Darkfin

Darkfin

Location	Allegiance	Starport	Climate	Atmosphere	Hydro %
(5.54, -12.57, -2.52)	Independent	III	Frigid	none	86%
Gravity	Diameter	Moons	Avg. Orbit R	Stars	Day Length
0.47	3,727	N/A	N/A	G6 IV	N/A
Population	Government	CR	TL	Resources	Year Length
920,000	AthDem	1/4	9	Abundant	N/A

Languages

Chinese Derived Dialect (“Darkfinese”), Esperanto

Background

The original colony expedition arrived in what would be called the Darkfin system only to find it devoid of readily inhabitable worlds. Their hyper-light drive was failing, and the prospect of returning to stasis for what might be centuries in their already broken down vessel seemed riskier than establishing a colony on a lifeless chunk of rock. Their choices were slim – two tiny planets close to the star or the largest moon orbiting the gas giant. They chose the latter.

The colony struggled at first, having to excavate the moon in order to create a small living space for themselves. The moon itself has more than sufficient resources for construction, and they soon found that basic organics were plentiful and metals were sufficient for tehier needs. Even so, the original colonists themselves had a hard time adapting to the environment, and many died due to living and working conditions.

The first generation lived a hand-to-mouth existence, each new project representing life or death to them. They suffered from bone degradation and muscle loss as well as along term radiation poisoning. They soon realized that, while they could survive, they could not thrive. Not wanting this for their children, they created a genetic upgrade for them, effectively creating a new race within a few generations.

It took several generations, but it was this new race who transformed Darkfin from a subsistence colony into a thriving enterprise. Although their technology had declined over the intervening centuries, they were able to enter into trade with other systems almost immediately after first contact.

 
Today, Darkfin is a well established world with regular trade. Although their base TL is 9, their starport facilities are TL10, and they use a fair number of TL10 items regularly. Their cloud skimmers - the gas mining ships used to obtain rare elements from the gas giant - no longer use fusion rockets, instead relying on imported reactionless engines.

The inhabitants of Darkfin are generally outgoing and friendly. They enjoy meeting offworlders, though they rarely leave their home system. In spite of their openness, there is a deep rooted conservatism to their society, which has contributed to the stagnation in their technological progress.

Darkfinners have a passion for competitive martial arts, enjoying both low-G and zero-G matches. Most of them have at least dabbled in it, as it is part of the physical fitness curriculum in their schools. There are three main styles practiced, and competition among the schools is intense.

Their other passion is for racing old fusion-rocket skimmers. Other systems have similar traditions, and Darkfinners host a race every 5 standard years which usually draws as many as 20 ot 30 foreign skimmers. The occasional Darkfinner will travel for outside races, in which they generally perform well.

Local cuisine is derivative of Chinese food, though all of the protein is plant-based. Most offworlders find at least some of it appealing, and, while it can often be very spicy, there are many dishes which are best described as flavorful rather than hot. The local spirit of choice is a marijuana infused gin.

Port of Darkfin (Class III)

Darkfin has only a small, class III downport. There are surface installations, but the bulk of the port is subterranean. It is sufficient to handle their modest trade volume as well as their skimmers. The facility itself is TL10, though its resources are limited, particularly in the parts it maintains. Common parts are readily available. Rarer parts are unlikely to be had, though there are limited facilities to produce or modify specialty parts.

Government

Darkfin is technically a corporate state. The colony mission was founded as a corporation, with each member having a certain number of shares. Over the first two generations, the corporate charter was revised, and shares (which amount to citizenships) were held equally by everyone who has reached the age of majority.

Every major, and most minor, decisions are voted on collectively. The populace debates individual issues and determines policy. They do have leaders, vestigially given corporate titles. There is a CEO, who is responsible for making global “strategic” decisions on how to implement policy (often subject to approval of the masses), a COO who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of Darkfin, and a CFO, who is responsible for their financial welfare. Administrators are appointed for certain operations. There are administrators in charge of port operations, agriculture, mining, and processing.

Not everything is run by the corporation or subject to direct approval of the citizenry. Small businesses, in particular, are independent (though still subject to regulation and legislation). Most of these are in the service industries, providing entertainment, luxuries, etc., to the populace.

The local laws are generally lax, allowing freedom of action wherever possible. However, there are strict regulations on weapons, particularly those which could damage facilities.

Religion

Most of the populace follows a local variant of Zen Buddhism. Even those who do not subscribe to the religion itself tend to follow the philosophy.

Darkfin Racial Template (59 points)

The Darkfin racial template evolved over several generations through a series of genetic upgrades. As a result, Darkfinners are not compatible with most human-descended races or sub-species. Darkfinners are tall, with vaguely Asiatic features.

Attributes: ST -2 [-20]; DX +1 [20]; HT +1 [10].

Secondary Attributes: HP +1 [2].

Advantages: Compact Frame [1]; Double Jointed [5]; Long Arms [20]; Long Legs [10]; No Muscle or Bone loss in low-G [1]; Radiation Tolerance 2 [5]; Resistant (Disease +8) [5].

Features: Increase height by up to 2’ over the norm for the lowered ST, but weight is

15% to 25% lower than normal. Their compact frame allows them tosqueeze into places that normal people can’t fit, but this is balanced by their extra height (needing to duck under

doors and so on).