Froski

Froski is a formerly habitable world, its population virtually wiped out by the Chrome epidemic, that is now just used as a source of ice. The unusually pure natural ice is shipped by discontinuous transit to Alfeya's beach resorts.

The planet's population is now limited to a small crew of managers to oversee the (mostly automated) mining operations, and a research team from the University of Balingrad who are studying certain apparently organic impurities in the planet's ice shelf.

History

In 1022, a fundamentalist cult believed that the end of the world was coming. Their members, drawn mostly from the lower social classes of class 3 worlds, came to believe that at the year 1, the Vault of Heaven would open and admit all those from planets worthy of eternal salvation. This would be preceded by a millennium of terrible warfare, which the cult hoped to avoid. And as only an entire world of virtuous people would be accepted by the Vault of Heaven, they needed to find a world they could keep to themselves.

They pooled their savings, including substantial donations from a few wealthier members, and purchased the rights to a previously uninhabited ice asteroid. By November 1019, their plan was complete. The entire cult congregated on Shellacre and chartered the starship Judges to take them to their new home. They took 11 carriers, as well as 6 Metagalactic Pupas loaded with livestock, equipment, and (the majority of their cargo), dirt. This fresh earth was deposited in a layer between 1 and 3 metres thick, across a pair of valleys in an equatorial region. The ships were scrapped, and their panels reused for building the first settlement.

Seeking to breed righteous descendants, the cultists elected to return to a primative lifestyle, modeling their society on ancient eskimo or innuit cultures. The ships, driven into the bare ice, were slowly relegated to shelter in case of storms, while most of the population came to like in ice-encrusted tents for the summer months.

These people named their planet Froski, and labelled themselves as Froskimos.

As the years passed, and generation succeeded generation, the decaying remains of the freighters became known as the <address>[/Dark Caves]</address>, and the pressure of the ice gradually eroded any regularity in the structures. At the same time as thousands of people's lives piled up dirt inside the 'caves', the metal rusted and flooded the nearby soil with minerals.

In 898, Froski was rediscovered by explorers from Alfeya after a couple of extreme cruiser racers discovered the accelerative discontinuity there, and decided to see where its pair was. However, in the absence of a line station or ansible, they believed they had discovered a natural ice-world with one habitable region.

It was nearly 10 months - half a Froski year - before engineers setting up a mining plant encountered the few Froskimo survivors.

Wildlife

There are at least 6 major animal species commonly found on Froski. These are almost identical to common animals elsewhere in the universe, but are referred to by names which the first Froskimos invented.

Glarison

Large creatures with a thick woolly coat, these herbivores are hunted for their coat and tusks, which are used by the Froskimos to construct tents and other temporary structures. They move slowly, but are naturally very tough and can easily trample a hunting party if angered. There have even been reports of a Glarison surviving spear-strikes and overrunning a summer village in rage. For this reason, they were hunted only by experienced tribesmen, who were considered skilled enough to make a fatal wound with their first strike.

Glarison meat is very tough, and difficult to prepare safely. It is not regularly eaten, except at certain ceremonies.

Timba-shika

These small deer-like creatures were introduced by the settlers as their main source of meat. Most were kept indoors for the first few years while the colony was established, as they are less robust than the other animals. The Timba's diet is mostly rough grasses and some fruit, which took nearly a year to become established at the time of the first tribe. They are fast enough to outrun any man, but lack any other defensive ability. The alpha male of each pack grows antlers, and is not hunted by the laws of the Froskimos. These creatures are hunted using bows and spears, and have fairly lean meat which is eaten more by the more important members of a tribe. Their bodies also produce a couple of amino acids which humans can't produce themselves, so everyone gets to taste the meat at least once each month.

Loponi

The smallest creature on the planet, Loponis are descended from rabbits. They are hunted and trapped for meat, and are the first things a young man will learn to hunt. They eat both grass and algae, and so can survive some distance from the <address>[/Brown Belt]</address> if forced to.

Predators

TODO: Finish tidying this up

There are three types of predator on Froski that the people feared. The 'Kami-kiba', much like a wolf but hairier which helps protect it from double below freezing temperatures and it travels in bigger packs to protect it young, which only have two months with there mother and then they join the pack and hunt. Its teeth are sharp and can even break bones, if bitten in the right location. Some 'Kami-kiba's' have been stolen from there packs as young cubs and train to protect the ice miners. A second predator is the 'Kitsune-kiba', a small fox like scavenger not as terrifying as the 'Kami-kiba' but it not helpful on an expedition and it raids all your food and you end up staving. The last predator is a bear like creature called the 'Tuottaar-purra' it sleeps mostly through the winter and comes out in the spring and summer to feed on 'Glarison calf's' and 'Timba-shika fawn's' they mainly eat meat but they stay clear of human, because they were believed to be the main predator's that killed workers and so were hunted till the speicies find in the forests away from humans. It is now known that 'Kami-kiba's' where the true killers and so 'Tuotaar-purra's' are left alone. Most of the animal names still used today where the given name by the Froskimos.

Subpages

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Timetable code: FRK