A Blue Gem in the Void
Drifting like a sapphire in the void, Moughas shimmers into view as one exits jumpspace — a compact, oceanic world awash in cobalt hues and swirling alabaster clouds. From orbit, its surface gleams like a polished jewel, scattered with minuscule landforms and ringed by tempestuous weather systems. These are no mere atmospheric dances; the storms of Moughas are legendary, violent cyclones and vast superwaves[1] birthed by its strikingly close moon and prolonged rotation. The sea is master here — capricious, powerful, and unrelenting.
The world's history begins not with conquest, but with a struggle for survival. The first settlers did not arrive in domes of privilege but carved their existence into the bedrock beneath the shallows. In a herculean effort, they excavated a vast subterranean arcology within mere years — a fortress of endurance that became both their sanctuary and, in time, the planetary downport. Every colonist was a builder, engineer, or technician by necessity, rigorously trained before departure. Their first decades were defined by grit and collaboration: laying infrastructure, constructing aqua-farms, stabilising fusion cores, and pushing outward through the stone and salt.
Moughas is a world of water, where solid ground is rare and valuable. The primary starport sits nestled in shallow seas, its tri-armed structure radiating from a central hub, surrounded by modular facilities perched on scattered islets. These islands host warehouses, factories, and a towering comm-spire, all governed by the unifying rhythm of Imperial Standard Time.
Surface life is sparse — battered too often by the planet's savage climate. Instead, civilisation has turned to the depths. Below the waves lies Thalass Deep, an awe-inspiring underwater arcology forged by the megacorp Sternmetal Horizons. Housing over six hundred thousand souls, the city is a symphony of architecture and ecology: gleaming domes layered like pearls, elegant terraces following the contours of coral ridges, and biosphere-integrated tech glowing beneath the waves. It is a marvel, both a beacon of human resilience and a monument to corporate ambition.
Travel across Moughas is not by air or land but by submersible and rail, with pressurised monorails threading through the deep blue, ferrying people and cargo between outposts. Surface navigation is limited and dangerous, with most interstellar arrivals advised to dock at the highport — a stationary orbital station connected by vector buoys. Only streamlined or atmospherically-capable ships dare descend directly to the downport below.
Moughan society thrives beneath the surface, where light filters through crystalline waters and vibrant marine life pulses in the currents. The ocean teems with strange and beautiful life: glowing jellies, serpentine reef-eels, chromatic coral forests, and bioluminescent flora that shimmer like starlight.
The economy of Moughas is equally unique, its lifeblood drawn from the sea and stone. Beneath the ocean floor, crystal mines and deep-pressure extraction facilities harvest exotic minerals and ultra-durable fibres. These are essential in constructing the supermaterials required to weather the planet's brutal conditions and are highly prized across the Imperium. Sternmetal Horizons has staked a large claim here, reaping the rewards of innovation born from necessity.
Adventurers who set foot — or fin — on Moughas will find a world of paradoxes: serene beauty and storm-wracked fury, isolation and innovation, danger and discovery. Few leave unchanged, and fewer still see all that lies hidden beneath the surface.
