Faagrin

The Planet

Physical

Faagrin is one of the old human colony worlds, situated 25.96 parsecs from Earth. It is slightly larger than Earth, with a thick nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere. Faagrin's sun is the K4 V star S'Siris.

Faagrin was on the verge of a global ice age when discovered. It was settled anyway, since habitable worlds are precious resources. Soon after initial settlement, before sufficient detection and threat neutralisation equipment was in place, Faagrin was struck by a large asteroid. The immediate effect was an "impact winter" lasting several weeks and which killed 90% of the colonists before relief arrived.

The sunless days of the impact winter passed, but the freeze was enough to tip the planet into a severe ice age, which shows no signs of ending to this day. All surface water remains frozen despite efforts to increase greenhouse warming and reduce albedo. The climate is uniformly arctic cold and very dry.

Biological

Up until the asteroid impact, Faagrin supported active photosynthetic lifeforms of both microscopic and macroscopic size. The visible plants were similar to carpets of moss or short grass. The ice age has all but rendered extinct the visible life - some specimens survive in artificial environments but none have been seen living in the wild for hundreds of years. The microbes have fared better; their active presence is detectable in what little meltwater forms on the hottest summer days. Freezing merely seems to put them into hibernation.

Imported life only exists within the confines of human settlements, where there are supplies of food and liquid water.

Civilisation

Faagrin now holds some 41 million humans and a handful of aliens, spread between 13 cities. Each city is an enclosed environment, either dug under a mountain, built of metal, or situated under a transparent dome. Nobody lives in the wilderness, as far as is known. There is simply no food to be found outside the cities.

The cities are linked by a network of tube trains, tunneled through the ice and rock. Work is ongoing on more cities, but each takes up to 50 years to complete.

Economy

Faagrin necessarily imports a good deal of food. Most other industries are remarkably self-sufficient on this hostile world.

The planet's major money earners are heavy and rare metals, both easy to find thanks to the asteroid impact, and surprisingly, tourism. A product of ingenious marketing, Faagrin is seen as both a romantic getaway and an exotic adventure destination. Its endless snowy vistas are indeed beautiful, and for many adventure seekers an escorted overland trek between cities, including the famous Day-Long Ski Run, is a must.

Politics

The cities of Faagrin form an amicable coalition, electing three representatives each to a planetary senate which oversees planetary laws and interplanetary policy. Each city, however, is governed in its own right by whatever system of government best suits it. Most are representative democracies, but there are also an athenian democracy, a theocracy, and three corporate run cities.

Inter-city rivalry has flared violently in the past, but the present period is one of relative peace. In general, the people of Faagrin realise that cooperation is the only way their planet can remain economically viable.

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