Circulous

Circulous is a massive ringed planet with a multitude of natural satellites. It the second planet from the sun in the Francisco System. Circulous is considered a back-water planet with gangs fighting over territory that barely exists.

In the galactic records, the capital city is recorded as Ichi, however, it was dubbed this by the galactic population rather than the planetary population. The former is true because this city is considered the one 'civilization' on Circuluos.

Circulous has fifty-five moons to date, but most of them are no larger than a common land vehicle. A scattered few have political significance or are large enough to support a small population. Those with a keen eye or an interest in star-gazing might see Francisco's secondary sun, however, it is a 'dead' rock in space and often difficult to see planet-side. From the moons, the view of the secondary sun is easier.

General
Despite the wretched landscape, this world is constantly being fought over by gangs. On Circulous there are now and always have been as far back as even the oldest residents can remember – wars. Not a single war, with two sides fighting on against the other, rather many wars, little ones with more than two sides. The world is divided into factions, each faction striving for control and fighting over the only actual land on the planet.

Spot islands are home and battleground to the various Circulous gangs, which are rumored to have started as simply a family feud generations ago. There are many rumors to why the fight started, and why it continues. From fighting over land or the ruby mines to a family feud generations ago and breeding rights.

Economy
Despite its weak centralized government and lack of a single ruler, Circulous manages to be known for its export of rubies, weapons and military technologies, of course, but there is no faster way to advance technology than war.

Ruby Export
The planet is a major source of rubies for the Galaxy. The rubies tend to be more pure and bigger than on any other planet, so are valued greatly. Circulous is also well known for its rubies of unusual size and properties. To say they are rubies is the loosest term for them as, while they are the same basic elemental and chemical makeup as rubies, their physical properties are something quite different. They are still found in the myriad of colors that regular rubies are but include a few more – including white and green and opalescent rubies. All these rubies are considered impure by purist jewelers and those within the know; however many buyers simply do not care. The red rubies are the most common but are by no means the least valuable. They are the largest most perfect ‘common’ rubies in the Galaxy.

While the white rubies do not have any unusual properties (which have been discovered as of the present) they are the only precious stone that is pure white, as opposed to the shimmering opaqueness of pearls or the iridescent light-catching of opals. These rubies are white and do not change color or show any of the other colors around them.

The green rubies are well known for the remarkable conductivity and are highly valued by weaponsmiths and scientists for this reason. A mere chip, a fraction of an inch can conduct enough energy to make a powerful working laser and many weapon designers are struggling in the race to perfect a practical laser gun. Unfortunately, each shard fractures after a single usage, limit their usefulness and ruling out automatic laser guns, for now. The opalescent rubies glow with their own light, independent of any light source with the intensity of a small flashlight. They seem to gain energy from a source other than the sun as their intensity increases in the darkness.

One gang (Rabees) is based over the biggest and commercially untapped ruby vein of the planet. While the Rabees control the majority of the rubies on the planet's surface, it is a newer faction who singularly controls the rubies elsewhere. Their base is located on the moon of Studa, which is rich in rubies.

Environment
This is a swampy planet full of marshes and very little solid ground. The majority of the planet is covered with the giant Mondongo trees, resembling a cross between sequoias and mangroves.

Circulous is mainly swamp and jungle outside Ichi. As with the majority of tropical rain forests with deep swamps, the water is murky and thick with vegetation that makes measuring the depth of the water a difficult task (and people are really just too busy fighting to care). Estimates of two hundred feet in the mid-range areas, however, the water is shallow enough to wade near trees and hillocks.

There are small hillocks scattered throughout the planet that some structures can be built upon, however, the majority of the planet (minus Ichi) has the appearance of an ever-glands swamp. The only solid piece of land is the huge area upon which Ichi was built.

Circulous has an almost constant cloud cover, save for a single permanent hole, under which Ichi is located. The overall climate is hot and humid. Rain is common.

Government
As might be expected, there is no centralized government or a single ruler on Ichi. Every attempt to organize one has been met with harsh resistance from all the factions. The closet thing to a government are the strong-armed "war lords", and the captain of the resident Intergalactic Police (I.G.P.) forces.

Ichi
Ichi was recently declared 'neutral' ground and a major took over with the strength behind her to build up a police force who patrol the city in search of gang members who intend to cause trouble. The major is quite popular and many of the shopkeepers want her to clean up the streets to make it safer for the city's population, and therefore bolster their businesses.

Although Ichi does its best to keep the peace on the world, however, the city's police force is riddled with corruption, and often any police action turns into a street fight as citizens, gang members, and police fight. Riots are common. This leaves the businesses to fend for themselves, which either means they take a side, or stay stubbornly neutral and fend for themselves should problems arise.

Gangs
Residents from off-planet call the multiple factions “gangs” – as they are reminiscent of the long-ago Earth gangs of cities. However, the word 'gang' may be a misnomer as these groups are more like warring factions with a warlord to head each of them and perhaps it might be better to compare these factions to armies. However, the territory they fight for is hardly worthy just hillocks of dry land each gang wants to claim as their own.

Regardless of their names, the reasons are the same – territory and who is better than whom. Although some of the wars are family feuds – generations long in the best tradition, neither side knowing why the feud started nor caring, most are not.

The factions give themselves their own names, strictly for identifications purpose really - Tologh’s people, The Enders. Some have earned nicknames from outsiders - the Rat Pack. Some are named for their characteristics, for example, the fighting ferocity of the Rabees, the prisoner and the blank-faced helmets of the Skulls. For their signature assassination tools – the Cobras.

Although there are a ton of gangs with fun names like the Bolts, the Cobras, the Gang, the Rat Pack, and others, there are two main gangs - the Rabees and the Skulls - with the Rabees being the slightly more dominant of the two. This likely due to their second in command, a man named Biyrenn (Byron, Byirenn... it's spelled differently by different people). He has a reputation for being unable to die. It's said that he's so fast that he can shoot you without even moving a muscle. More recently, an apparently innocuous gang has emerged on to the scene. No one is sure what they call themselves as they are still scarce, however, they are vicious and dangerous fighters. Members of this gang are easily identified by the unusual tattoo over their right eyes.

While some factions are neutral to others and do not interfere with each other's affairs, no two factions are allies. At least not publicly. Several gangs use animals, genetically engineered to be bigger - dogs, lynx, ocelot, and lizards - as beasts to ride upon. Although not native to the planet, the small wyvern population is helping some of the factions, being used as spies and aerial support in the battles.

Major Gangs
The three most powerful gangs are the Rabees, the Renegades, and the Skulls.

Minor Gangs
A complete list of the smaller gangs includes Black Knights, Grods, Nervana, Sharks, The (City) Bolts, The Bulls, The Cobras, The Enders, The Gang, The Rat Pack, The Scorpions, Tologh’s people, Vipers, Vultures, and Zorcks.

Population
Circulous is primarily inhabited by humans now and a smattering of other races. Most of the human population lives in houses set in trees that tower more than one hundred feet above the swamp, their massive roots forming tunnels for boats and walkways between them. In their branches and across their roots, humans fight ceaseless battles, various groups forming into bigger gangs, each of which controls a territory, always struggling to gain more.

The indigenous people of Circulous are the gardath. They are secretive folk who live within the depths of the swamps and stay out of the political arena.

Some of the indigenous fauna include massive lynx-like creatures (Rabees use these for mounts), giant rats (some other gang), and more exotic fauna types. Of course birds and various flying creatures, massive reptiles and bugs the size of an average human head.