|
| Morroth
|
|
Core Worlds
|
|
Jusadih System
|
|
Sigil
|
|
Triyal, Treyu
|
|
19 Standard Hours
|
|
416 Days
|
|
Terrestrial
|
|
9754 km
|
|
Breathable
|
|
Cold
|
|
1.6 Factors
|
|
Tundra, Polar Region
|
|
Vritax
|
|
Human
|
|
Basic
|
|
10,500
|
|
Lemuria, Ashern
|
|
Food Products, Heating Fuel
|
|
Iron, Copper, Uranium, Silver
|
|
Clan Plagueis, House Satal Keto
|
The Jusadih System's outermost planet, home of House Satal Keto, is primarily utilized as a training ground by the Jusadih military forces. The world is sparsely populated due to its extremely cold temperatures with the various military installations comprising most of the planet's citizenry. During the Invasion of Jusadih, Morroth and Kapsina survived unscathed.
Climate
The outermost planet orbiting the star Sigil, Morroth is a frozen world. The temperatures are typically so low on both the day and night sides of the planet that it teeters on the edge of habitability. The daylight side of the world receives a very small amount of light, slightly less than twilight on Kapsina on the brightest days, and the night side is completely dark. The two moons, Treyu and Triyal, are too small and distant from Sigil to be seen at night unless directly facing the star, and even then, all that can be seen are two vague outlines in the sky.
The planet does not have clearly-defined seasons. Instead, there is an extended period of melting followed by periods of freezing and stasis. When the planet undergoes the melting period, the sky is typically clear. The wind is mild during this time. During the freezing and stasis periods, the sky is almost constantly overcast by thick layers of clouds. The wind is much stronger during these periods, and blizzards frequent the planet during this time. It's not unusual for a blizzard to deposit over 170 centimeters of snow and ice in just a few hours.
History
The world’s history is linked back to the remains of a very old capital ship that crashed into the surface of the world thousands of years ago, carrying with it refugees. Those that were not killed in the crash did what they could to survive, and they eventually formed a simplistic civilization. However, it seems that the civilization came to an end long before the rest of the galaxy found life on the world, and that they sealed up the remnants of their strange, primitive culture and religion as best they could, almost as if to keep a perceived horror or a powerful secret hidden away.
The arrival of the Republic and other groups on the surface of the planet found the world and system colonized, and its rulers as members of the Galactic Senate. Meanwhile, Morroth itself found few uses to Jusadih’s government, and aside from a few mining operations the planet was shifted to use as a penal colony.
Historians have concluded that prior to entering the hands of House Satal Keto, Morroth has served as some form of penal world for centuries. Ship’s logs gleaned from residual hyperspace transmission analysis suggest that the planet first came under the mantle of “prison-world” some nine centuries ago by an unidentified society within the core. Originally intended to house political prisoners and other social deviants, the world eventually came to be the primary repository for any and all undesirables including prisoners of war, aberrant genome possessors, and even debtors.
Four centuries later, well before the rise of the Empire, Morroth would play host to one of the sector’s most notorious criminals: Beln Candor. Though he never fired a weapon, harmed another sentient, nor had ever said so much as an unkind word to his victims, Beln was considered the most dangerous man in the sector and, some say at the time, the galaxy.
Beln was a confidence man of such artistry that when finally captured after 25 years of bilking the sector for every credit he could, the aging human was remanded to Morroth prison or what was then known as “Hell’s Freezer”. Then under the control of a Coruscanti Viceroy named Kaln, Morroth held an impeccable record of no successful escape attempts. Fiver years after being imprisoned there, Beln would slightly mar that record.
Though there is no proof Beln ever left the planet, it is known he left the prison, then known as Far Ice—where the ruins of Gryffon prison now stand, and never returned. Kaln was humiliated and forced to resign his post. He was immediately replaced by Dorn Cleban, a warden fresh from Coruscant who implemented strict security protocols that allowed no one but himself to freely roam the prison. Under this system, no more escapes were made, successful or otherwise, and the prison enjoyed relative, though dull, peace.
It is assumed Beln died of exposure in the frozen wastes beyond the prison’s walls.
The system’s prisons would continue to serve their purpose as normal until the arrival of Clan Plagueis and House Satal Keto, who infiltrated the government and seized control of it silently after they fled their original solar system. The prisons were then combed, finding useful men and women to serve in the positions of soldiers, security, maintenance, and any number of other roles. A few were even sent to Lyspair to train at the Shadow Academy before they could join Plagueis as Jedi.
The feudal system in place for Plagueis soon proved to be a foolish idea, as with the onset of the Yuuzhan Vong Incursion, the Jusadih Independence Coalition and the Crimson Tide banded together throughout the system to push Clan Plagueis out and hopefully destroy them. When Plagueis returned to Morroth and the other worlds behind the banner of its new Consul, and behind the new army it had received in coordination with the Iron Throne, the Jusadih Civil War, commonly known as the War of Ascension managed to pulverize the new government, for all the difference it seemed to make among the original population of barely ten-thousand and the hundreds of thousands of refugees. With military rule, things were abruptly changed.
The military doctrine quickly began a reset and scaling-back of Ketoan forces and Jedi. Some of the outposts were abandoned, others repurposed, while Alpha Base and Beta Base saw mass reinforcement and strengthening. The cities and towns of the planet were reordered abruptly to be controlled by military officers in the governmental capacity, and a police force of civilian recruits trained by the military of Plagueis in the day-to-day workings. The refugees were allowed to enter into the town as they could, and soon found jobs to reinforce the mining industry and the few other ventures. The law was soon set down and established in a most militant fashion, with convicts quickly and mercilessly assigned to new penal facilities in multiple areas of the planet. Finally, the military of Plagueis swelled with refugees who couldn’t make it without military funding, and House Satal Keto has reinforced and rebuilt the formerly-abandoned Galthain outpost in order to study the Temple of Plagueis indepth.
Continents
Annwfn
The south-western landmass of the planet, Annfwn is an area seldom occupied by anyone but House Satal Keto and its forces. Mostly consisting of empty stretches of snow-covered land, the continent’s only feature in the past had been thought to be an abandoned outpost known as Galthain. It was in recent times that it was found to be something more.
Underground on Annfwn is a temple erected under the wishes of Darth Plagueis. How, why, and by whom it was built continues to be a mystery, though it is suspected by the strong presence of Dark Side echoes that it was used as more than a vacation spot. However, if evidence of any darker activities is within the temple, it has yet to be discovered. Before the Vong invasion of Jusadih, it was believed that the secrets in the temple should be left alone.
With the influx of refugees from the devastated worlds of the system, this is no longer the case. Satal Keto military forces were quick to eliminate colonist attempts on Annfwn, disposing of the bodies as quickly and quietly as possible. This cleansing of the continent is believed to be complete and total, though a chance exists for people to have slipped through.
Finally, the Galthain Outpost has been reoccupied and is being retrofitted to the needs of Satal Keto military and Jedi researchers. The secrets of the temple can no longer be allowed to lie where they are, and the Summits of both House and Clan are exerting the arm of their military government in recovering these secrets. Only time will tell of the fruits, or losses, of their labour.
Cernunnos
This north-eastern continent has the odd trait of being the coldest of Morroth’s landmasses. It is known for its danger during the famed blizzards of the world, in which the land and sea (the nearest waters of which are coated with a layer of thin ice) are nearly indistinguishable from each other. Many travellers on the continent have fallen prey to the icy grip of the waters below, freezing to death within minutes.
Aside from these dangers, the continent is one of the more important places on the world. Both of the official cities of the world, Lemuria and Ashern, are located on this continent. In fact, certain ranges of mountains on Cernunnos are the primary location for the newly rejuvenated mining operations. While the cold temperatures and weather of the continent hinder this somewhat, alternatives are being looked into that could make the mining much more efficient.
Cernunnos is also the locale of Beta Base, the secondary command post of Satal Keto. While it is kept from the public on the world that Dark Jedi exist there, the militarist coup of the system has been put into full effect, and Beta Base is full of soldiers ready to carry out the wishes of what the general populace believes to be the dictators of the government. In truth, HSK keeps forces here in the event of rebellion, for if the cities were taken over and garrisoned, any conflict would have a quick fate.
Cerridwen
Cerridwen is, for the most part, an empty continent. Outpost Nu is located here, formerly an important place but abandoned in the wake of recent refugee arrivals. The Krath that had once trained at the outpost have relocated to Galthain Outpost, in the hopes of studying new, darker Force abilities. Other than this, little else exists on this particular continent.
Cerridwen’s only other feature of note is the Temple of Kol’Mai, which may soon be a reason for Outpost Nu to be reactivated. Found along the southern coast of the continent in a region called Dul’qai, this temple may be one of the keys to unlocking the truth about the ancient religion of Morroth’s long-dead past civilization. At present, though, increasing refugee populations and the Temple of Plagueis are holding the attention of HSK’s leaders.
Skadi
The location of Outpost Mu, this was once the home of the famed training exercise called the Rellion Queen, though it has been abandoned due to its remote vicinity in regards to Alpha and Beta Base. As such, this continent also seems to be devoid of life for the most part, aside from the apparently indigenous creatures called wyrms.
The wyrms inhabit this region in particular over others because it is the location of their graveyard. Like other large animals on distant planets, the Boneyard of Wyrms is a communal place where sick and elderly wyrms go to die in peace. While this is the general area of their natural death, the cold nature of Morroth leaves wyrm bones in other areas of the continent. It is suspected that many wyrms are killed by members of their own kind in times of hardship, as the creatures appear to be at least partially cannibalistic.
Most notable about the Boneyard of Wyrms is that it seems to hold a strange number of echoes in the Force, even for a place of death. Anyone in this place can feel the Dark Side strongly, and it is thought that this is connected to the anomaly of the wyrms themselves. The beasts are known to emanate a Dark Side presence for an unknown reason.
Skatha
The central continent of the planet Morroth, Skatha is known for being extremely mountainous. It is the largest landmass on Morroth, and is used by the Quaestor of HSK for obvious reasons. The rough terrain and large size of the continent work together to protect Alpha Base, the headquarters of House Satal Keto and the Plagueis Military on Morroth.
The base itself is located in the center of a ring of mountains, set perfectly to repel any overland attacks. It shares the canyon with Gryffon Prison. The only path to the base that can be reached without the use of aerial transport is a single canyon path, too narrow for any large force to overwhelm the base. It is in this canyon that Outpost Zeta is located, one of the few outposts still active and the only one with any real strength to it.
The Base itself, the Outpost guarding it, and Gryffon Prison form a trifecta of protection that assures that any assault on the base will be in vain. Other than these features, the continent is suspected to be a potential hotspot for mining activities, though it is difficult to move personnel and equipment through the mountains. All of these factors make Alpha Base, and Skatha as a whole, arguably both the safest and most deadly area on the planet.
Islands
Isles of Satal
Almost perfectly placed in the center of the Sea of Calamity, the Isles of Satal are subject to the horrid thrashing of the most vicious body of water on Morroth and are thus uninhabited. Aside from its distance from civilization and its near isolation from the rest of the planet, the tide is more than enough to discourage even scouting for potential construction.
The Isles themselves have never been perfectly mapped, with the nearest thing to a map coming from low-tide pictures taken from satellite probes or orbiting ships. The tides are a matter of random chance and unpredictability, as both the rotation of the world’s two moons and the rotation of the planet have an impact that is dwarfed by the Frozen Ocean’s chaotic incursion on the Sea of Calamity. They seem to be at a different time every day, when the tides can be recognized at all.
High tide sees water reaching up to one hundred metres in height completely submerging the isles, and low tide makes them appear as spires of ice, completely uncovered by water. If anyone were to even try building something, the foundations and initial work would be eroded quickly by the waters, though they would likely freeze and shatter faster without even factoring in the vicious impact of the water. Any drilling on the islands would likely be fruitless, as the ice has had potential millennia of unpredictable tides and freezing temperatures to freeze over. It is speculated that the oldest, deepest patches of ice may be as hard as diamonds in places.
Isles of Aleema
Located in the eastern region of the Sea of Sorrows, the Isles of Aleema are a peaceful place, and easily one of the nicest areas on the planet. Strangely warm for the planet’s climate, they seem to be untouched almost entirely by the harsh blizzards and snowstorms that ravage the world. It is unknown as to why this happens, but it is a phenomenon capitalized on formerly by tourists, and currently by House Satal Keto.
A new installation, named Keto Prison, has been built by House Satal Keto under the supervision of Plagueis. Along with two other such prisons, it replaces the formerly outdated prison facilities of the world, and relieves the pressure on Alpha and Beta bases to serve as prisons, as well as allowing Gryffon Prison to be made useful by the military. The buildings and services here have been removed entirely, as the population is made to live within the ever-expanding cities and towns to bolster trade and the army.
Isles of Tyr
The second-coldest set of islands on Morroth, by virtue of not being encased in ice, the Isles of Tyr are a vicious area located in the western region of the Sea of Sorrows. Ravaged frequently by the cruel blizzards of Morroth, it is suspected that the relative freedom of weather enjoyed by the Isles of Aleema result in the storms that seem to part for them colliding viciously over the Isles of Tyr. This makes the islands useful to HSK for two purposes.
As Outpost Kappa is located here, the islands are used for cold-weather training and simulated beach landings. However, the site has been transformed into a permanent training area, for the twofold purpose of pumping out cold-trained recruits and standing on guard in case the prisoners at the new facility called Tyr Prison ever manage a breakout. Even if the cold climate and harsh weather failed to keep them from revolting, the military at Outpost Kappa could quickly beat them back and, if necessary, eradicate the prisoners entirely.
Triton Isles
As close to paradise as one could call anywhere on Morroth, the Triton Isles were formerly a hotspot for vacationers and those weary of the life within the cities. However, the resort town, Neriak, has been emptied and its residents were relocated to Ashern. As of it being torn down, it has been replaced with the third of HSK’s new prisons, Kaeth Prison.
Unlike at the other two facilities, prisoners here consider themselves lucky, and many have been convinced into good behaviour just to get reassigned to what some of them call the “vacation spot”. While it is nearly identical in construction, security, and procedure to the other two prisons, Kaeth Prison is prized by inmates because of more enjoyable outdoor time and nicer weather.
Oceans
Sea of Tears
The Sea of Tears, named long ago by the first settlers to reach the planet from the rest of the galaxy, is a cold and placid body of water. Akin to all of Morroth’s oceanic bodies, a portion of the water in this ocean has frozen, giving it and all others a glacial, shattered appearance normally found only on the polar caps of a world.
Avoided by native settlers and exploring spacers alike, the Sea of Tears is the bane of both sea-bound and aerial craft. This is due to the natural blizzards and wind storms of the world gathering into freakish tempests, generating massive squalls that last for weeks at a time. These squalls throw oceanic vessels around like toys, and rip flying craft clean out of the air. As such, the majority of the myriad sunken vessels on the world are below the Sea of Tears.
Sea of Sorrow
In contrast to the other bodies of water on the world, the Sea of Sorrow is by far the most peaceful ocean on Morroth. The glacial formations here can be mapped better than others, and from time to time it seems that people have even set up salvage machinery on the ice. Connecting the continents of Skatha and Cernunnos, this ocean is the primarily-used trading route for oceanic transports and aerial ships. Nearly all supply and transportation between the cities of the world and Alpha Base litters these waters.
Sadly, a combination of nature, random circumstance, and armed conflict have led to this ocean being second only to the Sea of Tears in the number of sunken vessels it hides beneath its waters. This brings heavy emphasis to the salvaging business, and whenever droids and equipment that can withstand the cold become available, they are consumed in the rush to pull up the hidden treasures of the deep.
Sea of Calamity
The aptly-named Sea of Calamity is by far the roughest body of water in the entire Jusadih System. It is ever-shifting, with its shattered appearance disturbed frequently by the vicious tides. This is because instead of flowing smoothly, the waters of the Sea of Calamity collide with the sheer cliffs of the Frozen Ocean. The unpredictable and vicious nature of this ocean leads some scientists to believe that its frozen counterpart may once have been liquid.
The vicious and ever-changing tides of this ocean cause rapid changes in water level. In the course of a couple hours, the level of this ocean can shift around one hundred metres. This unpredictability makes the Sea of Calamity essentially free of oceanic travel.
Frozen Ocean
Found to the south of the planet, the Frozen Ocean seems to be either completely covered in, or composed of, ice all year round. It is theorized this is because of the rotation of the world, though the erratic nature of the Sea of Calamity and a possible connection to the Frozen City are theorized by the many scientists pondering the question.
Scans of the ice have shown the islands known as the Frozen Isles of Nemesis, completely encased and unreachable below the ocean’s ice. The remains of civilization have been detected below the ice, and the fact that said civilization was not evacuated gives further praise to the theory that some unexplained event led to the waters freezing. Further research is expected, though at present there are more urgent matters for Plagueis and House Satal Keto to worry about.
Moons
Triyal
A small, rocky satellite orbiting Morroth, Triyal is uninhabitable. Its atmosphere is composed very thinly of carbon dioxide and a few other trace gases, lacking the substance to insulate itself or protect itself from the ravages of the solar day. The high temperatures of the world are around 1000 degrees F, its night-time lows an icy parallel of -1000 degrees F.
The only time that the moon is habitable in any sense is during the dusk and dawn periods, where the temperature reaches 400 degrees, as opposed to 1000. Even then, a properly-insulated, fully-equipped space suit is necessary even to walk on it. As dusk and dawn last for only a couple of hours, exploration of the moon is not even attempted.
Treyu
The moon of Treyu is best described as a frozen ball of ice. It’s core is solid, though, and below 500km of ice, liquid water permeates the moon. It is thought that some form of life exists beneath the ice, and in the past, certain rich natives of Morroth would go to the moon in the hopes of seeing something move below their feet. As yet, the water below the ice and the moon in general remain unexplored.
Large Bases/Fortresses
Alpha Base
Historically a prison, Alpha Base was repurposed by the Dark Jedi of House Satal Keto as its primary headquarters. Originally designed for intensive security purposes, the base originally served both to keep inmates in, and serve as a fortress for the guards in the event of a riot. Even within its imposing walls, an invading force would find it difficult to eradicate all opposition without taking vicious casualties.
The outer wall of the base is built so that its parapets can hold enough guards or soldiers to bathe enemies in blaster fire, and the only outer gate is thickly reinforced to resist assault from sieges. These defences serve to make the base nigh impenetrable, short of blasting a hole in the wall or working for hours to rip the gate apart. The time necessary for either of these would necessitate a heavy assault force, simply because of the amount of casualties that could be inflicted during the operation.
Within the outer wall is the Outer Cloister. Housed here are the hangars, vehicle garage, and rapid-response stations, as well as a multitude of rooms that were once prison cells and other such places necessary for convicts, many of them repurposed as barracks. As such, it is ridiculously easy for guards to both receive support and hole themselves up within the base, giving the forces of Satal Keto a huge advantage over invaders. The hangars here are some of the only ones with fighters on the planet, and drills have proven that the pilots here can scramble air support in six seconds or less.
Aside from a smaller armoury within the Outer Cloister, meant to supply guards with only basic weaponry and extra ammunition, the rapid-response stations make the base even harder to assault. Always guarded by a large force on either side, the stations operate while the base is in lockdown and access is only possible to the Outer Cloister from the Inner Cloister, and not the other way around. Short of dispatching all of the soldiers and destroying the stations themselves, invaders would have no way to enter without blasting in a new entry, a difficult operation through the reinforced walls. Even if they found a way through, they would have both a flurry of blaster fire and a number of angry Dark Jedi to face.
The Inner Cloister is very different from the Outer Cloister, though its reinforced walls and well-stocked facilities give the residents of the base a solid fortress to fight from. While the lesser supplies available from the Outer Cloister would give soldiers a little bit to go off of, only the storage rooms in the Inner Cloister hold the resources to fight off enemies for potential months. Security measures have been devised all around, and the armoury here is well-stocked. While this armoury was once filled with any number of things, such as swords and staves, it has been militarized like the rest of the base. Any training implements are kept in separate lockers, while the main weaponry is an assortment of blasters and other high-tech implements of war. Finally, the Inner Cloister holds the Office of the Quaestor, which is capable of its own lockdown and has a self-sealing crawlspace to reach the hangar in times of evacuation. Combined with their Force abilities, a Quaestor could potentially flee the hangar without anyone even knowing until he or she is long gone.
Beta Base
Designed almost identically to Alpha Base, Beta Base is merely a less-complex version of its predecessor. Formerly considered a minimum-security prison, the base has the same wall-to-Cloister setup, though it has only one hangar meant for shuttles and a small squadron of fighters. These fighters are a new provision, in response to the population swell and the Vong incursion.
The Outer Cloister of Beta Base shows its design as a minimum security prison much more than Alpha Base, and though soldiers here use the cells and other rooms as barracks, the doors of them are bars rather than solid doors. The vehicle garage here holds a much smaller number of vehicles, mostly speeder bikes and other small designs meant for reconnaissance and scouting. Finally, in lieu of a traditional armoury, the restocking room is meant to hold extra ammunition and only a few basic weapons.
The Inner Cloister can be locked down, like Alpha Base, though the rapid-response stations are two-way and can be accessed with three sets of valid voice recognition at once. If an enemy were to try this, lockdown procedures would have enough blasters aimed at the station doors to vaporize anyone, Jedi or otherwise. The armoury, mess hall, and other facilities of the Inner Cloister are similar to Alpha Base in almost every respect, though the armoury holds a much more basic assortment of equipment. The Office of the Aedile is designed to be capable of a lockdown, though instead of a crawlspace, it has a well-hidden panic room. Perhaps by design of past Quaestors, should an Aedile rebel, they would have no escape from the wrath of Satal Keto.
More than anything, however, the open facilities and lax security of the base is mainly because of its open location. It is meant more for support of the police forces in the cities of Lemuria and Ashern than to repel actual assault, and while the security measures may be somewhat small, the influx of capable soldiers from the refugee population and other planets of the system allow quick and decisive ends to any sort of city-based incident. A last-resort option is available in the form of a huge explosive charge installed under the base, useable only by the Consul’s direct authority. As such, the only two switches to demolish the base are within the Aedile’s panic room, which has to be activated by the Consul before usage, and in the Consul’s own possession. These ensure that a large force will never use Beta Base against Plagueis.
Gryffon Prison
Recently restored by House Satal Keto and Clan Plagueis, the facility of Gryffon Prison has been repurposed to hold additional military forces that cannot be contained within Alpha Base, or that could potentially pump out reinforcements to hold back assault without draining Alpha Base. The construction of the prison is simple enough, and designed to be a facility for the most dangerous of inmates.
From above, the prison looks like a square of grey permacrete, reinforced throughout with durasteel. The windows are transparisteel, with external bars of durasteel to prevent them being bashed out. The upper floor has an area formerly used to transfer prisoners from area to area, along with passageways to the lower floor. This floor houses many facilities, such as first-aid, food, and a former exercise area that is now used as an off-duty lounge by soldiers, filled with basic tables and chairs. Any of the rooms are all capable of lockdown, right down to the cells with solid, sealable doors.
Aside from the base itself, a small, rough landing pad has been built outside, useful for shuttles. If the House has an active Battleteam, it would share space with the soldiers within Gryffon Base, and its few fighters could be found on the landing pad. Within the base, the traditional armoury has been abandoned for an individual weapons rack within each cell and larger ones in all of the different rooms. These racks are entirely capable of being closed and locked down, and provide entrenched soldiers with the means to defend themselves, even when sealed in a room. The racks are designed essentially as boxes with hatches that can slide open and shut. When sealed, they would contain the grenade necessary to destroy ammunition that the enemy should never be allowed to reach.
Altogether, Gryffon Prison provides a capable support structure for Alpha Base and Outpost Zeta, while not giving invading forces enough resources to aid in an actual assault of the Base. It is exactly what it needs to be, a permanent barracks and armoury for the cannon fodder of the House.
Prisons
Keto Prison
A large facility on the largest of the Isles of Aleema, its domelike construction is interrupted only by what appears to be rectangular chutes protruding from the north, southwest, and southeast sections. Through these chutes, prisoners are funnelled to the outside during their exercise sessions. The semi-exposed balcony built along the outside of the dome is useful in riots, the only time when blasters are taken from the high-security armoury. This is to ensure that an armed riot cannot occur.
Surrounding the facility, the exercise areas are barricaded by a durasteel fence, with reinforced post bases to prevent the gate being pulled down and vicious razor-wire lining the top. Aside from these defences, an electrical current is pulsed through the fence at all times, and a warning line is established five feet from it. Any prisoner seen outside this line is considered to be instigating a riot and is shot.
The facility is guarded by a faction of both HSK soldiers and civilian-recruited guards, both of which hold tight security measures. Any breach in guard protocol is considered instant grounds for a five-year imprisonment, and any guards found to be conspiring deeply with the criminals are disposed of quickly and quietly by the HSK forces within the guards. Guard uniform consists of an entirely black outfit, with a long-sleeved shirt, thick pants, leather boots, a belt with necessary equipment for detaining rowdy inmates that includes restraining cuffs, a telescopic baton, and a comlink for the other guards, and black gloves. All equipment is tight-fitting and insulated against the considerable cold of Morroth,even indoors, though additional black coats and black helmets are available for outdoor duties and riot suppression.
The guards are cycled through a round-built succession of three floors, each with a facility for meals, passageways to the exit chutes, and a first-aid station nearby if necessary. Along with the cell blocks, labelled A-I respectively, these make up the upper floors of the facility. A lower trio of rooms hold the guard rooms and showers, the guard’s mess hall, and the riot and restock equipment. The only hangar to the facility holds an escape vehicle for guards should the prison be overtaken, and a number of prisoner transports used to ferry new inmates in and inmates past their sentence out.
Tyr Prison
While almost identical in construction to Keto and Kaeth Prisons, Tyr Prison is a little different. Its facility is the same dome-like structure of pale grey permacrete and durasteel reinforcement, though its exit chutes face west, northeast, and southeast. These chutes and the balconies serve the same purpose, though the harsh blizzards of the Isles of Tyr usually make both these, and the external exercise area, vacant spots. The good-behaviour convicts here are allowed to jog around the food area after the meal times, as the harsh weather outside is often too much for them to be out in long and survive.
Guarded similarly by HSK forces and civilian recruits, the guards here have much tighter leverage over the prisoners. However, isolated as they are, even the HSK forces have been known to breach protocol and tell no one. In fact, Tyr Prison guard assignment is often seen as much like punishment as prisoner assignment, and guards often have some acquaintanceship with long-term inmates. Bribes and such here allow for some small deviation of rules, though an outright riot would be ended quickly.
Known as “Hell on Ice” or just “Hell” by inmates in all three of the planet’s new prisons, the threat of Tyr Prison is often enough to keep undesirables in line, and convicts on good behaviour. It has never had even suspicion of a riot, as much because of its efficient design as the weather and isolation. Even the hangar has rarely been used, with prisoner transport taking place as little as possible and often causing some slight delays in movement. It seems that this prison also serves as an efficient medium to change inmates, as a criminal will rarely become a repeat offender after a term in Tyr.
Kaeth Prison
Often called “Pig Paradise” or the “Summer Home” by convicts, Kaeth Prison has almost as good of a reputation as either of the other two prisons, by sheer virtue that its prisoners are always on their best behaviour. While run-of-the-mill inmates spend time in Keto and hardcore criminals find a home in Tyr, Kaeth is the prison for the best of the good-behaviour inmates. Positioned on the Triton Isles, the guards here have often established friendships with some of the cons, though they wouldn’t dare breach duty.
The domelike construction and anti-escape fence here is nearly identical to the first two prisons, with a balcony encircling the entire outside of the prison and three chutes, facing south, northeast, and northwest, as the only exits. The recreation area here has the best of Morroth’s weather, and is used to entice inmates to serve their terms peacefully. Though dotted throughout its civilian ranks with HSK forces, even the guards leap to their duty. The watchful eyes of the House could almost get lazy with a facility like Kaeth.
Unlike the other two prisons, however, a new aspect of prison life has opened up here. Good behaviour inmates, as defined by the high standards of the prison itself, are allowed extra recreation activities and minor work in labour jobs, making Kaeth serve as a cheap factory for simple beams and plates used in construction, simplistic droid parts, and other minor things.
That said, Kaeth does have its disadvantages. Many of the citizens of Morroth think the Triton Isles should remain a vacation spot, while military leaders find the surprising freedom(for a Morroth prison) to be too lax and almost demand security to be tightened up. However, these concerns affect little of the prison’s day-to-day operation, and the military leaders are often kept quiet with a third initiative of the prison: recruiting those inmates who truly show reform and willingness into Plagueis’ armed forces.
Cities
Lemuria
Originally a smaller city, Lemuria has recently been expanded to cope with many refugees. The largest city on Morroth, this city and its harbour are located on the western coast of Cernunnos. As it is located partially on the thicker ice covering the ocean, borders have been marked out to show the end of the stable landmass.
Once containing around 5000 citizens, Lemuria’s population has been bolstered to a deafening sum of a few hundred thousand. Its buildings are still being constructed and modified, the small made larger and new ones set up to make a haphazard construction of skyscrapers. While almost entirely focused on mining in the past, new businesses of all kinds have opened within the city.
Lemuria also plays host to a new kind of business: recruitment centers. Potential soldiers and naval officers apply here to begin their new lives, fighting for Jusadih on the surface, but for HSK underneath. Anyone who joins up here is permanently drafted, and anyone who tries to speak against this or expose the truth is either sentenced with promoting JIC propaganda and jailed, or executed silently and disposed of in the Mekduaa valley.
Once protected by a large garrison of soldiers, this city is now policed by a force recruited and appointed by HSK. The law is enforced as strictly as in any military regime, and hidden HSK forces within the police quickly find and report corruption. Altogether, coupled with the deluge of propaganda licensed by Plagueis, this provides an image of a safe, happy, and enjoyable city on Morroth.
Ashern
A city rivalling Lemuria in size, this city was once of little note other than the fact that its citizens were primarily used for discovering new mining resources. All of this changed when refugees poured off of the other worlds in the system, and around 400,000 of them found Morroth. Having always been near in size to Lemuria, Ashern has seen the same burst of growth and fertility as its bigger counterpart.
The addition of the former town Neriak’s population has increased this number further, and now Ashern is a similar flurry of partially-complete skyscrapers. The quick development of the cities is attributed to refugee workers who care neither about the cold nor about laziness; they have nothing left. However, this city has seen a bulk of new industry and revitalization of old ones, giving many a new source of hope.
Here, also, one can find both the new police force and the recruitment centers. Both are receiving huge amounts of approval and activity, though whispers of an underground criminal organization forming in Ashern are under investigation. It isn’t suspected that they will last long, but even so, Ashern is cast as the darker of the two cities.
Towns
Stormspire
A very old town, Stormspire was originally constructed almost entirely of stone, the majority elegantly worked into patterns that appear to indicate a raging storm. This town was originally built in the ancient times of Morroth, though its durability proved rewarding to the Republic and other off-worlders. Buildings in need of repair or replacement were tended to, and the town has substantially swelled to include newer, modern constructions around the original architecture.
With the refugees, Stormspire grew even more. Now a fairly large settlement, the majority of people here are miners from the nearby drilling sites and other minor tradesmen, along with a slew of scientists and archaeologists. These, under supervision of “officials” from the Jusadih government, are studying Stormspire’s namesake: a towering spire in the center of the town.
One of the few remnants of the old religion in such good shape, studies are being done on the spire, though those remains decipherable here speak of one possible purpose for the spire. Apparently, this tower was once a temple, which would be used to contact the deity, “Dymestl”, and bring down some sort of apocalyptic storm. Without question, Stormspire is a place of great interest to HSK.
Satal’s Landing
A smaller town, Satal’s Landing is located on an elevated plateau. While stair-like pathways have been cut into the plateau, the main reachable area here is via the small landing pad in the center of town, serving as a town square. Even with recent expansion, the landing pad would barely hold a single shuttle.
Satal’s Landing is, like Stormspire, a community populated almost entirely by miners. However, despite the faction of Morroth police here, the town has an isolated feel, and seems to enjoy taking care of itself. The civilians here have been known to take a vigilante stance at times, discouraging crime and keeping Satal’s Landing peaceful and productive. The downside is that this town has the lowest civilian-to-recruit ratio of any settlement on Morroth.
Outposts
Outpost Zeta
The most important Outpost on Morroth, Outpost Zeta guards the only overland route to Alpha Base. Built in the form of a basic building beneath a low tower, the entire Outpost is protected by a wall with a gate only accessible with the approval of the soldiers stationed there, and the House Summits, of course.
The wall is designed with a stairway on the inside to climb to the top, where parapets offer some cover and vantage points for soldiers. While these hold back opposition, the remaining soldiers behind the wall can quickly mobilize defences like the E-Web blasters and PLX-2M rocket launchers they keep stored. Combined with the Outpost’s armoury and stored cots, soldiers could hold Zeta for days, until the wall came down and the forces were scattered.
Outpost Kappa
This outpost is used primarily for the training of HSK’s military forces. Once kept in a state of hibernation until necessary, the facilities of Outpost Kappa are used as a permanent training ground for Satal Keto soldiers, ensuring that reinforcements can come from somewhere other than off-world. The main training here is cold-weather combat and simulated beach landings, and even fully-trained off-world forces are typically assigned a training period here before going into active service on Morroth.
The base itself keeps plentiful stores of rations and ammunition. While few Dark Jedi are ever found here, aside from Obelisk Journeymen, Equites, and Elders seeking to learn from or oversee the personnel here, and a few others sent here for other purposes, the soldier population is always kept at high strength and capability. This place has come to be known as “the farm” by many military commanders because of the soldiers it seems to constantly pump out.
Since its expansion and repurposing, the base has had a very specific look to it. A large building, vaguely shaped like a halved cylinder, serves as a barracks, while a similar building serves as a mess hall and another an armoury. The main headquarters overlooks the center of the compound, a training ground with myriad courses and targets set up. To the public, it looks just like any other military compound.
Outpost Mu
Formerly used by the Obelisk troops of HSK, this Outpost has essentially been stripped bare and abandoned. Aside from the now-defunct obstacle course, the Rellion Queen, nothing here remains that could be of any interest and value. All Obelisk equipment and personnel here were transferred to Kappa when the planet was retaken by Plagueis from the JIC.
Outpost Nu
Reinforced with the abandoning of the other Outposts, Outpost Nu continues to serve as the main facility of HSK’s Krath knowledge. Here, Krath trainees often come to refine their dark Force techniques. On the surface, it is seen as a top-secret facility, where research is conducted and knowledge is stored. Even the Krath must keep the appearance of scientists, unless conducting private experiments.
The compound is a trio of buildings, a smaller building to house the soldiers set here to “protect the top-secret matters of Jusadih research”, in reality meant to support the Krath in the event of invasion. Another building takes the appearance of a laboratory, where experiments are conducted and the basement houses the knowledge of the Krath. The final compound is labelled “hazardous waste: keep out”, though in reality it houses the drugged test subjects of the Krath, taken from those criminals either sentenced to death or easy to erase. The entire compound is surrounded with a fence and patrolled by soldiers at all hours of the day.
Outpost Galthain
Formerly abandoned, the Outpost known as Galthain was on Morroth long before HSK arrived there. It has recently been re-purposed for the study and guarding of the newly-discovered Temple of Plagueis on the planet. It has been occupied with soldiers, of course, but also with the largest number of Dark Jedi concentrated anywhere on the planet, short of Alpha and Beta Bases.
The Outpost’s main building, which appears to have been a communications center of some kind, has been repaired and retrofitted with new communications equipment. In addition, a barracks has been established for the soldiers and Obelisk, as well as a structure for Krath studies and another for the Sith inhabiting the area. All three seem eager to investigate, and to hold the secrets for themselves.
The public knowledge of the base is kept limited, with barely a whisper known about. The most anyone’s heard about is that something dangerous, possibly disastrous, is within the base. This keeps all but the most foolhardy civilians from investigating, and those are promptly shot, their bodies fed to the Mekduaa.
Points of Interest
Kartol
Formerly a town used entirely for urban combat training and other operations, the only building here that saw regular use was a small airbase. However, with the repurposing of Outpost Kappa and the military scale-back of Plagueis, Kartol is now abandoned, at least by House Satal Keto. It is rumoured that at times, other groups of people can be found here, though their intent could vary from needing a place to sleep to open rebellion, and anything in between.
Ruins of Avalon
The remains of a settlement, the Ruins of Avalon cannot be explored because of their location on the Isles of Satal. However, HSK is working at an even harder pace with their new forces and resources to explore Avalon, and to find the secrets held within.
Temple of Kol’Mai
An ancient temple, Kol’Mai resides on the eastern coast of Cerridwen. Studies and examinations have led to it being linked to the old Morroth religion, though the exact purpose of the temple is unknown. Contained within the cramped tunnels below, many spectacular carvings and effigies are found, along with a huge altar in the main chamber that seems to have been dedicated to the strange figure “Dymestl”. While it holds many questions, at present there are few answers.
The Frozen City
Found on Cerridwen, this city seems to have been the target of some freakish event, mainly because it is entirely locked in ice. It is suspected that before this event, the Frozen City was a repository for the hidden knowledge of Morroth’s old religion. Because of the fact that scans show an undetermined amount of hollow room inside the ice, HSK is trying to explore it, in the hopes that it may give clues about the nature of the old religion and the Frozen Ocean.
Boneyard of Wyrms
A place that reeks of the Dark Side of the Force, this area is a communal graveyard for the mammoth beasts that form some of Morroth’s only indigenous fauna. While little is known about the connection between these creatures and the Dark Side, their Boneyard has yielded corpses for study and revealed much of what we know about them, and may hold even more secrets.
Mekduaa Valley
A wide stretch of the continent of Skatha is home to a species called the Mekduaa. These creatures resemble the sarlacc, though in fact have bigger external teeth and a decided lack of tentacle appendages. They seem to have an extreme lifespan and a crawling metabolism, relying on unlucky creatures to fall down the slick, fleshy sides of their mouths for food. Emitting regular mists of breath, these beasts known by some as “steam holes” have found a new food source with HSK’s arrival, as bodies in need of disposal are regularly dumped into their gaping mouths.
Ice Temple Ruins
Formerly avoided by all but the most foolhardy of adventurers, the Ice Temple on the Isles of Tyr was once suspected to be a place where strange adherents to the old religion of Morroth were hidden. However, the establishment of Tyr Prison and the new military of HSK made exploration a prompt priority. It was found to be a handful of rogue Jedi that were killing those that entered. These were soon killed, and after exploration and removal of anything useful or informative, the Temple was detonated with an implosion charge. That said, it is said one can feel the ghosts of people young and ancient in the Force, as if trapped within the rubble.
Falls of Kirleta
These falls are the only waterfalls discovered on the entire planet, and as such were once a very popular tourist attraction. Weather by some effect of the refracted twilight, or some natural property of what is thought to be amethyst beneath the ice under the falls, the falls seem to almost glow purple in the twilight noon of Morroth. That said, the perfectly-transparent ice is ten metres thick, so both thieves and HSK are dumbfounded as to methods of extracting the crystals from the ice.
Abandoned Theta Outpost
An Outpost attached to the Isles of Satal by chains, it is literally a floating fortress. These chains are anchored to boulders so that when the tide comes in, the outpost floats atop. When the tide goes out, it then gently descends onto the largest of the Isles. Until recently, it was used by House Satal Keto, but the recent military scale-back found little tactical use in a floating base in the middle of nowhere. Thus, it is left to the ravages of the icy water.