Cutting Room Floor: Thandha system

Originally published August 26, 2013

GURPS Handbook of the Planets Inputs: Personal user number 314; System number 123

According to the aging digital records from old Earth, Thadha means Frost in Hindu. It seems appropriate for a planetary system consisting of mostly frozen chunks of ice drifting about a bright G class star. Despite this Thandha had a certain appeal to the colonists fleeing the war. Hailing mostly from southern Asia, these desperate colonists were looking for isolation and peace, something Thandha had in abundance.

The main colony was established over two centuries ago on a moon of the seventh planet of the system, named Frost. Here a meager fifty thousand souls live in low gravity deep under the ice. The government is managed by a ruling class of engineers and carefully balanced computations. The rest of the populous is broken into strict castes which work to supply different aspects of the society's needs.

Despite their grim location, the residents of Frost enjoy a substantial bounty due to a huge energy production facility located on Thandha II, known as the Farm. Here under boiling heat, a vast array of solar panels have been established on the surface of a tidally locked rocky world. The eternal sunshine is converted into electricity which in turn is beamed to orbital atom colliders where it is used to create antimatter. This abundance of antimatter allows the citizens a large surplus of manufactured goods. The only things lacking are living space and social mobility.

Those living and working on the Farm have it less well. Dealing with heat and radiation is much harder than living under the ice. The work attracts a special sort of person, ones looking for opportunities for social advancement.

The major castes of the system originated with the original colonists but have mutated in the centuries of isolation:

• Brahmin (Data): this caste controls the computers, managing its programming and many of things that mean life or death for the colony. They are the de facto leaders of the system.
• Dalit (Untouchables): those who work outside the system. Many Dalit work in and around the Farm. They are becoming a potent force there, agitating for more rights and access to the system's bounty.
• Kshatriyas (Traders): officially the governors of the system, their main duty is managing trade and manufacturing. They have an uneasy relationship with the Brahmin.
• Vaishyas (Farmers): controlling food production, life support and maintenance, this is the most common caste.
• Shudras (Miners): these consist of the two sub-castes, Ice and Fire. Ice Miners are more numerous and poorer, working the mines of Frost. Fire miners are more common on the Farm and their increasing numbers are causing that outpost to become a new colony.

Game Aspects (using the Fate system):

• Frost: Plenty of Power but Little Space, Rigid Caste System, Run by Computers
• The Farm: Boiling Hot Surface, Boom Town, Social Powderkeg

System Details:

• Thandha: a G1V class star, roughly 7.6 billion years old.
• Thandha II: second planet of the system, tidally locked to its star.
• Thandha I, III, and IV: small barren rocks lacking atmosphere and notable resources.
• Thandha V, VI, and VII: gas giants surrounded by icy moons.
• Frost: fourth moon of the outermost (7th) planet, containing valuable resources.