THE PHIPPE SYSTEM
Three life sustaining worlds and a deep space station called Trumpler 4 make up the Phippe system. The worlds, Canippe, Hrefna and Husadiq, all together hold about a half billion inhabitants. These worlds have limited resources and a long history of conflict with each other because of it.
Hrefna, the most populous of the three, is home to between three and four hundred million residents. A rather cold climate from its proximity to the system star make arable land and food a scarce commodity.
The citizens of Hrefna have known a decidedly ridged society their entire history. The planetary government enlists a highly trained and well equipped force to police its people, eliciting suspicion and doubt throughout the culture.
While gambling and other proto-criminal vises are strictly illegal across much of the planet, the laws are somewhat more refined around Hrefna’s single major spaceport. Located in Ver-Blue, a metropolis of sixteen million, the spaceport, called Tom Memorial Harbor & Dockyards is witness to as many as three hundred ships a day passing through its hangers. In the Ver-Blue tourist sector, visitors are just another source of income. With the right amount of credits, a visitor can find most anything their heart desires.
Outside this sector, tourism is widely restricted. Visitors are allowed about the city, though as in any other Hrefnan city, they must register with the planetary government as well as local officials. Local regulations pertaining to visitors vary widely across the planet. Regardless of the place, it must be assumed traveling there will be costly.
Scores of rumors circulate throughout nearby systems regarding tourists who ran afoul of local bureaucrats, all of whom carry a sidearm. Numerous missing person’s reports are filed with the planetary government every year. Generally, these people are written off as being hopelessly lost and are quickly forgotten. Talk among those with some experience visiting Hrefna invariably turns to the fact these missing carried an abundance of credits on unmarked cred-sticks. The leap to assume their fate isn’t a long one.