[Cosmosdex] The Universal Encyclopedia
[Cosmosdex]
Tlahel
Forgotten Cure / Underground Ghost Town
Tlahel
Art by, Atomic
Dominant Residents: Aftik
Other Residents: Avian and reptilian species, Doctors, Spiritualists, Traders, Miners
Fauna: Burrowing reptiles and birds, Blind fish
Weather: Hot, dry, and windy.
Danger Level: Medium
Purpose: Minor hub for illegal medicine and looting.
Original Creator: Chimerii
Physical Description
A small planet nicely situated in the lawless sector, Tlahel is dry, hot, and overall barren. Much of its surface consists of red dirt deserts and mesas, and there is almost no surface water except for a few massive lakes dotted around the equator and surrounding latitudes, plus by the planet's poles. There are no oceans. Piney forests and grasslands exist in the far northern and southern regions but are susceptible to wildfires. High winds and dust storms are relatively common, giving many of the mesas a weathered look. Nearly all of the planet is mountainous.
Tlahel is closely situated to its sun and experiences harsh sunlight, as well as moderately longer days and long nights than the standard. UV burns are not uncommon for species that spend too long outside and are not prepared to handle the conditions. Though the mountaintops are cooler, increased UV radiation makes up for the reduced heat.
Due to the inhospitality of the planet's surface, much of its buildings stretch far underground, with the very deepest being even miles deep. Many of these buildings are connected to groundwater sources, which make up 96% of Tlahel's overall water. Large caves are also relatively frequent, with many having been converted into homes. However, as most of the buildings in Tlahel are abandoned, there have been growing cases of cave-ins, and large pits in the ground of what used to be substantial cities is not an unheard-of sight.
A significant amount of Tlahel's abandoned buildings consist of medical facilities, ranging from hospitals to laboratories and everything in between. If one can find an entrance, they might be able to loot the facility for medical equipment, including rather expensive (and frequently illegal) ones. However, due to the amount of time since Tlahel's economy and population crashed, most actual medicine has spoiled.
History
Tlahel was a planet colonized only out of necessity and great amounts of convenience. The only planet remotely close to being able to sustain life along a section of a significant trade route, those in the lawless sector built towns and cities on the planet only to help it serve its purpose as a trade station. However, due to the hostile conditions of the surface, nearly every building kept most of its floor space underground, with the biggest of homes and establishments stretching deep under the surface. Tlahel was a society in anarchy yet relative peace, as far as planets in the lawless sector go.
It continued being a place people only lived in out of necessity until one of the underground buildings broke rock into a massive cave system. While the cave was, at first, thought to be barely significant aside from its size, a bacteria species native and only able to survive in the cave itself was studied by nearby scientists who asked to investigate the area. The scientists found that the bacteria had significant healing abilities on avian and reptile species with nervous disorders. While niche in effect, it was a breakthrough in medicine, and one that was naturally capitalized on.
The actual owners of the building and cave system, the Asymady Trading Post, partnered with the scientists to create a medicine for all who would visit Tlahel and were in need of it. The influx of people visiting Asymady and the surrounding town, Caldene, were in search of the medicine touted by the trading post, Tlahel's reputation as a stop for medicinal purposes grew. No longer just known as the necessary stop along a trading route, it attracted doctors, other scientists, the spiritual, and those in need of healing.
Tlahel's population spiked and its economy reached a golden age. Several hospitals and other medical facilities were built, and due to the planet being in the lawless sector, became known as a location for those in need of unconventional treatments or treatments that would otherwise be too expensive in Federation-run sectors. It attracted notable amounts of scammers and spiritual doctors as well, but was largely a planet of scientific medicine.
Tlahel prospered for many centuries until the trade routes eventually shifted. While Tlahel was once right in the middle of a significant route, significantly contributing to its economic stability and number of visitors, it was now out of all notable routes entirely. The planet became a dying society, its economy crashed, and the homes, shops, and medical facilities that once made up Tlahel's population were abandoned as a mass exodus out of the planet started. Few wanted to live on an environmentally unpleasant planet if they could help it- they would just get medicine elsewhere, and business would move out with the buyers.
While small towns and villages on Tlahel still exist, it is a shell of the golden days of its past. Large amounts of underground buildings with items still inside (not removed as the previous owners were unable to afford to) exist dotted around the planet, open for any looter to excavate. Buildings that were emptied by its owners and looters are occasionally made into hideouts for crime and those looking for last-resort shelters.
Locations
Caldene: The largest city of Tlahel. Though to a far-reduced amount from its glory days, it's a large center for those in need of medicine and healing. Numerous hospitals and independent doctors and scientists live here, touting medicine for visitors, some experimental and occasionally illegal. Those associated with spirituality also live here, claiming Caldene to be "a spiritual energy vortex" that boosts the power of healing crystals and incantations. The Asymady Trading Post is also situated here, the single largest independent business on Tlahel. It's a massive series of buildings stretching far underground and selling all manner of goods, including its trademark medicine for nervous diseases. Additionally, Asymady offers tours into the massive cave system housing its medicinal bacteria, as well as several smaller caves with no medicinal bacteria.
Viyam: A moderately-sized town that sustains its economy through oil, mining, and hunting rather than medicine. Aside from oil, copper is the largest deposit in Viyam's vicinity. Viyam itself is relatively unexciting, only containing a few caving tours and pretend mineral panning stations as entertainment, but its outskirts have reports of some of the largest, most dangerous fauna on the planet, with free hunting rights to nearly every visitor after a small fee. The town also has cheaper-than-average fuel rates.
Sylvastia Cargo Stop: One of many cargo stops on Tlahel for one of the few businesses that still brings bulk goods in and out of the planet, while this cargo stop is not notable for the small town next to it, Lehim, it is for the local rumors and legends surrounding it. Residents of Lehim report seeing ships leave with entirely different crews than the ones they landed with, with little to no updates on the original crews. Others note that the cargo stop happens to be directly on top of a large abandoned laboratory, and they wonder if that's where the missing cargo crews have gone. Lehim and this particular Sylvastia stop are situated in the southern forests of the planet.
Special
None.
Trivia
• Fauna unique to the caves of Tlahel have been discovered and documented, including several types of bacteria that give, when applied to objects, bioluminescence, the smell of flowers, the smell of gasoline, a sense of dread, false memories of the ocean, hallucinatory effects, the sense that a duck is watching over it at all times, and diseases.
• Rumors from the Asymady Trading Post have spread that their largest cave system drops all the way to the bottom of the planet's crust. The business has been slow on releasing information and rumor fuel, but evidence increasingly brings theorists to that conclusion, as well as the conclusion that large amounts of precious metals have been found for easy surface mining.
• There is no saltwater on Tlahel unless artificially created.
Image Gallery
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