Puluhan

Puluhan (/puˈlʊhan/) is hell. The air is not only acrid and choking, but also hotter than a blast furnace. The very rock beneath one's feet might sizzle at your safesuit boots and on a particularly hot day may even ooze and flow like pitch. The planet’s equatorial zones are marked by lava flows and dense clouds of smoke and sulfur. No complex life can exist on this world except for at the far poles. At both the North and South, liquid water manages to pool in briney seas clogged with an invasive algae.

To the Puluhanni, however, it is not hell, but home.

Human Population
Almost two hundred million people live in and around the planet. Through genetic engineering, the humans of the world adapted their morphology over centuries to suit these diabolical conditions. Puluhanni are distinct from other humans and are characterized by thick, callused skin, an absence of body hair, and nictitating membranes. As well, Puluhanni have alien gut flora that allow them to digest otherwise toxic algae. Despite the extensive modifications to their genetics and bodies, the Puluhanni remain susceptible to everyday environmental conditions and wear breathing masks and protective clothing outside. Most humans live in Puluhan’s polar regions where water remains in its liquid form for most of the year, the air is cleaner, and life persists.

Both midnight sun and polar nights play an important role in Puluhanni society and the planetary economy. During each pole’s summer, migrant laborers farm the algae pools processing it into a variety of foodstuffs and bio-fuels. The winter often coincides with an uptick in industrial production and several midnight festivals held in the cooler air.

Puluhanni fashion varies with the season. In summer, insulated safesuits often in light or pale colors are adorned with wide-brimmed hats, loose shawls, capes, and ponchos. Indoors summer wear often favors short and revealing clothing. Winter fashion typically comprises loose robes and headscarves that keep the body cool.

History
Puluhan’s north and south were for centuries effectively isolated from each other; thousands of kilometers of lava makes terrestrial travel impossible and caustic clouds prevent in-atmosphere transit. Distrust and suspicion grew and with the advent of suborbital space flights between the two poles and several minor wars broke out. After decades of conflicts, leaders from North and South, fearing an escalating arms race and seemingly inevitable mutually assured destruction, met on the gleaming moon of Mutiara to sign a peace treaty. The Mutiara Accords created a coalition government and structured mutual aid between the two halves of the planet. Friendly rivalries, mostly in the realm of sports, persist but the connections between north and south has alleviated most animosity.

Several species of void fauna that flock to the planet Puluhan. Some suspect that precursor artifacts scattered in the fall of the Jitendra brought megafauna here. These megafuana are universally dangerous, not the least of which is the Antaboga. A particularly volatile creature, Antaboga are short tempered and possessive. They resemble a colossal snake with a large razor-lined mouth, scales, and a mane of spiney frills. Able to wrap around and crush ships with it’s constrictor-like body, an Antaboga in orbit can spell doom for space travel. For Puluhan, since the era of great migration of megafauna, these void snakes have placed a stranglehold on transit off of the planet.

Several months ago, a fleet of whalers and pirates from the Tahora Whai followed a migration of megafauna through the depths of space into Nusantara and rediscovered the system. Initial engagements and raids against Puluhanni vessels led to Whai victories but the Puluhanni fought admirably and honorably. Planetary authorities contacted the Whai, and a duel of sorts was arranged over the militarized moon station of Mutiara. Local defenses accustomed to defending against the Antaboga were overwhelmed by Whai link-aided coordinated tactics and boarding actions. After the conflict, the great serpent—awakened by the battle—attacked the Whai. A handful of pirate ships drew the Antaboga away and kept it busy dodging and weaving amidst the Karang asteroid belt.

Despite unfavorable numbers, the Tahora Whai secured the garrison moon after less than a week of fighting. Diplomats from the whaling faction sat with Puluhanni leaders and discussed the future of Puluhan. Talks between the Whai and Puluhanni lasted six weeks, the whole time crews engaged the Antaboga in the asteroid belt allowing safe trade between the planets of the Nusantara system. Authorities agreed that a permanent Whai influence in the area was beneficial to all parties and, in appreciation for the assistance and protection, gifted the Tahora Whai a fleet of heavy gunboats. Too slow and cumbersome to outmaneuver the Antaboga, this fleet was graciously accepted by the Whai and improved with various Dynaean technologies and salvaged arms. Under the Whai, the new fleet with several promising new crewmates was launched and sent to reconnect with the rest of Beacon Space.

Holidays and Festivals

 * Long Noon  - The summer solstice and the middle of the longest day of the year, coincides with the opposite hemisphere celebrating the Midnight Solstice. In-door beach parties and Puluhanni barbecues are the most common ways to celebrate.
 * Midnight Solstice  - The winter solstice and the middle of the longest night, coincides with the opposite hemisphere celebrating Long Noon. An outdoor party beneath the stars with live music and dance. It is the pillar of the Long Night Festivals.
 * Long Night Festivals  - Under the stars of polar night when the sun falls below the horizon for more than a day, a series of religious and civil holidays take advantage of the cooler weather for large outdoor gatherings.
 * Equinox  - A biannual gathering of family and celebration of the change of the seasons. The months on either side of Equinox are the highest period of travel for Puluhanni.
 * The Northern Spring Equinox and Southern Fall Equinox is also Unification Day and a memorial for those lost during the wars before the Mutiara Accords.

Mutiara
A barren grey rock over Puluhan that appears to shine white under the planet's thick clouds. The moon's natural surface is highly and easily bounces the light of the Nusantara star.

Mutiara was the location of a pivotal treaty, The Mutiara Accords, unifying the north and south of the planet. A large monument has been erected in memory of the unification. Additionally, a modest population of researchers, astronomers, and soldiers live in bases on Mutiara.

The moon was briefly held under martial occupation by the Tahora Whai until diplomatic talks with Puluhanni officials reached a consensus for the future protection of the planet and Nusantara system.

Pelamun
Little more than a captured asteroid, this moon has been built upon and was stabilized as an observation station for tours of Puluhan's history. Full cruises take roughly a week and are often all-expenses-paid vacations.

Shipsgrave
The location of a fateful maneuver by the ancient Jitendra fleet roughly six-hundred years ago, the moon is surrounded by a field of space debris from that ensuing battle. A thin atmosphere clings to this dense rock. The rocks are stained red with iron oxides from centuries of salvage works breaking down carcasses and wrecks leaving piles of junk.

The Putschjunta
Shipsgrave is currently inhabited by a species of avian sapients, known as the Putschjunta, who salvage the space hulks above and build nests out of the ship parts. They behave much like corvids and treasure shiny or iridescent objects above almost everything else. A common idiom of the Putschjunta is “One birds trash is another bird’s treasure.” Their language consists mostly of pops, clicks, and whistles. Putschjunta organize themselves under tribes or gangs known as Flights.


 * Notable Putschjunta:


 * Iro Talon - Leader of the flight Armory Down
 * “Rubic” - Armory Down lieutenant and hoverbiker

Altered Humanity
The humans on this world are visibly and drastically different from normal humanity. They may have additional limbs, new sensory organs, or other significant changes. Were these from ancestral eugenic manipulation, strange stellar mutations, or from an environmental toxin unique to this world? Enemies: Friends: Complications: Things: Places:
 * Biochauvanist local
 * Local experimenter
 * Mentally unstable mutant
 * Local seeking a “cure”
 * Curious xenophiliac
 * Anthropological researcher
 * Alteration is contagious
 * Alteration is necessary for long-term survival
 * Locals fear and mistrust non-local humans
 * Original pretech mutagenic equipment
 * Valuable biological byproduct from the mutants
 * ”Cure” for the altered genes
 * Record of the original colonial genotypes
 * Abandoned eugenics laboratory
 * An environment requiring the mutation for survival
 * A sacred site where the first local was transformed

Pilgrimage Site
The world is noted for an important spiritual or historical location, and might be the sector headquarters for a widespread religion or political movement. The site attracts wealthy pilgrims from throughout nearby space, and those with the money necessary to manage interstellar travel can be quite generous to the site and its keepers. The locals tend to be fiercely protective of the place and its reputation, and some places may forbid the entrance of those not suitably pious or devout. Enemies: Friends: Complications: Things: Places:
 * Saboteur devoted to a rival belief
 * Bitter reformer who resents the current leadership
 * Swindler conning the pilgrims
 * Protector of the holy site
 * Naive offworlder pilgrim
 * Outsider wanting to learn the sanctum’s inner secrets
 * The site is actually fake
 * The site is run by corrupt and venal keepers
 * A natural disaster threatens the site
 * Ancient relic guarded at the site
 * Proof of the site’s inauthenticity
 * Precious offering from a pilgrim
 * Incense-scented sanctum
 * Teeming crowd of pilgrims
 * Imposing holy structure