that meal. Water is not free, and so must be purchased from the local exchange. Since an actual paycheck is rarely a large sum after the fees for heat, light, and air are deducted, water is rarely in great supply. Every so often, one may splurge and buy some natural meat or some flour to bake a portion of crysp for eating or sale to others unskilled at baking. This applies to anyone, as gender equality is a given in such a society where every able hand is needed to keep the minerals flowing and the company in profit. No distinction is made between males or females, both required to give maximum effort towards the enrichment of the company. Age is no escape either, those too elderly or infirm to do labor reassigned to passive jobs, monitoring power levels or fuel supplies.
Up above, the orbiting spaceport Quaron hovers in geosynchronous orbit. Its sole purpose for existence is to serve as a launching point for the gargantuan freighters that haul harvested minerals off Karnak, and the smaller merchant vessels that deliver essential supplies to the planet, the fragmented nature of the Cities being unsuitable for the task. The population of Quaron is only a fraction of the Cities below, though it still numbers in the millions. Most of the sprawling framework makes up the humongous loading bays for the freighters, but a thriving trade has grown from the multitude of bars, taverns, and other less reputable establishments that have sprung up for the relaxation of weary spacers before they ship out again. The ratio of Mechanicus Initiates and Tech-Priests to ordinary Karnakites is much lower here, since the maintenance required is easily learned by citizens. Quaron also serves as the refueling depot for the even more massive shield-ships that protect the freighters as they shuttle to the outer system, their specially designed reflective exterior being the only thing capable of resisting the horrendous electromagnetic, radioactive, and thermal energy given off by the sun. Ordinary ships would be blinded in seconds, their sensors fried, and reduced to hulks soon after as the heat and radiation baked the crew alive. The only escape is to hide within the shadow of a shield-ship until the planet itself can offer shelter, and thus the captains of the shields are often quite rich from the exorbitant tolls they charge.
Criminal justice on Karnak is simple and straightforward. There are no permanent jails, since the planet’s economy cannot allow anyone a “free ride”, living at the expense of the people without contribution in return. Thus minor crimes are punished with fines and other such penalties. More serious infractions will result in reassignment to a convict work gang, who are typically given the most dangerous mining jobs. Escape attempts are almost unheard of, except by suicidal criminals. Outside the Cities, there is nowhere to run but into the wasteland, with an agonizing death in store as the deadly sun appears over the horizon and deep-fries anything or anyone exposed, even when protected by the heat-reflective suits. Once a sentence has expired, the prisoner is permitted to return to their daily life, assigned a new job and living area away from their former home. Repeat offenders are given longer sentences, which can extend to life-long labor. The worst punishment, reserved for the most heinous of crimes, is death by exile. There are other forms of execution, namely firing line, electric shock, and poison, but exile is just as sure a doom as any of them. The condemned is given a survival suit and airlifted far from the Cities to remove any possibility of returning, then abandoned. Without special tools to dig into the ground, they will soon tire of running and have nowhere to hide when the sun comes up.
But even these strict penalties cannot suppress human nature, and thriving underworld exists in the slums and lower-quality living areas of the Cities. Occasional purges by the Internal Police do little to stem the tide of malcontents, misfits, and lawbreakers, who are quickly and easily replaced by those lower on the illegal totem pole. Gang fights are relatively rare due to the lack of spare time allotted to citizens, but they happen occasionally between bands of fugitives. Guns and other projectile weapons are strictly prohibited for citizens because of the risk involved, and the consequences that would result from an accidental outer hull breach. Surprisingly, the criminal element is all too willing to cooperate with this ban, refusing to sell like weapons on the black market (a measure of self-policing, resulting in the death/permanent incapacitation of any enterprising hoodlum who gets their hands on an offworld gun or one stolen from the PDF and attempts to use or sell it).
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Post by TheGlyphstone on Aug 13, 2004 11:29:52 GMT -5
TECHNOLOGY
For most of Karnak’s citizens, quality of life is little different than that of the average Imperial citizen, and only at the higher levels of society is the widespread influence of the Adeptus Mechanicus felt. Advanced hydroponics grows much of the planet’s food that is not imported from offworld. Servitors are used by high-ranking members of the Mechanicus Initiates, but shunned by ordinary citizens who find the forced union of flesh and machine to be unnatural.
But outside an average worker’s life, the higher technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus is in great evidence almost everywhere, right down to the very framework of the Cities. The titanic drive systems that propel the Cities are relics from the Dark Age of Technology, complex far beyond replication and on the verge of being beyond easy repair. The network of antigravity generators that serve to ease the weight on the treads are more accessible, the only reason why they have not yet shut down completely. If this were ever to occur, the Cities would likely collapse under its own weight and be lost. But antigrav is still within the reach of the Tech-Priests, and many replacements have been made for the aging machines. Land transport outside the city is conducted on large, many-wheeled haulers that transport workers, supplies, and excavated materials to and from the mining sites. Cruising through the air above are similarly sized rotary-blade cargo copters, which carry the larger drilling equipment and machinery.
In the cold reaches of space above Karnak, the orbital station Quaron and even the planet itself is nearly dwarfed by the massive shield-ships that cruise on a steady path between the planet and the outer system, where the rays of the sun are bearable. Their construction is relatively simple, though time and resource-consuming. They are purchased at great expense from the shipyards of the Archaios subsector, where the specially crafted alloys are attached to an internal framework not much different that that of a battleship. When engines are attached to the corners, the result appears as a curved, opaque wall the size of a small moon. Due to the immense effort required in construction, only a half-dozen of these ships exist in the entire sector, three operative at any time and the rest maintaining station outside the system.
TRADE AND TITHES
The entire colonization effort of Karnak was focused on collecting the indescribable wealth of minerals that the planet contained, and it is logical that mineral resources are its primary export. Hundreds of tons of ores are extracted daily, and shipped to the markets of the Darien and Archaios Prime systems for sale. On the return trips, the freighters are crammed with foodstuffs, spare parts, and other odds and ends, as well as substantial cash to add to the Arcadian Corporation’s treasury vaults. Tithes to the Imperium also consist of mineral wealth, contributions to the production of the grand warships that keep the servants of the Emperor safe.
PHYSIOLOGY
Residents of Karnak differ only slightly from the human norm. The gravity is slightly below Terran average, and as a result, the average Karnakite is very tall with a lower bone density. The bone density is even more pronounced among those who live in permanent orbit on Quaron since all their gravity is artificially generated. All light is artificial as well, and as such Karnakites are typically pale to the point of appearing vampiric.
PSYCHOLOGY
Generally speaking, Karnakites are a calm people. They welcome new developments that will ease their way of life, but are wary of anything too immediate or drastic. The natural atmosphere of a for-profit company fosters a competitive nature, but it is well-controlled and a Karnak native is not likely to become violent on losing a wager or contest. This is partly due to the orderly conduct indoctrinated by the company, but also a product of their superior, slightly arrogant nature. They see themselves as more important than other planets, because they export such a tremendous volume of raw materials, but also know that they in turn are reliant on the supplies shipped to Karnak by those other people. This attitude is prevalent among the entire population, and those who live on Quaron extend it even to “surfacers”, who they in turn consider to be reliant on them as their only link to the rest of the galaxy.
LANGUAGE AND DIALECT Low Gothic is the norm on Karnak for most of the population, company-sponsored education ensuring a reasonable level of knowledge among its workers. Use of the Adeptus Mechanicus’s arcane techno-tongue is common among the Mechanicus Initiates. Few speak High Gothic but the members of the Board of Directors and the leading members of the Initiates.
PLANETARY DEFENSE FORCE
By law, all employees of the Arcadian Corporation also serve in the PDF, but are rarely called to active service. Karnak’s low population and high value to the subsector exempts it from raising Imperial Guard regiments, so harvesting can remain at full capacity. Very rarely has the PDF’s might even been required, the last being during the Age of Apostasy when a renegade group of Vandire loyalists attempted to attack the planet, taking horrendous casualties from the sun’s rays until they managed to commandeer a shield-ship. Most of the remaining invaders were eradicated by the advanced network of defense turrets that coat the top of the Cities, and those that managed to land on the Cities were crushed by the PDF troopers. Since then, no one has penetrated far enough into the system to approach the planet, being unable to approach without the protection of a shield-ship.
HISTORY
Karnak would normally have been the kind of planet passed over by the Imperium, surveyed, catalogued, and ignored, but for one thing. Early in the planet’s formation, the blue-white giant that it orbited released several plumes of ultra-heated gases, impacting on the sunward side of the planet. These incredible megaflares melted deep into the crust, stirring up elements locked within the core. These were brought to the surface and combined with materials there, forming a vast layer of valuable minerals and ores very close to ground level. This also had the effect of fusing the tectonic plates, which caused much seismic upheaval. Billions of years passed, and gradually the wayward star calmed down. The planet began to attract an atmosphere, primarily nitrogen and other gases with only a trace of oxygen, since the close proximity to the sun ruled out any hope of a water-based atmosphere. The nitrogen came from legions of primitive bacteria, which feasted on the abundant silicon and gave off nitrogen as a byproduct. These hardy microorganisms were perfectly capable of surviving the extreme heat, and thrived as the sole form of life. During the Great Crusade, explorers of the Imperium came across the planet and noted its phenomenal value. But typical colonization of the planet was impossible, again due to the inferno-like temperatures which raged across the surface on the sunward side. The dark, spaceward side was much cooler, but how to stay there? It seemed impossible, with the slow and inefficient process of orbital mining from space stations orbiting within the shadow of the planet seemingly the only option, till the Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus came to the rescue. Dredged from deep within the vaults of Mars came 60 fantastic pieces of machinery that dated from the Dark Age of Technology, sets of massive treads large enough to mount entire cities on. These were loaded into gargantuan Titan transports and hauled to the planet, where the bare framework of the originals were transformed into towering cities, filled with factories and smelting workshops. A sufficient supply of people to populate and maintain the planet was imported from other worlds, and a number of Adeptus Mechanicus personnel remained to maintain the machinery.
During the Horus Heresy, connections between many planets were cut off and Karnak was among them. With the loss of communication with Mars and Terra, the residents were forced to fend for themselves. The few Tech-Priests that were left at the time realized that they could not maintain the intricate systems that kept the cities moving, and lacking input from Mars, took in into their own hands (so to speak) by creating the Mechanicus Initiates, a group of ordinary Imperial citizens inducted as lesser members of the Adeptus Mechanicus and taught the secrets of the Machine God, including how to run the ancient machines. Thus the planet perpetuated through the crisis that tore asunder the Imperium, with the Mechanicus Initiates taking the places of the Tech-Priests who died, and adding new members to their number.
Following the Horus Heresy and ensuing temporary separation from the Imperium (see HISTORY below), it was decided after regaining contact that the stronger control over the planet was needed to avoid any possibility of losing the vast mineral stores. Thus the Arcadian Corporation was founded, a vast corporation that owned the entire planet, the rolling cities, and the mineral resources collected from both. The company took its name from Horman Arcadia, the merchant who was given the company charter and became the first CEO. The charter of the company is traditionally passed down from the parent to the eldest child, whether it be girl or boy.
Karnak was left largely unaffected by the Age of Apostasy and Vandire’s reign, since the Mechanicus took complete control as soon as strife began to erupt and placed all senior priests and Missionaries into “protective custody” and leaving the rest of the population unaware of the strife. The low number of priests meant that most citizens were unaffected by the feud. When Vandire was thrown down, the Mechanicus relaxed their hold and released the surviving priests.
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Post by TheGlyphstone on Aug 13, 2004 11:30:35 GMT -5
Date of preparation: 8/13/04 World UWP: A780617-8 De 012 Im 1AH Diameter: 11,040 km Density: 0.98 standard Mass: 0.657 standard Gravity: 0.85 standard Primary Mass (Star): Orbit number (Planet): 1 Orbital period (Planet): 11.1 standard days Rotation period: 268.25 standard days Axial Tilt: 27° Orbital Eccentricity: 0.000 Seismic Stress Factor: 7.25 Asteroid Belt Zones: 1 Primary Mass (Planet): Atmospheric composition: nitrogen/hydrogen mix with traces of oxygen and other elements Surface pressure: 2.00 standard Stellar luminosity: 2.00 Orbit factor: 591.385 Energy absorption: 0.800 Greenhouse effect: 1.15 Base temperature: 815.1494 Orbital eccentricity modifier: +/0 0.00 Latitude temperature effects: Hex 1 (+21) Hex 2 (+14) Hex 3 (+7) Hex 4 (+0) Hex 5 (-7) Hex 6 (-14) Hex7 (-21) Hex 8 (-28) Hex 9 (-35) Hex 10 (-42) Hex 11 (-49) Axial tilt effects: +16.2°C/-27°C Daytime plus: +1.268°C per hour of daylight, maximum temp. 13,797.72°C Nighttime minus: -0.5 per hour of night, minimum temp. 108.81°C Native life: Yes (underground microbes) Atmospheric terraforming: No Greenhouse effect terraforming: No Albedo terraforming: No Temperature terraforming: No Hydrographic percent: 0% Hydrosphere composition: none Number of tectonic plates: 1 Hydrosphere terraforming: no Terrain terraforming: no Number of major continents: 1 Number of minor continents: 0 Number of large islands: 0 Number of small islands: 0 Number of archipelagoes: Notable volcanoes: 5 Weather control: no Natural resources: ores Processed resources: metals Manufactured goods: none Information: none Total population: 13,600,000 Local customs: Robots (servitors) allowed for certain social classes Primary cities: Name(s) and population Secondary cities: Name(s) and population Tertiary cities: Name(s) and population Progressiveness: Conservative-Advancing Aggressiveness: Competitive-Neutral Extensiveness: Global = Harmonious, Interstellar = Aloof Representative authority: Executive-Judicial World government description: Elite Council Other authority: Legislative, Elite Council
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Post by CELS on Aug 14, 2004 3:45:22 GMT -5
Some initial thoughts...
1) You say you've finished the Standard Representation, but I don't see a map of the planet, or the rest of the system... As you can see from Kage's SR, the entire system should be covered in the SR, even the sun.
2) Did you use my standardised approach for tithes to calculate the tithe grade, out of interest?
3) From what I can see, this planet will be 13000 degrees on a warm day. Won't that incinerate the atmosphere? And won't it also make the ground too hot even on the dark side? Minerals heated to 13000 degrees stay warm for a while....
4) Won't the fantastic stress from the heat of the sun cause massive instability, such as earthquakes and volcanoes? The Cities might not be entirely safe.
5) Perhaps it would be interesting to hear more about the consequences of the great duality in religion, with half of the population worshipping the Emperor, and the other half worshipping the Machine God.
6) As I have said before, I think most worlds are required to have a standing army of PDF soldiers, rather than just declaring that the entire population are members of the PDF.
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Post by TheGlyphstone on Aug 14, 2004 5:08:30 GMT -5
1) whoops, haven't gotten around to drawing the map. I do have the rest of the system though, I'll add it to this post after lunch.
2) I tried, though it was kind of confusing. I picked the highest grade allowed for a mining world.
3) Well, that was the number that the Guide generated for me. It was one reason that I wanted to change the atmosphere to 2 (trace). But Kage was VERY unhappy with any adjustment of the "physical data". I figured that the 13,000 degree figure would only come about when the planet gets blasted by a solar flare - about every fifteen thousand years or so. The actual daily high would be around 985 degrees, according to the "daytime-nightime temperature effects" formula.
4) Erk. I figured on the single tectonic plate to deal with the problem of earthquakes, but there are earthquakes not along fault lines............. erk again.
5) It would be interesting to write more about it, btu I don't know that much about the Cult of the Machine in general. They would be at odds occasionally, though.
6) Well, the economy of the world wouldn't really allow a chunk of the population to just sit around as part of the PDF. Is there a way around this, perhaps all citizens in a certain age bracket are considered PDF troopers?
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Post by Destecado on Aug 14, 2004 6:22:57 GMT -5
A good beginning Glyphstone, still it does need some work.
The Cities
The current description does not really give the reader a sensce of the size of the city units. You may want to spend more time going into this. Were you going to stick with the idea of units that are about the size of a city block or were they going to be bigger than that?
I'd recommend sticking with something about the size of a city block any larger and they can become unwieldy. Another thought that occurs to me is instead of having all of the "city districts" run by a single corporation, you could instead have the organization be more of a cooperative.
This creates a delicate balance where each block or district must co-oporate with the others, but they are also in direct competition with each other as well. You could end up with a patchwork of alliances among the districts. It might make for an interesting setting similar to the political intrigue and strife that took place between the merchant houses of the Italien City-States during the renaissance.
This internal conflict would cause the need for household guards or security forces. Perhaps each house must provide a certain number of its houshold guard to the PDF. This would make for an interesting army, similar to the U.N. peace keepers, who are a patchwork force drawn together from several contries. They fight together, but there is also internal conflict because each group has divided loyalties and sometime differing goals.
There could also be a pecking order among the districts. some would be richer than others or better maintained. There could also be intermarriages between the families that run the districts to make a larger corporate entity by joining the resources of several districts together.
I won't go on any more about possibilites for the "districts" of the city, but I hope the above gives you sme ideas.
The Planet
The temperature is a bit outrageous. Most of the rock would be liquified or at least to hot to cross. the planet would for the most part be molten rock. The continual heating and cooling of the rock would also make it unstable. It would never be able to support the weight of the city districts. Such instability does give a good reason why they did not bother to try to dig facilities into the planets surface, but instead descided to have this continual procession around its surface.
The sun beating down on the surface would not be enough to melt down mountains. You may want to give the topography of the planet a little more thought. Perhaps the track for the districts around the planet is man made.
Actually this brings up an interesting idea for a type of unit that might be incorporated into the PDF. They could be called Trail Blazers. These are units that ride ahead of the procession. They scout for possible instabilities in the track ahead. make repairs or remove obsticals when possible. They also keep an eye out for scavangers or pirates and new sources of minerals. The trail blazer also act as outriders for the mobile city.
You may also want to spend some time on describing how the minerals are actually extracted from the planet. As I put forward in the other thread, perhaps lighter metals or other materials boil to the surface and are collected by syphoning off the pools that form.
There probably would not be time to dig for minerals. unless perhaps they did it by strip mining. this might actually be a viable solution to creating the track as well. They blast off a large section of a mountain which is then hauled back to the seperate districts for processing. All useful minerals are extracted and the slag that is left is used to fill in gaps in the track and to lay almost like a paved surface to smooth out the grade for the tracked districts.
The strip mining could also be used to extend the range of the track. Eventually the city will have mined out the region where it currently is and need to move on. The continual strip mining extends the track to the north or the south giving the districts a little room to spread out and search for new mineral deposits.
I'll stop there for now. Sorry for the long post.
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Post by TheGlyphstone on Aug 14, 2004 8:58:11 GMT -5
beautiful, just beautiful. I do need to put more detail, but my repetoire of adjectives is depleted. I had pictured something a couple (like 2) city blocks square. Well, never mind. Can 11 million people fit into a city with only 60 blocks? I like this, but isn't someone already doing an Anargo Sector planet based around the Italian Merchant houses? This definitely has possibility, though... perhaps the "Board of Directors" is composed of representatives from each of the highborn families, and the CEO of the company is simply the matriarch/patriarch of whichever family has the most power ATM. Well, that would certainly solve my PDF problems. Very intriguing. Definite potential here. It still requires the elimination of the "single company" concept, but it appeals greatly to me since it was the second concept I had toyed with in the beginning (single company versus multiple groups controlling different districts/city-blocks). Please do. This is great. Googling, I now realize the problem. Even 800 degrees is ridiculous, seeing as molten rock melts at between 625 and 1200 degrees, according to www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/10e.html. 13,000 degrees is just insane. I still come back to the problem of being unable to change the atmosphere (the only thing capable of reducing the temperature significantly) without the express permission of an ASP administrator, since I tried once and Kage did not agree. Can anyone overrule Kage? I was kind of fixated on the 13 thousand degrees here. See above problem. This makes a very interesting concept, which I will likely incorporate regardless of how the central power structure turns out. Strip mining is probably the best option, since there are no environmental concerns to worry about. Something I never considered, needs some thought. No apologies, just keep posting, Oh Mighty Keeper of all Real World Knowledge. Multiple families, I definitely like the concept. I've put a lot of work into personalizing my characters, so would most likely just give them each a different House. On the planet, I have few options for reducing the temperature to something more manageable. Help?
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Post by Kage2020 on Aug 14, 2004 9:09:30 GMT -5
Can anyone overrule Kage? No. Not in the slightest. What I say is final. I do, however, listen to the PPLs. In attempting to change the physical statistics you are, however, contravening one of the basic premises of the ASP. That is to say that the point was to allow concept and statistics to work together. Given the muteable status of the sociological statistics shifting the physical statistics means that you would get a disportionate number of worlds... all exactly the same! Have you considered, as an example, finding a more appropriate system? Making the concepts interact rather than saying "The world is broken, it's Kages fault and I blame him since I had a very specific concept?" With that said I am intrigued by the concept of the world, despite the obvious SW overtones mentioned previously. In this case, and in this case alone, I may allow a change in the UWP Atmosphere. But in no other world will I allow this to happen from this time forwards. If you are comfortable with this and preventing someone else making similarly desperate pleas/comments and have them fall on stoney ground, then fine. More than likely there are alternatives. Such as shifting the mainworld orbit. Problem is this means generating things by hand...
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Post by TheGlyphstone on Aug 14, 2004 9:52:27 GMT -5
No. Not in the slightest. What I say is final. I do, however, listen to the PPLs. In attempting to change the physical statistics you are, however, contravening one of the basic premises of the ASP. That is to say that the point was to allow concept and statistics to work together. Given the muteable status of the sociological statistics shifting the physical statistics means that you would get a disportionate number of worlds... all exactly the same! I am perfectly aware of this, which is why I did not protest when you were against me changing the Atmosphere in the first place. I have been whining, haven't I? It's just that I wanted a BIG HOT star to fit with the Dark Forces concept. Other changes could be made, and most likely should. I didn't mean to blame the whole thing on you, since I had no idea it would turn out this bad (13,000 degrees?) in the end. Appreciated, but I'll try to avoid setting a precedent first. Give me a few days to mess around with the Guide and see what changing the orbit number does. Like I said, I'll look at changing the orbit number. And again, apologies if I've come across as a whiny sob b/c mean Kage ruined my plans... I love lime green, such a hideous color. Ahem. If I move it to orbit 4, it becomes a much more reasonable 544 degrees Celcius or just over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. Orbit 5 makes it 411 degrees (771 degrees Fahrenheit. Are these numbers more realistic for an atmosphere?
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Post by CELS on Aug 14, 2004 11:10:30 GMT -5
2) I tried, though it was kind of confusing. I picked the highest grade allowed for a mining world. Confusing? Well, it's actually quite simple. kagemat.proboards19.com/index.cgi?board=Imperium&thread=1072539370&action=display&start=15This is a mining world, so go to 2.1 You start with looking at the type of star port. As it stands, you've given Karnak an A-class star port, which out of the question considering the nature of the mining world. But let's say you have an E-class star port, for sake of discussion. That gives you -1 points. You then look at population. Your population is tens of millions which is seven, earning you +0 points. You then look at Tech level, which is 10 (A), earning you +2 points. -1+0+2= 1 points. Follow this procedure for resource value and the Ag-requirements, and you'll have the tithe grade. Obviously, it's quite unlikely for this world to have such a high grade as you've given it. It's barely populated, and only one location of this world can be mined at given time, and then only for a little while. The Guide doesn't take into account the event of mega solar flares. The max temperature is for the warmest time of the day, at the warmest time of the planet's orbital period. In other words, the planet's warm side would probably be 5000+ degrees the entire year. Definitely something that you should take a look at. And though I'm no geologist, I'm pretty certain that it's unlikely for this world to only have one tectonic plate, considering its size and distance to the sun. This is something you can take a look at using Kage's Guide though. Or did you use the guide.pdf to calculate number of tectonic plates? Well, I think it would be interesting to hear more about it. Here's a site with a lot of useful information www.tmotest.com/mirusproject/Home/PSLiberMechanicusPT1.cfm?x=1&Res=800I really don't think so. The Imperium is pretty concerned with the safety of their worlds, and Imperial Commanders who do not bother building PDFs are usually disgracefully removed from office. It is their job, after all, to ensure that the world contributes to the Imperium and is able to defend itself. And obviously, this doesn't mean that this world should have fortresses and the like. It just means that the Cities should be capable of defending themselves against pirates and raiding aliens (such as Dark Eldar).
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Post by TheGlyphstone on Aug 14, 2004 11:31:43 GMT -5
Confusing? Well, it's actually quite simple. kagemat.proboards19.com/index.cgi?board=Imperium&thread=1072539370&action=display&start=15This is a mining world, so go to 2.1 You start with looking at the type of star port. As it stands, you've given Karnak an A-class star port, which out of the question considering the nature of the mining world. But let's say you have an E-class star port, for sake of discussion. That gives you -1 points. You then look at population. Your population is tens of millions which is seven, earning you +0 points. You then look at Tech level, which is 10 (A), earning you +2 points. -1+0+2= 1 points. Follow this procedure for resource value and the Ag-requirements, and you'll have the tithe grade. Obviously, it's quite unlikely for this world to have such a high grade as you've given it. It's barely populated, and only one location of this world can be mined at given time, and then only for a little while. D'oh. I was misreading it entirely.Somehow I interpreted the Tithe grade as being its potential value, not how much "taxes", to use a vaguely appropriate term, it pays. i think I was thinking of Astimaire. Well, the A-class Starport was the orbital city. I assumed that the best quality starport would be needed to service the massive ships that dock there. The Cities itself would probably have a D or E class at best. using that formula, I end up with Decuma Tertius. Arrrg. Well, like said above, decreasing the temperature is in progress. I did use the Guide to calculate the number of plates, and ended up with one for some odd reason. It did seem odd, but I try not to tamper with the Guide if it doesn't directly affect what I have in mind. Jackpot! I'll check that out later. Well, the planet did have several factors protecting it. First was the star. Since the extreme heat isn't a factor now that I think about it, I'll try to replace it with something else, to not invalidate the Shieldships, which I consider another integral part of the equation, though their size can be toned down considerably. The Cities itself is lined with lots of defense turrets and missile launchers and other nasty things on top, which help cut down on whatever survives. If anything survives that, and lands on the planet somewhere that they can threaten the city, the PDF are called out. But if Destacado's suggestion on rival "families" (Mafia - he he) plays out, that will supply all the PDF I need.
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Post by Dazo on Aug 15, 2004 2:53:10 GMT -5
I like it Glyph, and now your sorting out the temperature its even better. The atmosphere wouldn't help in cooling the planet, so don't worry about that. Dont forget gases often need very high pressures as well as temperatures for thier properties to change. so the atmosphere should be alright so long as the temp isn't astronomical. Maybe in high summer the crust does melt but only in the equitorial regions so at such times the city might move into the winter hemisphere of the planet. You need to do the rest of the system, and what type of star is it by the way. What other planets are there what are they used for, the massive resource value would make this possibly the most important mining world in the sub sector with every world and asteroid being strip mined for the glory of the imperium.
Sheild ships are a cool idea, but make their services free, you dont want to drive off potetial buisness by making the system inaccesable, and really dont want to try and charge the imperial tithe collection ships the administratum would not be happy
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Post by TheGlyphstone on Aug 15, 2004 7:32:52 GMT -5
I like it Glyph, and now your sorting out the temperature its even better. The atmosphere wouldn't help in cooling the planet, so don't worry about that. Dont forget gases often need very high pressures as well as temperatures for thier properties to change. so the atmosphere should be alright so long as the temp isn't astronomical. Well, that's good news. ooh, neat. Maybe this could also stir up elements from deeper in the crust, rejuvenating the supply of minerals to be mined? I did do this originally, though they'll all need to be re-done now that I have moved the mainworld. Most of them were just airless rocks anyways, I have a bizarre habit of rolling up "Vacumns". Well, I wasn't going to charge the official Imperial ships, or the big cargo freighters. I was picturing more of an "on-the-side" type of thing for the independent merchants hoping to score a fortune by selling materials bought cheaply at Karnak. More Guide trawling, and Orbit 4 gives me an absolute max temperature of 4085 degrees, less than 1/3 of the original. Is this more reasonable?
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Post by Dazo on Aug 15, 2004 8:19:58 GMT -5
Is that celcius or farenheit
What world is this by the way because i can't find it in the UWP list
Use the H&E then it will generate some interesting worlds for you and moons and ring systems and its quicker oh and easier, unless of course you like doing it the hard way.
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