Centauri Belt
Centauri Belt? Out in the Shard? I know it. It's a hard place. I'm not sure it likes people...
Beyond the Illurian region of the Worldspace, deep within the Shadow Shard, is an area of floating island asteroids known as the Centauri Belt. This region is a wasteland but despite its unforgiving environment, a unique ecology of plants, animals, and people scratch out a hard life among the ruins of history.
Geography
The Centauri Belt is a wide expanse of floating rocks, island asteroids, and even dwarf planets in the nebulous haze of the Shadow Shard. There, the lands are chunks of purple and yellow shale rock peppered with buttes, pinnacles, and volcanic spires eroded by Shard storms. Rivers of blue-purple of alkali tainted water wind their way between rock formations and the sporadic clump of blueleaf ferns to spill into cobalt tinted lakes.
Ruins from past ages litter the region. Some are former settlements from the old Coalition of Worlds, others are from the Dark Horde. The more ancient ruins are towers and underground mines that technomancers date back to far more ancient days when only wizards traveled this far.
It's desolate. But there's a natural beauty to the place. It's so quiet, even the silence is beautiful.
Phantasm Sector
The Dark Horde left no region in the Worldspace untouched and the Centauri Belt is no exception. Like other locations, this blasted area of pollution and corruption is known as the Phantasm Sector. Here, the ecological disaster merged with the wave of magic-irradiated dark matter to make a nightmarish landscape.
The Blight grows unrestricted here under the ever-present pollution and twisted environment. Ancient ruins on these asteroids attract fortune hunters and adventure seekers. Few return. Those that do tell stories of acid pools, burning undead driven machines and other dangers.
Ecosystem
Despite the wasteland's harsh desolation, there is an ecosystem in the belt carving out a life. As with anyplace in the Shadow Shard, there are the floating masses of Coralweed that navigate the region. These whale-sized floating tangles drift through the muted haze of the Shadow Shard, following the Dragon Thread Road between the rocks and asteroids of the Centauri Belt.
The island asteroids and dwarf planets contribute to this ecosystem as well. In subterranean or crystal domed spaces, Mixed mossgrass, bluefern, and other plants grow. These can be as narrow as visual rivers of grass to wide prairies depending on the space available.
Wildlife also calls these floating rocks home. Various species of camels, four-horn rhinoceros, silk coyotes, mushroom creepers, storm bats, and griffin turtles are just some of the animals that wander much of the area. Nor are they land locked. Many times, especially with the more migratory animals, they have learned to hitch a ride inside the wide coralweed to their next meal.
Ecosystem Cycles
They call it 'Silk Season'. Sounds pretty until you see storms of raw, broken magic that look like silk strands lancing across the sky and tearing up the ground twice a year.
At first look, it may seem that the Centauri Belt has no seasonal or other type of cycle. This is not true. The entire belt does experience 'cycles' or seasons while moving through the Shadow Shard. There are four distinct ‘seasons’ in the region, with the fall and winter being colder due to less heat and absorbed light from the Shadow Shard itself.
Twice a year Silk Storms batter the island asteroids with raw elemental magic. Some storms bring lightning, some fire or water. Then there are those that rain down stones or volcanic glass. The common effect to these storms is what the locals call, 'Silk Threading'.
Silk Threading occurs before the storm's arrival. These are a change in the light and color of the Shard's vapors around where a storm develops. The light snakes out in all directions, like silk threads unwinding from a spool. The center of this 'spool' is the center of the soon to appear elemental storm.
Native wildlife sense the approach of these storms often hours before the storm manifests. Those not already underground in one of the many lava tunnels of underground ruins, take shelter there to wait out the storm.
During what would be the late 'spring' for Centauri is when most migrations take place. Coralweed, long dormant from the Centauri 'winter', becomes more active. The large plant masses travel at that time between asteroids and dwarf planets, allowing camels and other species to travel between the rocky islands.
Natural Resources
This unforgiving place contains a modest collection of natural resources. Elemental rock and volcanic glass are collected from storms then processed to create shatterproof domes or other structures for the few settlements in the region. The elemental rock is also a key ingredient for the filters used to remove the alkali from the local water.
Elemental water is gathered in natural and artificial basins. This water is dispensed in one of the many water stations scattered throughout the region. This and filtered water is the primary source of drinkable water for local settlements.
Coralweed, whisper lichen, russetwood, and puff fruit are harvested seasonally by the locals. Those provide additional building materials, food, and raw materials for tools.
Metal ore and crystal deposits are in no short supply. Ruins of mines, some of which date as recent as the Coalition of Worlds to the most distant of ancient times are a landmark or guidepost to prospectors looking to work a vein of metal, gems, or the rare neutron stones.
Ruins themselves are a natural resource for the region because of its remote nature. Before 810 PC, trade with other regions was limited to the uncommon portal opening from Evermist or Mandrake for merchants to travel through. Outside of that, ancient refurbished lightning ships traverse the Shard, hauling trade and trade goods between settlements. Because these ships lack a working Tesseract drive, their sailing was limited to only the Shadow Shard itself.
Those coralweed clumps are something to see. Big as a ship, I've heard they live off the stray elemental magics that soak the Shard.
History
The Centauri Belt has a long history, however, it was not always called the 'Centauri Belt'. In the distant past, it held other names such as the 'Shadow Plane' or the 'Astral Plane' depending on the historical age.
Most ancient explorers were wizards or wizards with their companions. Magic is a powerful force, but it took highly skilled wizards opening ancient dimension doors or other portal spells to reach what is now the Centauri Belt. At that time, the belt only contained its native plant and animal life. To the surprise of those early explorers, they did write about discovering the rare ancient ruin of a tomb or fortress with writings that couldn’t be deciphered. Some of these manuscripts still exist and still have yet to be translated.
Exploration and settlement wasn't a high priority at that time. Wizards skilled enough to travel that far were seeking new and plentiful sources of neutron stones. Once a pocket was discovered, a wizard would establish a small settlement there to extract the stones. They rarely used hired help due to fear their discovery would get out to other wizards. So instead, golems were used. To the current day, prospectors in remote corners of Centauri encounter ancient golems still protecting long forgotten mines.
In-depth study and exploration of the region began in the latter portion of the Illurian 5th, or "industrial", Age. Wizards, then called mages, were more inclined to enchant long lasting portals to the Belt for profit and resources. Those were the first settlements of the unforgiving region.
Later, after lightning ships replaced air ships and the Tesseract drive opened means to move ships and people between regions of the Worldspace, these settlements grew into modest colonies. Some became nearly self-sufficient with only a little reliance on trade.
But the Centauri Belt is an unforgiving place. Many smaller settlements would only flourish for a short time. Residents eventually would move to the larger settlements that maintained better infrastructure. This left only research facilities, magical laboratories, and other small installations in the more remote areas.
Then the Final War rained destruction down on the region.
At first, the Centauri Belt played witness to the fleets from either the Coalition or the Dark Horde moving through or battling to the death. Neither side seemed interested in the wasteland. As the war dragged on, the demand for neutron stones to augment combat mages and other military devices skyrocketed on both sides.
The Dark Horde resorted to more dire and nightmarish means of augmentation. But they also began to strip mine areas of the Centauri Belt for even a hint of neutron stones. The Coalition was less destructive to the environment, but they caused their own share of environmental destruction. Then the storm of chaos enriched dark matter and wild magic battered the Shadow Shard, cutting off contact with almost all the Worldspace.
With the discovery of the last of the Coalition Tesseract drives on Illuria, lightning ships have been seen more regularly in the Centauri Belt. Merchants are contacting the larger settlements to offer their wares and set up semi-permanent storefronts. But the larger expanse of the region remains unexplored.
What don't they ever mention? Piracy! A place like this is a haven for piracy, especially for places to hide. They used to prey on the settlements but now that the merchant ships are coming back? They've got bigger fish to chase.
Alternative Name(s)
Centauri, Lightning Ship Graveyard
Type
Asteroid belt
Location under
Related Ethnicities
Inhabiting Species
Related Materials
Comments