Skarkon II is a world on the edge of Molden Heath and the sole habitable planet in the Skarkon system. Its location in space as the gateway to the Great Wildlands makes it a valuable system to hold. However, its remoteness and problems with the terraforming process, life on Skarkon II is hard. Poverty, drug use, crime, and desperation are normal facts of life on the desert planet.
| System | Skarkon |
| Region | Molden Heath |
| Government | Minmatar Republic |
| Population | 12 million |
| Major Exports | Twin Atomic Superconducting Crystals (TASC), Hydrocarbons |
| Major Imports | Food, Entertainment, Medicine |
| Average High | 44°c |
| Average Low | -20°c |
Climate
Skarkon is a dry, unfinished world. Due to difficulties during the terraforming process, life failed to take hold across much of the planet, resulting in a largely barren, arid world. The planet spanning deserts make for mild seasons with little variation in the local weather conditions, although coastal areas still receive moderate rainfall. These areas are highly sought after for their productivity.
Biomes
Coastal Forest – Surrounding Skarkon’s small salty oceans are narrow bands of sparse, scraggly coastal forest. Olive trees are the most widespread tree within these coastal forests due to their drought tolerance and preference for poor soil, but juniper, acacia, catalpas, cedar, and poplar can also be found in these regions.
Coastal Plains – In addition to forests, some coastal areas instead have plains and prairies, featuring a wide variety of wild grasses and flowers. Trees in these regions are few and far between, but despite that there is a substantial amount of wildlife. The majority of the coastal plains have been given over to farming, with only the less productive interface zones remaining wild.
Coastal Living Desert – Not all coastal regions receive sufficient rainfall to support widespread plant life, and coastal deserts are also common on the leeward side of landmasses. These regions do however receive some rainfall, and tend to support a diverse variety of hardy desert plant and animal life.
Interior Steppe – Away from the equator, where the temperatures are cooler, grasses have managed to take hold in some higher altitude interior regions. These interior steppes are often otherwise resource poor and sparsely populated, but nomadic clans do sometimes call these regions home.
Interior Living Desert – Covering most of the surface of Skarkon are deserts of a wide variety. Some of these deserts receive moderate rainfall and are populated by drought tolerant plant species
Erg Seas – In addition to the more habited desert regions, there are also widespread areas consisting of little save for vast and shifting dune seas. Some life call these inhospitable regions home, but they are for the most part empty.
Ngelgnieg – A sizable portion of Skarkon II is covered in land where the terraforming process completely failed. These dead regions, called Ngelgnieg from a matari word for blank canvas, are even more desolate than the desert, containing nothing but rock, sand, and regolith. No living creatures save a few stubborn tribes of humans call these regions home. There are no plants, no animals, not even insects.
Planetary Districts
Skaardisaad District – The only region on Skarkon II not privately held by a megacorporation or major landholding clan, Skaardisaad is also the most populous and most prosperous of the regions of Skarkon II. Skaardisaad contains the planetary capital, skyhook, and most of the world’s major cities.
Masahara District – Privately held by the Minmatar Mining Corporation, the north pole spanning Masahara district is one of the least populated areas of the planet in addition to being one of the most inhospitable. The only major presence in this region are a number of Minmatar Mining Corporation facilities harvesting exotic ices that avoided thawing during the terraforming operations.
Eistumagald District – Privately held by the wealthy Eistumagald Clan, the small sea in the center of the region serves as a source of wealth for the clan. The Eistumagald Clan and their allies are the only ones allowed to call this region home, and they aggressively evict anyone present without permission in their lands.
Sabadaan District – Privately held by the Material Acquisition Company, Sabadaan previously contained some of the largest surface deposits of TASC on the planet. Following the depletion of these surface deposits, the Material Acquisition Company mostly abandoned the holdings, which are now picked over by squatters and scavengers. The Angel Cartel maintains a number of not very secret mines in this region, scraping out TASC from remaining subsurface deposits which MAC could not be bothered with.
Kalilia District – Privately held by DCM, the Kalilia District runs along a large portion of the equator and contains some of the largest uninterrupted regions of Ngelgnieg on the planet. Aside from a small sea it is very dry and barren. The DCM only bothered to extract the most easily reached TASC deposits from this area and although large amounts of TASC are expected to remain in subsurface deposits, no one else has bothered either so far. The region is also roamed by a number of large mobile bases operated by less scrupulous corporate entities who have seen no reason to stop squatting on the lands abandoned by DCM.
Donchalia District – Privately held by the Donchaliald Clan, this district is dominated by another large sea. The Donchaliald clan allow access to this sea to be purchased and it features a number of fairly wealthy fishing towns all along its perimeter, but no major cities have developed in the region and it remains relatively sparsely populated.
Ishohuolvi District – Privately held by the CBD corporation, this district once contained some of the richest TASC deposits on the planet. CBD has unlike most of the other corporations operating on Skarkon, continued to hold onto its mining operations, sending mines deep into the skin of the world, and to this day they continue extracting TASC from deep mines. Despite ruinous and torturous worker conditions, the CBD is never want for employees on the impoverished world. Today all CBD operations on Skarkon are based out of the industrial city of Iddiserigard. Ishohuolvi also contains a very large interior region of Ngelgnieg, into which the local clans send people for vision quests and in which the CBD occasionally tests new weapons technology.
Gulormola District – Privately held by the Minmatar Mining Corporation, this district once acted as the hub of terraforming operations on the planet. The MMC quickly stripped the district’s few TASC deposits, but intended to convert the region into a prosperous agricultural and industrial hub which would serve as a center for food production and commercial and industrial development. To that end they founded the city of Sa’kak and invested large amounts of resources into brute forcing the region’s terraforming. However, this process largely failed and the MMC abandoned the district’s population to a miserable fate. Major parts of Gulormola are barren wastelands covered by dead soils which the MMC imported to grow crops on. Dead and abandoned settlements litter the district and the Angel presence in this region is unparalleled.
Segrahald District – Privately held by the Segrahald Clan, this south pole spanning region has an extremely sparse population. Within it, the Segrahald clan and their allies maintain the traditional nomadic way of life they once had in northern Mikramurka on Matar, while paid mercenaries prevent anyone from intruding into their territories or disturbing them with the troubles of the modern world.
Population Centers
Sahaal, Skaardisaad – Largest of the cities on Skarkon, The first city founded on the planet, Sahaal is the planetary capital and administrative center. Due to being the location of Skarkon II’s skyhook, it is the main route for trade going to and from space. The skyhook itself dominates the skyline of the city, which contains few tall buildings and mostly sprawls out into the desert in a chaotic conturbation with little in the way of central planning.
Melorisagard, Skaardisaad – Second largest of the cities on Skarkon, the coastal city of Melorisagard is the hub of planetary food production. In addition to hosting a massive fishing fleet, for hundreds of miles around the city the shores are lined with enormous tank farms used to raise fish to feed the planet’s population.
Iddiserigard, Ishohuolvi – Third largest of the cities on Skarkon, Iddiserigard is the CBD’s industrial hub. A rough spun and overgrown mining town, the city straddles a narrow band of habitable desert, bordered by the sea to the east and the Ngelgnieg to the west, the city is a cramped and crowded place with little culture and large amounts of crime.
Kor’ali, Skaardisaad – founded across a narrow channel from Sa’kak, Kor’ali was founded as a public housing alternative to the corporate owned Sa’kak. As time passed and both cities grew in parallel, they became more or less mirrors of one another, particularly after the Minmatar Mining Corporation stopped enforcing most of their edicts within their territories.
Sa’kak, Gulormola – Founded as the hub of terraforming operations and agriculture, Sa’kak has had an extremely rough existence as the city grappled with terraforming failures, mine exhaustion, and abandonment by the Minmatar Mining Corporation. Today Sa’kak is an angel cartel stronghold, with the Cartel acting as the government in all but legal title. Police, emergency services, and social services are all maintained by the cartel.
Traadahald, Skaardisaad – Founded as a private hub for wealthy clans, Traadahald is still one of the most wealthy cities on Skarkon. Small and exclusive, farms along the coastline form the majority of the city’s economic output.
Mahonisgard, Skaardisaad – The gateway to the north, Mahonisgard is a small city that mostly acted as a launch point to workers coming and going from mining facilities scattered all across the remote areas of the planet. As these mines shut down, the city shifted focus and is now mostly a fishing town.
Author
Saede Riordan
Alexylva Paradox 