Echidea

Echidea

(Cosmos)

Type

Planet

Diameter

1-1/2

Mass

4-1/2

Gravity

×2

Atmosphere

Thin

Year length (PST)

44 days

Day length (PST)

6 hours

System

Suskillon system

Source: The God-Host Ascends, pg(s). 62

Echidea is the first planet in the Suskillon system. Its main resource is an exceptionally durable abrasive suitable for numerous industrial applications.

Geography

Echidea is a dense, rocky world with a thin atmosphere that quickly rotates around its star. Over the aeons, its shifting and grinding tectonic plates have produced between them millions of tons of fine-grained grit, even more durable than synthetic diamond nanorods.

History

When the people of Suskillon built their first starships, they mostly ignored Echidea, finding it a waste of time to haul its rocks from its gravity well. The first Suskilloners to land on Echidea were a band of scavengers who sought to salvage an expensive solar probe that crashed on the planet, in the process discovering the grit that is far more valuable than the probe itself.

Within several years, many corporations had come to Echidea to harvest the abrasive. Since it can only be produced by aeons of grinding (and not by manually pounding the stone), companies could only harvest and ship the grit, sometimes darting through the plates moments before they crashed. When Echidea Powder discovered a safe method and landed lucrative contracts, it quickly took control of the planet.

Inhabitants

Echidea Powder currently rules the planet, having taken over many clients and moving their headquarters to Echidea itself, but many competitors seek to contest their supply and designs. As a result, Echidea has become a hotbed of corporate spies, cutting-edge design and dangerous mining.