Travel Guide: Icliam IV, Great Garden
The Icliam system is an is located on the frontiers of human space. Despite their distant location, the local population, known as mothlings, are welcoming of their human neighbours. Humans are given free passage into the system and its many stations, and even allowed to land on the homeworld of the mothling people, known to them as the Great Garden. The Great Garden has many features that human tourists and expats will find attractive. The planet has a comfortable 0.9G’s of gravity, guaranteed to feel just like home to most human travelers. Its atmosphere is a comfortable 15lbs per square inch at local sea level. Temperatures range from a balmy 50c at the equator to a comfortably temperate 25c near the poles. Mothling architecture is climate controlled, however, and travelers will find that their temperature needs are always met. The planet has a wide range of biomes to visit, such as the violet sand beaches of the polar seas, or the equatorial mist forests. The local mothlings are a friendly species that any traveler will have an easy time interacting with. ISL is a common language on the planet, although the local spoken languages, which rely on clicking of mandibles—or teeth in the case of an enterprising traveler—can be harder for humans to learn. The mothling species is humanoid and similar in size to most human subtypes, allowing for easy interaction between both species. Biochemical barriers offer limited issues, although mothlings produce an alcohol substance within their bodies that results in a significant alcohol tolerance when compared to base humans; be careful when imbibing mothling beverages! Although many mothling buildings and cities are designed for beings that are able to fly, this is no issue for human tourists. The locals provide flight units for small rental fees at many convenient locations, and most buildings in popular tourist destinations have been retrofitted with elevators. You may find that local technology is difficult to operate, as it was designed for individuals with four arms and hands. It’s suggested that travelers bring their own datapads and other computational devices with them when visiting Great Garden.
Some local attractions to visit while you’re enjoying your stay on Great Garden- The First Gardens The oldest remaining religious structure on the planet! These flower gardens stretch for miles and are maintained by the priests of the Eternal Blossom, one of the religions that the mothlings follow. The gardens are open to all. Though many of the gardens’ delights are best enjoyed with mothling sense organs, they remain a brilliant display of colour and scent. The Crimson Gyre A spectacular, and permanent, whirlpool that has existed for centuries off the coast of Deepshade Forest Island in the north eastern hemisphere. The gyre is two kilometers off the coast of the island and can be reached and viewed best by helicopter. In times past the gyre was a significant impediment to navigation in this region of Great Garden’s oceans. It takes its name from the brilliant red microorganisms that have become specialized to thrive within its frothing environment. Trellis Space Elevator A marvel of engineering, the Trellis is the primary space elevator of Great Garden. Not only does it serve a functional purpose in providing the framework for the elevator, but it has been fashioned into a vertical garden that is overflowing with plantlife. The mothlings have adapted their gardens to survive at extreme elevations and have even enclosed many sky gardens within their own atmosphere cases to continue the Trellis outside of Great Garden’s atmosphere. Falling Lance Stadium The most modern of Great Garden’s many sports stadiums. This stadium has everything the athletically inclined traveler could want. Elevators to upper floors, seats with back support, and drinks for human consumption. All these human comforts, and you can still catch rousing games of dropstone or paintflight.
The sport of dropstone- Dropstone is the archetypal mothling sport. It involves two teams competing against one another in a large aerial arena. The arena is split into two parts: the first is the ground scoring field, and the second is the aerial playing field. The scoring field is, itself, split into irregularly shaped targets, each worth a different amount of points. The flying field is also split into different scoring areas, but these are sectioned by height. The higher into the flying field a player is when making their play, the more valuable that play is. Each team takes a turn as attacker or defender. Attackers are given the titular stones to be dropped and must fly into position to make their play. The stones are then dropped to land in a ground field target. Defending team members are able to intercept and interfere with this play, attempting to divert it into less valuable target zones. However, the ground field has no out-of-bounds areas, and all plays will score; defenders must be cautious not to accidentally improve an attacker’s play by knocking it into a more valuable target zone. Players may “block” one another by flying into the path of the other player, though physical contact is not allowed due to risk of severe injury from a fall. A game of dropstone continues for a set period, and victory is achieved by the team with the higher point total. The game requires speed, endurance, depth perception, ability to calculate the fall patterns of the stones, ability to aim one’s play, and the ability to make snap judgments when on the defense. Historians theorize that dropstone evolved out of a ritualized practice for ancient mothling warfare, in which warriors would carry small bombs to drop on their enemies. The team and turn based nature of the game allowed both teams to practice at both bombing runs and defending their lands from enemy attack, while also honing their reflexes and ability to aim for individuals or buildings of importance in combat. This theory is disputed by some historians, but remains the most widely accepted.
Details on the Icliam System- The Brilliant Beacon system, known in human space as the Icliam system, is a highly developed and settled system. The system boasts twelve major planetary bodies, of which six are rocky. Planets within the system have an average of eleven natural satellites. The mothling species originated on the planet Great Garden, Icliam IV, which possesses one natural satellite. Great Garden is composed of a grand political union of 414 mothling polities, ranging in size from city-states to grand alliances that spread across the many archipelagoes of the world. Though the history of the world was once marred by political violence between these nations, it has been several centuries since major conflict has occurred. The mothlings united early in their space age, when it became clear that space-based conflict could easily result in the depopulation of their world. The world, and its colonies across the system, are governed by the League of Allied Mothling Polities. The system is highly populated with habitats on, or in orbit of, all planetary bodies. Great Garden and Second Sapling remain the primary population centers within the system. Second Sapling, Icliam V, is a sister planet to Great Garden, also falling within the habitable zone of Brilliant Beacon. It was colonized early in the mothling space age, and has since been terraformed into a similar ecosystem to its sibling. The inner colonies of the system are primarily based on closed habitats buried in the crusts of their planetary hosts, or in orbit around them. These habitats are most often utilized for research or industrial crews, as several sources of valuable resources are located within the inner system. The outer colonies extensively use asteroid habitats, and several are in low orbit of the ice and gas giants of the system. The system’s gate, known to the locals as the Far Flight Gate, is present within the inner colony region. Brilliant Beacon is industrialized and produces sufficient materials to meet its own needs. It also produces surplus goods that are traded with nearby human colony worlds. Mothlings are known to produce high quality medical goods, both in the form of consumables, and the equipment needed to maintain hospitals. Alcohol and recreational drugs are a popular cultural export from the system, as both are notably powerful when compared to similar classes of items created by humans. Although many electronics are produced within the system, these have failed to find a foothold within human markets due to the significant physiological differences between the two species. Popular imports into the system include human food products, notably dairy products, and weapons technology. Although there is a local arms industry within Brilliant Beacon, the natural inclinations of the mothling species has resulted in it being anemic when compared to human arms industries, and the local military and mercenary forces often procure human equipment to supplement their local small arms.
The Mothling Military The system is defended by the mothling military, known as the Battle Unit Guards, who originated as specialized leaf-guards that had trained for combat against their brethren. Over time the military expanded to include other members of the species, and is now primarily made up of mothlings of both fertilizer types, and egg-layers that have already produced their clutch of eggs. Ironically, the leaf-guards are the least represented amongst the Guards in modern times, though by no means absent. Guards units are almost entirely composed of ship-based combat elements. These ships patrol the system and provide aid to all in need. Secondary forces are maintained in orbital and interplanetary platforms providing observation and support to ship and planetary based forces. The final arm of the BUG are the planetary garrisons, which are almost non-existent except for those personnel needed to maintain equipment. Most planetary forces are reserves and do not provide active service unless the LAMP enters a state of crisis or war, which has not happened in a significant time. The BUG maintains several classes of starship, space station, and defense platform for the overall defense of Brilliant Beacon and its planets and colonies. Though BUG forces are prevalent across the system, they are a minor military force when compared to major human nations, and lack the ability to project force outside of the system in any major capacity. BUG starships are primarily composed of corvette and destroyer hull types.
Known classes of BUG spaceborne military vessels- Leafcutter Corvette A laserstar vessel built around one major laser generator and several output arrays through which that laser can be directed. The Leafcutter class is able to pack a hefty punch with its primary weapon when it is directed through a single emitter, or to engage multiple targets through its arrays. The class are often deployed on patrol along with Formic and Silver class corvettes. Dracula Corvette A kinetistar type vessel built around a spinal mounted gauss cannon. The Dracula class is intended for one task and one task alone: placing slugs through hulls. They’re a rare thing to spot within Brilliant Beacon, and most remain at BUG stations, ready to deploy in the rare instances that a hostile ship requires perforation. Formic Corvette A missile bus type vessel. The Formic class of corvettes are built around several VLS cells that allow them to engage targets at extreme range, and provide supporting fire to other ships in the BUG fleet. Formics can be found patrolling with Leafcutters and Silvers through the system as common vessels. They are occasionally tasked with redirecting stray asteroids using their missiles. Silver Corvette The Silver class of corvette is primarily oriented toward reconnaissance and scouting. It is the workhorse of patrolling the Brilliant Beacon system. The class is built for speed, high amounts of delta-v, and with a state-of-the-art sensor suite. It lacks significant firepower, however, and often travels in the company of Leafcutter and Formic class ships. Carpenter Destroyer The Carpenter class destroyer is a multirole vessel, and the backbone of the BUG fleet. Its primary armament comprises particle beam emplacements, supported by VLS missile cells, and a tertiary level of defense laser arrays. The Carpenter class serves a role in the BUG fleet, similar to that of line ships in the major space forces of the galaxy. These ships are not deployed on patrol, but like the Dracula class corvette, they are kept in port and ready to deploy to problem areas. When a Carpenter deploys, it is always as part of a formation. Goliath Station The anchor of the BUG defense formations in Brilliant Beacon. Goliath class stations are built at strategic locations, such as near the Far Flight gate. They are the largest of the current defense stations, though a larger class has been rumoured to be in the planning stages. Goliath stations are built around a primary laser emitter and, like the Leafcutter, have smaller arrays that this laser can be directed through. In addition to the primary weapon, each station boasts a complement of missiles, launch bays for strike craft, and a complement of espatiers able to be deployed via launches to assist ships in need, or to board suspected hostile vessels. Each station is built as part of a formation and is accompanied by three Actaeon class stations and nine Atlas class stations. Actaeon Station The second largest of the defense stations within Brilliant Beacon. Actaeon stations are built around spinal mounted gauss cannons, supplemented by missile cells and laser point defense. While the Goliath class stations are able to launch strike craft and espatiers, the Actaeon station instead is able to launch Kirklin mines for missile intercept duties. The stations have a primary docking bay where personnel and supplies are able to enter or exit, with several emergency docking points along the surface in case the docking bay has been damaged in combat. Each Actaeon class station is built as part of a formation and is accompanied by three Atlas class stations. Atlas Station The third largest of the anchor stations within Brilliant Beacon. Atlas class stations are not built around any spinal mounted weapons, but instead are built with several particle beam weapons for use against hostile vessels. These are, as with the other anchor stations, complimented by missiles and defense lasers. The Atlas class, like the Actaeon class, has a central docking bay and emergency docking points.
Mothling Gender and Family Mothling gender is a trinary system in which each individual rates themselves on three core identities: Flight, Swim, and Crawl. Each of these corners of the mothling gender trinary has its own qualities, and the mixture of them creates the modern mothling gender identities. Human visitors sometimes make the mistake of assuming a mothling is one of the corners of the trinary, but this is incorrect. Mothling identity is formed by the mixture and levels of the trinary, rather than identifying with only one part of it. For example, a mothling might be strong-flight, mid-swim, weak-crawl. Another mothling might be weak-flight, strong-swim, weak-crawl. And so on. The genders expressed by modern mothlings are commonly understood across Brilliant Beacon and have evolved from an older system of gender norms. In modern times the gender of a mothling is used as a shorthand for an individual’s personality and temperament, and the role they choose to play in society. A mothling can change their gender at any time, and does so simply by changing how they refer to themselves. There is no database or other location where mothling genders are recorded. Traits associated with each of the trinary corners are as follows, though this is by no means exhaustive, as each of the mothling cultures has slightly different views- Flight Intellectual; fast judgments; physical strength; athleticism; martial ability; power. Swim Carefree; fun; humour; safe and free from threats; passively moving with the flow; encouraging. Crawl Dutiful; provider; hard working; long term planning; nurturing; protective. Mothling reproduction and family structure is radically different from what one can expect to encounter within human space. Mothling reproduction involves several sexes. An egg-layer lays clutches of between twenty and forty eggs, an event which occurs only once in an egg-layer’s life. In ancient mothling history these eggs were laid on a nest of leaves from plants specific to each mothling type. In modern times the eggs are laid in a hatchery, where they are overseen by the second mothling gender, the leaf-guard. Leaf-guards are phenotypically larger than other mothlings and watch over eggs and grubs. When a mothling egg hatches, the larval form of the species emerges, which is known as a grub. Grubs are radically different in morphology to their adult forms and spend most of their time consuming nectar and learning from their leaf-guards. At the end of this period, the grubs spin themselves into a cocoon of moth-silk, a material that is later harvested by the leaf-guards and is used in many mothling medical products. The grubs undergo a transformation within their cocoons and emerge as young adult mothlings, and begin to take their place within mothling society. Freshly emerged mothling adults can take several days to recover, and to prepare their wings for flight. It is during this time that the first differences between their sexes is made clear. Leaf-guards begin rapid growth, egg-layers produce their characteristic egg sacks, and both types of fertilizers produce their sexual glands. Mothling gender is distinct from their physical sex, and is classified on several axes, ranging from strong-flight, to strong-crawl, to strong-swim. Mothling gender cannot be mapped to human genders, and mothlings will generally accept any human pronouns. The mothling family structure itself is tied to the hatchery. Mothlings are raised with their clutch mates, and form strong bonds with these sibling grubs. They also form strong bonds with the leaf-guards who raised and defended them. Little emotional attachment is present for the egg-layers or fertilizers that contributed to the mothling’s life, nor are those genetic donors expected to have particular connection to the mothlings they created. Adult mothlings will still return to their hatcheries several times a year, when possible, to congregate. These hatcheries are the hubs of mothling neighborhoods and communities. After a mothling adult emerges from its cocoon, it undergoes a rite of passage to enter true adulthood. While grubs are taught skills by their leaf-guards, something similar to human apprenticeship, it is up to fresh adults to prove they were worth teaching. This journeyman period involves a mothling leaving its community to journey out and acquire new skills, resources, and connections for the community. Often fertilizers will mate and reproduce while on their rite of passage, though egg-layers will attempt to return to their hatchery if possible. If successful in their rite, mothlings return home and are treated as full adults and allowed to become leaf-guards of the hatchery, take part in all aspects of community life, and in modern times are given access to the planetary government’s income program and other benefits. Adults who fail in their rite will generally remain on the outskirts of whatever area they had traveled to and make up mothling society’s underclass.
