Hemelshot

A system rarely marked on charts, Hemelshot is only occasionally visited by Rogue Traders. A ring of crystal surrounds the fourth planet, while larger chunks, nearly invisible to auspex and visual scanning, tumble through the system. Navigation is difficult and, the closer one gets to the planets, nearly suicidal. Long-range auspex has hinted at cities of living rock and vast lighthing storms, but no Rogue Trader has ever been foolish enough to orbit the worlds of Hemelshot.

Geography

Star Type

Luminous: Though it is has been long eons since this star has shone at its brightest, a constant glow nonetheless provides for the system. It is yellow in color.

System Features

Haven: If the tales of a typical voidship crew on shore leave were to be believed, it might be surmised that all unexplored territory in the galaxy fell into two simple categories. Of the nightmarish systems that suffer no intrusion, the tales are often closer to the mark than their tellers might realize. Though the undisturbed rings of idyllic paradise worlds orbiting soothingly stars tend to exist only in the tales of drunken voidsmen, the persistence of such hopes cannot be entirely attributed to optimism. After all, particularly fortunate vessels sometimes pull into systems so brimming with habitable worlds as to defy conventional understanding. This system seems to house more of the former thought than the latter.

Pirate Den: The pirates in this system are based around a space station (such as a Wayfarer Station. There are five vessels in this pirate fleet.

One Dark Eldar Torture-Class Cruiser
Four Dark Eldar Corsair-Class Escorts

Inner Cauldron

Gravity Riptide: Though planet-dwellers consider gravity a universal constant, experienced voidsmen know that it can be a harsh and fickle force. Most avoid them, but a skilled, or insane, helmsman may try and use the flux to his advantage. Crystal Hazard: To navigate them, a ship must make a Hard vigilance Test to notice the floating crystal and a Challenging Navigation Test to avoid it. Failing the first test means the ship has blundered upon a particularly large chunk of crystal; it takes 3d10 damage ignoring void shields. Failing the second test means the ship is delayed by a dayplus and additional day per degree of failure.

Hemelshot One

Planet:

Low-Mass Body: The world is even lower in mass than its small size would suggest. It is likely comprised of light materials, or it has large pockets of trapped gas making up much of its volume.

Low Gravity:

Tainted Atmosphere: Though capable of sustaining human life, this atmosphere is not entirely safe, stained by trace elements of toxins. Though it does not directly affect the Explorers, it might influence the viability or costs of long-term colonization.

Hot World: Most of this Planet is dangerously hot, but various regions can be found with more moderate microclimates. Outside of these sheltered regions, the entire Planet is affected by extreme heat. Tests made to resist the heat generally range from Challenging to Hard. In some cases, the sheltered regions are also afflicted by extreme heat, but of a less severe degree than the rest of the Planet.

Inhospitable: There is no life or water to be found on this Planet.

Primary Biosphere

Crystal Hazard:

Hemelshot Two

Planet:

Large Body: Worlds of this size can range across a vast spectrum of possible types.

High Gravity:

Moderate Atmospheric Pressure: Atmospheres in this range produce no ill effects due to lack or overabundance of air, though they can still be Toxic or Corrosive.

Pure Atmosphere: The atmosphere is entirely safe for humans and most other common life forms to breathe.

Temperate World: Temperate Planets are exclusively found in or near a system’s Primary Biosphere. They might contain regions of either extreme heat or extreme cold, and in many cases, have some of both. The Tests made to resist temperature extremes on these Planets rarely exceed Difficult.

Verdant: The Planet has a thriving ecosystem. A variety of species can be found almost anywhere on the Planet.

Major Landmasses: Four continents and forty-eight smaller islands.

Mineral Resources

Ornamentals: Some minerals are not valued for any practical use, but for their impressive beauty and luster, or even simply for being difficult to acquire. (Limited)

Radioactives: (Major)

Exotic Materials: The rarest of mineral resources do not make up a category in themselves; so much as they define a specific lack of one. Some such materials would be considered staples of Imperial manufacturing but for their rarity. These include the hyper-dense ore from which adamantium is derived, or certain elements used in the production and refinement of high-grade ceramite and promethium. Others are little more than the most extreme examples of ornamental materials, such as a gem or crystal unique to the caverns of a single world. Additionally, a wide variety of substances that simply defy classification can be found throughout the Expanse, from the cool, liquid gold recovered from pools on a world in the Accursed Demesne, to semi-material shimmer-crystals, which can only be touched by living flesh. (Sustainable)

Organic Compounds

Toxins: All manner of venoms and poisons are found with depressing regularity across the Expanse, even in the rare environments seemingly hospitable to human physiology. Although an apparent adversity, this profusion of deadly toxins can be turned into a valuable asset by Rogue Traders willing to deal in less savory markets. There are very few legitimate markets for poison, and most are agencies which many Rogue Traders consider no less hazardous than actual crime syndicates. Still, the profits that can be made by selling a unique Toxin can be incredible, especially while it remains unknown to those who could protect against it, or develop antidotes. A tale that recently passed through Footfall’s taverns claimed that an unknown Rogue Trader was given an expensive Hive Primus estate on Scintilla in payment for a single dose of poison unknown to the food-tasters, customs officials, and physicians surrounding the intended target. (Significant)

Native Species

Hemelshot Man-Trap
Hemelshot Howler
Hemelshot Angler
Hemelshot Sea Cow
Hemelshot Archer Bush
Hemelshot Revenant
Hemelshot Wyrmling
Hemelshot Ent
Hemelshot Hellscarab Swarm

Hemelshot Two-One

Large Asteroid: An asteroid of unusual size has been captured by the Planet’s gravity well, and now occupies a stable orbit around it. It is just large enough to be noted by an orbital survey, but not enough to be seen from the Planet’s surface without visual enhancement.

Hemelshot Two-Two

Lesser Moon: An orbital body somewhere between an extremely large asteroid and a very small moon orbits the Planet. It has its own extremely limited gravity well, allowing low-gravity travel across the surface.

Mineral Resources None

Outer Reaches

Crystal Hazard:

Dust Clouds: A dust cloud is a vast, dense cloud of gas and dust drifting in space. A successful Difficult Navigation Test is required to pass through a dust cloud on a proper course. Success means the ship makes its way through the dust cloud quickly, but failure means the ship is delayed. For every degree of failure, the ship must spend an extra day getting to its destination. In addition, the maximum weapon range for ships in a dust cloud is limited by the dust cloud's density. A ship making a Silent Running Maneuver gains +2 green to its Maneuver Tests. Any Tests using a ship’s auger arrays within a dust cloud are made three steps more difficult.

Hemelshot Three

Gas Giant: Typical gas giants are vastly more massive than almost any other world, and tend to have correspondingly powerful gravitational effects.

Massive Gas Giant: The largest gas giants can rival weaker stars in size and mass, with some of them having some degree of kinship with such bodies.

Titanic Gravity: The effects of such a vast gravity well on the ordering of the System are second only to its Star.

Planetary Debris Ring: A narrow band of asteroids or chunks of ice extends out around the Gas Giant. While the limited spread means that avoiding the field requires a detour, a vessel with cause to pass directly through the ring must make a Challenging Pilot Test as if passing through an Asteroid Field.

Planetary Dust Ring: A wide ring of fine particles encircles the gas giant. While the limited spread prevents it from becoming a navigational hazard like a true dust cloud or nebula, any Tests using the ship’s auger arrays on a target within, on, or directly through the ring are two steps more difficult.

Hemelshot Three-One

Moon: A true moon shares many similarities with a Planet. Under normal circumstances, a moon cannot have a higher Planetary Body than the world around which it orbits. In addition, a moon never generates its own Orbital Features. Low-Mass Body: The world is even lower in mass than its small size would suggest. It is likely comprised of light materials, or it has large pockets of trapped gas making up much of its volume. Low Gravity:

Moderate Atmospheric Pressure: Atmospheres in this range produce no ill effects due to lack or overabundance of air, though they can still be Toxic or Corrosive.

Pure Atmosphere: The atmosphere is entirely safe for humans and most other common life forms to breathe.

Cold World: Most of this Moon is dangerously cold, but various regions can found with more moderate microclimates. Outside of these sheltered regions, the entire Moon is affected by extreme cold. Tests made to resist the cold generally range from Challenging to Hard. In some cases, the sheltered regions are also afflicted by extreme cold, but of a less severe degree than the rest of the Moon.

Verdant: The Moon has a thriving ecosystem. A variety of species can be found almost anywhere on the Moon.

Major Landmasses: Five continents and nineteen smaller islands.

Mineral Resources

Ornamentals: Some minerals are not valued for any practical use, but for their impressive beauty and luster, or even simply for being difficult to acquire. (Minimal) Radioactives: (Minimal)

Organic Compounds

Vivid Accessories: The nobles of the Calixis Sector and beyond are always seeking new and exotic fashions with which to impress their patrons and show up their rivals. In recent centuries, it has become a common practice to incorporate elements from exotic beasts of the Koronus Expanse into such outfits. Some fashions involve working horn, bone, or ivory into jewelry, while others focus on particularly striking pelts and furs. Some of the most expensive dyes used by the clothiers serving the Calixian elite bear the colors of exotic alien blooms. (Plentiful) Juvenat Compounds: A number of procedures and drugs exist throughout the Imperium to extend life and youth, collectively referred to as juvenat treatments. While many require arcane techniques and devices provided at great cost by the Adeptus Mechanicus, others involve injections, ointments, and elixirs derived from various species across the galaxy. Such treatments vary in effectiveness, and are sometimes limited in application if the subject builds up a tolerance for the drug, but there have always been those who are willing to pay fortunes for even a single additional year of life. (Significant)

Native Species

Hemelshot Choker
Hemelshot Ghost Fungus
Hemelshot Firebird
Hemelshot Nipper Swarm

Hemelshot Three-Two

Moon:

Small Body: This world lacks the mass and size to support significant gravity or resources.

Low Gravity:

No Atmosphere: The moon has no atmosphere, or it has one as thin as to be effectively nonexistent. Activity on the moon is treated as being in vacuum.

Burning World: A fierce heat blankets the moon in its entirety. The heat usually recedes at night, but it is likely still too warm for comfort. The entire moon is affected by extreme heat. Tests made to resist the heat are Very Hard.

Trapped Water: There is water on this moon, but it is in a form that requires processing before it can be used or consumed. The water is locked away in deep channels underground.

Mineral Resources

Industrial Metals: (Sustainable)

Ornamentals: Some minerals are not valued for any practical use, but for their impressive beauty and luster, or even simply for being difficult to acquire. (Significant)

Hemelshot Three-Three

Lesser Moon: An orbital body somewhere between an extremely large asteroid and a very small moon orbits the Planet. It has its own extremely limited gravity well, allowing low-gravity travel across the surface.

Mineral Resources: None

Hemelshot Three-Four

Moon:

Small Body: This world lacks the mass and size to support significant gravity or resources.

Low Gravity:

Moderate Atmospheric Pressure: Atmospheres in this range produce no ill effects due to lack or overabundance of air, though they can still be Toxic or Corrosive.

Deadly Atmosphere: An atmosphere of this sort is little more than a vast acid bath. Anyone not protected by a full environmental seal suffers 2 green+1 Damage each Round that ignores Soak.

Cold World: Most of this Moon is dangerously cold, but various regions can found with more moderate microclimates. Outside of these sheltered regions, the entire Moon is affected by extreme cold. Tests made to resist the heat generally range from Challenging to Hard. In some cases, the sheltered regions are also afflicted by extreme cold, but of a less severe degree than the rest of the Moon.

Inhospitable: There is no life or water to be found on this Moon.

Hemelshot Three-Five

Lesser Moon: An orbital body somewhere between an extremely large asteroid and a very small moon orbits the Planet. It has its own extremely limited gravity well, allowing low-gravity travel across the surface.

Mineral Resources: None

Hemelshot Three-Six

Lesser Moon: An orbital body somewhere between an extremely large asteroid and a very small moon orbits the Planet. It has its own extremely limited gravity well, allowing low-gravity travel across the surface.

Mineral Resources: None

Hemelshot Three-Seven

Lesser Moon: An orbital body somewhere between an extremely large asteroid and a very small moon orbits the Planet. It has its own extremely limited gravity well, allowing low-gravity travel across the surface.

Mineral Resources: None

Hemelshot Three-Eight

Moon: A true moon shares many similarities with a Planet. Under normal circumstances, a moon cannot have a higher Planetary Body than the world around which it orbits.

Small Body: This world lacks the mass and size to support significant gravity or resources.

Normal Gravity: This moon's gravity is roughly Terran Standard.

Thin Atmospheric Pressure: The moon’s atmosphere is weak, but avoids the problems of an actual vacuum. However, the lack of air makes strenuous activity difficult. Any time an Explorer relying on the outside air gains Strain, he gains the normal amount plus one additional level of Strain instead.

Tainted Atmosphere: Though capable of sustaining human life, this atmosphere is not entirely safe, stained by trace elements of toxins. Though it does not directly affect the Explorers, it might influence the viability or costs of long-term colonization.

Hot World: Most of this Moon is dangerously hot, but various regions can be found with more moderate microclimates. Outside of these sheltered regions, the entire Moon is affected by extreme heat. Tests made to resist the heat generally range from Challenging to Hard. In some cases, the sheltered regions are also afflicted by extreme heat, but of a less severe degree than the rest of the Moon.

Limited Ecosystem: The moon has native life of a limited variety. It could be that this moon’s species have not advanced beyond basic proto-biology, or their spread across the moon was restricted by local conditions. This might also indicate a moon on the decline, or recovering from a devastating natural disaster.

Major Landmasses: One continent and twelve smaller islands.

Mineral Resources

Industrial Metals: Among the materials most highly valued throughout the Imperium are a number of commonly occurring metals, such as iron, copper, or lead. Of particular note is iron, supplies of which manage to be both abundant and insufficient to demand in nearly every sector’s trade houses. The reason for this paradoxical value can be found in the ever-grinding gears of the Imperial war machine, which requires a vast supply of these metals for the billions of weapons and vehicles it produces every day. (Minimal)

Radioactives: (Major)

Organic Compounds

Toxins: All manner of venoms and poisons are found with depressing regularity across the Expanse, even in the rare environments seemingly hospitable to human physiology. Although an apparent adversity, this profusion of deadly toxins can be turned into a valuable asset by Rogue Traders willing to deal in less savory markets. There are very few legitimate markets for poison, and most are agencies which many Rogue Traders consider no less hazardous than actual crime syndicates. Still, the profits that can be made by selling a unique Toxin can be incredible, especially while it remains unknown to those who could protect against it, or develop antidotes. A tale that recently passed through Footfall’s taverns claimed that an unknown Rogue Trader was given an expensive Hive Primus estate on Scintilla in payment for a single dose of poison unknown to the food-tasters, customs officials, and physicians surrounding the intended target. (Significant)

Native Species

Hemelshot Chameleoleeches

Hemelshot Bloodsedge

Hemelshot Soar Lizard

Hemelshot Three-Nine

Moon:

Vast Body: Huge and voluminous, worlds of this type strain the upper edges of the possible size for a single world. Such moons tend to be of middling density, as they are already more massive than is common.

High Gravity:

Moderate Atmospheric Pressure: Atmospheres in this range produce no ill effects due to lack or overabundance of air, though they can still be Toxic or Corrosive.

Toxic Atmosphere: Poisonous gases and vapors fill the moon’s atmosphere. Simply breathing the air requires a Challenging Brawn Test each Round to avoid suffering 1 Damage that ignores Soak. Additionally, continued exposure results in suffocation. (Rogue Trader Core Rules pg 261)

Temperate World: Temperate Moons are exclusively found in or near a system’s Primary Biosphere. They might contain regions of either extreme heat or extreme cold, and in many cases, have some of both. The Tests made to resist temperature extremes on these Moons rarely exceed Difficult.

Inhospitable: There is no life or water to be found on this Moon.

Mineral Resources

Industrial Metals: (Plentiful)

Ornamentals: (Plentiful)

Archeotech Caches: (Major)

Xenos Ruins (Eldar): (Major)

Hemelshot Three-Ten

Moon:

Large Body:

Normal Gravity: This moon's gravity is roughly Terran Standard.

Moderate Atmospheric Pressure:

Pure Atmosphere: The atmosphere is entirely safe for humans and most other common life forms to breathe.

Temperate World:

Limited Ecosystem:

Major Landmasses: Two continents and forty smaller islands.

Mineral Resources

Industrial Metals: (Plentiful) Ornamentals: (Significant)

Native Species

Hemelshot Promethean

Hemelshot Four

Planet:

Low-Mass Body: The world is even lower in mass than its small size would suggest. It is likely comprised of light materials, or it has large pockets of trapped gas making up much of its volume.

Low Gravity:

Thin Atmospheric Pressure:

Pure Atmosphere:

Cold World: Most of this Planet is dangerously cold, but various regions can found with more moderate microclimates. Outside of these sheltered regions, the entire Planet is affected by extreme cold. Tests made to resist the cold generally range from Challenging to Hard. In some cases, the sheltered regions are also afflicted by extreme cold, but of a less severe degree than the rest of the Planet.

Inhospitable: There is no life or water to be found on this Planet.

Mineral Resources

Industrial Metals: (Limited)

Ornamentals: (Limited)

Exotic Materials: The rarest of mineral resources do not make up a category in themselves; so much as they define a specific lack of one. Some such materials would be considered staples of Imperial manufacturing but for their rarity. These include the hyper-dense ore from which adamantium is derived, or certain elements used in the production and refinement of high-grade ceramite and promethium. Others are little more than the most extreme examples of ornamental materials, such as a gem or crystal unique to the caverns of a single world. Additionally, a wide variety of substances that simply defy classification can be found throughout the Expanse, from the cool, liquid gold recovered from pools on a world in the Accursed Demesne, to semi-material shimmer-crystals, which can only be touched by living flesh. (Minimal)

Hemelshot Four-One

Lesser Moon:

Mineral Resources: None

Hemelshot Four-Two

Lesser Moon:

Mineral Resources: None

Type

Star System

Location under

Cinerus Maleficum

Inhabiting Species

• Hemelshot Angler
• Hemelshot Archer Bush
• Hemelshot Bloodsedge
• Hemelshot Chameleoleeches
• Hemelshot Choker
• Hemelshot Ent
• Hemelshot Firebird
• Hemelshot Ghost Fungus
• Hemelshot Hellscarab Swarm
• Hemelshot Howler
• Hemelshot Man-Trap
• Hemelshot Nipper Swarm
• Hemelshot Promethean
• Hemelshot Revenant
• Hemelshot Soar Lizard
• Hemelshot Wyrmling