Drekar System

The Drekar system is located within the Shackleton Expanse, centred around an ageing yellow dwarf star. It consists of six major planets, a dense asteroid belt, and a minor trade route used by mid-range cargo traffic between Drekar II and Drekar IV.

System Composition

Drekar Ascendant is a G-type main-sequence star, dimmer and cooler than Sol, in its late main-sequence stage and drifting towards senescence. The system’s habitable window is closing. Consequently, Drekar V is the last comfortably habitable planet before the system cools considerably.

Throughout the system, artificially created, semi-stable wormholes link locations and are used to facilitate exploration and trade.

Drekar I - a rocky world close to the star. The hot climate and radiation are survivable in shaded areas or with specialized suits, and its surface is characterized by deserts and jagged metal ridges.

Drekar II - a mountainous world a little cooler than Drekar I, but suffering from the same radiation in the otherwise breathable atmosphere. Settlements are domed to protect the population.

Drekar III - a super-earth with high gravity, a thriving ecosystem, but no active settlements.

Drekar IV - an ocean world with a partial continental land mass and icy polar caps. The climate is mild, though prone to storms. Large cities are built in particular around the equator, and settlements around the polar caps have been abandoned as the climate changed over the past centuries.

Drekar V - a super-earth with high gravity, a thriving ecosystem despite the comparatively icy climate, but no active settlements.

Drekar VI - a shattered, frozen gas-giant, several times the size of Jupiter, surrounded by an asteroid field.

Kaelthri

The Kaelthri are a humanoid species native to the Drekar System. Their skin exhibits a deep red pigmentation with cool undertones, linked to mineral-binding chromophores, and irregular, raised dermal ridges and pigment pattering across the forehead, temples, and upper neck.

While hair follicles are absent, cephalic appendages vary in length and are flexible, muscular, and covered with a textured integument.

The Kaelthri inhabit both Drekar II and Drekar IV, and colonization attempts of Drekar III have been recorded, but remained unsuccessful.

Driven by the certainty that their star will eventually no longer be able to sustain life, Kaelthri society and technology are oriented around escaping the Drekar system. To this end, they have a history of experimenting with engineered wormholes linking parts of the system. However, the energy required to extend them beyond the system has so far exceeded their capabilities.

Encounters

These are optional ideas to kick off a story and can be adjusted.

On its way through the Drekar system, Starfleet is hailed by a damaged vessel, claiming to have been attacked on their way to Drekar III, and requesting help with repairs. As Starfleet assists, they are hailed by a cargo ship, claiming that it was the first vessel that attacked them.

While investigating Drekar VI, the experimental technology on Drekar II opens an unstable wormhole. Each pulse of Drekar II’s reactor risks syncing with the wormhole's vibrations. Should frequencies align, the wormhole would amplify the reactor's output in a vicious feedback loop and drain power from the protective domes.

When visiting Drekar IV, the Kaelthri attempt to convince a member of your crew to provide them with blueprints for warp technology, hoping it will provide sufficient energy for a wormhole extending beyond the borders of the Drekar System.

In Play

The Kaelthri are wary of outsiders, but believe themselves in desperate need of help to emigrate from the Drekar system. As such, they will appear strikingly accommodating of Starfleet culture and values.

The wormholes make travel through the system unpredictable and challenging, but at the same time offer the opportunity to ‘stumble’ across new regions

While only Drekar II and IV are inhabited, the other planets still harbour unique microbial life, exotic plants and extremophiles adapted to the harsh environments. As the system grows colder, these lifeforms are likely to be extinct.