[TML] AWAD: Lavage

[Brad Murray]

[BJM - this is the last entry from the Maelstrom subsector and thus
the AWAD comes to a close.  The original material can be found at
http://www.phreeow.net/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=Maelstrom]

Lavage

0704 D100425-8
Imperial Scout base present

Lavage survives primarily because it is often mistaken for a node on
the Imperial X-boat route. It's not, and X-boats never stop there, but
travellers sometimes do, especially if they are not equipped for two
jumps. It's handy for Pander and Transit and may one day be considered
for invitation to the Imperium but at the moment it just doesn't have
much to offer, lacking even a gas giant.

The planet itself is not technically a planet at all — one day it
might be, but today it's just the largest rock (by far, mind you) in a
belt of fragments in the bio zone of a red dwarf star. It has no
atmosphere and no water, but there is water to be mined in the
surrounding belt and that can be cracked for fuel.

Lavage's small population of 50,000 or so citizens makes possible a
fully participatory democracy and they take it very seriously indeed.
Meetings are regularly held that consist of very nearly the entire
population in order to decide the future of their world and, given
that they are eking this future out with barely the technology to keep
the vacuum at bay, that future needs regular attention. The technology
is pre-stellar but advanced power technologies are available
(superconducting solar arrays are the primary source of energy given
the environment) and the belts itself is plied with chemical rockets,
ion drives, and even solar sails for automated work. It's a
surprisingly stable culture all things considered and a pleasant
enough place to live if you're comfortable with really working.

The starport is the best the Lavagians can muster, which is not much.
They have some docking facilities and competent engineers for repairs
but they can't build you a new jump drive. The fuel they have is
mostly just recovered ice and it's costly and unrefined, but it's
there. As an emergency stop there are certainly more dangerous places
to have to spend the night.

Lavagians frown on concealed weapons — they have nothing against
armament but don't think it's quite cricket to put it in your pocket.
They view most weapons as an unpleasant safety hazard and treat them
as such.

Aspects
We stand together against the Dark
Never known gravity

-- 
Brad Murray (halfjack)