The Home System

The initial setting of Contingency – sometimes known as the Ssala-Neipha System after its twin suns – is a small, unassuming collection of five planets, wheeling endlessly through space near the edge of its galaxy. Its second world, Mythhaler, harbours the ideal conditions for the formation of complex life, and is now dominated by the snake-like Nassigussa and their various countries and states. At the time of the Contingency's creation in the 3220s and 30s, their civilisation has mastered almost the entirety of their home world, and begun sending crewed missions to explore the other worlds of their home system. Uncrewed probes have ventured yet further out, beyond the threshold of the system's outer dust cloud and into the depths of interstellar space. There they found wonder and danger alike; some of their most significant discoveries are detailed in the Threats Dossier.

Both red dwarf stars, the binary suns of Ssala and Neipha orbit each other closely, locked in an eternal, ephemeral dance. From the perspective of the Nassigussa on Mythhaler, they are seen to overlap roughly twice a year for a period of a few hours; in mythology, these intersections represent the meeting of two lovers or friends, or a hug shared between loved ones.

Star-scorched and near desolate, Veltha is the closest planet to the centre of the system. Sandy regolith formed from shards of diamond covers most of the surface, but small pockets of liquid water have been detected underground, particularly beneath the poles.

An emerald jewel, mottled with the cool blue of its oceans, Mythhaler is a cradle of life and civilisation. The planet's low equatorial orbits are slowly filling with probes and research stations, and concentric rings of navigation and communication satellites wheel slowly through space near the edge of its sphere of influence. Both moons, Ssarsso and Phorssa, have small research bases with permanent habitation.

Hostile, toxic and scoured by boiling winds, Rassmani is perhaps the least habitable of the system's terrestrial planets. Little is known about its geography or the conditions on its surface, because automated missions have mostly failed to penetrate the violent atmosphere. On the other hand, certain fringe groups of scientists argue, the planet's strong magnetosphere and Mythhaler-like size make it an 'ideal' target for terraforming.

The larger of the system's two gas giants, Ena's dense atmosphere is sharply divided into two rough hemispheres, one yellow and one blue. The world's iconic appearance has long captured the imagination of the public, and inspired significant research to find an explanation, but no final answer has been reached. Thurron is the largest and most prominent of Ena's satellites, but it has a modest collection of other moons and captured asteroids.

Furthest from the sun and furnished meagrely with a pale, grey-blue atmosphere, Ssearph is often overshadowed by Ena's striking image. Aside from its dull facade, however, the system's smaller gas giant boasts hundreds of satellites, including two moons – Inoa and Therv – which are large enough to maintain a thin atmosphere. Although invisible from Mythhaler, Ssearph also possesses well-developed rings of ice and rock.