Vryssa

View from Orbit

From orbit Vryssa appears as a dusty brown and tan orb. As the planet turns the surface changes from mountainous dark browns to the yellow of the great open sands. There are no polar ice caps to be seen. There are, occassionally, small, thin white clouds scuttling high in the atmosphere. There are no orbital stations to be seen.

Surface

The surface of Vryssa is hot, dry, and windy. Heavy dust storms with strong winds are common and can last from an hour to a day. Storms with high speed winds can kill the unprotected. Water can be found in the caves and valleys of the mountain regions. The small towns and spaceports are found at the base of mountains with high walled enclosures protecting ships from the winds and habitation structures built into the mountains themselves. These water sources are also the location of the planets small flora and fauna.
Near the equator, on one face of the planet, is the great wasteland of the desert. A tall plateau rises from the sands, surrounded by broken earth stretching outward from the base. The surface of the plateau is barren. Sand has been blown clear of the landscape leaving only a flat plain of lifeless dirt.

Population

The population of the planet lives in four small towns, each within a mountainous region and extending into caves where water can be found. There are two spaceports with minimal starship services. The residents of the starport towns live off of the travelers and merchants that visit the planet, with each port servicing visitors to one of the two other towns. The two towns that stand alone in the desert mountains are occupied by spice harvesters. These individuals travel into the deep desert in search of spice blooms. These are hard to find and can take days or weeks to find and harvest. Rarely is a bloom found that yields more than the smallest quantity of spice. Not enough to attract corporations.
These 'spice towns' are dangerous as the residents scrabble for survival, living off of local water and scarce food supplies. Anyone with spice is a potential target for opportunitists hoping to steal the goods for sale or to cook up as a powerful narcotic for their own use. In these towns can be found the 'sun baked', spice harvesters that have spent too much time in the heat of the sun and have gone a bit mad.

Industry

There is no recognized industry on Vryssa. There is a black market for spice.

Culture

The culture of Vryssa is survival and little more. There are few opportunities to raise families though some can be found in the starport towns where the lifestyle is a bit less hostile. There is, amongst the residents, a great respect for the value of water and wasting it can solicit a violent response from those that witness it. The standard burial ceremony involves draining the dead of their water, purifying and adding it to a town cistern.

History

Vryssa was surveyed shortly after Dalicron and the results showed that the planet had nothing that would attract corporations, researchers, or colonists. For centuries the planet lay empty with only the occassional visitor searching for something of value.
Just over 300 years ago an explorer took their starship over the surface of the desert and noted the dark bands of a spice bloom. They landed and harvested the spice for analysis. They found that the spice had some unique properties that allowed it to act as a flavor enhancer under normal use but a powerful narcotic after a somewhat involved chemical process. The flavor enhancement properties never developed a demand and became only a novelty.
The narcotic properties of the spice turned out to be very powerful, but the distance from civilization make their value less than ideal. Over 500 years ago, after Dalicron had been in the Republic for several centuries and the population had grown to a significant size, the drug, known as Tenevise, became popular on the planet. Soon the drug was found throughout the sector.
Over the centuries the harvesting of spice has been interdicted by Dalicron, faclities have been raided on Vryssa, and, during the Imperial era, the cities were bombed.  For some time there was an imperial garrison stationed at one of the starport but it was destroyed by a bounty hunter and never re-established. After a short pause the spice always returns.

Notable Features

Tenevise

The drug Tenevise is created, through a complicated chemical process, from the spice harvested on the planet Vryssa. It creates a sense of euphoria in the consumer and is very addictive. It is illegal on all worlds with a law level of moderate (4) or higher.

Grid Location: E-12

Climate: Dry and Hot

Gravity: 1.1

Common Hazards: Sandstorms

Atmosphere: Thin and tainted

Temperature: Hot - 50c at equator

Moons: 1

Diameter: 13,000 km

Length of Day: 38 h

Length of Year: 800 d

Starport: Poor

Population: 40,000

Government: Minimal

Law Level: None

Major Exports: None (Official), Drugs (Black Market)

Major Imports: Agriculture, Technology

System: Vryssa System