Sameus

Sameus^listen is an unusual realm located in the Daren Hegemony. Resembling (or perhaps even being) the corpse of a titanic creature, Sameus has been inhabited by settlers for nearly five hundred years. While once an important colony, the past hundred years have found life on the realm characterized by high social stratification, extreme poverty, rampant crime, and constant struggle.

Physical Description

Sameus is unique among all known realms, taking the form of the corpse of a massively large bipedal creature. The realm is roughly 5000 km in total height and 400 km across at its widest point, though this varies widely depending on where on the corpse is measured. The creature has two arms, two legs, and a single head; what remains of its skin is a grayish color and has the consistency of rubber. Much of its skin, however, is missing, having the appearance of having been torn away. Only its chest, left forearm, and right thigh have skin still on them. Exposed flesh is present on its lower right leg, left thigh, right side of the head, torso, and back. This flesh is dark, bloody red, despite the fact that the creature has been long dead (if, in fact, it were ever alive). Exposed bone is visible on the skull, right foot, left leg beneath the knee, left arm beneath the elbow, entire right arm, and parts of the rib cage and spinal column.
The fine details of the creature are difficult to determine due to the extensive damage it has sustained. The remains of its face and skull appear vaguely anthropoid, bearing a jaw shape and eye sockets resembling a human, teeth and nose reminiscent of a goblin, ears and cheekbones approximating an elf, and brows like a dwarf. Its limbs seem to be long and muscular, with long claws at the end of each of its three-fingered hands. It holds a hunched posture, though whether this was its natural stance in life or a pained contortion in death is debated.
A fairly thin air envelope of covers it, being roughly one kilometer thick. Sameus was long considered to be a minor realm, or even not a realm at all, until a minuscule photopartum was found orbiting it a hundred years ago. This photopartum is a small sphere of aether, two meters in diameter, which meanders apparently randomly about half a kilometer over the surface of the creature. It gives off light comparable to a small lantern, which is not bright enough to be of any practical use to those on the surface.

History

Discovery

Sameus was initially discovered in 101 PC by explorers of the ship Resplendent captained by Ionache Olaru. Olaru, a citizen of the Kingdom of Octoi, was investigating newly opened eddies on the outskirts of Kingdom territory when he reached Sameus. Initially not grasping the size of the creature, Olaru discounted it as an ordinary corpse in the Sora and moved past it, assuming whomever had left it would still be in the area and could be dangerous. He made note of its position and continued on. However, when the Resplendent returned by the area three months later, the same corpse was spotted.
Now intrigued, as no ordinary corpse could survive contact with pure Sora for that long, he ordered his ship closer. To his surprise, the ship was still several hours out from the body and it soon became apparent it was massive in size. Olaru named it Sameus, after an ancient group of giants from Octoid mythology. Though he still did not understand what he had discovered, Olaru had the ship come in close to its surface and lowered an exploration party on one of the exposed ribs. The surface had the same properties as bones found in other creatures, only at extreme scale. Further exploration found small pieces of flesh, still attached to the bone. The flesh appeared fresh and bloody, like any uncooked meat. One adventurous crew member, whose name was not recorded, cut a piece of the flesh off and cooked it. Upon reporting it to have a texture and taste similar to exceptionally good beef, several other crew cut off pieces and ate them as well.
After several days, all of the crew who had eaten the meat were in good health; in fact, several claimed to have gotten relief from minor maladies such as chronic indigestion, an arthritic knee, and a recurring ear infection. The apparent palliative qualities of the meat excited Olaru, who reported the findings back to his lord, Burgrave Negrescu.
The burgrave placed Olaru at the head of a more thorough exploratory team and had them return to Sameus. Included in the ranks were several scholars, including at least one mage and a Octoid deity Rulk, the god of life and death. The priest of Rulk confirmed that the creature was not alive, nor was it undead, while the mage found no unusual magic throughout their inspection. Ultimately, the scholars concluded that Sameus was a highly unusual minor realm, devoid of any life, fully capable of being exploited to its fullest.

Settlement

In 24 PC, the Burgrave Negrescu petitioned the Octoid King for permission to found a settlement on Sameus. The petition was granted, with the burgrave having sole settlement rights for a period of twenty years. Immediately, the burgrave formed a colonial detachment which founded the first settlement on Sameus six months later. They chose to land on an exposed portion of bone in the creature's left shoulder, which in those days was still covered in flesh. They named the settlement Scapula and began "mining" the meat. Initially taking on the character of a mining town, the town quickly grew, attracting settlers, traders, and prospectors as the meat gained popularity throughout the Kingdom.

Growth

Demand for "Sameus beef", as it was called, quickly outpaced the ability for Scapula to harvest it. Within a decade, the town had grown into a bustling metropolis, bringing all the problems such a large population in a confined area brings with it. Crime thrived in the city, particularly in the areas outside the docks and administrative areas. With the only local resources being bone and meat, and no capability for agriculture or livestock, prices on basic goods were high. For those who owned the mines and traded in meat, this was not a problem, but for common laborers, it meant living in cramped structures, often poorly constructed or in disrepair, with unhealthy food, and threadbare clothes.
However, the pull of wealth attracted more and more settlers, eventually to other settlements across the realm's surface. Further experimentation with the corpse revealed that the marrow of the bones was also edible and contained even greater healing powers, being capable of curing a number of significant maladies. Excavators began digging deep into the flesh, eventually reaching organs which were found to contain their own unique properties, such as the liver proving to be a universal antitoxin.

Stagnation and Decline

The realm continued to grow in popularity and importance until a rash of food poisonings across Sameus in early 235 PC. People were initially perplexed, as Sameus beef had previously prevented all such maladies. It was initially explained away as tainted food from off realm, but as people ate more of the meat to ward off illness, the number of cases spiked. It became apparent that the cause was local to Sameus.
After a long investigation troubled by numerous false leads and hampered by the continued illness plaguing the population, it was eventually determined that the sickness was a result of spoiled meat. Portions of Sameus had all started to go bad, rot and decay coming to places where once there was none. It was not the entirety of the corpse; something of its size would take thousands of years to fully rot. However, in the two centuries since the realm had been settled, some contamination brought by the early explorers or settlers had begun to spread. It had only been noticed once the decay had spread enough to begin affecting people.
Attempts were made to eliminate the spoilage, but they were all for naught. The best that could be done was to control it, identify meat that had gone bad, and cut it away. The job was dirty and caused people doing it to grow sick and weak. As knowledge that Sameus beef could be tainted and cause illness spread, the demand for it decreased as well. Wages fell, people lost jobs, and many of the well off fled the realm.
The realm fell into decline, though most were too poor to leave it behind. Supply deliveries became rare, poverty became the norm, and lawlessness gave way to criminal enterprises.

Present

In 268 PC, the Daren Hegemony attacked the Kingdom of Octoi. For a time, Sameus once again became a realm of importance, as it stood in a vital chokepoint. The realm changed hands multiple times in the course of the war, eventually serving as the site of the decisive battle in the war. With the defeat of the Kingdom, the realm came under the control of the Hegemony as part of the Archduchy of Octoi.
Despite the change of control, the realm saw little change in fortunes. It continues to harvest and export meat, marrow, and offal, though it continues to contend with decay. Imports remain rare and expensive, with most people lacking necessities. Crime is high in all of the realm's major cities, with local governments holding limited control, primarily in central districts and the areas around docking spires.

Population

Sameus is home to roughly 28 million people, the vast majority of whom are humans who were born on the realm. The population is largely confined to its cities, the largest of which are Fluitantes, Pylorus, Sacrum, and Scapula. Smaller cities and a few towns exist scattered across the realm, but these are far and few between. Because of the reliance on imports from off world, it is frequently too expensive and logistically difficult for settlements to exist too far from a docking spire.

Fluitantes

Fluitantes is the largest city on Sameus, home to just over 8 million people. Located on one of the floating ribs near the junction between bare bone and flesh, the city is home to the largest marrow mines on the realm. Due to this, it has one of the larger safe areas, with the city center being under the control of the city government. Covering approximately 60 km², the city center is home to only 1 million of the city's population. The remaining 7 million live in the remaining 650 km² of the city, which is mostly comprised of slums.

Pylorus

The only large city inside the creature, Pylorus sits between the creature's stomach and intestines. With 2 million inhabitants, nearly half of whom are dwarves, Pylorus is on the smaller side of the large cities. It is much more compact than the others, with that populace fitting into an area of only 70 km². However, as the city is burrowed into the flesh of the creature, the city is more similar to a dwarven fortress, with houses built into hollowed out flesh lined in bone. The city is connected to the surface by a tunnel fitted with a cargo lift which carries the harvested stomach lining to the docking spire above. The stomach lining is used to create powerful solvents.

Sacrum

Situated at the base of the creature's spine, Sacrum is one of the few cities that does not harvest any of the creature's meat. Instead, it is focused solely around harvesting spinal fluid, which can be used in the construction of golems, homunuculi, and other artificial creatures. Home to approximately 5 million people, Sacrum is spread over approximately 1,200 km², making it fairly spread out compared to other cities on Sameus. This space, combined with its valuable export, has left Sacrum relatively well off. Less than half the population lives in poverty and fluid extraction is less considered one of the safer professions on the realm.

Scapula

Scapula is the oldest city on Sameus, the location of the initial settlement on the realm. While it was once a bustling metropolis, it was one of the hardest hit by the spoilage. The city has fallen from a population of 10 million at its highest point to just over 3 million currently, living in an area of roughly 580 km². The outskirts of the city are home to thousands of crumbling, abandoned buildings. These abandoned buildings are a source of materials for the inhabitants, who constantly salvage them. This has left many of the abandoned buildings unstable and dangerous. A number of inhabitants make their livings scavenging these buildings, risking injury and even death to sell old boards, scraps of fabric, and other materials.

Flora and Fauna

Sameus has no native life, but numerous animals have been introduced to the realm since its settlement. They are mostly scavengers and vermin which survive in urban environments such as rats, wild dogs, flies, and roaches or animals which feed on them like spiders, feral cats, and snakes. They are almost exclusively found in the cities, though some small colonies have spread into the wilds, living off the exposed flesh of Sameus.
Because of the lack of soil, very little plantlife is found on Sameus. However, a number of molds and fungi have been inadvertently brought to the realm. These are largely considered responsible for the spoilage that precipitated the realm's decline. Despite the negative impact the fungi have caused to the populace, some varieties have proven to be edible, providing some native variety to diets that many of the inhabitants are thankful for.