Rubilith
The Planet
Physical
Rubilith is an old human colony world, located 18.77 parsecs from Earth.
It is a small tide-locked planet, situated just far enough from its sun,
the M2 V star named The Skillet, that most of its sunward face is a
livable temperature. The relatively thick atmosphere and abundance of
water help heat circulation. The climate ranges from hot, semi-arid at
the sunward point, through temperate moist to cold moist near the
terminator to tundra and permanent ice cap on the night side.
Much of Rubilith's day side surface is covered in reddish iron-rich rocks
and dirt. Vast dust storms often loft this material high into the
atmosphere giving the planet its famed ruby colour when seen from space.
Biological
Rubilith has a full complement of oxygen-producing photosynthetic
microbes, and no other native life. Humans have imported fairly
standard Earthly flora and fauna. With no seasons, or even day or night
times, plant and animal behaviour has changed markedly over the few
hundred years since colonisation.
Civilisation
Rubilith houses a population of 1.6 billion humans and a substantial
number of aliens. Settlements are scattered evenly over most of the day
side land area, petering out towards the arid and arctic zones.
Economy
Rubilith is essentially self-sufficient in most things, and has an
abundance of industrial metals, particularly iron, which make the bulk
of its exports. Rubilith is a major shipbuilding planet and also
exports other finished industrial machinery and robots.
Imports are basically restricted to luxury goods and offworld
specialties. Rubilith does not have a very large artistic community
(some psychologists speculate this is partly because of the lack of
sunsets!), so entertainment industry goods are particularly welcome.
Politics
Rubilith is nominally governed by a constitutional monarchy, but in
practice the Parliament has little more power than the purely
figurehead monarch, currently Queen Natasha IV. The real powerbrokers
of the planet are the various mining, commerce, agricultural and
industrial manufacturing companies which operate Rubilith's efficient
economy. Most people have jobs in one of these sectors, or at least
in a minor sector controlled typically by a monopolistic company, and
such employees are cared for by their employer.
The major companies operate health, education, and law enforcement
services for their employees. Over the years, these practices have
undermined the authority of the nominal government, such that hardly
anyone takes it seriously any more.
Queen Natasha, however, is young, ambitious, and recently arrived on
the throne after the death of her lethargic uncle, King Wilhelm.
Rubilith political analysts are warning of potential turmoil and
conflict if Natasha sees fit to restore the relevancy of the government.
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