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The air and oceans are both sweltering hot, leaving the insides of the spires were the serfs live almost unbearably hot while the leadership and their cadre of guards live in air-conditioned luxury. All profits from the Purple Crude trade goes to the warlords, with the serfs only benefiting from a merit system, where those that harvest the most Crude gets slightly better living conditions and the occasional morsel of luxury foods or drink.

Constitutional Dictatorship

Contains gas giant and fuel refinery.

When the Psyker Wars ended, the Knights of Discordia mercenary company received a planet as payment for their services, and renamed it for their goddess. Seeking a simpler life, they forswore violence and advanced technology for a simple life as farmers and craftsmen.

Though the planet has no natural plant or animal life, in the years since the war the mountain valleys that the Discordians inhabit have planted with hardy grasses, pines and other plants, as well as the farms of gene-gineered grain along the bottom of the valleys. Summers on Discordia are short, and the winters harsh, but this seems to be the way the Discordians prefer it, spending their winter evenings in front of fireplaces telling stories of events old and fictional.

Economically the Discordians are mostly self-sufficent, but have a thriving cottage industry with hothouses growing plants for TL4 medical drugs as well as recreational drugs. Foreign traders are not uncommon, though the Discordians also possess two Free Trader vessels with which the trade with the surrounding systems. Though their drugs are not any better than what one can acquire in other TL4 systems, they have established a rustic and naturalistic brand which make their products an easy sale.

On the home front, while physically non-violent, politically and theologically the Discordian settlements are a hot-bed. Discordian religion holds that there must always be an opposing argument, and if a group of Discordians find that they agree on a subject, soon at least one will find at least one point on which their disagree. While debaters will fiercely defend a stance, outsiders might note that as soon as the debate is over, the participants will freely abandon their stance for the winning side.

Though this should not be taken to mean that here are not subjects on which the Discordians do disagree. While originally uniformly democratic, a decade ago during an internal legal crisis the eastern settlements decided to unite under the dictator Sophia Blake. The rest of the Discordians view this choice as somewhat blasphemous, and relations between the two sides are growing increasingly ugly, though still entirely without physical violence. This in addition to many lesser ways in which the Discordians vehemently disagree on issues of politics, moral philosophy and the tenets of Discordia.

Named after: The Serbian word merak refers to a feeling of bliss and the sense of oneness with the universe that comes from the simplest of pleasures. It is the pursuit of small, daily pleasures that all add up to a great sense of happiness and fulfillment.

Thus, until recently, Ram Setu was abandoned. That was until brilliant scientist Ime Okafor returned three decades ago from the world, with a cargo hold full of precious metals and the methods to conquer this world.

Okafor's surveys showed that the activities of the nanobots have pushed many precious metals from the deep mantle towards the surface, making the upper crust incredibly rich. This would not matter, if she had not also found ways to overcome the hostile nature of the world.

The first step for visitor's to Ram Setu, is the massive Shango Station situated in an orbit outside of Ram Setu's magnetic influence. From there one can board space vessels created using technology unaffected by the Okafor Field, and descend to the surface below. The settlements of Ram Setu are built deep below ground, accessed by shafts containing multiple airlocks. The settlements and shafts always contain a higher pressure than the planet's atmosphere, to expel any Sludge that might try to breach the facilities.

Deep below ground the settlements do not attract Sludge from the surface, and the amount of nanobots in the rock of the planet is finite. Establishing a new base is a fight against Sludge excreting from the very rock to tear down the new facility, but after a few weeks the rock exhausts its supply of nanobots and the location becomes safe. As the settlements dig mines into the surrounding rocks, new Sludge is exposed, but as long as proper precautions are taken, the problem is manageable. And the riches uncovered are well worth the expenses.

Over the past three decades, half million people people have emigrated to Ram Setu, first for the mining opportunities, but then to support the vast amounts of people on the surface. Another three hundred thousand live aboard Shango Station, providing high-tech support, and serving as a way station for cargo vessels transporting the ores, as well as other trade vessels now that Shango has become a major trade hub.

Ime Okafor holds significant influence on the world, continuing to explore the world and refining her methods of survival. However, overall the world is a direct democracy, using electronic voting to settle on matters. Most issues are handled locally, with each settlement being its own little polity. Shango station has slowly drifted into deciding most policies of external trade and defense, which is slowly creating some political unrest between them and the settlements below.

The clans are extremely insular, and even though they accept outside traders, as a rule they are exploited ruthlessly. Outsiders won’t ever be “real” members of any clan.