The Diaspora

A vast asteroid belt, the Diaspora was formed when the twin planets Damiar and Iovo were destroyed by an unknown catastrophe millennia ago, long before even the Gap. The fractured remains of these two worlds spin lazily in their new orbits, and though there are more than a million celestial bodies with diameters greater than a mile within the Diaspora, all are spaced far enough apart that they rarely collide with one another. Most of these planetoids consist of formless chunks of rock or ice, though a few still hold traces of the civilizations of Damiar and Iovo. Some have just enough gravity – or technological assistance – to hold a thin atmosphere, while others are devoid of breathable gases. Dust and tiny pieces of stone and metal float between the asteroids, occasionally posing a threat to ships passing through at speed.

Geography

With a 600-mile diameter, Nisis is the largest body in the Diaspora. Under its crust of ice, this planetoid is mostly composed of fresh water, an immense mass of liquid home to aquatic predators that have claimed the lives of countless would-be colonists. Only small enclaves of sarcesians live in inverted dome-villages clinging to the underside of the planet’s ice crust, and the settlers are always on high alert for threats from below, ready to abandon their homes and retreat to strongholds on the planetoid’s surface at a moment’s notice. The water of Nisis also serves as the source of the River Between, a strange waterway surrounded by atmosphere in a cylindrical containment field, which flows through the Diaspora and connects many of the asteroids and crèche worlds. The River Between used to be a well-used way to travel quickly through the asteroid belt, but recently the water has turned dark, and sailors have begun reporting vicious attacks by unseen creatures. Traffic on the river has dropped precipitously since the coming of these “diaspora wyrms,” and some scientists have noted that both the attacks and the change in the waterway coincided with another inexplicable event: Nisis started slowly growing in size.
Among many famous Diasporan locations is the House of the Void, a mysterious asteroid monastery whose black-robed monks stay tight-lipped about their goals. On the other side of the belt, the hollow asteroid known as the Wailing Stone now sits empty. Long ago, miles of silent corridors were drilled into the rock and used to quarantine victims of some terrible madness, and they later served as a penal colony—before all the residents vanished at some point during the Gap. Attempts to recolonize the stone have so far failed, as all who remain longer than a few days report disturbing nightmares and glimpses of twisted figures dressed in yellow rags.

Fauna & Flora

Sarcesians - a long-limbed humanoid race standing between 10 to 15 feet tall, with bulbous eyes and long pointed ears. Adapted for life in space, they can grow long gossamer-like wings of pure light that can act as solar sails in the vacuum of space.[1]

• Type: Asteroid Belt
• Mass: (total) 2x M_G
• Gravity: varied
• Atmosphere: Special
• Orbital Period: varied
• Rotational Period: varied

Alternative Name(s)

The Lost Ones

Type

Asteroid belt