Rigel V/V'Geln

 

Notes

Called V'Geln by the Orions, Rigel V is the classic Class M world with a diverse ecosystem similar to that of Earth, but differing in temperatures and climates. The equatorial and temperate zones are massive continents covered by vast forests, filled with myriad arrays of life between two small oceans and a plethora of advanced cities and spaceports, as well as small shipyards in orbit. Though, aside from the Desert poles, the planet is governed and owned by the Rigellians, a race of Vulcanoid sentient beings and one of several native species to Rigel. They’re an intently spiritual people, as their religion dominates much of their government and economic practices it could almost be considered a theocracy. Though, the richly complex Rigellian faiths are secular and unorthodox by most approximated standards. The Rigellians were not always so pacifistic. During the Orion dawn, the Rigellians formed a key component in the Greater Orion Imperium, and were considered exceptional strategists and warriors. Some of the cultures more violent tendencies surface in their modern forms of martial sciences, but possibly through the influence of their Orion kin, or to the realization of the decadence suffered by the Orions, the Rigellians focused their efforts in the coming centuries as adept traders, business men, and philosophers, and were one of the cornerstones of the RTG and Rigellian Trade authority along with the Valosmi.

The poles of the planet are similar in terrain to a class G  desert world with dunes, buttes, sand, heat, thin air, and precious little water. Like Rigel VI’s dominant landscape, it has no intrinsic value, though people may visit it with advanced water-reclamation gear. Water and plant life barley exist at the poles, which suggests that the areas was once more habitable than it is now. Nevertheless, the deserts are inhabited by reclusive desert nomads, who live in laboriously constructed habitats in the occasional rock outcroppings and migrate to avoid the seasonal dust storms that sweep the planes twice a year.

How the nomads manage to survive on so little has fascinated scientists for centuries. For all this study, they remain uncontaminated and aloof, contemptuous of outsiders. They live as sparsely as the desert; they have no compunctions about abandoning their weak or unfit, or about disposing of the hapless, helpless traveler who makes the mistake of asking their aid. Those who cannot exist in the desert on their own are worse than a burden; they are unclean and unfit to survive. Their mindsets likely stems from the old warrior ethics of their culture, and they’re the descendants of those who didn’t wish to be enlightened by the planets sweeping renewal of faiths centuries ago.

In appearance, the nomads are very similar to their ‘high’ caste brethren Rigellians. Striking; tall, slender Vulcanoids, usually wearing dust-colored robes with hoods and masks. Their ears and eyebrows are elongated per the Vulcanoid soma type, though neither Vulcan nor Romulan is similar to their language. As they are a cold-bloodedly vicious, primitive, and unforgiving people, only experienced contact teams should attempt to approach them. Some scientists have theorized that the nomads are the descendants of 'weed-outs' from the Preservers, or that they could be a lost Vulcan or Romulan colony's survivors; a living relic of prehistoric times.