Post by 13th Legion on Jun 21, 2014 20:39:03 GMT -6
Ga'licca Sept Tau
The Ga’licca Sept was re-founded in the Third Sphere Expansion, on the ruins of a Second Sphere colony hastily abandoned in the face of a coordinated Imperial assault. It includes three closely-clustered star systems to the Galactic West of Vior'la Sept, on the edge of the Damocles Gulf - Gy’en, Bur’gonia, and the central system of Pa’rees. The first two systems are small, with 4 planets each, of which only one is habitable without major alterations. Pa’rees contains 3 worlds within the range of Tau ecological sensitivity, including the lush world that bears its Sept’s name, along with 5 other worlds.
Gy’en’s prime world, Bor’do, is a center for the Water Caste’s diplomatic and trade missions to the surrounding space. Its main continent is a verdant agricultural center, and the breadbasket of the Sept as a whole. Its biosphere seems to have recovered quickly from the battles that drove the Tau back across the Damocles Gulf at the end of the Second Sphere Expansion. Construction of urban centers has progressed rapidly, and the planet has become a place of rest and relaxation for the Ga’liccan colonists, and a secluded meeting place for the Sept’s Ethereals to plan future development away from the politics of the capital. Further, its many islands and extensive atolls provide ideal staging grounds for Fire Caste maneuvers and trainingin a variety of conditions, from deserts to tundras. The other planets in the system are uninhabitable - one is little more than an asteroid, orbiting too close to the central star to permit even a landing party. One is a gas giant, which provides rare elements harvested by Earth Caste drones, but little else. Its largest moon, Has, supports an atmosphere - though too cold for terraforming, its icy surface and moderate gravity provides a convenient grounds for the system’s main armory. Keeping the bulk of the system’s active-duty Fire and Air Caste personnel away from Bor’do helps to maintain the latter’s image as a welcoming, luxurious center of culture and peace. The outermost planet of the system is a tiny, barren, moonless rock, useful only as a host for an array of early-warning sensors and drones.
Bur’gonia is likewise a minor system, though here the work of rebuilding a Tau civilization has been painstaking. Its primary world, Al’saas, lies third from its sun, but its rotation is so slow that its “day” lasts a standard month. Accordingly, its arid, unbroken landmass is covered in a variety of bioluminescent fungi, which absorb light for the long period of sunlight before blooming with a silvery glow for the weeks that follow. The Earth Caste sensibly opted to burrow under the surface, where they have begun to construct a complex of forges and factories that will supply much of the Sept’s material needs. Another untouchably overheated planet orbits nearest the sun, and a Death World lies only a little farther out - its atmosphere is drenched in acidic mist, capable of eating through a tank’s armor or spaceship’s hull in a matter of hours. The crystals on its surface, however, are a tempting enough industrial and luxury resource that drones deemed outmoded or unrepairable are sent to collect as many as possible before being decommissioned. Its single, low-gravity moon has been dotted with domes that serve as waystations for the distribution of these precious minerals back to Al’saas and the Sept as a whole. The outermost planet, Al’emand is a supermassive, ferrous mud pit. Constant, planet-wide rainstorms soak the thin soil on the surface, rendering construction or even simple digging a sloppy engineering nightmare. It has been marked for terraforming in the long run, but such a project must wait until the Sept can spare the resources for the inevitable headache of such an effort. One of its moons currently hosts extensive facilities for the production of chemicals and materials too toxic or volatile to be synthesized in the enclosed caves of Al’saas - the carbon smoke these factories spew into the thin atmosphere will in time thicken the air to a level that can support unaided Tau habitation, and the moon will be repurposed then. A third “moon” around Al’emand is in fact an enormous space station which hosts the Sept’s main military fleet.
Pa’rees, the central and largest system, boasts three life-supporting worlds, one Death World, two barren rocks, and two useful but forbidding planets. It was once known by the Imperium, though the Ultramarines who drove out the Tau of the Second Sphere could not spare the time to rebuild it after their reconquest, needed as they were at the Tyrannid Front. First in the “Goldilocks Zone” is a watery, blue world, with tiny jungle islands teeming with reptilian and insectoid life. The Sept’s Kroot warriors have taken to this planet, naming it Jenev, and the Ethereals have largely left it to them in reward for their service. The only moon of Jenev is also habitable, but its tiny size and low gravity make it useful for little more than a spaceport and warehouse. The craggy, volcanic world of E’tal is rich in metals and minerals, and the remains of a massive Imperial manufactorum has begun to be renovated and refitted to supply the Fire Caste with tanks and battlesuits, and perhaps soon the superheavy flyers of the main Tau armies. Finally, the crown jewel of Sept is the planet for which it is named: Ga’licca, a temperate world ideally suited for sentient life. Though its apex indigenous species are largely boar-like, predatory mammals, the Earth Caste has had no trouble penning these creatures into the forests where they dwell. Indeed, the regulated hunting of these animals within such preserves has become a favorite sport for the warriors of the Fire Caste who largely populate Ga’licca, eager as they are to maintain and refine their prowess against these fierce, tricky beasts. The remaining lands provide ample food, and the world is self-sustaining - it can even afford to export certain native delicacies, especially in trade for precious Bur’gonian crystal. The government of the Sept is run here, and the planet therefore plays host to sprawling cities that house the administrative, technological, and intellectual infrastructure of the young settlement. Thanks to the close proximity of these learned cultures with the Sept’s Fire Caste warriors, the officer corps has quickly become known for their erudition and attention to the theory of war. Lying beyond Ga’licca, two planets and one moon bear mention. Of the moon, little is known, outside the inner circle of Ethereal leaders and the military elite. It is literally a black mass, undetectable without careful attention to infrared radiation, as it is locked in an orbit around its dead planet that perpetually shadows it from the system’s sunlight. Rumors fly that it serves as a testing facility for experimental weapons systems. The remaining noteworthy planets are, respectively, a dome-dotted mining/manufacturing hub called Le’ohn, and a sizable but airless world at the outside of the system, that hosts an observation and defense post. The natural caves have been sealed off from the surface, connected by tunnels, and filled with breathable air for the few warriors assigned there. Their numbers are filled out by patrol drones, while a subterranean spaceport offers a last stop for ships about to enter interstellar space.
The culture of the 3-star Sept is largely a product of its isolation. The youngest and most remote of the new settlements, communication with the main body of the Tau Empire is slow, trade slower still, and the possibility of reinforcement in the event of invasion utterly remote. As such, Ga’liccans are a self-reliant, ever vigilant people, simultaneously eager to build ties with intelligent species on nearby worlds, but careful to guard their borders. The supreme Ethereal, Aun’ghien, sets a tone of vigilance and circumspection in outside dealings, especially with mankind, whose brutal crusade still haunts him. His caution should not be mistaken for fear, however, for he is fully confident in his military support. Led by the young Commander O’Condae, nicknamed Brightstar for his deceptive tactics and promising talents, and supported by his audacious lieutenant Clearwind, the Ga’liccan forces have arrived in their new home, determined not to abandon it again.
Summary: Ga’licca Sept (*Sun, @planet, %Moon; dead/useless planets omitted)
*Gy’en
@bor’do (trade/ag/vacation world)
@gy’en III (gas giant), %Has (armory)
@gy’en IV (observation/defense)
*Bur’gonia
@bur’gonia II (Death World/crystal mining), %(Crystal warehouse)
@al’saas (subterranean factories)
@al’emand (mud), %(toxic materials plants), %(naval base/shipyard)
*Pa’rees
@jenev (archipelagos, Kroot home), %(warehouse)
@e’tal (mountainous, manufactorum)
@ga’licca (capital, paradise world)
@pa’rees V (gas giant), %Black Moon (?weapons testing?)
@le’ohn (mining, manufacture)
@pa’rees VIII (defense/observation/last stop)
Supreme Ethereal: Aun’ghien
High Commander: Brightstar/O’Condae - XV8
Lieutenant Commander: Clearwind/O’Malay - XV25
The Ga’licca Sept was re-founded in the Third Sphere Expansion, on the ruins of a Second Sphere colony hastily abandoned in the face of a coordinated Imperial assault. It includes three closely-clustered star systems to the Galactic West of Vior'la Sept, on the edge of the Damocles Gulf - Gy’en, Bur’gonia, and the central system of Pa’rees. The first two systems are small, with 4 planets each, of which only one is habitable without major alterations. Pa’rees contains 3 worlds within the range of Tau ecological sensitivity, including the lush world that bears its Sept’s name, along with 5 other worlds.
Gy’en’s prime world, Bor’do, is a center for the Water Caste’s diplomatic and trade missions to the surrounding space. Its main continent is a verdant agricultural center, and the breadbasket of the Sept as a whole. Its biosphere seems to have recovered quickly from the battles that drove the Tau back across the Damocles Gulf at the end of the Second Sphere Expansion. Construction of urban centers has progressed rapidly, and the planet has become a place of rest and relaxation for the Ga’liccan colonists, and a secluded meeting place for the Sept’s Ethereals to plan future development away from the politics of the capital. Further, its many islands and extensive atolls provide ideal staging grounds for Fire Caste maneuvers and trainingin a variety of conditions, from deserts to tundras. The other planets in the system are uninhabitable - one is little more than an asteroid, orbiting too close to the central star to permit even a landing party. One is a gas giant, which provides rare elements harvested by Earth Caste drones, but little else. Its largest moon, Has, supports an atmosphere - though too cold for terraforming, its icy surface and moderate gravity provides a convenient grounds for the system’s main armory. Keeping the bulk of the system’s active-duty Fire and Air Caste personnel away from Bor’do helps to maintain the latter’s image as a welcoming, luxurious center of culture and peace. The outermost planet of the system is a tiny, barren, moonless rock, useful only as a host for an array of early-warning sensors and drones.
Bur’gonia is likewise a minor system, though here the work of rebuilding a Tau civilization has been painstaking. Its primary world, Al’saas, lies third from its sun, but its rotation is so slow that its “day” lasts a standard month. Accordingly, its arid, unbroken landmass is covered in a variety of bioluminescent fungi, which absorb light for the long period of sunlight before blooming with a silvery glow for the weeks that follow. The Earth Caste sensibly opted to burrow under the surface, where they have begun to construct a complex of forges and factories that will supply much of the Sept’s material needs. Another untouchably overheated planet orbits nearest the sun, and a Death World lies only a little farther out - its atmosphere is drenched in acidic mist, capable of eating through a tank’s armor or spaceship’s hull in a matter of hours. The crystals on its surface, however, are a tempting enough industrial and luxury resource that drones deemed outmoded or unrepairable are sent to collect as many as possible before being decommissioned. Its single, low-gravity moon has been dotted with domes that serve as waystations for the distribution of these precious minerals back to Al’saas and the Sept as a whole. The outermost planet, Al’emand is a supermassive, ferrous mud pit. Constant, planet-wide rainstorms soak the thin soil on the surface, rendering construction or even simple digging a sloppy engineering nightmare. It has been marked for terraforming in the long run, but such a project must wait until the Sept can spare the resources for the inevitable headache of such an effort. One of its moons currently hosts extensive facilities for the production of chemicals and materials too toxic or volatile to be synthesized in the enclosed caves of Al’saas - the carbon smoke these factories spew into the thin atmosphere will in time thicken the air to a level that can support unaided Tau habitation, and the moon will be repurposed then. A third “moon” around Al’emand is in fact an enormous space station which hosts the Sept’s main military fleet.
Pa’rees, the central and largest system, boasts three life-supporting worlds, one Death World, two barren rocks, and two useful but forbidding planets. It was once known by the Imperium, though the Ultramarines who drove out the Tau of the Second Sphere could not spare the time to rebuild it after their reconquest, needed as they were at the Tyrannid Front. First in the “Goldilocks Zone” is a watery, blue world, with tiny jungle islands teeming with reptilian and insectoid life. The Sept’s Kroot warriors have taken to this planet, naming it Jenev, and the Ethereals have largely left it to them in reward for their service. The only moon of Jenev is also habitable, but its tiny size and low gravity make it useful for little more than a spaceport and warehouse. The craggy, volcanic world of E’tal is rich in metals and minerals, and the remains of a massive Imperial manufactorum has begun to be renovated and refitted to supply the Fire Caste with tanks and battlesuits, and perhaps soon the superheavy flyers of the main Tau armies. Finally, the crown jewel of Sept is the planet for which it is named: Ga’licca, a temperate world ideally suited for sentient life. Though its apex indigenous species are largely boar-like, predatory mammals, the Earth Caste has had no trouble penning these creatures into the forests where they dwell. Indeed, the regulated hunting of these animals within such preserves has become a favorite sport for the warriors of the Fire Caste who largely populate Ga’licca, eager as they are to maintain and refine their prowess against these fierce, tricky beasts. The remaining lands provide ample food, and the world is self-sustaining - it can even afford to export certain native delicacies, especially in trade for precious Bur’gonian crystal. The government of the Sept is run here, and the planet therefore plays host to sprawling cities that house the administrative, technological, and intellectual infrastructure of the young settlement. Thanks to the close proximity of these learned cultures with the Sept’s Fire Caste warriors, the officer corps has quickly become known for their erudition and attention to the theory of war. Lying beyond Ga’licca, two planets and one moon bear mention. Of the moon, little is known, outside the inner circle of Ethereal leaders and the military elite. It is literally a black mass, undetectable without careful attention to infrared radiation, as it is locked in an orbit around its dead planet that perpetually shadows it from the system’s sunlight. Rumors fly that it serves as a testing facility for experimental weapons systems. The remaining noteworthy planets are, respectively, a dome-dotted mining/manufacturing hub called Le’ohn, and a sizable but airless world at the outside of the system, that hosts an observation and defense post. The natural caves have been sealed off from the surface, connected by tunnels, and filled with breathable air for the few warriors assigned there. Their numbers are filled out by patrol drones, while a subterranean spaceport offers a last stop for ships about to enter interstellar space.
The culture of the 3-star Sept is largely a product of its isolation. The youngest and most remote of the new settlements, communication with the main body of the Tau Empire is slow, trade slower still, and the possibility of reinforcement in the event of invasion utterly remote. As such, Ga’liccans are a self-reliant, ever vigilant people, simultaneously eager to build ties with intelligent species on nearby worlds, but careful to guard their borders. The supreme Ethereal, Aun’ghien, sets a tone of vigilance and circumspection in outside dealings, especially with mankind, whose brutal crusade still haunts him. His caution should not be mistaken for fear, however, for he is fully confident in his military support. Led by the young Commander O’Condae, nicknamed Brightstar for his deceptive tactics and promising talents, and supported by his audacious lieutenant Clearwind, the Ga’liccan forces have arrived in their new home, determined not to abandon it again.
Summary: Ga’licca Sept (*Sun, @planet, %Moon; dead/useless planets omitted)
*Gy’en
@bor’do (trade/ag/vacation world)
@gy’en III (gas giant), %Has (armory)
@gy’en IV (observation/defense)
*Bur’gonia
@bur’gonia II (Death World/crystal mining), %(Crystal warehouse)
@al’saas (subterranean factories)
@al’emand (mud), %(toxic materials plants), %(naval base/shipyard)
*Pa’rees
@jenev (archipelagos, Kroot home), %(warehouse)
@e’tal (mountainous, manufactorum)
@ga’licca (capital, paradise world)
@pa’rees V (gas giant), %Black Moon (?weapons testing?)
@le’ohn (mining, manufacture)
@pa’rees VIII (defense/observation/last stop)
Supreme Ethereal: Aun’ghien
High Commander: Brightstar/O’Condae - XV8
Lieutenant Commander: Clearwind/O’Malay - XV25
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