Diaspora

The Diaspora

(Cosmos)

Titles

The Lost Ones

Type

Asteroid belt

Adjective

Diasporan

Diameter

Varies

Mass

(total) 2

Gravity

Varies

Atmosphere

Special

Year length (PST)

Varies

Day length (PST)

Varies

Orbits

Sun

System

Pact Worlds system

Inhabitants

Sarcesians

Images of the Diaspora

Source: Core Rulebook, pg(s). 448-449

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The Diaspora is an asteroid belt in the Pact Worlds system located between the orbits of the spaceship Idari and the planet Eox. It was formed from the shattered remains of the twin planets Damiar and Iovo, and is home to the descendants of their inhabitants as well as numerous Free Captains and other ne'er-do-wells.

Geography

The Diaspora is made of millions of asteroids whose diameters range from less than a metre to hundreds of miles. Due to the vast size of the Diaspora, collisions between these asteroids are rare. Most are barren, airless rocks, while others are self-contained sarcesian biospheres and artificial habitats. Only 8% of all asteroids are inhabited. Due to the magical nature of the catastrophe that created it, the Diaspora is full of supernatural phenomena. Rock and metal dust can often be found floating between asteroids, occasionally creating hazards for spaceships navigating the Diaspora.

Nisis and the River Between

The largest celestial body in the Diaspora is the planetoid Nisis. With a 600-mile diameter, it is mostly made of fresh water with an icy crust and is home not only to sarcesians but aquatic predators. It is also the source of the River Between, a waterway surrounded by a breathable atmosphere inside a cylindrical containment field that flows through the Diaspora, connecting many asteroids and crèche worlds.

Long used as a popular means of travel within the Diaspora, the River Between has become dangerous in recent times and travelers have reported being attacked by "diaspora wyrms", leading to a sharp decline in traffic. The water of the River Between has also become noticeably darker while the size of the planetoid Nisis has slowly been growing.

Other asteroids

Other named asteroids of note (in alphabetical order) include the Abattoir, Broken Rock (seat of the piratical Free Captains), Cairn, Chainbreaker One, Congregant Halls, Footprint of the First Ones, the Forgotten King, Giant's Toe, Heorrhahd, House of the Void, Parley, Refuge, Sejada, Songbird Station, and Wailing Stone.

Government

The Diaspora lacks a central government and is treated as a protectorate by the Pact Worlds government. Several factions within the Diaspora send non-voting representatives to the Pact Council. Among them, the native sarcesians are the most numerous and frequently petition for full member status, claiming that they represent all of the Diaspora's residents as a whole. In contrast, the sarcesians themselves care little about others as long as they do not infringe on a given settlement's freedom. Similarly, the dwarves only maintain order in their settlements and are indifferent toward others.

History

The Diaspora came into being millennia before the Gap, when the planets Damiar and Iovo were shattered by a magical superweapon built by the elebrians of Eox.

Inhabitants

The dominant species of the Diaspora is the sarcesians, descendants of Damiar and Iovo's people. They maintain a number of carefully terraformed crèche worlds where they live and raise children. They usually allow outsiders to pass through their territory, but fiercely defend them from invasions, especially from Eoxians.

Another major group is the Free Captains, a notorious bunch of pirates whose members operate across the entire Diaspora from their seat of power, Broken Rock. Dwarves are the next largest group, controlling numerous mining operations and traditional Star Citadels. Other inhabitants include refugees from Golarion, a group of androids called the Refugists who are constructing their own homeworld, asteroid miners, raiders unaffiliated with the Free Captains, mercenaries, merchants, biologists, mysterious monks living in the House of the Void, and outsiders who slipped through the veil between planes.

Law enforcement

In the dark, lawless corners of the Diaspora, society breaks down. Hellknights sometimes come there to hunt criminals but usually keep to civilised places. Independent cells of Stewards occasionally operate in the Diaspora to watch over sinister plots and arrest those responsible. Nevertheless, piracy remains common, as the Free Captains continuously push law enforcement groups away from their 'free' territory.

Fauna

Various dangerous creatures make their home on the Diaspora's asteroids and in the airless void between them: void hags, asterays, shantaks and so on. Even a seemingly-empty asteroid might be home to a deadly dormant virus or a monster held in stasis.