Sheol Printable version

Sheol​

The planet is Earth-sized and barren, with a surface composed primarily of igneous rock. It orbits a white star and possesses a thin, unbreathable atmosphere. The crust is mineral rich and notably devoid of organic compounds and natural sources of carbon. The dust of the planet is sharp, sticky, and very hazardous.
Due to intense surface radiation, permanent habitats are largely confined to subsurface lava tubes rather than the planet's exterior. Additionally, the planet experiences frequent debris strikes, further discouraging surface settlement. Given that its gravitational force is comparable to Earth’s, artificial gravity generation—such as centrifugal habitats—is unnecessary for human habitation.

Society/Economy​

The subterranean lava tubes are vast, with high ceilings capable of supporting hundreds of inhabitants. These structures rank among the most extensive known within a thousand-light-year radius. Industry within these tubes is predominantly focused on life support and subsistence, including excavation, mining, algae farming, and atmospheric regulation. Raw materials extracted from the planet’s crust are refined into essential components to maintain life-support systems. A portion of these resources is allocated to community expansion in response to population growth, while surplus materials are reserved for trade with neighboring settlements or the occasional visiting trader from off-planet.

The governance of Sheol is a directly democratic general assembly of its adult residents, with families registering an elder to act as a face for each household. Some of these households are old and expansive enough to represent significant portions of the population of Sheol, and some may be as small as a married couple, estranged from a larger family branch due to personal matters, that are registered as their own household for representation. These government assemblies decide on matters such as law and the general focus of the people’s goals regarding industry and trade, via majority vote, and are akin to something of a state identity. Though the difference is that the assembly allows any resident who migrates to Sheol to participate with equal footing in theory. Through hard work, and ingenuity the pioneers of this world have eventually cultivated green spaces into these habitats, transforming their caves into subterranean parks with some carefully selected natural greenery.

Damage to the habitats are commonplace the most common being “dustrikes” on the habitats surface windows, and solar farms, and the most damaging of which is tectonic activity, though the structures are hardened, wear and tear sees to it that the systems are in constant repair. The central hub, or city, of Sheol is called Qiyub. Due to the lack of organic compounds, most plastics are of poor quality mycoplastic, carbon is considered a key import for the production of higher grade plastics, carbon nanotubes, oils, etc. On that note, significant imports include finished goods and components, carbon, phosphorus water/ice, seeds/strains of other agricultural products.

The planet has several smaller lava tube settlements often referred to as homesteads that include a handful of families that have banded together to specialize in one or two agricultural products for trade at the central hub and are usually connected by rail. These homesteads often send their children to Qiyub to board there for education after a certain age, as the central hub is the only settlement with a large enough population to spare personnel for education, the children are granted weekend passes to return home via the rail system.

Domestic travel is often done underground through a subterranean rail system. Overland travel is done on occasion, however this is often only done in emergency situations as the intense radiation, dust storms, and occasional meteorites make doing so an unnecessary risk.

Sheol does not have a dedicated spaceport, instead, most vessels dock at Sheol station (in orbit) as a highport, and land in Qiyub, the only known planetside downport. Sheol station is constructed primarily of parts from the original generation ship that made the voyage to the Zircon system.

For heavy labor the inhabitants of Sheol make use of a human silhouetted bipedal mechanized frame. Surface variants are coated in a thin polar shielding substance that protects the frame from the intense radiation of the local star and high velocity ionized dust for a limited time, and have their joints reinforced to provide resistance to the stick, abrasive dust that blows across the surface of the planet.

These frames were already used for loading the generational ships with supplies during the scattering, and rather than spend additional funds for more specialized equipment, where they could, the original colonists purchased instead tool mounts to rapidly interchange on the hard points of the mechanized frame; drills, jackhammers, levelers, cranes, wenches, and so on. Better still was that the frames themselves folded into rectangular shapes roughly half the size of a standard shipping container.

The inhabitants largely ignore the natural day/night cycle of the planet and still operate under the terran calendar of 24 hour days and 365 day years in their day-to-day lives. The natural night cycle of the planet is truly only considered by those who go to work on the surface since at that point the surface of the planet will have the lowest intensity of solar radiation, and therefore present the safest window to work.

Fashion often includes clothing made of mycothread and faux-leathers made from mycoplastics. Most citizens will wear jumpsuits for most of their day to day lives. Though entirely unnecessary because of the strict climate controlling of the habitats, duster coats are unintuitively quite popular as outerwear when inhabitants are not at home or work, as well as other loose fitting, free flowing garments.

For industries unrelated to resource production and life-support, artistry is held in high regard. In particular to gardening, those who are practiced to maintain and expand the green spaces of habitats. As well, due to the high silica content of the planet, synthetic rubies, sapphires, and emeralds are often used in specialized lens crafting, and in some cases used for expensive dyes as one of the very few luxury goods used to trade with the wider liminal community.

History​

During The Scattering (2117–2135), a period marked by reckless interstellar prospecting and fledgling FTL technology, countless colony ships were dispatched to uncharted star systems in the desperate hope of finding habitable worlds or valuable resources. Among these was the Safar, a vessel carrying disillusioned colonists, primarily of semitic ethnic-background (but not limited to), who had pooled their life savings for a one-way trip to the Sheol system—a star system initially flagged as "marginally promising" based on telescopic surveys from Earth.

Sheol’s sole Earth-sized planet was a barren wasteland of igneous rock, bathed in lethal radiation from its white star. The thin, unbreathable atmosphere and frequent meteor strikes made surface habitation impossible. With no FTL materials to facilitate a return journey and no means to signal for rescue, the colonists faced a grim reality: they were stranded.

Rather than succumb to despair, the colonists begrudgingly accepted their fate. Their first priority was establishing a highport in orbit—a rudimentary space station constructed from salvaged ship components—to serve as a logistics hub and temporary refuge while they surveyed the planet below. Initial surface probes confirmed that the only viable shelters would be expansive subsurface lava tubes, shielded from radiation and meteor impacts.

Over the following decades, the colonists painstakingly expanded these lava tubes into functional habitats. High ceilings allowed for vertical farming and modular living quarters, while mining operations extracted raw materials for life-support systems. Industry was ruthlessly pragmatic: algae farms recycled waste into food and air, humidity regulators maintained breathable air, and forges repurposed mined minerals into essential machinery. Trade between tube settlements became a necessity, with surplus materials bartered for scarce components.

Unlike the prosperous colonies of The Scattering’s early days, Sheol’s settlers would never strike FTL riches or reestablish contact with Earth.

References​

1. Planet UI generated with: https://anodyneprintware.com/planets/
2. Concept art of lava tube society generated by NASA.
3. Mech image from Front Mission 3
4. Image of fashion ware generated with ChatGPT4.0