Pathseeker's Guide: Bera

Image credit to Juli Kosolapova

Tukri’i felt his face pucker, stepping out of the Pathway into the Grand Terminal on Bera. Do they not condition the air here? Tukri'i wondered while he adjusted the dial at his collar and engaged the suit’s misters. The relief was almost instant, though the embarrassment Tukri'i felt at several Kabri adolescents laughing at his expense took longer to abate. Tukri’i had prepared extensively for this assignment on the desert world, researching the proper equipment and supplies, studying the maps, arranging with a local outfitter to have everything needed for two weeks in the desert hunting outlaws. The others in the Grand Terminal probably thought Tukri'i was quite the sight, a blue frilled Otori on the driest world in the Octarchy.

The eighth planet of the Octarchy is a barely habitable wasteland planet useful only to complete the core Pathway network. It was utterly devoid of life before the arrival of the first explorers, and early surveys revealed little of value except mass amounts of silica. Today, it is a base for outlaws and smugglers operating within the Octarchy. Primary industries include hospitality and transportation, silica mining, and healthcare. The planet is tidally locked around a red star, and most known pathways are in the perpetual day side.

Each Pathway on Bera is connected to the others by a network of railways and highways, to ensure goods and people get to their intended destination as quickly as possible. Star Sages handle the logistical side of things, while security is overseen by a hierarchy of sheriffs and deputies under the command of Marshal Raile. The Marshal has at times been pressed to augment this force with mercenaries and bounty hunters from offworld, offering a lucrative if dangerous path for those daring enough to ride the wastes.