Hello All!

Woah! Is this possible!? A thread about a planet that's neither Dusk nor Malfi

Today were going to talk about the Fydae System and Junos in particular. First thing's first- Adeptus, any mention of those systems in that record?

I do believe that the only official mentions of the systems are on the official map- Wherein three planets are dealt with: Fydae Minos [Agri-world], Kessae, [Frontier World] and Junos [Mining World.] Officially, the "hat" of this system is the "Constant pirate attacks."

In Disciples of the Dark Gods- we talk about Sutter's Rock, a mining outpost on an asteroid in the Fydae Great Cloud that was completely obliterated after being ravaged by a zombie plague.

But what do we REALLY know about this place? Not much! Scouring the internet for information, I came across a few different interpretations and ideas.

Now, the location that interests me the most of the three was Junos [as I was looking for a mining world where I could run the next investigation, and it had to stay in the Malfian Subsector for promiximity. The only other option in the world was so far away, I decided to give Junos a shot.]

On Junos, a lot of people had very good ideas- one of the "submit your scenario" contest contenders had his mission take place on Junos- but I found that the location, save for some tunnels, was not very important: the mission can virtually be set anywhere.

One Idea that I really liked and felt I should share with you guys [with the consent of its author, of course] is Junos as a planet ravaged by environmental decay- so much so its population had to take refuge underground, living in the mines.

"Junos

Junos is one of three planets in the Fydae system, located in the southern reaches of the Malfian region and supplies various minerals and metals to the nearby forge world of JXM A18Z. These materials produce parts for the Calixis fleet, which is stationed in the Malfian region.

When it was first settled, Junos was a pleasant, green world with a very low gravity; but over the millenia, heavy industry and the fallout of heavy strip mining has polluted the atmosphere to such an extent that most of the air has boiled off into space, forcing everyone below ground into the mines. Unlike most Imperial planets, this has actually levelled the playing field for the populace somewhat as the noble families generally fled to Malfia rather than face life underground. With the entire populace living in the tunnel system, never seeing sky or breathing fresh air, life on Junos is more akin to being born on a spacecraft than living on a planet.

The habitation areas fill old, mined out areas of the planet's crust, with the mine shafts sinking down towards the core of the planet. With no oxygen being produced on the planet's surface, only the day to day living quarters and the active tunnels are oxygenated; the miners have to wear sealed helmets with oxygen tanks in order to avoid poisoning from all the dust and gasses released when mining. In order to ensure the smooth delivery of the metals and minerals mined on Junos, a delegation of Adeptus Mechanicus are always present on Junos. They also maintain the air pumps and mining machinery. As a side effect, it is not uncommon for miners on Junos to have some form of low quality cybernetic augmentation, either as a result of the constant fighting, or a mining accident. The high cost of these augmentations are covered by the extortionate insurances the miners are forced to pay as part of their Guild membership. As far as the Guilds see it, it's cheaper and more efficient than trying to recruit and train more miners form off-world.

With no noble families, the mines are now run by a conglomerate of mining clans who make sure Imperial tithes are paid on time. Each clan supplies it's own security details to form the PDF, or fulfill the regimental manpower. As such, corruption is rife within the security services as each clan holds sway over their forces. It is also fairly common practice for each house to "sponsor" local gangs in order to grab terrotiry from rivals under the guise of keeping the peace. All this adds up to a lot of people becoming very skilled in tunnel fighting as everyone tries to keep hold of what is theirs."

We have Endtransmission to thank for this great write-up. He'll be joining us soon to expand and build on top of this solid foundation- the back-story of his Imperial Guards regiment for the table-top game.

Now, the investigation I'd like to run involves a lot of social unrest [exploitation, dangerous working conditions, low pay- typical Imperium!] But with a twist. Based on another Call of Cthulhu scenario I'd read trough ages ago: a couple of brothers, owners of two ore mines, have a deep dark secret.

The first mine recruits "privileged" men and women, pays them well, offers them benefits and keeps them generally happy (Save for the occasional disapearance or underground accident, nothing unusual)- even though they hardly have to work and checking the books reveals that the mine itself doesn't seem to be making any profit. however, the other mine recruits locals and low-life rabble- they are payed crumbs but overworked in dangerous conditions (almost as if they were working for two!): but the Ore is high quality, worth a fortune. Obviously there's something fishy going on, and as the acolytes come to find out, one of the two mines is just a front for something much, much worse...

I like the atmosphere portrayed by Endtran, mission in his Junos. It would both justify social unrest, enhance the danger of the mines, and present yet another colorful local for the acolytes to explore. Let's see if we can add a bit more life into it though, shall we?

For example, what form would the cult of the Emperor take down here? Perhaps a Giant low hanging crystal that bathes the "central hub" in light. Whistling winds, coming from the depths or open shafts, could lead lost miners back home- giving the Emperor yet another form.

Speaking of which, this central hub needs a name! Something that fits with the theme. "The Town Below" type thing.

Underground rivers or lake would be central to the survival of the local population and I would guess that they would grow their own Grox- and I mean that literally: morbidly obese grox, squeezed together in cages- having long lost the use of their now atrophied limbs, perhaps even having turned blind from the constant darkness.

So, Junos- what do you guys think about it?

Saldre said:

I haven't found very much:

FYDAE SYSTEM (FYDAE MINOS, JUNOS, KESSAE; FYDAE GREAT CLOUD)-
Agri-World, Mining World, Frontier World; Malfian Subsector
Brief description IH:171
Diogenes IV Research Station anchored in pulsar cluster IH:157
Fydae Strain DotDG:145

Sounds like an interesting place and I can see that certain less than reputable people could make their havens among the tunnels of this world.

Sorry it took a while to get over here.

I'm glad you liked the write up. It's been a while since I started it... now to try and remember where I was going with it all! Also, my apologies for the awful writing in that part that was posted; it's not something I'm all that great at. Ideas yes, getting them out in a coherent manner... not so much

Ok, so these are some other notes and thoughts that I had for Junos. Tonight I'm going to cover some ideas on religion and the structure of Junos community.

The way I saw it, religion would be very important to the miners on Junos as they are working in what (at times) borders on complete vacuum in sub-standard equipment; even most of the criminal elements want someone to bring them safely back from the tunnels. While most people are faithful, you do tend to find that there's a high number of puritanical preachers around, blaming the latest accidents on some poor "unfaithful" worker who turned form the Emperor's Light.

The majority of the workers live around a couple of central core wells that were drilled into the planet; the tops of these are covered with massive pressurised domes. Around the wells you will find tiers of offices, shops and warehouses, with accommodation being in cramped tunnels and caverns. The overall impression I had when planning out Junos was something akin to the Mars colony in Total Recall. Dark, dingy and lacking a centralised Arbites presence*.

As you go down further into the planet, things get rougher and more dangerous as what law there is doesn't reach down that far. It is in these areas that cults can spring up as people turn to other sources of protection in the tunnels. However, as soon as rumour of a cult reaches one of the many preachers, it is not uncommon to find a lynch mob takes things into their own hands.

There are tiny shrines at each of the airlocks into the tunnels where people leave offerings either for their own safe return, or for the safety of loved ones. You will also find that some of the larger mining guilds will have preachers working as shift leaders,

As I mentioned in the original text, the planetary govenor and the main families fled the planet when the atmosphere burned off, leaving behind nothing more than an office run by a family retainer. The Arbites do have a presence on Junos, but over time have become a weak and ineffective organisation. Every now and then a review is done by Malfian Arbitrator General, but the Guilds have managed to engineer things in such a way that everything looks spotless. Most of the law enforcement is done by guild enforcers, who then hand the surviving criminals over to the local arbites in order to maintain the image of a decent police structure.

Tomorrow I'll try and spin out a bit more of what's happened to the planet and it's political structure.

I just noticed the question about food.

I saw Junos becoming like life on board a space ship. Water is heavily recycled and local food crops are all mould and fungus based nutrient mixes that will grow in dark, dank tunnels. I thought that other planets in the region might pay for their ores with food as much as (if not more than) money. The ore haulers and Rogue Trader vessels would arrive loaded up with food (dried rations, protein blocks... really lifeless high density stuff) and leave full of ores, unrefined promethium and other rare gasses.

The black market on Junos would be for higher quality food, where getting a piece of actual meat would cost a miner 2 months wages, if not more as it has to be smuggled in. To throw a dinner party with meat, vegetables or fruit is a rarity that only the Guild masters can afford.

Alcohol is fairly easy to come by... if you don't mind home brewed spirits with a distinct taste that is unlike anything else in the universe, except perhaps paint stripper. Better spirits and wines are available on the black market, but do not command as high a price as fresh food.

Sounds like an interesting setting. A few thoughts:

Oxygen production/distribution would be a big deal in a setting like that. I remember an old Judge Dredd comic from the '80s where someone in a lunar colony didn't pay his oxygen bill, and recieved a friendly notice that his service would be suspended until his account was current (he suffocated immediately after reading the notice...). Maybe the Bad Guys in your scenario control the oxygen flow in some of the settlements? That might provide a clue for the investigating PCs- looking into the suffocation deaths of certain colony members and finding out that their common thread leads back to the Bad Guys? -And/or the Bad Guys could, late in the scenario, cut off all oxygen to the area, either as a mass human sacrifice, or simply to cover their escape (forcing a moral delima for the PCs: stay and fix the oxypumps while the Bad Guys get away, or persue the Bad Guys, leaving thousands of Imperial Citizens to die..

Since the surface used to be inhabited before the planet lost its atmosphere, I would definitely contrive a reason for the PCs to don voidsuits and explore one of these now-airless, meteor-pitted ruins. Maybe the Bad Guys have arrainged a meeting with some of the system's space pirates far from prying eyes, and the PCs need to try to interupt them?

It's been many, many years since I last saw it, but I think the movie Outland - the sci-fi remake of High Noon starring Sean Connery- might provide some good insperation for a setting like this.