Vesk-6

Vesk-6

(Cosmos)

Type

Planet

Diameter

1/2

Mass

1/12

Gravity

1/3

Atmosphere

Normal

Year length (PST)

20 years

Day length (PST)

54 hours

Orbits

Ghavaniska

System

Ghavaniska system

Inhabitants

Pahtras

Source: Near Space, pg(s). 50

Vesk-6, called Pulonis by the native pahtras, is the sixth planet in the Veskarium. An unusually warm world of jungles despite its distance to the sun, Vesk-6 is covered in a magnetic field that disrupts technology.

Geography

Vesk-6 is a small, humid world, with uniformly high temperatures across all latitudes. Its landmass is concentrated in a supercontinent, covered in lush jungles with the exception of the Holy Land in the southern hemisphere, the main battlefield of the Veskarium invasion which never recovered from the devastation. Adapted to the low gravity, Vesk-6's towering trees can be as tall as mountains on other planets. Vesk-6's own mountains are even taller, perhaps impossibly so from an outsider's view.

Cartographers often split Vesk-6's superocean into three smaller bodies of water: the Ketemare Ocean, which is relatively calm due to its distance from shore, and the Tereltos Sea and Tideflight Ocean, which are subject to extreme tides caused by the gravity of Vesk-6's two moons, Vesk-6.1 and Vesk-6.2 (called Hinirinn and Yolaku by the pahtras). These tides can reach for miles inland every day.

Vesk-6 is covered in a very powerful magnetosphere that allows it to keep its atmosphere and generates magnetic winds which quickly destroys technology. Without proper shielding, even simple tools can become unreliable, while more advanced technology is useless or even deadly. Its core was apparently altered some time in prehistory, which explains its unusually warm temperature; however, there are no proof or ruins on Vesk-6 of any ancient aliens who might have been responsible.

Government

The Veskarium maintains a garrison in Command 6, Vesk-6's planetary capital, under the leadership of the relatively liberal High Despot Kavadroz. The Veskarium only directly rules over Command 6; elsewhere, they appoint consuls, both vesk and pahtra, to cooperate with local pahtra nations, whose treaties with the empire granted them unusual autonomy. Nevertheless, some groups remain hostile to vesk rule, seek to reclaim Pulonis for the pahtras, and have come into conflict with vesk peacekeepers.

In 322 AG, a combination of Veskarium forces being distracted by the Drift Crash and false rumours that Teret Kahan, the first pahtra to sit on the Council of Despots, got disposed of by the Veskarium caused pahtra partisans to intensify their activities, besieging many cities. High Despot Kavadroz declared martial law, while the pahtra soldiers under his command are torn between their species and the empire.

Inhabitants

The feline pahtras are the dominant intelligent species on Vesk-6, as well as one of the smallest. Due to its low gravity, many wild creatures on Vesk-6 are truly colossal, like the sky vipers. While vesk patrols and pahtra warriors protect most major settlements from dangerous wildlife, they risk being overcome during population surges or disruptions. As its magnetic fields intefere with technology, most of Vesk-6's surface is wilderness, untouched by both pahtra governments and Veskarium colonisers.

Vesk-6's other intelligent species is the hymothoas, who are despised by pahtra and vesk alike. Their motives are largely unknown, though they seem even more hostile to vesk occupation than most pahtras are.

Most vesk see Vesk-6 as dangerous and inhospitable. All vesk facilities are protected by magnetic shielding, but are always one failure away from destruction. Some consider this situation precarious; others see it as thrilling. As a result, most vesk living on Vesk-6 are survivalists who seek to improve their strength and endurance, or those who were punished with an assignment there.