Chernozem (world)

Chernozem/Gemini (Solomani Rim 1836)
Classic Era (1116)	AA85983-C Starport A Excellent: Starship Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel Size A Large (16,000 km, 1.14g - 1.48g) Atmosphere 8 Dense Hydrographics 5 Wet World 50% Population 9 High (1 billion) Government 8 Civil Service Bureaucracy Law 3 Low Law (no automatic weapons) Tech Level C Average Stellar (robots)
See also	UWP
System Details
Primary	F6 V
Planetoid Belts	0
Gas Giants	3

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Jump map from Travellermap.com

Chernozem is a high-population, pre-rich world with a billion or more sophonts in population size.

• It lacks adequate resources to expand its economy to a rich status.
• Its economy and population are rapidly growing and living conditions are expected to quickly rise barring outside forces.
• It is a member of the Solomani Confederation in the Gemini Subsector of Solomani Rim Sector.

• The system is part of the Near Boötes Cluster.

Description (Astrography & Planetology)

The mainworld, along with four small moons, orbits the star Gamma Leporis.

Chernozem has a solitary primary star.

Gamma Leporis
	Type	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temperature (K)	Luminosity
	F6 V	Main Sequence (Dwarf)		1.25	6280 - 6350	2.18366
	Unit	Diameter	Safe Distance	Habitable Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0126	0.1226	1.36 - 2.36	1.26	12.6
	Orbit #	*	0	4	3	7
	Remarks		Gamma Leporis

Many regions of Charnozem have pleasant climate. Although large portions of Chernozem are arid steppe or desert, there are also wide stretches of deeply fertile soil resembling the “black earth” of ancient Russia. Native life is abundant and compatible with Terran biochemistry.

IISS GURPS Astrographics Survey

1836 Chernozem (Solomani)

Starport: Class V.

Diameter: 9,800 miles (15,700 km). Gravity: 1.61g.
Atmosphere: Dense oxygen-nitrogen.
Hydrographics: 50%.
Climate: Normal.
Population: 1.8 billion.
Government: Meritocracy.
Control Level: 2.
Tech Level: 10.
World Trade Number: 5.5.

History & Background (Dossier)

Chernozem is a high-population world, located within Gemini Subsector of the Solomani Rim.

• It is a member of the Solomani Confederation.
• Chernozem is the highest population world in the subsector.

Originally surveyed around -2200, the world was settled by Terrans from a Russian consortium. More colonists were planned to follow, but a series of native parasites were able to cross over to humans and other Terran animals, and Terran crops had more difficulty than expected surviving among the native flora. Countermeasures to the parasitic infections and adaptations of agricultural techniques to local conditions were eventually found, but by then the main thrust of colonisation had passed Chernozem by, with new colonies being established in the main body of the Near Boötes Cluster. In the following centuries, Chernozem faced and weathered a succession of crises:

• One of its small moons was seemingly going to fall to the planet, prompting engineers to build nuclear "earthmovers" to adjust its orbit.
• A viral plague rendered 80% of the male population sterile, leading geneticists to arrange for widespread cloning until a cure could be found.
• A repressive government took over planetary governance, which was met by many citizens emulating the ancient Cossacks and taking up a nomadic lifestyle on the planet's steppes.
• During the Long Night, the world successfully relied on its own endemic resources and managed to prosper.

After centuries of struggling heroically against a wide variety of disasters, the colony emerged from the Long Night as a society with a supremely pragmatic confidence in its own ability to meet any challenge.

The colonists' confidence meshed well with the ideology of the Solomani Cause, and while Solomani racism has never been common in Chernozem, the local citizens are fierce Solomani natonalists. An extremely high percentage of its citizens serve in the Confederation military and merchant ships. Chernozem is officially governed by an elected Duma, although real power is held by a civil-service bureaucracy which answers to the president’s cabinet. Local law is not intrusive due to the centuries-old tradition of passive resistance to tyranny, with even open opposition to the Solomany Cause not being illegal, although dissidents might find themselves socially ostracised.

References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• John Harshman. The Solomani Rim (Game Designers Workshop, 1982), 38. (UWP only)
• Jon F. Zeigler. Rim of Fire (Steve Jackson Games, 2000), 124-125.
• David L. Pulver. Solomani Rim (Mongoose Publishing, 2012), 106. (UWP only)
• Martin Dougherty. Solomani Front (Mongoose Publishing, 2021), 216. (UWP only)