Aelann

			Par'tha Expanse

Aelann
Stellar Cartography
Region	Par'tha Expanse
Sector	Freeworlds Region
System	Aelann system
Sun(s)	1: (Ael)
Moon(s)	2
Class	M
Physical
Diameter	12800km
Atmosphere	Nitrogen-oxygen with ozone and carbon dioxide content, Earth-normal pressure
Hydrosphere	Moderate, 69% surface water
Climate	Mild / Temperate
Gravity	1.02 G
Primary terrain	Urban, plains, forest
Points of interest	Urlista Station, Aelann Imperial Shipyards
Length of Day	22h
Length of Year	355d
Native species	Caraadian
Other species	numerous and various
Societal
Official Language	Caraadian
Population	67 billion
Technological Classification	N
Imports	Foodstuffs, low tech, medicinal goods
Exports	Trade goods, starships, land vehicles, high tech
Affiliation	freeworld, Freeworlds Council member, Imperial sector headquarters
Government	Trade Commission, Freeworlds Council member

Aelann is a mild and temperate world. Located at the nexus of what was the Siiden Passage (Jenatris Corridor) and the Kaen'anti Bypass, it was the most active trading world in the entire sector. With few exceptions, everything that went into or out of the Par'tha Expanse passed through the Aelann system.

Aelann served as the unofficial seat of the Empire in the sector when they made their first push into the region. After only a few years, though, the Valcarians had withdrawn the vast majority of their forces out of the Freeworlds, reluctantly leaving behind the shipyards. The Aelann Imperial Shipyards are the largest in the region, and Aelann also served as the sector headquarters for numerous Imperial bureaus and organizations. It is suspected by many that the Imperial infrastructure on Aelann is organized to allow the world to serve as the staging area should the Imperials return and decide to take direct control of the sector.

• Culture: The spirit of fierce independence which characterizes the Freeworlds is strongest on Aelann. Its people are driven to success, and bristle at the suggestion that they have grown rich thanks only to house ore shipping and Bypass trade. Nobles from the Expanse are regularly reminded through the actions of Aelann's citizens that they cannot expect to be treated with deference and unwarranted respect. On Aelann, one's family name can be a source of pride, but Aelanni are expected to make their own reputations. Aelann has a large population of transitionaries, who live here part of the year to manage trades and transfer cargoes. There are a large number of aliens of all types living on Aelann, and most have at least a small enclave somewhere on the planet where they gather to live among their own kind.

• Government: Aelann is governed by a council elected by popular vote. The council appoints one of its numbers to serve as first executive - the leader of the world - and other members serve in other government capacities. One of the most powerful ministries is that of Orbital Commerce, which controls the civilian dockyards and the millions of financial transactions which take place there and in other orbital stations every day. While nominally each member represents the citizens of his community, in fact he spends more time seeing to the needs of industries and businesses in his domain. Many of the council members are affiliated with the Mining Guild, while many others are representatives of trading companies, high tech firms, communications companies, and so on.

• Economy: Aelann derives most of its economy from the trade passing through its system. It also has a few prominent mid- and high-tech industries of its own - it hosts several prominent spaceship manufacturing firms (most notably the Par'tha Starship Cooperative), as well as companies that make hover vehicles, air vehicles, tractors, and other transports. Since it can obtain raw ore at a very low price, its goods can be manufactured and sold far under standard galactic prices. Though there are superior and better-established brands around, Aelanni vehicles are popular in the Expanse Sector and Valcarian Imperial Republic because of the low prices and high quality.

• Allies: Of the Freeworlds, Aelann was the most central to sector and galactic trade, and this focus permeated its relationships with other governments. Aelann maintains good relations with all of the Freeworlds, and with most of the houses of the Expanse. The Empire and the Aelann government worked in tandem to maintain system security, though the arrangement was getting just a little too cozy for the comfort of many Aelann patriots. Now that it is just Aelann, they take their own security and protection much more seriously.

• Enemies: As one of the twin centerpieces of the Freeworlds Council and the Freeworlds Region with Illara Prime, Aelann naturally draws the ire of all organizations and individuals who have reason to detest the Freeworlds. These include the usual suspects: Larokon, Barahn, and Lanaxa, and the mining cartels based in the Expanse. Aelann has another enemy, one it doesn't know about. Though House Tadere has no economic reasons to plot against the Freeworld, it does have political ambitions which can only be realized if the Freeworlds are annexed directly by the Empire.

• Assets: Aelann is a world made wealthy and powerful because of its location at the nexus of two major trade routes. Its location was its single most important asset. With the Federation beginning to take an interest in the Par'tha Expanse, it is once again. To protect this asset, Aelann maintains a large fleet of capital ships, patrol lighters, and interceptors. With 12 Par'tha-class Frigates and two Par'tha-class carriers, only Larokon and the Empire have larger fleets active in the sector. Together with the fleets of the other Freeworlds, Aelann has one of the most powerful independent navies in the quadrant at its disposal. For centuries, the Common Navy kept house invasion fleets at bay. Peace through strength is a philosophy Aelann lives by.

Aelann has several large dockyards in orbit around the homeworld and throughout the Aelann system. The most paramount of these is the Aelann Shipyards, which are located at the midpoint between Aelann and its largest moon. Millions of ships are serviced here each solar year, and billions of tons of goods are transferred from ship to ship and from ship to land. The Imperial zone of the Aelann dockyards is the major Imperial base in the region, and serves as a major layover port for destroyers on deep patrol in the Expanse. There are always several destroyers and dozens of lesser craft being serviced here.

• Points of Interest: The Aelann spaceports are huge complexes, some as large as 25 kilometers. Girding each one are hundreds of kilometers of warehouses and housing complexes for the temporary population. There are hundreds of established markets at different locations on the planet, each specializing in a certain sort of trade; some deal in robotic devices, others in foodstuffs, while still others deal in spacecraft or ferrocrete. Other markets are not easily found, and deal in illegal goods and services. The underground markets deal in the usual vices; narcotics, contraband goods, and more rarely, slaves.