Soma III's vital statistics

Here is a write up of SomaIII......(subject to revision)
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©2006 by Nightguy

SOMA III

Location: in the Outer-Rim territory near Hutt Space. This binary system with three planets is within the Somantus Asteroid Belt and mostly unknown for this reason.

System information: The Asteroid belt is highly unstable and more of a 'cloud' in reality. The three planets are known as SomaI, II, and III. Only the third is able to support Humaniod life. The other two have atmospheres too thick (I) or too thin (II) and are generally inhospitable. The system’s wealth comes from it’s rich Durelium mines and a small side industry in rare gems (including Adgean).
The area is a Force-Well and filled with a sort of “static” that non-adapted Force Users find very disconcerting. Personal use of the Force is mostly unaffected (though a bit harder than usual), but using the Force to reach out (either to affect outside objects/people or to sense things) is quite difficult to the uninitiated. A skilled Force-User can attain partial adaptation in a few hours (3-7) of dedicated attempts/study. It usually takes a full week to be able to operate at or very near full effectiveness with the Force.

Having no captive Moons the planets of the Soma system rely upon the ever-roiling asteroid cloud for tidal influences and gravitational stability. Once inside the Belt the system still provides some navigational trouble in the way of radiation interference from the binary star (which is bounced of the asteroid belt and echoed back through the system). This makes dead reckoning the most dependable way to fly unless a ship’s systems are properly shielded.

Climate: Temperate/Varied

Terrain: Varied. ( 6 major arid mountain ranges, N/S polar caps, lush forests and grasslands, swamps, 2 desserts, 1 large ocean, 2 smaller landlocked seas, and many uncharted islands). There are 3 continents: 1 settled since the other two are smaller by far and have no durelium deposits that can be affordably mined. Not much is known about the other two continents. The smaller continents are only visited by hunters looking for exotic (usually dangerous) trophies.

Other Characteristics:
· High Gravity world (approx. 1.75x standard).
· Only inhabitable planet in a system of three. Soma I & II being smaller, normal gravity, worlds which are generally unsuitable for humanoid life due to atmospheric conditions. Each does have mining interests in Durelium, which are run from Soma III.
· System is thick with asteroids and other detritus that form a wide belt and make navigation difficult to say the least.

General description:
Soma III is a high gravity, frontier, and mining world. It is comparable in size to Earth (though a bit larger) and has a wide variety of climates as noted above. The main industry centers on Durelium mining (used in the construction of Hyperdrives), which takes place on all three planets and is run from Soma III. There are two mining consortiums on Soma III. The Dure-Light Consortium is the larger, legitimate, operation. It runs mining on Soma III & I. The second consortium is Nal-lium Systems. This, smaller, Hutt run, operation controls mining on Soma II and parts of the Asteroid Belt. Both operations have side enterprises in rare gemstones (including Adegan), which are a by-product of their Durelium mining. There is one spaceport on Soma III (controlled by Dure-Light) and the population is predominantly human (70%) though other races are present and relations tend to be amicable and, largely, non-violent. Most of the non-humans work for Nal-Lium. Humans have been here long enough to adapt and most are thick muscled/boned and rarely top 1.85 meters in height. Due to the nature of the twin-suns in the Somantus system humans, and some other species of inhabitants, have developed the fledgling ability to see into the infrared spectrum. For most this is still on the level of an instinctual ability. Miners and those specially trained are more aware of this ability and have learned to rely upon it. This also means that many of the animal species on SomaIII also have this ability.
There are 8 settlements on Soma III, none of them very large (< 1,200,000 total pop. for all eight). One near each mountain range (where the mines are), one located near the larger of the two landlocked seas (a resort of sorts), and one located on the coast of the ocean (with the forest between it and open grassland).
Elected militia who are backed up by both the Dure-Light security forces and the Hutt enforcers keep local order. Clashes between these two “support” groups are common, but usually non lethal.

The Empire is largely unaware of Soma III due to the Hutts influence there. Dure-Light protects its source location by the use of intermediary distributors and the Hutts just don’t tell anyone. Gem Smuggling is rather common but Durelium smuggling gets everyone after you since it’s their main meal ticket.

Flora & Fauna:
Due to the high gravity most flora and fauna are somewhat squat and wide. There are numerous fruits that are prized by those familiar with them, but haven’t been exploited due to the mining control. The Hutts favor some of the reptiles of the swamps as delicacies.

Notable Geo/Bio-Hazards:
Swamplands are dangerous. Quicksand, along with carnivorous plants and poisonous reptiles make them perilous at best.

Polar regions are extremely unfriendly with extremely low temperatures, ice storms, and rolling “dead zones” where most technology won’t work due to a combination of high Ionization and EM flux. This seems to have something to do with the Binary Star’s radiation and solar flare activity, but has so far eluded dependable prediction.

A few volcanoes exist in the mountain ranges bordering the desert. They occasionally spit and fume a bit but haven’t erupted in the entire time the planet has been colonized (300yrs. Or so) and they seem stable.

The ocean is largely unexplored and most sea traffic is of the recreational variety and within a few miles (5) of shore. There are LARGE fish living in the oceans and they usually stay out far enough to remain unseen by what naval traffic there is. Occasional boiling points arise in the Deep Ocean as well as Whirlpools. They seem to be connected as the one follows the other in the same area.

Grasslands are predominantly home to very large (wide really) grazers akin to Bison who are preyed upon by 800lb. felines with six legs, long tails, and very nasty attitudes.