A system’s place in the galaxy affects life in a big way. The closer one lives to the center of Olaxis the more likely that person is to have the resources they need but the more crowded the cities become and the more likely one is to experience war. The closer to the edge one lives the less resources are available and the more danger that person faces from monsters, pirates, and the Burn.

Heartworlds

The most desirable systems in Olaxis are in the galaxy’s center lobe far from the Burn. This point is constantly redefined, since the Burn doesn’t consume the galaxy evenly. The current Heartworlds were established just 30 years after the Burn rushed forward suddenly on one side of the galaxy. What were once poor farming and drilling planets are now beset with wealthy people and overguilds setting up temporary structures and landing their ships. No one sets up in any one place for too long, lest the Burn come for them.

Small battles break out for control of the various systems at the center of the galaxy. The laborers who live in the Heartworlds find themselves forced to choose sides in conflicts and are sometimes left with craters instead of homes. On the other hand, the influx of the wealthy means there are opportunities to make extra cash providing goods and services. Life in the Heartworlds can be lucrative, provided conflict is avoided.

Cultures and Governments

The Heartworlds are home to systems with cosmopolitan cultures and democratic governments. With so many species living so close together, a blending of cultures is inevitable and inspiring. The Heartworlds boast the latest in unique cuisine, fashion, art, and more. The lobe is densely populated and constantly shifting. There are places initially ruled by a monarch or that have only members of one species, but they don’t stay that way for long.

Inner System Places of Note

The following places are important in the Heartworlds, but they aren’t the only places that make up the lobe.

• The Dright System is at the current center of Olaxis. The namesake planet of the system and its eight moons are verdant places where food grows abundantly. There was never any overarching government for the system or its celestial bodies, just small village councils of farmers. That all changed when Dright became the center of the galaxy. The farmers who worked the land for decades are now caught up in a war between the Ulran Socialist Republic and a large force of kith’uks. Most of the conflict’s violence takes place on the surface of the main planet, decimating what was once fertile land. Both sides in this war control four of Dright’s moons, where the wealthy and overguilds carry out their day-to-day lives, hoping the war doesn’t spill over to them.
• The Marthong System’s namesake planet is the homeworld of the ulrans. Marthong is known for its production of calla, a magic-conducting metal only found in the veins of the planet. Now near the center of Olaxis, the ulran people must defend their planet and its moons, which are known to have wells of plasma, from various factions looking to take their resources.
• The Pax System is run exclusively by peacecraft. The resources on Pax and its moons are known only to the community of sapient mecha, but as the situation becomes more desperate, several organizations and governments have been caught sending spies attempting to infiltrate the system. Without a doubt, these spies are trying to determine what resources Pax holds to see if it is worth open conflict with the peacecraft.
• The Ozobny System is a single, cold, once-lifeless rock orbiting a dying star. It became a desirable place to live in the universe as the Burn closed-in but managed to avoid martial conflict due to the planet’s lack of resources. All five overguilds rule Ozobny together, and many of their top leaders live here, providing a playground for the wealthy and jobs for those in need. It is a planet of casinos, fine dining, and other pleasures where the rich pay to forget about the troubles of the galaxy. Most overguilds don’t screen their clientele, so some of the wealthy on the planet include criminal bosses with enough money and influence to keep the mouths of the people around them shut.
• The Cavabell Asteroid Field is a collection of resource-rich bodies. The asteroids are filled with water, precious minerals, and sometimes plasma wells. On account of these riches, the place is a war zone, and at any given time several governments fight for control of the area.

Midbelt

The Midbelt systems sit between the Ghost Belt and Heartworlds. It is a tremendous struggle to get resources to the populace here on account of the threat of rioting, crime, and pirate raids.

Most people who live in the Midbelt don’t have the means or will to fight their way to the Heartworlds. They’re just getting by. Many can still earn some sort of legal living, but a lawful life is not as lucrative as the criminal opportunities that seep into the region from the Ghost Belt. The overguilds still have a presence in the Midbelt, but despite claims to the contrary, they only look after their patrons and members.

Cultures and Government

The Midbelt has a wide range of cultures and governments spread out over small settlements. There are a few cities within this region, though even those are less densely populated than the crowded megalopolises of the Heartworlds. Some cultures are homogeneous or even isolationist, while others are mosaics of various traditions and styles. 

Midbelt Places of Note

The following places are important in the Midbelt, but they aren’t the only places that make up the lobe.

• The Yvlen System sits near the border of the Midbelt and the Ghost Belt. The namesake planet, once rich in plasma, has run almost dry, and the few miners who endure search for remaining wells on a planet prone to earthquakes, megastorms, and pirate raids. They take all the help from adventurers they can get.
• The Valdi System is the largest system controlled by the Ino Empire, consisting of one planet and twenty moons. The ino recently opened these to refugees fleeing the Ghost Belt, but they took on more than they can handle. The namesake planet in the system and the home of the Major Preeminency, a council of elected oligarchs that govern the empire, refuses to take more refugees and pushes the newcomers toward the moons in Valdi. The ino need resources to keep the refugees alive, and many need a safe ride to somewhere else in the system.
• The Panlinh System contains the plasma ocean world of Panlinh V, the home moon of the ki, a group of aquatic humanoids with innate magical abilities. They’ve given control of the resources to the Senchal Overguild, who surround the planet with an army. None yet dare take on this force, but as plasma elsewhere runs dry, it’s a matter of time.
• The Schee System contains just a single, small planet, but the people on its surface thrive. The Schee Farming Commune has all but eschewed the use of magic technology in order to make the planet self-sufficient, keeping only a handful of spaceships and a single long-range communicator to call for help in times of great emergency. Schee’s people are welcoming of outsiders, provided they follow their rules, learn their exclusive language, and leave magic technology behind for the duration of their stay.
• Fragon Station is an enormous spacecraft built by kith'uks that holds tens of thousands of warriors. The craft floats through the Midbelt with an army for hire, fighting for almost any cause in exchange for resources to keep the station moving.

Tsela

The Alliance of Relief and Conservation (or ARC) maintains a headquarters in a massive abandoned plasma mine on Yvlen III. What began as a refugee camp has become a full-fledged city thanks to the number of adventurers who come through the place to work for ARC. The refugees from systems swallowed by the Burn are Tsela’s citizens, selling food, drink, lodging, repairs, and equipment to travelers. Many of these established citizens spare what they can to the new refugees who arrive at the place almost daily via ARC transports.

The upper levels of the mine make up the main portion of the city, which is run by the Council of Seven, who the citizens vote for annually in heated elections. ARC is content to let the refugees run the city, though they are prepared to step-in and help defend the place, should someone come for its resources. While there are occasional battles with pirates, no serious threat has come to the city yet.

The Council of Seven acts as judge and jury for those who break the basic laws of Tsela, which are simple edicts, such as, “Do not steal,” “Kill only to defend your life or the lives of others,” and so on. When a law is broken, the Council sometimes calls on adventurers to investigate crimes, capture the accused, or gather evidence, especially if the accused is an outsider. The city has a contract with the Senchal Overguild, but the council has found adventurers are often more likely to trust their own than an overguild member.

In the upper levels adventurers find the goods and services Tsela has to offer as well as employment. Plenty of merchants requiring an escort come through the place. Anyone willing to work pro bono finds many of Tsela’s new and old refugees are desperate for someone to scour the galaxy for lost family members, friends, and important objects or records.

There’s no shortage of work in the lower levels either, where ARC plans their missions, collects historical records, and keeps a menagerie of organisms. Adventurers often come here seeking to join ARC’s next quest or to check their vast databases for information.

Ghost Belt

All but criminals, heroes, and the hopeless abandoned the Ghost Belt. An expanse of lawless, sparsely populated places adjacent to the Burn, this lobe’s systems hide monsters and illegal enterprises. Those willing to contend with the Ghost Belt’s inhabitants must also face bizarre hazards caused by the lobe’s proximity to the Burn.

The terrestrial bodies of the lobe are perilous, as is simply traveling the region. Any vessel moving through the Ghost Belt should be wary of pirate boarding parties, space-based monsters, and cosmic perils.

While menace looms over the Ghost Belt, the lobe is not without the innocent and heroic. There are those without the means to leave the lobe, hiding and hoping for rescue. Others come or stay in the Ghost Belt by choice, fighting against its monsters and saving lives, or searching for a way to stop the end of the universe.

Cultures and Governments

The Ghost Belt’s systems are often sparsely populated (if at all) and have no laws other than the vague moods of the occasional criminal tyrant. Life for most in the Ghost Belt is about survival or profit and nothing else.

Ghost Belt Places of Note

The following places are important in the Ghost Belt, but they aren’t the only places that make up the lobe.

• Suukap is a single planet making a slow revolution around its star that will never be complete. The planet’s orbit leads to the Burn, which is predicted to consume Suukap in a year (or less if the Burn expands more rapidly). Thanks to its unavoidable fate, Suukap has become a favorite place for criminals, governments, and overguilds to drop people and secrets they want to see suffer or disappear. Those abandoned on the planet often hold secrets as dangerous as Suukap itself.
• The Murtath System’s namesake planet is the zivoy homeworld. While many zivoys fled Murtath, there’s still enough of a population for some semblance of government.
• The Aerenaze System is a gas planet with a single moon, Aerenaze I. This moon is the home of the Bawa Mob, a criminal family that plays host to the adventurous and depraved wealthy, who come to Aerenaze I to watch and bet on its famous gladiatorial combats. Bawa’s gladiators are captives and monsters taken during raids.
• The Herzot System is the place to find mercenaries with loose morals. The planet and its three moons are the place to find soldiers of fortune, criminals without scruples, and others with skills they’ll put to use for pay. Every vice imaginable is for sale in the anarchic system. Those who go there should approach with caution.
• Gulgi the Magnificent is a space station made from the corpse of an enormous Omniscient. It is the home of the Mortem Syndicate, a group of mages obsessed with discovering if there is an afterlife through practicing universally outlawed necromancy. The syndicate launches smaller spaceships from the station to various planets, looking for experiment subjects."

Unexplored Space

Olaxis is enormous. Even though the galaxy is shrinking, there are still unexplored areas of it. Exploring the unknown is an opportunity for profit and adventure, for who knows what wonders, horrors, treasures, revelations, and more could be found in these areas?