Salvaxes

Salvaxes is a remote desert planet covered in salt flats and sandy dunes made of iron oxide. Considered barely habitable by humans, this planet once had oceans in the distant past that have since dried up.

Overview

Life on Salvaxes is harsh. It began as a mining colony as its star system is home to variety of mineral rich asteroids and other precious metals used in the construction of VR servers. However, what disconnected Salvaxes from the grid was the destruction of several VR servers due to a nearby supernova that fried their FTL communications. Said supernova also damaged local data centers resulting in the loss of countless VR worlds with only incomplete backups surviving. Even hundreds of years later, the planet has not yet fully recovered from this event.

Modern technology rarely finds itself on Salvaxes, as nearly all technological devices are hand me downs that are at least several generations out of date. With the relative lack of paved roads, the use of horses, camels and other animal mounts are more commonly seen over hovercars. Water is also difficult to come by - the locals make use of devices that collect water vapor from the air.

Salvaxes has developed a reputation of being a haven for outlaws and bandits. As such, traveler advisories highly recommend carrying a weapon at all times.

Biosphere

Several unique species have evolved to adapt to Salvaxes' dry climate, some of which were imported from Earth thousands of years ago while others are native extraterrestrial life. Among them include a species of horned rabbit as well as a giant monitor lizard known as the Salvaxes dragon, a creature with highly toxic saliva.

Inhabiting the looser sands of the planet, the largest life form is a burrowing worm-like creature, commonly known as the sandworm. They evolved from the native sea creatures that used to inhabit the planet and can grow forty meters in length. Sandworms burrow through the dirt, feeding on minerals. They are rarely seen at the surface but are a site to behold. However, they are omnivorous in nature and will consume anything that happens to fall into their maw. While they do not actively hunt humans for the sake of sustenance in favor of larger prey, they are still dangerous due to their immense size and aggressively territorial nature.

Points of interest

Viaxe City

Viaxe City is the largest city on the planet though it is far from being considered a modern urban establishment. Nonetheless, it is a hub of trade for many goods throughout the galaxy. An electric fence surrounds the city to ward off dangerous predators such as the Salvaxes dragon.

Viaxe City is also the main virtual reality hub for the locals. However, due the planet's remote location in the galaxy, bandwidth is limited. Most VR users are only able to reliably connect to a world known as The Boomtowns, a series of unexplored AI generated worlds. A major issue as of late has been that local gangs have created an extortion ring based upon access to VR.

Chantli Cliffs

The Chantli Cliffs are an arid, mountainous region far outside Viaxe City inhabited by the Kochistli Tribe. It is here where they practice what they call "dreamwalking". By ingesting a hallucinogenic fungus native to the planet, they can enter virtual worlds without the need of a headset or cybernetic implants. It is not fully understood how this is accomplished, but DNA studies show that tribal members and anyone genetically related to them have an unusually developed prefrontal cortex compared to most humans.

Dust Ocean

This region of Salvaxes has the loosest sands compared to the rest of the rockier regions of the planet. In the distant past, it was thought to be an extensive mix of wetlands and oceans. A vibrant ecosystem of creatures that evolved from sea life lives here though they spend most of their time burrowing the sands to avoid the sunlight. Giant sandworms can be spotted occasionally breaking the surface which can displace large amounts of dust. The storms that they create are known to create electrical interference that can disrupt the virtual reality network, even going so far as to influence the world generation algorithms. As such, the activities that take place in the Dust Ocean can shape the virtual worlds based in Salvaxes in strange ways.

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