Aballon
The rocky, metallic world of Aballon whips around the sun at incredible speeds. Ages ago, a mysterious race called the First Ones seeded Aballon with a host of machines, which they used to harvest unknown materials from the world. The First Ones departed so long ago that most non-Aballonians have forgotten their existence and consider the myriad models of Aballonian robots, now known as anacites, to be Aballon’s true native species. Aballon played several major roles in the post-Gap history of the Golarion System. The first, and what many consider the most prominent Aballonian contribution to the Pact Worlds, was the completion of the constructed deity Epoch, who eventually combined with two other ascended artificial intelligences to become Triune, the god that gave the Drift to the universe. Many thought that Aballon’s contributions would decrease in the aftermath of its created deity’s ascendance, but the revelation of the Drift only furthered Aballon’s relevance in the Golarion System, as the Aballon-based church of Triune used facilities on the planet to forge the early Drift engines necessary for interstellar travel. Today, Aballon is a key contributor to the prosperity and protection of the Pact Worlds, due in large part to the planet’s astounding manufacturing capabilities; the world’s tireless factories churn out equipment and technological innovations by the second. Beyond the planet’s industrial prowess, several groups find Aballon to be an attractive destination. Constructed and mechanized races from across the galaxy find their way here in search of acceptance and to escape perceived “organic intolerance.” Aballon also offers several notable adventuring opportunities. Intrepid explorers can acquire the necessary permits to venture into the enigmatic cities of the First Ones, while other adventurers might join expansive, corporation-funded expeditions to uncover age-old relics in the half-frozen jungles of the Ice Wells. Natives and visitors alike eventually become embroiled in the ever-growing political movement to spread acceptance of constructs and other sentient technological creatures throughout the galaxy. Regardless of the reason for coming to or living on Aballon, there is no shortage of opportunity
Geography
From an outsider’s view, Aballon is a dull world of iron and rock. Since the rise of anacite dominance of Aballon, interconnected settlements the size of nations—now known as megaplexes— spread across the surface of Aballon like a metal plague. The ongoing expansion of these city-nations is determined by incomprehensibly complicated calculations performed by the most advanced anacites in conjunction with the leaders of other similarly burgeoning city-states. Only the lands surrounding the vaunted cities of the First Ones remain free from the industrial expansion, and when viewed from orbit, one can clearly view the open landscapes left between the anacite-built megaplexes and the cities of the First Ones. The impact of stellar debris and other objects originally shaped much of the rocky surface of Aballon. Objects continued to collide with the world throughout its existence, as the planet only recently manufactured a working atmosphere in some locations. Many of the colossal megaplexes grew over craters and impact points. These immense settlements often include entire city-sized districts that make use of the extra space these craters provide to build undercities of varying sizes. Some of Aballon’s largest megaplexes include multiple undercities, each with a name reflecting an archaic naming convention for the craters as they were cataloged by the other worlds of the Golarion System in ages past. The Castroveliannamed crater of Lors Emphyria rests under the city of Striving, as does the Golarion-named series of close undercities known as the Catena of Ralzeros. Reaching up from enormous depressions in the planet’s surface are immense, rock-encrusted mountains of exposed lead. Some regions of the world form recessed valleys or highlands shaped over millions of years of planetary stabilization. Compression folds are the primary culprit of geographic shifts on the surface; scholars theorize that Aballon was once a larger world that compressed in on itself as the planetary core solidified into its current form of highly dense metals. The modern terrain is far less prone to change, and as a result, Aballon has suffered only minor shifting in the past 10,000 years. There are no oceans on the surface of Aballon. Frozen water does exist on the planet, being mostly confined to the half-frozen jungles of the Ice Wells, unique regions within deep impact craters scattered across the surface. The depth of the craters offers shade from the superheated sunlight, which leads to wells of ice. The plants within have adapted to collect solar energy and heat from the upper reaches of the impact points, creating unique regions of temperatures amicable to organic life. The Ice Wells remained relatively preserved until the recent surge of anacite expansion across the world, but now only a few remain. A layer of thick rock covers Aballon, beneath which immense deposits of iron and lead make up much of the planet’s internal structure. Because even the lowest melting point of rock and iron is twice the melting point of lead, Aballon has survived the constant bombardment of the nearby sun, but the risks of exposing a metallic portion of the planet to direct sunlight has been a major concern for most of the world’s history, as atmospheric and solar controls have been a very recent innovation. Various mandates from the ruling Insight Array prohibit exploitative practices by corporations and place complex regulations on mining efforts to minimize the potential for mining disasters. Because of this, many corporations have abandoned mining endeavors on Aballon and instead seek profits in the unregulated worlds of Near Space and the Vast. The remaining surface mining initiatives on Aballon are most commonly the result of Triune’s church, particularly those followers of Triune’s Epoch aspect who view the metals of Aballon with religious awe. Between millennia of robotic excavators crafting perfectly aligned subterranean tunnels and the organic “diggers” of the Ice Wells crafting their own networks, Aballon is rife with internal transit routes. Unleashed in the wake of the First Ones’ departure, the excavator robots began work constructing a series of pathways to connect the planet’s various settlements. Sometime during the Gap, these excavators completed their work, and the anacites installed complex, magnetically charged rail systems. The mag-rail network allows high-speed transit beneath the planet’s surface, freeing up the skies for city-sized bulk landers to collect goods from the anacite-run forges.
History
When the First Ones came to Aballon to harvest it for unknown matter, they left behind a race of self-improving constructs now known as anacites. Automated forge complexes, such as the Automatrix, are scattered across Aballon. These leftover forges of the First Ones produce baseline anacites in great quantities. Each anacite is a unique self-improving construct, and over the millennia, thousands of different models have developed, with new forge complexes producing these models at regular intervals. Once referred to simply as Aballonians by outsiders, anacites claimed their own racial name sometime prior to the Gap as they spread across Aballon, forging vast nation-sized cities known as megaplexes. Androids are the second largest population group on Aballon, second only to anacites. A drastic increase in Aballonian androids came in the aftermath of “the Automaton’s Polemic,” a speech that triggered the emancipation of indentured androids across the Pact Worlds. Many androids saw the machine-driven utopia of Aballon as a place to start a new life after they were freed from servitude. Humans, vesk, and ysoki live across the surface of Aballon, having forged strong communities—both interspecies and intraspecies—within the undercities and amid the logically arranged streets of the surface. Both humans and ysoki have long histories of venturing to Aballon, either through interplanetary gateways or space expeditions dating back before the Gap. While Aballon is mostly inhospitable to life, the Ice Wells provided a means of survival for these initial explorers. Now, thanks to innovative Aballonian atmospheric technologies, certain sections of the world’s sprawling megaplexes are comfortable for the descendants of these first arrivals. Vesk first came to Aballon in search of the best weapons and equipment offered by the Pact Worlds. Those few who remained behind from their exploration found odd comradeship with the local anacites, particularly due to mutual adoration of high-quality equipment. Similarly, vesk specializing in powered-armor combat are seen more and more frequently as participants in Aballon’s popular Robo Wrestling sports events. Kasathas primarily travel to Aballon for two reasons: exploration and research. Aballon maintains immense data archives, and while many have been transmitted to various infospheres across the system, some of these archives require on-site access to protect sensitive data. The allure of the ancient cities of the First Ones also attracts many kasathas, and their explorations are often funded by interested anacites who are forbidden from personally entering the cities of their progenitors. Shirrens are incredibly rare on Aballon, as two major factors make it difficult for shirrens to adapt here. The first is that the thrill of individuality is quashed by the harsh mechanized logic of the ruling Insight Array. Second, shirrens thrive on communalism, and most local constructs are entirely inaccessible via most standard forms of telepathic activity. Nevertheless, a few shirrens consider themselves native to Aballon, typically sticking to the crater undercities of the various megaplexes. Khizars, intelligent plantlike humanoids native to Castrovel (see page 28), are also sometimes found on Aballon. They are primarily encountered guarding the ecosystems of the planet’s Ice Wells, as the plantlike people find the native anacites a bit off-putting. These khizars often with ally with groups of Xenowardens to defend the fragile environments—a trend the ruling Insight Array finds a little alarming.
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