Aurora
Princessa, Gamma Volcak
PIC: 42n844444
The planet Aurora is a temperate
world long settled by STL colony fleet shortly before the invention of the
sub-hyperspace overdrive and is one of the major trade hubs of the Terran
League.
Fourth
planet of an F9 star, Aurora
has one large moon (dia: 3,160 miles) and is known for gentle seas and rolling
hills.
Aurora has a large
metallic core that produces one of the strongest magnetic flieds from a
Terra-type planet. This strong field
brings the auroral lights as far south as the equator. New Horizons Tours offers 7 and 14 day
packages for trips to Aurora just for those displays.
The large
moon, Corazon, is well cratered and carries a thin carbon dioxide
atmosphere. It is home to a few research
facilities and astronomical science labs.
One of the largest radio telescopes is based at the DeGrasse Center,
measuring over 10 miles across. It is
used to study the Volcak Cloud and the center of the galaxy.
One of the
features of the night sky on Aurora
is the Volcak Cloud. Princessa is on the
opposite side of the Cloud from Demion System.
About four times the apparent size of Corazon, the Volcak Cloud makes a
magnificent backdrop for romantics from all over the galaxy.
With predominately Latin settlers, Aurorans speak Spanish,
Portuguese and English interchangeably.
Place names tend to use the “el” and “la” of Spanish with the name
itself in English. This has lead to a
linguistic situation that is an issue to teachers and linguists across the
galaxy.
Gamma
Volcak was “explored” by long range telescopes and very early FTL robotic scout
vehicles in the late 2200’s. Shortly
there after, STL colony ships were launched.
The colony ships are still in orbit, being used as museums and tourist
attractions. The ships FAR HARBOR and
DISTANT SHORE are showcases of the European Development Corporation technology
for cryo-sleep and long range fusion drives.
Aurora is larger and
denser than Earth, having a larger percentage of heavy elements. This gives Aurora a gravity of 1.15g.
The day is
27 hours 45 minutes and 33 seconds long.
The 45 minutes are usually used as an extended lunch / break / rest
period during the day.
Being
farther from its bright primary, Aurora
has a rather long year of 630 days. The
Auroran year was broken down to six day weeks (there is no Monday) with 15
months and seven weeks per month.
The Auroran
calendar is unique in that they put the months back in their proper order, as
follows, while adding three new months.
The new months are Tritember or Tresember (for the number three),
Dosember (for twelve), and Diosember (from the Spanish word Dios, or God). They are usually shortened to Trese`, Dose`,
and Dios. Those that wish to, celebrate
Christmas in Diosember, at the end of the Auroran year, after the traditional
Thanksgiving feast in November. Landing
Day is the first day of January. The
Aurorans do not sync their calendars with any other planets. They do use Terran dates in official
paperwork as they are part of the Terran League.
1
January 1 Jan
= Landing Day
2
February
3
Tritember / Tresember
4
March
5
April
6
May
7
September 2nd
Saturday = St. Brigitte’s Day
8
October
9
June
10
December
11
July
12
Dosember
13
August
14
November 4th
Friday = Thanksgiving
15
Diosember 25 Dios
= Christmas Celebreation
The length
of the month is not tied to the orbital period of Corazon.
The City and Starport
of Castillo de Estrella
Castillo de
Estrella (shortened to CdeE and pronounced say-day-eay, Spanish for ‘Castle of
the Stars’) is on the eastern coast of Aurora’s
north continent, Rancho Grande, providing excellent launching for both
equatorial and polar orbits. Also being
on the edge of a circular bay allows ships to land offshore if too large to
land in the starport or in an emergency.
CdeE is a
bustling city of about 200,000 people with a definite Spanish / Latin
flair. As in 21st Century
Spain, just about everything in the city shuts down for at least two hours,
except the starport. “Siesta” is a time
loosely defined as being between noon and 4PM.
Most businesses close and employees go home if they live nearby for
lunch. Businesses open late in the
morning, 8 to 9AM, and stay open later in the evening till around 9PM. Restaurants and other gathering places stay
open till well after midnight.
People are
friendly and helpful. Everyone is
welcome and made to feel at home. The
streets are clean and well maintained and buildings are a colorful and eclectic
mix of styles from across Western Europe and South America.
The climate
is warm winters and warmer summers with the occasional thunderstorm. Hurricanes are rare and usually strike land
hundreds of miles to the north of CdeE.
Fog is occasional and mostly in the valleys along the mountains. Rain is during the Fall and Spring. Much water control has been done with the Arroyo
Grande for flood control, notably on the Puerta Sur side of the river.
Castillo de
Estrella is powered by four fusion reactors.
The starport has its own power supply and is independent from the city
though each power system can augment the other. Power for ranches in the Dragonridges is
provided by solar, wind and some small hydro-electric generators. Water based power generation in the bay would
be difficult with multi-hundred thousand tons starships setting down.
Avalon is
an island about 15 miles off the coast of Puerta Sur. On this island are large, rolling ranches
with large homes, usually covering hundreds of acres. Many “old” families on Aurora have owned land there for hundreds of
years.
The Dragonridge Mountains to the west are nearby for
hunting, fishing, camping, skiing and many other outdoor activities. A few thousand people live among the
mountains and in the foothills just to the east.
Other large
cities on Aurora are: Alta Mesa, Guadalupe, Los Alamos, Los Osos,
Keller’s Corner, Palm
Desert and Nueva
Barcelona.
The average
Auroran enjoys excellent medical care and can expect to live about 120 years
(without CD activation). They tend to be
fun loving and positive and enjoy seeing the beauty of “the big picture” of
things. They enjoy life without the “over the top” celebrations of “Festival
and its “Year of the…” parties.
Aurorans
are of mixed ancestry, with the majority being from Western Europe, South
American and southern North America.
Spanish and Portuguese last names are common with the occasional Anglo name
for something different.
Most males
tend to be under 6 foot, and women under 5’ 9” though people of both genders
over 6 foot are not unheard of. Hair is
dark brown to black and brown eyes with some blond hair and blue eyed child
Spanish ancestry. Red hair and freckles
are not seen unless someone immigrates to Aurora.
Few
Aurorans desire to move off-world. They
are very happy with their home and few planets offer better living. With the wonder of the Volcak Cloud just a
few light years away, the wanderlust to join ORAC or the Space Patrol is low.
System Information
Primary: Princessa “Princess” Gamma Volcak),
type: F9
Planets: Pocahontas
1 Moons: Fueza
“Strength”
Anne 11 Honor “Honor”
Cinderella
5 Fe “Faith”
Esperanza “Hope”
Aurora 4 Corazon “Heart”
Fa
Mulan Asteroid Belt
Ariel
9 Cantar
“to sing”
Belleza
“Beauty”
Amor
“Love”
Acarice “Cherish”
Alma “Soul”
Verdad “Truth”
Crea “Believe”
Agraciando “Graceful”
Amiga “Friend”
Place Names around
Castillo de Estrella
Spanish English
Azul Sea Blue Sea
Maricopa Reina Butterfly Beach
Calm Sea
Oso Mille Thousand Lakes
El Dorado Lake Lake of Gold
Secluded
Cove
Griffin’s Bay
Val
Verde Holler
Dragonridge Mountains
Castillo de Estrella Castle
of the Stars, major city
Defender Beach
Emerald Forest
Arroyo Grande Big
Ditch, major river
Rancho Grande Big
Ranch, northern continent
Santa Lucia Saint
Lucy
Puerta Sur South Port
Muy
Grande River Very
Big River
Rancho De La Marron Brown’s
Ranch
Dusty
Roads
Ranchoe Sestro de Caballos Resting
Horse Ranch
McKeesport Station
Orbiting Aurora is McKeesport Station,
a starstation that caters to travelers from across the League. At nearly four miles in overall length, the
station can clearly be seen from the surface.
Being a quasi-military post, many ORAC vessels can be seen departing or
arriving on a regular basis. There is
also a small ORAC fleet assigned to the station under the command of Commodore
Antonio Reyes, aboard his flagship, the heavy cruiser TEMANACTLAN.
McKeesport can repair and
refit many ships to about 2500 feet in length and about 1.5 million tons in
mass. The station can also build small
auxiliary vessels such as shuttles and work pods on site and to custom
specifications.
A few
civilian craft make their home port here.
McKeesport is quite
capable of defending itself if the need arises with a formidable array of
weaponry from MAD cannons to torpedo launchers and railguns.
A STAR
FORTRESS class vessel usually visits once a week. No FORTRESS is assigned to the station,
though one can be called upon at a moments notice.
Admiral Carol O’Hern
She has
been in command of McKeesport Station since 2994. She is from Terra and was born on the east
coast of the North American continent, near what used to be a small cargo port
for mines, which McKeesport Station is named after. The southern Pennsylvania area is now reforested after
all industry was moved off Terra to the Asteroid Belt. Many Lunar and Belter miners can trace
ancestry back to this area.
Admiral
O’Hern is minimal nonsense person; she doesn’t tolerate wasteful actions or
ideas. She has read The Book, wrote
parts of it, and is willing to throw out or downright ignore parts she doesn’t
like or agree with.
She is a
small woman, standing about 5 foot 4 inches, with gray hair and green
eyes. She is perpetually in need of
sunlight as she spends way too much time about the station.
Carol likes
old novels from the 20th century, mostly science fiction. Over the years she has cultivated a network
of knowledgeable book specialists.
