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Torpol Tlaiowaha Trojan Reach 2221

UWP: B55A77A-8 WA

Jump Point {100d}

 Thrust
 123456
Time4:583:312:522:292:132:02

The inhabitants of this world live on the roughly 10% of exposed land mass, in underwater colonies, on city ships, or similar arrangements. It is a Non-Aligned world dominated by human sophonts located in the Tlaiowaha Subsector of Trojan Reach Sector. It is located on the Florian Trade Route.

There are outposts on some of the gas giant moons. The only other planet that is inhabited is Traefar, the next farthest out from Torpol. There are mining corporations and belters in both the inner and outer planetoid belts, including a presence by the Sternmetal Horizons megacorporation in the inner belt.

It is extremely remote, but not a zero chance, that there is someone in the inner asteroid belt known to Mikhel Dromah. This person would have been at Belt-9 when Mikhel was growing up. But, based on Mikhel's experience with Sternmetal Horizons as a 'company town', he will be suspicious, as a minimum, meeting anyone associated with the mining operation. If Kaartre Burkh or one of his cronies (known to Mikhel) is met, the attitude ramps up to Unfriendly (if not barely suppressed Hostility).

Torpol itself is a small world with a thin atmosphere, whose surface is completely covered in water. In places this is quite shallow, though there are some very deep abyssal areas with trenches that have never been explored. Torpol is poor in terms of natural resources (other than water) and has little manufacturing capability of its own. Its prosperity is founded on trade, both in terms of its own commercial activity and also facilitating the trade of others. The Imperial/Florian and Imperial/Aslan trade routes are vital to Torpol's economy, bringing in most of the world's income.

Commerce is, to a great extent, at the heart of life on Torpol. The ruling Provosts are essentially merchant princes, and many have extensive offworld holdings. Some of the mining operations of the inner belt are owned by or do regular business with certain Provosts, whilst others own one or more commercial spacecraft and starships. A lot of money changes hands at Torpol Highport; the Provosts work hard to create an atmosphere where trade and commerce are easy to accomplish. Thus, despite a high law level, Torpol's rules and regulations are surprisingly straightforward for most activities.

The majority of the sixty million population live in cities built on the polar ice caps. These are built as rafts that 'float' on the ice and have few very tall buildings. Instead, the cities sprawl outward as new raft sections are added and connected by flexible roadways that carry ground vehicles. Rafts and roads are built to insulate the ice from any heating effects and spread out the load passing over or built on top. The system is complex but has worked for many years.

The remainder of the populace live in smaller cities built on stilts in shallow water. Most of these form a chain around the equator, though there are a few in other areas. The equatorial cities are mainly geared to offworld commerce and, essentially, tourism. Passengers and crews from visiting starships are enticed to spend some time (and a lot of Credits) in the equatorial cityports. Some of these have themes or attempt to offer something others do not, though a successful gimmick will rapidly be copied elsewhere.

Thus, some cities have created artificial landscapes far beyond the usual meaning of the term parks, with small forests and open areas of greenery. There is something faintly surreal about going white-water rafting on a river that runs through a park in a maritime stilt-city, but if an activity is popular then at least one city will find a way to provide it.

Torpol is astrographically the most important world in the Torpol Cluster, as it provides jump-2 access between the Sindalian Main (via Marduk) and the Aslan Hierate (via Drinax or Asim) as well as acting as a jump-2 link via Blue to Arunisiir or Exocet, and thence to Imperial space. Jump-4 vessels (typically warships) usually transit to Torpol from Fist via Exocet. It receives far more interstellar traffic than Clarke or Blue, a factor that has heavily influenced its economic development.

The Torpol system is centred on a type F4V star, a fairly bright and hot main sequence star. It is orbited by two planetoid belts, four gas giants and ten terrestrial (rocky) planets including Torpol itself. Of these, only Torpol is correctly positioned to receive enough stellar energy for liquid water, and is the only planet in the system to have life on its surface.

That does not mean the rest of the system is uninhabited. The outer planetoid belt has an extensive belter community whilst the inner one has less belters but more commercial mining operations. Most of these are local companies operating out of Torpol or Clarke, but the Imperial megacorporation Sternmetal Horizons also has a mining base in the inner belt.

There are outposts on various gas giant moons, but of the system's planets only Torpol and Traefar are inhabited. Traefar is the next world out from Torpol, on the far side of its inner planetoid belt, and is a cold rockball with only a trace of atmospheric gas. Traefar was a colony of no great importance in the era of the Sindalian Empire, and survived the death throes of the empire well. 'We have nothing worth bombing' is not much of a defensive strategy but in the case of Traefar it seems to have worked.

Traefar has a small commercial spaceport which mainly serves mining ships whose operators do not want to pay the high fees charged at Torpol Highport. The port is rather basic, but the associated city of about two million inhabitants has enough recreation facilities to entertain commercial spacers who have been cooped up in a mining ship for weeks on end. Belters from the outer belt sometimes call there to trade or to enjoy some 'sophisticated' leisure time.

Traefar spaceport is a good place to pick up new crewmembers. The sort of spacer found there tends to have few formal qualifications but solid practical experience. Most are former commercial spacers or belters who have decided they want a change of lifestyle. Some are inveterate drifters, and a few are the sort of spacefarer who has to stay away from the major ports.

The Imperial Navy has been known to raid Traefar spaceport from time to time, searching for pirates and similar criminals. They tend not to find many however; Traefar is not a pirate haven and is culturally quite hostile to those who rob and kill for a living. It is a place where hard-working spacers congregate, and whilst few questions are asked about individuals it is not somewhere to spend a ton of pillaged booty and rest up before the next raid.

Traefar spaceport is defended by the grandly named Traefar Flotilla, which consists of a handful of armed small craft and a couple of old fighters. This small force could be augmented in a crisis by belters and commercial miners, some of whose ships are lightly armed.

Cultural Details

The equatorial city-ports typically feel wild and wanton to visitors, though some are geared to those who prefer culture. An example of the latter is Esafen, which hosts several very good museums and performance venues as well as the world's best university. Its primary attraction is the Museum of Sindal, which traces the history of the Sindalian Empire from its humble beginnings to its bloody end. Naturally, there is a large exhibit devoted to the Sindalian Renaissance which implies Torpol is the spiritual and cultural heart of the region. This maybe a bit far-fetched, but Esafen does a good job of telling the Sindal story in an easily digestible format.

Torpol has a high Law Level, though enforcement is surprisingly subtle. The intent is to keep visitors safe and happy without an intrusive law enforcement presence. This is generally achieved, though occasionally it is necessary to take direct and overt action. When a light touch and a system of community service for most offences does not work, Torpol's cities send in a heavily armed paramilitary security force to break heads and restore order.

The security force - actually termed the Enforcement and Protection Service, or EPS - is the only real combat force on Torpol. It has specialist sea, ice and air units as well as aerospace defence forces, and whilst all of its personnel have law enforcement powers, many specialise in tasks that would fall within the remit of a planetary army if Torpol had one. Others provide a fire and rescue service.

Torpol is officially listed as being balkanised, though this is slightly misleading. It is true that all cities are self-governing, each with its council of Provosts, but cooperation is necessary to the world's economy and political affairs. As a result, the advisory council formed from representatives of each city finds it easy to come to a consensus on most matters. For a balkanised world, Torpol is unusually harmonious.

Most of the vessels that come through the Torpol system dock at the large orbital port and use local shuttles to send crew and passengers to the surface. Smaller vessels sometimes proceed directly groundside but this is uncommon. The highport is modern and well-run, with good facilities for overhaul and maintenance. There is a small private shipyard, which mostly produces small craft for local clients but can also supply standard components for starships. Jump-capable vessels cannot be built at Torpol but they can be serviced and repaired.

The port has an efficient security service which is intolerant of boisterous behaviour. Those who want to blow off steam or make a nuisance of themselves are 'advised' to take it planetside, to one of the spaceports which offer a range of entertainments. The highport is a bit straight-laced, being geared to business negotiations and interstellar commerce rather than fun.

The highport is where the system's business sector is located, including the headquarters of most large planetside firms and offices maintained by the world's ruling elite. Speculative cargo is often traded here, with shipments split for transfer to various end clients. All manner of goods can thus be found in the warehouses of the highport, though there are restrictions on what can be traded to some clients. With the proper licenses, almost anything can be bought and sold at Torpol, but an all-cargoes license is expensive and complex to obtain. As a result, a large number of 'middle-brokers' have emerged who can wriggle a restricted cargo through the legal process for a fee - this is typically 10-15% of the cargo's value.

Torpol's highport has for many years now also served as a sort of planetary capital. Officially, no such place exists and the cities of the surface are self-governing. However, each city sends representatives to a council which meets at the highport, and it is here that most inter-city deals are done, with decisions affecting more than one city debated. This is another reason why thrillseeking starfarers are sent planetside - the planetary rulers really do not want partygoers stumbling through their corridors of power.

As might be expected from a busy, highly profitable port, Torpol Highport is well defended. Its security contingent includes numerous gunners who man a primarily missile-based armament. Missile bays are located in areas of the port that are off-limits to civilians, but numerous beam weapon turrets are scattered all over the outer surface of the station.

This defence system provides a measure of protection to vessels near the station, but is incapable of reaching far out into space. For this purpose, Torpol maintains a flotilla of fighters at the highport and a single large defensive craft. This is a (very) old Imperial Gionetti class light cruiser, a huge ship by local standards, which was provided several decades ago under a now-defunct 'trade route security assistance' scheme. The cruiser is in relatively good repair considering its age, but is not jump capable and several of its systems have been replaced with locally produced alternatives of lesser capability. Still, a light cruiser that was once a unit of the Imperial Navy is more than a match for most threats encountered in Trojan Reach sector.

Gionetti Class Light Cruiser
30,000T M5 TL15(? Local downgrades, Jump engines removed)