Tintanon

The Planet

Physical

Tintanon is a fairly old human colony world, located 25.76 parsecs from Earth. It is a small world with a thin atmosphere, requiring most humans to wear respirators when outdoors. The planet's sun is the F6 V star Aleycin. Tintanon is warm to hot, with scattered lakes the only surface water, and hence a low humidity. In addition to being only marginally breathable, the atmosphere is tainted by numerous sulphur compounds, giving the unmodified air a distinct "rotten egg" odour.

Biological

Tintanon houses various sulphur digesting microorganisms as well as a few types of macroscopic plant growths. These small plants are sought after for their unusual sulphur chemistry, and extracts are used in the manufacture of several organoplastic products and some drugs.

There is no other life of note, since the hostile conditions kill most imported species that are not confined to artificial habitats.

Civilisation

Tintanon supports a relatively small population for an old colony world, with only about 70,000 humans and a handful of aliens choosing to call it home. The conditions on the surface are unpleasant at best, and unhealthy at worst, so everyone lives in sealed habitats. There is plenty of oxygen and water - it just needs to be extracted from the rest of the chemical stew that makes up the atmosphere.

Most people live in one of the few small townships, while others have solitary dwellings in places rich with the native plant life to make collection easy.

Economy

Tintanon exports both unprocessed and processed sulphur plants. The main industry of the planet is chemical extraction and synthesis using the native life forms as raw materials. There is little else to offer.

This meagre resource is augmented by a rich asteroid belt in the Aleycin system. Several thousand people are usually involved in mining the space rocks, coming home to Tintanon between their month-long work tours. Heavy and precious metals such as platinum and iridium are exported from the system in significant quantities.

Tintanon is barely self sufficient in food, and gourmet items are much sought after by the locals. Industrial machinery, computers, and organics such as medicines and biotech are also imported.

Politics

Tintanon is administered by a coalition of the Aleycin Mining Company and the local office of the multistellar biochemical company ChemLife Inc. ChemLife employs the most people, but the AMC is more popular with the locals because it is a home-grown establishment. There is currently much tension between the boards of directors, especially over recent industrial espionage and alleged sabotage incidents.

Generally, the locals are looking for a way to throw ChemLife out of the system, but this is complicated by the fact that most of them work for the company and rely on it for a living. ChemLife has recently called for a crackdown on weaponry ownership, but the AMC has so far successfully blocked any implementation. Citizens are stockpiling arms and essentials such as food and water for what appears to be an inevitable conflict.

What happens next rests largely on ChemLife's reactions. An armed "restoration of order" led by its interstellar office would not go down well its customers in nearby systems, and ceding control to AMC would deprive it of a profitable arm of its business.

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