I've been looking at Rethe's history with a view to answering the question: How did such an unpromising world as Rethe (small desert world with very thin atmosphere) wind up with a population of 26 billion in 1105 (and 30 billion in 1111)?
Part of the answer I'm proposing to come up with is that a lot of the population lives elsewhere in the system. But that only takes us so far; Rethe, being the mainworld, has to have a bigger population than any other part of the system. (Indeed, one system expansion procedure makes it impossible for any secondary location to have a population score greater than one less than the mainworld. However, I don't see the justification for that and propose to ignore it).
Rethe's star is a G7 V. The system has 3 gas giants and 2 planetoid belts. So much is canon.
Currently I'm thinking of placing Rethe in orbit in the life zone, one planetoid belt inwards of that and the other outwards. Probably respectively one orbit in and one orbit out from Rethe. The gas giants I have no ideas about.
I'm thinking of making the first semi-permanent visitors to the system independent miners and small-time mining companies. And I'd like to make the inner belt the prime target of the early mining efforts. To do that, the inner belt has to have richer lodes than Rethe itself (The outer belt I'm making predominantly rocks and ice). Is that plausible or, if not plausible, not too implausible?
EDIT: I should probably elucidate the situation I'm talking about: It's early in the history of the Imperium, perhaps the late 2nd Century PI. Settlement of the Spinward Marches is sparse and in many cases by utopian groups trying to get away from the Imperium. Regina, Efate and a handful of other Human-norm and Human-prime worlds have modest populations. There's still plenty of unclaimed real estate with breathable air around. Or perhaps it's the late 3rd Century. Populations are a bit bigger, some of the local worlds are beginning to build (small) starships, the Imperium has persuaded Regina and its inhabited neighbors to join, but there's still plenty of unclaimed land around. No one goes to the Rethe system to settle. They go to dig out riches (not common minerals but precious metals and gems) and return to their home- or baseworlds, Regina or Efate or somewhere like that. Apart from Rethe and whatever moons that may orbit the three gas giants, there are two planetoid belts. One is some hours travel inside the stellar jump limit, the other is outside it. I want the miners to mainly work the inner belt (and use Rethe as a transshipment point). Since the position makes the inner belt less attractive than Rethe and the outer belt, all other things being equal, this requires that the inner belt is more profitable to mine than Rethe and the outer belt so that all other things are not equal. So if I say "the inner belt had greater/more accessible deposits of precious metals and stuff", is that plausible or at least not too implausible?
Hans
Part of the answer I'm proposing to come up with is that a lot of the population lives elsewhere in the system. But that only takes us so far; Rethe, being the mainworld, has to have a bigger population than any other part of the system. (Indeed, one system expansion procedure makes it impossible for any secondary location to have a population score greater than one less than the mainworld. However, I don't see the justification for that and propose to ignore it).
Rethe's star is a G7 V. The system has 3 gas giants and 2 planetoid belts. So much is canon.
Currently I'm thinking of placing Rethe in orbit in the life zone, one planetoid belt inwards of that and the other outwards. Probably respectively one orbit in and one orbit out from Rethe. The gas giants I have no ideas about.
I'm thinking of making the first semi-permanent visitors to the system independent miners and small-time mining companies. And I'd like to make the inner belt the prime target of the early mining efforts. To do that, the inner belt has to have richer lodes than Rethe itself (The outer belt I'm making predominantly rocks and ice). Is that plausible or, if not plausible, not too implausible?
EDIT: I should probably elucidate the situation I'm talking about: It's early in the history of the Imperium, perhaps the late 2nd Century PI. Settlement of the Spinward Marches is sparse and in many cases by utopian groups trying to get away from the Imperium. Regina, Efate and a handful of other Human-norm and Human-prime worlds have modest populations. There's still plenty of unclaimed real estate with breathable air around. Or perhaps it's the late 3rd Century. Populations are a bit bigger, some of the local worlds are beginning to build (small) starships, the Imperium has persuaded Regina and its inhabited neighbors to join, but there's still plenty of unclaimed land around. No one goes to the Rethe system to settle. They go to dig out riches (not common minerals but precious metals and gems) and return to their home- or baseworlds, Regina or Efate or somewhere like that. Apart from Rethe and whatever moons that may orbit the three gas giants, there are two planetoid belts. One is some hours travel inside the stellar jump limit, the other is outside it. I want the miners to mainly work the inner belt (and use Rethe as a transshipment point). Since the position makes the inner belt less attractive than Rethe and the outer belt, all other things being equal, this requires that the inner belt is more profitable to mine than Rethe and the outer belt so that all other things are not equal. So if I say "the inner belt had greater/more accessible deposits of precious metals and stuff", is that plausible or at least not too implausible?
Hans
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