Name: Frost
Type: Spherical earth body
Size: D
Escape Time: 3 turns
Satellites: 1
Distance from Primary: 2000 million miles
Day Length: 168 hours
Year Length: 400 months
Population Analysis: none
The last sizable world in the Banesun system is Frost, an aptly named tundra world. Not a large world, Frost is a mere 1,200 miles across and has an equatorial circumference of roughly 3,800 miles. The days of Frost are exceedingly long, almost seven standard days in length. Though Frost has a twenty percent tilt to its axis in relation to its orbit, seasons on Frost are hardly noticeable.
Numerous small asteroids, all no bigger than a quarter mile across, orbit Frost. All were ejected by the Banesun and captured by Frost's gravity, but none have a stable orbit or of significant size. All are rocks without atmospheres, little mineral wealth, or any real importance. Only one is of any real importance, as it is the scro base of Retribution. Most of the asteroids will orbit Frost for several decades before crashing into Frost's surface.
Geologically, Frost is a dead world. The interior is a solid ball of rock, with no mantle, molten core, or other features found on other worlds. The upper fifty miles are not so solid, being mixed with ice. This ground is permafrost as the ice never melts, no matter the season. The ground is very hard and digging here without heavy use of magic is very difficult, often wearing out several sets of tools.
Despite being geologically dead for several millenium, Frost's surface is rugged and broken. The surface is pockmarked by numerous impact craters caused by falling asteroids. True mountains are difficult to find, either having been eroded away or destroyed by meteors. There are only a few flat open spaces, free of craters. Such plains are small, with the largest only about twenty miles across. The largest crater can be found in the northern hemisphere, and is over one hundred and eighty miles across.
Frost is a cold world with a thin atmosphere. It suffers from high, biting winds that race across its surface. The temperature is roughly -10F during the day, but drops to -40F during the dead of night. There is only a 5 degree variation in temperature between winter and summer. There is no precipitation on Frost because all of the planet's water is locked in its soil. Frost's thin atmosphere is incapable of supporting human life, and those that travel here will suffer d8 points of damage per round of exposure to Frost's thin atmosphere. It is likely that Frost's atmosphere was created by impacts with comets.
Frost is a dark orb in space. Its surface is clearly visible, as there are no clouds nor is the atmosphere thick enough to obscure or distort the surface. The planet has a the color of dark wood.
Since Frost has no standing water or mountain ranges, there are no continents.
Despite Frost's hostile conditions, some life survives here. White puddings slither across the ground, surviving on what, sages can only guess at. These creatures are rare and tend to come out only during the day. At night, they hibernate in small cracks in the permafrost. Some specimens are twice as big as normal, and are unusually aggressive and dangerous.
None.
Not enough is known about Frost's interior to know if it has any mineral wealth, but it is doubtful. On the other hand, adventurous and well-equipped dwarvish prospectors have found meteoric iron at the center of some impact craters, but only after days of digging through several feet of permafrost. So far, the finds are few and the costs in excavating it are too high to justify the costs.
About four years ago, a scro war fleet entered the sphere and dared to attack Bestial. Despite brilliant and decisive leadership by Admiral Khokaaj, the scro fleet was doomed. Of their attacking fleet of fifty ships, only nine survived. The scro were simply unprepared for such a vicious and well-prepared planet of elves, and were crushed in a three day battle. The few ships that escaped were troop ships and two supply ships that were bringing up the rear. They managed to escape while their fellows were butchered by the elves, retreating across the sphere. Harried by lone elvish ships and local navies, the scro eventually made it to an abandoned dwarvish mining base in orbit of Frost. Short on supplies and in desperate need of repairs, the scro were astonished at their luck. The base had been destroyed by a ravishing monster, but left several cargo bays stuffed with food, mined meteor iron, and even a magical statue of a dolphin that creates water.
Once the scro settled in, they send a ship out to trade the iron for goods they needed. They found a few friendly ports, including those of the illithids. Unfortunately, they lack the means to escape the sphere, as all the scrolls and magical devices that enabled the scro to create portals were lost in their attack on the elves. They have tried to secure a portal locator, but so far they have yet to find a seller. In desperation, the scro have turned to piracy and mercenary duty to make scratch a living from the sphere, and are slowly losing their military discipline. Because of their ventures, the scro have managed to secure a supply of two dozen slaves, which they use to expand and improve the base.
The scro currently still have nine ships, all of which are in good shape. The largest is the scorpion ship Blackrazor, which is their flagship. It is captained by "Admiral" Lekorak, (LE scro male F9) the self appointed leader of the scro. He commands a fleet of two viperships, three tradesmen, and four wasps, and a dragonfly. All ships are equipped with minor helms or lifejammers and piloted by lesser rank warpriests. In all, there are just under three hundred scro on Retribution. Theirs is not a permanent settlement, as they have but a few females and many of the warriors are starting to showing the signs of aging, as the crews of the ships were either middle aged or very young when they left the scro homeworld. The young are becoming expert pirates, and have little desire to return to the homeworld or rejoin the war, as they have grown accustomed to the rouge's lifestyle. An up and coming scro, captain Rs'duur (NE scro male F7) is the popular leader of the young, and is fast becoming a charismatic swashbuckler, for the scro. He is pushing Admiral Lekorak to abandon the hunt for a passage device and devote themselves completely to piracy, but has been rebuked. If he gets his way, the scro will become yet another danger to merchant ships in Banesun.
