Monday, May 29, 2017

Simulacra

Simulacra
Type: Terrestrial (Reducing)
Primary Star: K9V (Orange Dwarf)
Gravity: 1.22 g
Diameter: 15099 km
Atmospheric Pressure: .84 atm
Atmospheric Composition: 59% Methane, 28% Nitrogen, 12% Argon, trace others
Surface Temperature (Mean): 6 C
Day Length: 23 Hours
Orbital Period: 423 Days
Satellites: None
Gate Access: Portal Gate
Notes: Alien Microbes, Planetary Rings, TITAN Artifacts
Simulacra should be an entirely boring planet. It is a "reducing" terrestrial, with a volatile atmosphere which is poisonous to transhumans, a low temperature and an arid landscape except for some ice caps in the polar regions. The natural terrain is dry and relatively flat, occasionally differentiated by geologic activity. It does appear to have some extremophile microbes, very basic prokaryotes, but they are comparatively uninteresting in their early evolution - only a source of concern for greater preservationists. Or, it would be more accurate to say it would, if "preservation" of Simulacra was still a concern.
This is because the extremely notable feature of Simulacra which lends it its name is the fact that on it's surface around the Gate is a perfect replica of 1920-era London UK. Based on historical data available to Gatecrashers, the replica appears to scale and 100% accurate to the information that is to be had, though while some facades and elements are artificially weathered to match pictures in history, dating them has assumed that the constructs were all built within the past 10 years or so - presumably after the Fall.  Additionally, while materials appear to be generally correct, close examination shows that they were obviously built using advanced manufacturing techniques and nanofabrication tools to produce and assemble the materials. This project would have taken immense time and energy, even for TITAN capabilities (the assumed builders) and has no apparent purpose. While buildings have a roughly correct layout and floorplan, they have no distinct interior features apart from the architecture, such as furnishings or appliances. No utilities are networked in the buildings at all, and as of yet no living creature or construct has been confirmed to exist in the structures. It also appears to be incomplete; as it nears the edge of the nearly 1500 sq. km area historically associated with Greater London, buildings appear to be unfinished or unpolished. On the fringes, some of them are clearly partially assembled from the bottom-up, and the pattern in which they are made does not follow the street pattern but an exotic fractal one.
Upon being discovered several years ago, Simulacra was briefly a point of intense interest for the Gatecrashing Guild and many associate corporations and governments, but the fervor of scanning the planet has died down as investigation has mostly turned up things which are strange as opposed to interesting or useful. Experts in X-Risk analysis and archaeology frequently argue over the subject of the "replica city" and what it's purpose could be, but have yet to reach a solid consensus. After delays, news of Simulacra broke on Titanian public media several months ago and rapidly spread through the Solar System due to it's open nature - leading to an influx of many amatuer Gatecrashers interested in hunting for artifacts or capitalizing on Earth nostalgia for rep and fame. While some hope that more eyes will make efforts to "clear" the vast construct city for anything of note, the more serious academics are concerned that any valuable data may be destroyed or muddled by the influx - and have petitioned Isra to more strictly monitor those who are allowed though the gate to Simulacra. The Gate itself is located in the replica of Charing Cross - in the location where a statue of Charles I historically stood.

2 comments:

  1. Hunh, interesting. Why 1920 London?

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    1. I wanted a city which should be fairly historic and iconic, but also is probably not in great shape in post-Fall Earth. Something to touch on the "Earth Nostalgia" going strongly through the setting (and since it's connected to Portal you might get interest from Anglos and other people of the British Isles from Venus, Titan and the greater Anarchist sphere). A GM could likely substitute any city of their choice if they needed.

      1920 was actually purely random number generation - I decided to keep the date as a nice, round number which also harkens to the time period of a lot of Cosmic Horror literature.

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