Zaramor (Fulgos)

TIMELINE

This article takes place in the 26th century of Distant Worlds.

Zaramor is the last (sixth) planet in the Fulgos system, which is located in the Edelweiss galaxy. It is a frigid arid planet with no living organisms on its surface. It does, however, house 1 underground settlement in which members of the SSU-Stargate crew inhabit.

Overview

Zaramor is a remote, glaciated planet defined by its jagged mountains, frozen highlands, and deep glacial grooves. A world of silence and frost, it harbors no known native life, save for a small human research presence hidden beneath its surface. The planet’s climate is hyperarid—with no clouds, no precipitation, and not a single trace of atmospheric moisture.

Zaramor’s surface temperature remains a chilling constant: −231.16°C. Days are short and sharp, with the planet completing a full axial rotation in 18 hours and 54 minutes. It is the sixth and outermost planet in its system, orbiting a pair of distant binary Fulgos and Fulgora whose pale light barely penetrates its icy shell. Zaramor has no moons, but is encircled by seven narrow planetary rings, glinting faintly against the cosmic black.

Formed more than four billion years ago, Zaramor's early geological history remains largely undocumented. The Fulgos System, of which it is a part, has received limited formal study. Despite its apparent desolation, Zaramor once harbored life, an intelligent alien species who left behind a sparse collection of structures near the planet’s northern polar region. Today, all that remains are a series of ancient pictographs, weathered into the walls of glacial stone. No tools, no remnants of technology—nothing more than silent images etched into the rock.

The SnowStorm Union, upon learning of these enigmatic ruins, launched an extensive scientific expedition: a 239-person crew aboard the Tenno-Class Corvette SSU–Stargate. Due to Zaramor’s inhospitable conditions, the crew was forced to deploy EVA vehicles to carve tunnels into the glacial crust, forming a subterranean research station sheltered from the planet’s deadly winds.

The tunnel’s location was selected not only for its shelter but also for its proximity to the alien ruins, believed to predate the Edelweiss Plague, the catastrophic event that sterilized the entire galaxy. Though these tunnels offered relative safety, tension quickly rose among the crew. Some, fearing the harsh and uncertain environment, chose to return to orbit aboard the SSU–Stargate. Their departure stirred unease, placing greater pressure on those who remained below.

By the expedition’s third day, researchers had partially interpreted several pictographs. The most compelling depicted what appeared to be a plague-stricken figure, its body deteriorating rapidly, flesh to bone, then to dust. The sequence concluded with a line descending sharply downward, suggesting the artist perished while recording the tale, becoming the final martyr in their species’ losing war against the disease.

Earlier glyphs, though heavily eroded by time and weather, hinted at a rich cultural past, rituals, gatherings, and traditions now lost beneath millenia of ice. Sadly, much of this cultural memory has been obliterated by the environment.

In light of these findings, the crew of the SSU–Stargate formally petitioned the SnowStorm Union to extend their mission indefinitely. Their goal: to reconstruct the lost narrative of the alien inhabitants and better understand the history of Edelweiss—a once-living galaxy now reduced to dust and echoes.

Gallery

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