Absalom Station

AB-sa'lom STAY-shun

Absalom Station is the metaphorical center of the Pact Worlds - the hub around which all things revolve. It was here that the Pact Worlds as a formal entity were created, via the eponymous Absalom Pact, and it remains the system’s heart governmentally, culturally, and economically. All sentient species, from the familiar to the most alien, are welcome in its streets, with the mysterious artefact at its heart acting as a singularly powerful Drift beacon, Absalom Station finds its significance only growing as the races of the Pact Worlds spread out across the Material Plane.

Purpose / Function

Due to the Gap, no one knows who built Absalom Station or why - whether it was created as a run-of-the-mill space platform, a lifeboat during some frantic exodus from a doomed Golarion, or something else entirely. Its thoroughly mechanical nature and walls of ceramic, metal, and plastic leads most scholars to assume it was built by ordinary mortals, while its population of historically Golarion-based species, as well as its position in the precise orbit vacated by Golarion, suggests that Golarion natives were responsible for the vast undertaking. What’s more, records show that when the Gap ended, the station seemed lived in and worn, implying that the residents had already been there for quite some time. Even today, the mysteries surrounding the station’s origin and its ties to Golarion's disappearance make it a natural draw for Gap researchers, who constantly strive to infer bits of objective truth from the shifting morass of the station’s past.

Architecture

Diameter:	7km (4.35 miles)
Mass:	>1% of Golarion
Gravity:	Normal (artificial)
Atmosphere:	Normal (artificial)
Day:	24hrs (simulated)
Year:	365 days (natural)

Seen from above, Absalom Station is shaped roughly like an asymmetrical, six-pointed star spreading out in a flat plane from the Eye, the huge central dome that encloses a cluster of skyscrapers surrounded by shockingly green parks. More towers and neighbourhoods (collectively called the Ring) partially fill the gaps between the station’s Arms, and a single tapering pillar called the Spike drops down from the station’s central disk. Altogether, Absalom Station is only 5 miles across, yet its three-dimensional structure means it can house upward of 2 million people and still be easy for the uninitiated to get lost or find themselves alone in rarely visited corridors.

Artificial gravity is in effect throughout the station, with 'down' always being perpendicular to the Ring and Arms, toward the complex technomagical gravity field generators in the Spike's tip. Except where modifications have been made to the contrary, atmosphere and other environmental conditions seem tailored for human comfort. Station lights in many sectors are set to artificially enforce a twenty-four-hour cycle of day and night, and independent regulators and air scrubbers are located throughout the station for maximum safety. While additions and renovations to both the freestanding buildings and the three-dimensional warren of chambers and corridors are common, actually expanding the station itself is difficult due to the extreme hardness of the exterior hull metal: an inconvenience that nevertheless keeps whole neighbourhoods from getting decompressed by a single gunfight.

Power Supply

The most important feature of the space station is not its grand and mysterious architecture, nor its myriad residents, but the strange artefact locked deep within the station’s heavily guarded core: the fabled Starstone. For reasons unknown even to priests of Triune, the Starstone not only powers the station but acts as an immensely powerful Drift beacon, allowing starships to jump quickly to the space around it no matter the distance and making Absalom Station a natural relay point for voyages returning from beyond the solar system.

History

1. Absalom Station was constructed.
2. 1/1/1AG: After the Gap, Absalom Station’s inhabitants found themselves even more adrift than most cultures, with no homeworld and no trustworthy records of their social ties or governance. Anarchy reigned: gangs based on racial or religious identities looted and fought in the streets, and the Station's systems broke down as technicians were forced to abandon their posts.
   
   Only when a runaway malfunction nearly resulted in the venting of the entire station’s atmosphere did people recognise their precarious position and begin to pull together, with the heads of the various gangs forming the first Syndicsguild and electing the first Prime Executive, Loqua Tem.
3. 1:00am, 1/8/7AG: Absalom Station comes under attack by the Bone Sages of Eox. The attack is successfully repelled.
4. 41AG: The 'Absalom' Pact is signed, thanks in large part to the function of the Station.
5. 67AG: The Stardust Plague kills millions throughout the Pact Worlds, including aboard Absalom Station.
6. 11:00pm, 6/10/324AG: The PWS Acreon arrives at Absalom Station, with a mysterious asteroid dubbed 'the Drift Rock' in tow. It is quickly placed under quarantine, but not before Astral Extractions and their subcontracted employees at the Hardscrabble Collective engage in a vicious legal dispute.

Economy

Absalom Station is a hub of intragalactic space travel thanks to the Starstone. Thanks to the Starstone serving as a uniquely powerful Drift beacon, a starship with a Drift engine can reach Absalom Station in less than a week, even if travel to any other location would take longer.
This has caused many corporations such as AbadarCorp to base themselves here, further expanding the amount of taxable trading.

Sociology

As a general rule, money and power flow inward from the numerous bustling docks toward the great parklike dome known as The Eye, while the downtrodden masses sink down into the machine-cramped access warrens of The Spike. Gangs rule lower-class neighbourhoods such as Botscrap, Downlow, and Pipetown, yet their tentative alliances filter all the way into the upper reaches of government via the station’s Syndicsguild.
In addition to the platform itself, Absalom Station is surrounded by a constantly changing swarm of undocked ships, both transient and resident. These latter are somewhat mockingly called The Armada, yet most are not military - the station has only a modest security fleet, depending instead on the Stewards and robust station-mounted defences for its safety.

Factions

This is not to say the station runs in perfect harmony. With so many different interests on and around the platform, Absalom Station is never more than one slip away from chaos. Private security contractors wage shadow wars with street gangs and militant cults, alien ambassadors negotiate tense trade agreements, and explorers blast each other over claims on newly discovered worlds. One of the most dangerous factions to emerge of late is the Strong Absalom Movement.
While trade, politics, and a cosmopolitan atmosphere are major draws to Absalom Station, they’re not the only ones. Religious organisations seek converts, the Eyeswide Agency hires out Phrenic investigators, the Starfinder Society launches expeditions into the unknown, and more. This endless bustle marks Absalom Station as a land of opportunity - a chance for people of all sorts to make a fresh start.

Maps

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  Map of Absalom Station

  The cleaner, safer and classier topmost levels of Absalom Station.

Founding Date

Unknown (sometime during the Gap)

Type

Orbital, Station

Parent Location

Pact Worlds

Included Locations

• Drift Rock
• The Armada
• The Arms
• The Eye
• The Ring
• The Spike

Related Ethnicities

• Absalom

Owning Organization

Syndicsguild

Characters in Location

• Orgren
• Primex Kumara Melacruz
• Smux

Related Report (Primary Locations)

• Dead Suns S1E1
• Dead Suns S2E1 Report

Genesys

Planetary Rarity modifier: -2

Starfinder

Academic: It is often easier to do research in this settlement, which is home to a large school, research facility, or great repository of knowledge.

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Cultured: The settlement is well known for being a place where artistry thrives, such as a community of actors and musicians.

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Financial Center: This settlement is home to large banks, trading houses, currency exchanges and other powerful financial and mercantile organisations.

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Technologically Average: The level of technology used by the settlement is similar to that found in the majority of other settlements.