Gashan

View from Orbit

Gashan is a dusty brown planet with few clouds and no noticable polar caps. It orbits a large blue and yellow gas giant with several other large planets.

Surface

The surface of Gashan is covered in areas with tall, sharp-sloped mountains that resemble jagged daggers. In places the dagger-like mountains have collapsed and fallen into each other creating a bizarre landscape of broken rock. In the depths of the mountains the temperature drops and water can be found.
Between the mountainous areas are desert made of scrub or dunes. Winds constantly blow across the landscape and the dunes move about the open areas. In places the dunes have filled in ravines and created sand lakes that can be dangerous to cross.

Population

The majority of the population lives around the starport though isolated settlements can be found in mountainous areas near water. No settlements exist in the desert regions except for a large, privately owned estate.
The starport, and much of the surrounding city, is built on the ruins of an ancient floating mining platform that failed and crashed into a mountainous region. It was never repaired and the owners abandoned their efforts. Settlers and explorers found the wreck and began using it as a platform for camps as well as a landing space for ships. Over time a city arose from the wreck, extending throughout the functional areas. Over two hundred years ago an industrious adventurer, known only as Oladrakapaw, was able to repair the damaged power systems in the refinery, making power available to the city. The city itself is generally circular in shape with tendril-like bridges extending onto nearby spires where houses and shops are built.
Sections of the starport are controlled by local gangs that maintain a sense of order in exchange for protection money from the residents and merchants. It is not uncommon for a spontaneous firefight to spring up between one gang and another.

Industry

There is no formal industry on Gashan. Independent miners have found ore, gems, and crystals in the depths of the mountains but not enough to attract large corporations.

Culture

The culture on Gashan focuses primarily on survival, and to some extent, exploration and mining. The independent nature of the residents can make them very defensive, or outright rude. Settlements outside of the main starport do not tolerate interlopers and are known to shoot at them if they get close.
There is a segment of the population made up of 'crazies' that believe there is a motherloade of ore or gems to be found. This individuals often spend a great deal of time alone and can sometimes be found talking to themselves.

History

Over 1,200 years ago explorers entered the Gashan system and noted the only marginally habitable planet was a moon of the gas giant. They recorded their findings and moved on. Almost a century later an exploration mining company arrived in the system and deployed a large, floating, mining platform onto the moon. For several years the platform pulled ores and other resources from the planet, but at a very lot rate. 
One fateful day a catastrophic failure in the antiquated gravitics systems caused the platform to rapidly descend and crash onto a large mountainous spire. The spire pierced the platform causing it to lose power and all gravitics. It slid down the spire and wedged itself within the crevasses at that base of the mountains. The platform was a total loss. The company took what little resources were accessible and abandoned the location. No company has tried to mine the planet since then.
Over centuries settlers and explorers began using the wreckage of the platform as a campsite and landing port. When Oladrakapaw restored power to the town it also restored a number of other support services such as water filtration and sanitation facilities. Settlers, explorers, and others were drawn to the town and it soon grew into a moderate sized city. Gangs fought over control of the city but not with great fervor, resulting in a stalemate and uneasy truce. 

Notable Features

Dnova Cathedral

In the mountains, far to the west of the starport, is a mountainous region where the spires have collapsed in way that has created a long cathedral-like cave that extends for many kilometers. Explorers in ships have attempted to fly to the end of the cathedral but have been twarted by large spikes sticking up from the cathedral floor, or down from the ceiling. Others have continued on foot but have been thwarted by Umber Dragons that inhabit the cave.

Grid Location: N-20

Climate: Dust storms

Gravity: 0.8

Common Hazards: Dust Storms, Carnivours

Atmosphere: Standard, Thin

Temperature: Hot

Moons:

Diameter: 8,000 km

Length of Day: 28 d

Length of Year:28 d

Starport: Basic Services

Population: 200,000

Government: Individual city states

Law Level: 0 - None

Major Exports: Ore

Major Imports: Agricultural

System: Gashan System