Noralan Asteroid Field

The Noralan asteroid field was an extensive, wildly erratic asteroid belt occupying the farthest orbit of the Norala system in the Freeworlds Region. Forged as the resulting effect of a collision between two rocky planets eons ago, the belt was a favored sanctuary for smugglers and pirates alike hoping to elude legal authority. The field was rich in untapped mineral resources such as metal ore, a magnet for mining prospectors hoping to make a fortune. The chaotic nature of the asteroid field sent a constant bombardment of meteorites to the surface of Norala, the system's fourth planet.

Description

The asteroid belt was an especially wide swath of countless free-ranging planetesimals confined to a set orbit, located at the outermost edge of the Norala system. The Noralan asteroid field was the resulting effect of a collision millions of years ago between what were once the system's two farthest outlying planets. Large and rocky in composition, the planets were fractured into scattered chunks of debris that were strewn throughout the system and eventually were pulled into erratic orbits around Norala, the system's star. Due to the Norala system's desolation, the asteroid field remained largely uncharted.

Throughout the belt's existence, rocky chunks continued to constantly collide with one another, grinding each other down to smaller asteroids. During the belt's early years, the collisions were catastrophic, creating vast craters in the many large asteroids. The collisions became less frequent and less powerful by comparison as the field matured, and the asteroids entered relatively stable orbits. As the asteroids collided and increased in number, the belt's composition grew in range from microscopic dust particles to tiny pebbles, large boulders, and asteroids that rivaled small moons in size and were massive enough to contain scant atmospheres. The chaotic nature of the asteroid field created an environment all but impossible for charting. Additionally, the random maelstrom and constant collisions proved a great hazard for travel through the region and a certain deathtrap for pilots hoping to successfully traverse the field. The largest asteroids, continually tugging at each other, destroyed any possibility of maintaining a rigid orbit. The Norala system's planets were the frequent recipients of meteorite collisions from asteroids that had broken away from the field as a result. In particular, a steady stream of meteorites constantly bombarded Norala IV, an icy planet occupying the system's fourth orbit.

The field's asteroids were rich in mineral composition, the lasting deposits of the two planetary cores. Indeed, the asteroids were comprised of a vast array of many different kinds of minerals and metal ores, including nickel and iron - one asteroid was rumored to be comprised entirely of platinum. The high metal concentration of the asteroids had a tendency to cause sensor distortions for passing starships. A rare growth found among many of the asteroids were crystal ivys, strange transparent, silicon-based crystals produced as an effect of some rocks' exposure to heavy radiation and cold vacuum. The crystals grew in delicate, web-like tangles extending several meters from their base on the surface of an asteroid and propagated from one asteroid to another, broken in shards that were carried to other rocks by orbital forces.