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Pactolus & Midaion

Pactolus System

Sector: Arusha

Capital: Eurydice

Species: Vast Majority IPCs

Common Languages: EAL, TCB, Tradeband

Demonyms: Pactolan

Part of: The Golden Deep

Pactolus is the fourth planet from the star of the Pactolus system, located in a shallow section of the Arusha sector. Midaion is the sole large satellite of the same planet, and has served as the chief spaceport for the synthetic mercantile collective of the Golden Deep almost since its founding. Collectively, these cosmic bodies compose the sole corner of the Orion Spur populated almost exclusively by synthetics. Humans are a transitory minority in the social and economic complex emerging from these worlds, administered by a radically capitalistic collective of merchants eager for rapid, and reckless, economic growth.

Unlike Midaion, Pactolus has only been subject to colonisation in very recent events; this is owed to its strong gravity well rendering it less appealing for spaceborne commerce, and to the severe affliction of Kessler syndrome in the planet's close orbit. While less desirable commercially, the quasi-habitable environment and the relative abundance of rare materials including gold, silver, and lithium has earned it a clear economic niche as of the founding of the city of Eurydice.

Both bodies exist under a star estimated to be of nearly 13 billion years of age. It is a (relatively) small red giant, having ballooned to 13 times the size of Sol and being close to 400 times as luminous before multicellular life on Earth existed. It is theorised that Pactolus was once much closer to its star and also much colder, having been flung rapidly outwards into a far more distant orbit by its expansion which happened by good fortune to be within the young giant's new habitable zone. Midaion was either a dwarf planet in the system's distant past, another planet's moon, or a small rogue planet - it was not coupled with Pactolus until after the star's expansion.

Pactolus, Capital World

The fourth planet from the star of the Pactolus system, Pactolus is a semi-habitable world orbiting a red star. It is smaller than Earth, having around two-thirds its diameter and the same proportion of its gravity. While its atmosphere is breathable for short periods, being composed of 13% oxygen, 56% argon and 36% nitrogen at 89kPa, internals are necessary for long or strenuous exposure in the surface atmosphere. This atmospheric toxicity has been lately worsened by the growing concentrations of carbons dioxide and monoxide in the atmosphere. Thick raincoats and waterproof ponchos are common to see among both humans and synthetics travelling outdoors on account of the dangerously low pH of the planet's rainfall, and all humans are advised to stay on internals whenever outside a sealed environment.

Its dubious habitability marks a small concern for the majority of its population, which are synthetics from across all walks of life; these are affluent merchants and the most destitute of runaways, formerly free souls that have sold themselves to save themselves, and the dispossessed, and the possessors. Most of this population is concentrated in the city of Eurydice, a rapidly growing metropolis built atop one of the few permanently dry landmasses on the planet, although the surface is increasingly dotted with colonial outposts and mining stations as the population eagerly sets out to exploit the planet's long-untapped resources. Despite this rapid growth and development, however, the planet remains remote, relatively undeveloped, and host to a small population in comparison to major worlds such as Konyang.

Famously, Pactolus is shrouded by an immensely thick debris field composed primarily of iron and nickel meteoroids between the sizes of a grain of sand and a small car. This has historically made entry and exit from its gravity well almost impossible. Earlier human attempts to colonise the planet featured custom-built heavy-duty shuttles designed to shrug off impacts without harming the crew; more recently, the Golden Deep has successfully utilised the 'Draupnir' system of low-orbit satellites armed with advanced electromagnets to force open holes in the field, relying on the ferromagnetic metals in the field to dilate open a narrow path for minutes or even hours.

Only one path exists, which is maintained intermittently above the city of Eurydice. Reaching the surface of the planet must otherwise involve severely risking one's shuttle and crew by attempting to barrel through the debris field, or negotiating with the mercantile authorities to utilise Draupnir - which usually involves a moderate fee.

Environment

Pactolus is dominated by its ocean; a usual average of 85% of its surface is covered in grey, acidic brine at a usual depth of less than 70m, composed primarily of water and ammonia and salty to the point of complete saturation. Large salt deposits dot the surface. There is almost no permanent land anywhere; while there are many low-lying landmasses, inclusive of sandy atolls and stromatolite formations, almost all of them are submerged at some time of the week due to the planet's immense tides. Midaion's extremely close proximity and its weekly orbit results in a planet in which the tides may subside as much as 60 to 80 metres, before the ocean comes flooding back in within the same week. This is made worse by the erratic orbit of Midaion; not only is the map constantly changing, but it is also changing in a new way every time as old causeways disappear and new landmasses emerge from the tides, making exploration difficult and rendering all long-term colonisation of tidal areas nearly impossible.

All of the few dozen landmasses that are at a sufficient altitude to avoid these monumental tides are volcanoes or giant stromatolites. Pactolus is highly geologically active, boasting a large number of geothermal springs on the surface and underwater (or both!) in addition to several large volcanoes dotted across the surface, many of which are still active. These volcanoes serve as critical anchors when traversing the surface, providing a consistent reference point for travel throughout the ever-changing tidal landscape. Most permanent outposts are, for this reason, built on the slopes of volcanoes.

The planet's topography is composed of many hills and crags giving way occasionally to large flat stretches of dense, black sand. Rivers and streams are commonplace but are usually both small and temporary, being substantially rerouted or entirely destroyed by movements of the tides. Many rivers and streams originate from hot springs exposed intermittently to the surface, which feed to rock pools.

While traditional human weeks are still used on Pactolus, each week lasts 2⅓ local days as a consequence of every such day lasting 72 hours. This means long days and long nights, often resulting in dangerous recovery operations as travellers on the surface misgauge their position and find the tide coming in at dusk. Surface temperatures at the equator average -5 to 10°C, and reach as low as -25°C at the poles, although there is rarely any surface ice owed to the saltiness of the surface water. Weather on the planet is damp and perpetually overcast - if not by clouds, then by the debris field above diffusing the red sunlight to a uniform haze. Storms are common, and at even low wind speeds are treated with serious gravity by the mercantile authorities due to the exacerbated hazard of the rainwater's acidity.

Geology & Minerals

While rich in a large variety of relatively valuable elements and compounds, inclusive of silver, gold, lithium, and cobalt, the radical tidal environment of Pactolus makes these difficult to extract. Small deposits can be easily sifted through the grey sand of the planet, which glistens with tiny flecks of highly reflective metals across the surface. This has prompted several mercantile conglomerates to operate 'Sifters' - tracked vehicles which roll across the surface behind the tides to collect material from the sand and till it in its wake. Permanent quarries are forced to operate very dynamically; mining companies are forced to maintain inscrutable networks of many small quarries, each of which their workers will migrate between as they are taken and released by the tides. Advanced drainage systems must be incorporated into these tidal quarries to ensure that they are not a saltwater lake by the time the workers return to them, often incorporating high-power pumps feeding to nearby reservoirs to achieve this. On account of the difficult lifestyle implied by this erratic quarry-hopping, and because of the dangers involved in chasing the tides, self-owned sifters and quarriers are among the most lucratively paid menial workers on the planet.

Biosphere

Unicellular Life

Photosynthetic Pactolamorphs - Giant Stromatolites

Make big rocks.

Chemosynthetic Pactolamorphs - 'Lily-of-the-Valley'

Make big rocks.

Multicellular Life

Ambulatory Segmented Multicellular Pactolamorphs - Tidal Rockworms

Make big rocks.

Sedentary Multicellular Pactolamorphs - Rock Sponges & Slime Molds

Make big rocks.