Gateway System Geographic Location in Starkeeper | World Anvil

Gateway System

Located beyond the Coal Sack nebula, Gateway System holds starweb space's link to the sprawling ruins of former Enclaver territory in the form of an ancient starbridge. It is here where explorers, treasure hunters, and xenocultists alike cross beyond the borders of civilization in search of knowledge, riches, or enlightenment.

Astrography

The system's only star is a dim K-type, circled by two rocky planets (both too hot for habitability) and three gas giants. No asteroid belt is present, however the system does have an expansive Kuiper belt with multiple known dwarf planets. The alien starbridge is located out beyond the last planet's orbit. A single stargate, in the trailing Trojan point of the innermost gas giant, provides access to Normandy, the next system upstream. Orbiting this planet is Gateway Station, a major nexus for everyone in the Claver trade. Several toren clans have set up shop in this system as well.

History

Pre-Starweb

Beyond the starbridge there is no evidence of other Claver activity in this system before their civilization's collapse, leading xenologists to suspect Gateway was an undeveloped frontier or staging site for further starbridge expansion which was never pursued.

Second Interstellar Period

It was at Gateway, then an unnamed system to which a wormhole had just been opened, that an expedition discovered the first starbridge known to humanity and gained access to Claver space. A period of conflict and brushfire wars ensued as various nations attempted to secure access to the alien volume and any technological secrets it held; eventually a treaty was signed which allowed nations to bring wormholes through Gateway for deployment in the starbridge network to create their own access routes. Exploration was haphazard in this time, on several occasions artifacts and technologies were retrieved which caused catastrophes when brought back to Starweb space.

Stellar Compact Era

When the rebuilt Starweb reached the borders of Claver space, Gateway was re-established as a crossover site. A single wormhole link connects it to the rest of Starweb space, as a security measure in case cosmosynths or alien invaders start pouring through the starbridge and the system must be isolated.
  All ships arriving in Gateway from Claver space are required to submit to inspection by the Star Patrol, which searches for and confiscates artifacts and objects judged to be dangerous or even existentially threatening. Beyond this the Patrol does not ask many questions about who is running or funding the ships it examines, or where the cargo is going, lest groups like organized crime seek out other ways into Claver space.
 
Any crews found to be infected with contagious Claver agents such as nanotech self-replicators, and who cannot be cured, are required to report to the dwarf planet Tombstone in the system's outer reaches. There, they will leave their ship in orbit and descend down to an automated facility on the surface where they will enter indefinite quarantine in a repurposed time-dilation field until such time as they can be helped. Security is extreme: the Patrol task force is authorized to use force to compel compliance, and anything attempting to depart Tombstone's surface will be fired upon. This is considered a harsh but necessary measure to ensure the security of wider Starweb space.
Stars
1x K8V
Planets
5 total
2x rocky non-habitable
3x gas giant
Type
Solar System
Location under
Included Locations

Articles under Gateway System



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