Official in-character thread for the PbP Classic Traveller adventure, Kukelu Blues.

If you have questions, comments, or any other out of character business, please use the other thread.

http://www.therpgsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8131

Kukelu (Ley/1222)    C272688-7

Type C Starport, Size 2, Standard Tainted Atmosphere, Hydrographics 2%, Population 5,783,492 (as of 995), Government Code 8 (Civil Service Bureaucracy), Law Level 8 (all weapons except long blades prohibited), Tech Level 7, Non-Industrial.

Kukelu is an Imperial mining world located in Subsector A of the Ley Sector. It is characterized by a harsh climate and unusual geography. Kukelu is an important source of raw and refined minerals for several nearby worlds including Shanape (1023) and Sentry (0921).

***Traveller's Advisory***

Kukelu is being considered for designation as an Amber Zone due to growing civil unrest between organized criminal elements, political agitators, and the planet's ruling body, the Council of Kukelu. Travellers are warned that kidnappings, robberies, acts of terrorism, and attempted hijackings have been increasing in recent months and visitors are advised to take appropriate precautions. Be advised that while the ownership of personal weapons is not technically prohibited, the ban on carrying firearms in public is strictly enforced planet-wide, including at the starport facilities located in the North Sector. Please contact the local branch of the Travellers' Aid Society upon arrival for updates and further advisories.  


Planetary Summary:

Kukelu is a small, dry, hot planet located at the inner edge of Kinbasees' (the system's G9 Primary) habitable zone. Kukelu has a minimal axial tilt of .46 degrees, a condition that creates extreme bands of temperature and climate ranging from the scorched, uninhabitable equatorial Badlands to small, perpetually frozen polar caps. There are narrow (~250 km) habitable regions in both northern and southern hemispheres where the majority of Kukelu's population makes their home. Kukelu's day is 29.8 standard hours long, and the planetary year is 165 standard days (132.9 local days).

Almost all of Kukelu's water is locked in deposits of frozen ice located at both planetary poles. These reserves have been tapped to provide subsistence-level quantities of water for the planetary population and for hydroponics farming efforts. Water recycling is strictly enforced, and starships are not allowed to refuel using planetary hydrogen without special permission from the Council, and even then the cost of fuel is ten times standard. These refueling restrictions have been a major factor in preventing Kukelu from developing anything more than basic starport facilities. Despite this, interstellar commerce is maintained at relatively high levels. The Kinbasees system has four gas giants available for refueling. One of these giants, Tumbara, is serviced by a modest commercial refueling station that offers hydrogen at market prices, enabling bulk freighters and free traders to include Kukelu on their regular trade routes.

Beyond the frozen poles of Kukelu are the narrow habitable regions of the planet. These areas are characterized by sweeping vistas punctuated by wind-sculpted stone formations and deep crevasses. The near-vertical geography and low gravity (.25 g) shapes the settlements of the planet's population of 5.75 million sentients. The citizens of the habitable zones share their habitat with a surprising number of native life forms including the ubiquitous Drywall Moss (actually microscopic insects), Turtlerats, and the exotic Jaded Goshawk. These native life forms have managed to survive despite the harsh environment of Kukelu and the encroachment of technological civilization on their natural habitats, especially the watering holes that surround the permafrost tundra of the polar caps. Laws have been passed in recent years to protect the native life of the habitable zone, but many conservationists fear that the damage to the native ecosystem may be irreversible.  

Large subsurface mining facilities in the habitable zone extract strategic and commercially valuable ores for resale to off-world markets.  These ores, ranging from iron and copper to the more exotic lanthanides, exist in quantities sufficient to keep mining operations on Kukelu active for another fifty years or more by most estimates. As the mines in the habitable regions become tapped out, operations will be expanded deeper into the Badlands, necessitating a larger investment in protective gear and other expendables that could make the costs of exploitation prohibitive. Survey crews and freelance miners occasionally strike out into the harsher regions, most hoping to stake their claim to valuable deposits, hoping to make their fortune by selling the rights to develop these deposits to speculators or mining corporations rather than trying to mine their finds themselves.

The Badlands of Kukelu are a broad region of rocky desert almost 1,200 kilometers across that straddles the equator of the planet. This region of intense daytime heat and frigid nighttime cold is a product of the planet's slight axial tilt and its proximity to Kinbasees. Kukelu's thirty-hour day intensifies the extremes in temperature, raising daytime highs into the mid-60' C (140' F), while nighttime lows plunge to -15' C (5' F). The extreme temperatures of the Badlands fuel massive windstorms that periodically sweep the equator with sustained winds of 160 kph (100 mph), creating blinding sandstorms of abrading dust that tower miles into the thin atmosphere of Kukelu. Due to the violent and unpredictable nature of Kukelu's weather, travel between the Northern and Southern Sectors is accomplished via four monorail lines known as the Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue Lines.  These monorails ferry people and goods between the Sectors in relative comfort in just over six hours. Despite the inhospitable conditions of the Badlands, there are occasional reports of native lifeforms including insects and large reptilian omnivores. These reports are largely apocryphal, however, as no living specimens have ever been recovered from the deepest part of the Badlands.  

History and Government:

Kukelu is inhabited by approximately 5.75 million individuals, mostly Human or Vilani, who make their living by mining the planet for saleable minerals. The majority of the population (95%) lives and works in one of the two habitable regions of the planet, Sectors that have evolved into distinct cultural, economic, and political entities.

Kukelu was uninhabited at the time of its discovery by the Ziru Sirka and remained largely unexplored until well into the Third Imperium. In 245, a mineralogical survey by the now-defunct mining corporation Solgo-Mat Partnerships discovered a sizeable concentration of strategic minerals below the surface of the harsh planet. Various concerns attempted to exploit the find over the following centuries - attempts that bankrupted many individuals as well as corporations - but it was not until 550 that a consortium of independent miners and small corporations managed to make the planet profitable.

As time passed the corporations and their employees merged into a collective society working for a planetary corporation/government wholly owned and operated by the people of Kukelu. This sociopolitical relationship was maintained until 845 when a series of bad investments, mismanagement, and corruption by the Kukelu Board of Directors led to an unprecedented economic depression. Widespread unrest lead to the resignation of the Board and the subsequent collapse of the corporate government. A new form of government was instituted as a compromise between the still-powerful corporate managers and the unhappy citizen-miners of the Kukelu. The new government was structured so that government employees, no matter their position or authority, were officially removed from the decision-making process of the corporations based on Kukelu. Stripped of their positions with their former employers and forced to sell all shares of stock upon selection for a post in the planetary bureaucracy, these officially unbiased (though privately corruptible) civil servants were focused solely on the day-to-day operation of the planet. Led by the newly formed Council of Kukelu, a body that continues to govern the world to this day, the citizens of the planet vowed to maintain a vigilant eye on their public leaders. The Council is composed of six members - the popularly elected Governors of the Northern and Southern Sectors, the heads of the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice, and two representatives selected on a rotating basis from the various corporations based on Kukelu.

Since 845, the bureaucratic government of Kukelu has evolved into a true organ of the people, despite the best efforts of many mining concerns to seed the Council with members favorable to their point of view. Civilian distrust of the companies that employ 90% of the planet's population is still the driving force behind planetary politics, and civilian watchdogs tirelessly pursue any hint of corruption at all levels of government. Many idealistic youths would rather join one of the dozens of government agencies than sweat through a lifetime of hard labor in the ore mines. This trend has caused the demographics of Kukelu to evolving over time, with a rapidly expanding government class of almost 150,000 bureaucrats living off the productivity of a shrinking working class. Sociologists have recently predicted dire consequences should this trend continue.

Kukelu is divided into two administrative regions, the Northern Sector and the Southern Sector, centered around the two habitable poles of the planet. Each Sector is administered by a governor who also serves as one of the six members of the Council of Kukelu. Currently, the Northern Sector Governor is Terisha Wayne, a charismatic 40 year-old former miner whose rise to prominence in the bureaucracy is a testament to her political acumen. The Southern Sector Governor is Hayman Derst, a career bureaucrat and, at age 68, the oldest member of the Council. His 50+ years of public service ensures that he is one of the most savvy and knowledgeable members of the Council.

The day-to-day operations of government on Kukelu are overseen by numerous governmental Departments. Among these are the Department of Mines, responsible for overseeing and regulating all mining operations, the anachronistically named Corporate Security Service, in charge of planetary security, and the Department of the Environment, responsible for enforcing recycling and environmental protection mandates. Other departments include Commerce, Education, Technology, Internal and External Development, Housing, and Sanitation. The majority of these departments operate under the aegis of a "parent" department. For example, the Department of Sanitation and the Department of Housing are sub-departments of the Department of the Environment.

For a more detailed discussion of the governmental structure of Kukelu, please see Hydra: The Regulations, Restrictions, and Rationalizations of the Kukelu Bureaucracy by Karman Trisilla, University of Shikirmi press, 989 (LeyGov 1222-2-A0013).

Part I - High and Dry

The day dawns bright and hot, and you find yourself faced with the prospect of an expensive loan (or worse) to replace a damaged component of your ship's Jump Drive system. The Jump Field Interchange Coil has fractured - a mis-jump waiting to happen - and the chances of finding a replacement for less than the cost of a new ship at Kukelu's just-this-side-of-frontier-quality starport is slim. Your cargo of clothing and other manufactured goods that was just offloaded netted you a nice profit, but it still leaves you short of the cost of the replacement part by Cr. 10,000. Fortunately, the local news-sheet lists a number of jobs that might help make ends meet in addition to some interesting (and troublesome) Public Notices...

One thing seems to be in abundance here at least - dust. You can feel, rather than hear, the air scrubbers working overtime to remove the worst of the clingy red haze from every surface, with mixed success. Some citizens wear filter masks, even in the sealed areas, more from habit you suspect than anything else. Far above, the sunlight slants down through the frosted glass that covers what passes for Main Street. Shops, stores, restaurants, and bars line the main drag, staffed by listless locals who perk up at the sight of off-worlders.

And everywhere, you see the unmistakable figures of police, their blue padded suits and billy clubs clearly marking them as the Law on any of a thousand worlds.

(Feel free to intro your characters or whatnot at this point. The assumption is that you've all travelled together for at least one jump as crew on your ship, so there's a small amount of history at least. If you want more descriptions, let me know.)



Classified Ads


Wanted - Adventurous Self-Starters to Share in the Opportunity of a Lifetime! Contact Gem Haritson at NS-04-4432 anytime before 2200-4.

Need Cash Fast? We need armed couriers for the Blue Line Run between Southern Sector and Northern Sector. We pay cash at the end of every run, up to Cr. 1,500 per person, and we cover the cost of the trip! Contact Horran Illulish, Director of Personnel, at SS-99-0045 between 0800-1830-6.

Tired of Backbreaking Work for Uncertain Pay? Join the Professionals! Now hiring career-oriented individuals for temporary and permanent full-time positions in the Corporate Security Service. CSS offers generous salaries, a comprehensive benefits package, and a history of stability and reliability for over 150 years! If you want a challenging job working with great people, call CSS today! NS-01-0006.

Madame Garuza Sees All. Madame Garuza Knows All. Has your spouse been faithful? Is your recent strike a Dry Hole? Madame Garuza knows! Call now! SS-99-2300.

Laborers Needed - Day Labor loading and unloading Blue, Red, Yellow, and Green Line trains in both Sectors. Cash paid daily. Call Marq at SS-99-0801.  

Stand on the Edge of the Badlands! Seeking adventurous, hard-working, greedy individuals for an incredibly dangerous expedition to the very edge of the Twilight Zone. No contracts, no guarantees, no promises - except that I've never failed yet! Leave a message detailing your experience and tell me why I should take you with me! NS-99-1492.

Missing - Jaded Goshawk, "Tiffany", last seen near Farringdon Park, Northern Sector, last Twoday at 1650. Responds by name. Likes dried garum-fish treats. Owner Desperate! Call NS-23-7528 if found. Reward.

Seeking Sealed Air Raft for long-term job. Will pay top credit for discrete service. Call NS-99-4422.

Nothing Lasts Forever. SS-99-1655.

Buy-Sell-Trade! We deal in new and used equipment, personal gear, vehicles - you name it, we've got it! Badlands Surplus, with convenience compounds in both Sectors! Give us a try, you won't be disappointed! Contact us at NS-36-0439 or SS-21-1286.


Public Notices

Reward - For information leading to the capture and prosecution of the Party or parties responsible for the vandalism of several Remote Seismic Monitoring Stations. Anonymity Guaranteed. Contact NS-12-1825, Dr. Fren Paut, Kukelu Institute of Geological Sciences, for more information.

Wanted - Information regarding recent robberies in Barrington Street, Southern Sector, involving the use of restricted explosives. Contact CSS Barrington Station, SS-01-0053. Reward.

Wanted - Information regarding recent unsolved murders in Deep Street, Southern Sector. Contact CSS Wilhawk Station, SS-01-0057. Reward.

Wanted - Information regarding suspects in recent mass unrest leading to the death of two unidentified individuals in Palace Street, Southern Sector. Contact CSS Palace Station, SS-01-0068. Reward.

Wanted - Information regarding theft of two sealed air rafts from Northern Sector Port, Lot A. Vehicles matte red, four-seat models bearing corporate logos. Contact CSS Northern Port Station, NS-01-0050. Reward.

Wanted - Information regarding suspected arson fire that consumed the Corporate Tavern located at 1200 High Street, Northern Sector in the early morning hours of 148. Contact CSS Owits Station, NS-01-0051. Reward.

Auction - Monthly auction of goods recovered as a result of default on Corporate loans and assorted property seized in the course of CSS investigations. Auction begins at 0700 local time, Firstday, at the Corporate Impound Yards located in both Sectors. Contact NS-01-0100 or SS-01-0100 for more information.

Not being much help in the way of starship repairs, Erem sits in a local cafe within eyeshot of the starport, mulling over the classifieds as the last quarter of his coffee-like beverage cools in the cup. Spotting a likely advert, he pulls out his comm phone, syncs with the local network, and starts to dial.  Before he finishes the sequence, he thinks the better of dialing Madame Garuza.

Looking a little farther down the page, he spies another ad.  A moment of nihilism siezes him.  "Nothing Lasts Forever."  Yeah, no kidding.  He dials: S-S-9-9-1-6-5-5.  And he waits, gazing almost thoughtlessly out the window.

!i!

"if only it was the jump circuit rather than the coil that blew.  that, we could fix!  but no, the one piece that we have to repair. . . ."

torin takes a sip of his lukewarm beverage and puts his chin in his hands.  "i like the 'need cash fast' ad.  does this (taps dagger hilt) count as 'armed', you think?  who ya callin', erem?"

Ken, a big lug of a man with a lantern jaw and an easy grin, sits across the table from Erem and watches girls walk by through the window.  There's not much to see, though, so he sighs and shakes his head and bites into his burger.  "Soy?! This planet sucks."

"Hey, Erem.  You gonna eat that...?"  He notices Erem dialing.  "What are you doing?"

Ronnoc lounges on the object that passes for a chair in this place. Leaning back staring at the ceiling, he sighs loudly. Taking his hands from behind his head he nods his chin at Torrin.

"It is what it it, Torrin. We can't change what part failed, so how do suggest we get off this shi - make a decision, Erem?  Calling the Seer, I bet."

The comm line rings twice, then a series of clicks. A chipper female voice:

"... and full service arrangements start from as low as 350 credits! Please continue to hold, and one of our associates will be with you shortly. Here at Sidney and Sons Funeral Home, we take care of the needs not only the dearly departed, but of their family and friends as well! Each member of our dedicated staff is a certified Grief Counsellor...."

The message continues in that vein. You may be in bad shape, but probably aren't ready for this particular service just yet.

"What's with the face, Erem?  She tell you the end is nigh, or something?"

Quote from: James J Skach"What's with the face, Erem?  She tell you the end is nigh, or something?"

"Naah," says Ken with a wave of his hand, "He just  figured out his sammich was soy, too!"

Ken burps, then leans back in his seat.  "Yobs, I tell ya -- I'm lookin' ahead to the hour we get off this rock.  Hey, Erem, why'n'cha dial..." He grabs at the paper, then stabs a long, hefty finger at it.  " 'Seeking Sealed Air Raft'.  We got one'a those right?  Air Raft?"

He's left a greasy fingerprint over the word "Seeking".  Who knew a soyburger could be greasy?

Ronnoc slowly leans forward, scanning the ads.

"Sounds good - as long as they only want to pay to use it. If not that, courier sounds good.  Good for 6,000 Cr for one trip put's us more than half way there with nothing but travel - how hard can that be?"

Erem winces visibly as he kills the signal on his comm. "Guys, promise me.  If I die on this rock, don't bury me here.  You can shoot me out of an airlock at the sun, but don't bury me here."

Spotting Ken's grubby fingerprint, he shifts gears.  "Anything better in the 'seeking' section?  Air Raft?"  Shrugging in half-hearted surrender, Erem takes a closer look at the advert and poises his thumb to dial the comm code.  Looking up from the listing, he asks, "Shall I?"

!i!

One slight problem - while you do have an air-raft, it is an open-top model, not a sealed version. Interesting that two were stolen recently, however...

Erem pauses after punching in the first two letters.  "Uh...isn't our air raft un-sealed?"  Pointing to one of the 'wanted' adverts, he adds, "Hunh.  Maybe they're looking to replace the two that were stolen.  Mm...different comm codes, though."

Pursing his lips in contemplation, he nods at the other ad Ronnoc mentioned.  "Courier service?  We're not much in the way of 'armed' aside from a couple of knives, but maybe we can make do."

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaErem pauses after punching in the first two letters.  "Uh...isn't our air raft un-sealed?"  

"So?" blurts Ken.  "What's the --" He starts to say 'difference', but then he gets it.  "Hmm."

QuotePointing to one of the 'wanted' adverts, he adds, "Hunh.  Maybe they're looking to replace the two that were stolen.  Mm...different comm codes, though."

Pursing his lips in contemplation, he nods at the other ad Ronnoc mentioned.  "Courier service?  We're not much in the way of 'armed' aside from a couple of knives, but maybe we can make do."

Ken shrugs and tries once more looking for something interesting outside the window.  Failing titanically, he heaves a big, bored sigh.