985-373 (world)
| 985-373/Jewell (Spinward Marches 1209) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Era (1200) | X775000-0
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| See also | UWP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
At one time this world was home to three nations with a combined population of almost 3,000,000. The tech level average was A.
The atmosphere of 985-373 during the height of inhabitation was still tainted, but the levels of hazardous organic dust were at a minimum in inhabited areas through the cutting and replacing of the vegetation responsible for the occasional mass-release of toxic pollen dust.
After the nuclear war and the rapid decline (and death) of the inhabitants, the hazardous grasses returned in full force to those areas where they had been cut. Also, fallout in and nearby the formerly inhabited areas presented a radiation hazard.
By 1400, the radiation hazard is at worst minimal; however, the danger of poisoning from inhalation of toxic organic dust is significantly higher than during the period of colonization and inhabitation. With a minimum of difficulty, this world could be transformed into a garden; eradication and replacement of the dangerous plant life in and immediately around areas of inhabitation would eventually remove the atmospheric taint. Settlement could also be rebuilt to the west of the vast prairies that bathe areas downwind with toxic dust. Complete eradication would be unfeasible and probably impossible; in any case such a dramatic measure would be unnecessary, as intelligent placement of settlements and a well-designed cutting program would limit costs and greatly reduce hazards in settled areas.
The pollen itself is not toxic; it is the dust vehicle, provided by a fungus in a symbiotic relationship with the grass (long ago the fungus was a parasite) that causes a frightening and occasionally deadly poisoning. The toxic principle resembles the Terran mycotoxin diacetoxyscirpenol and can cause nausea, vomiting and immune system suppression. Exposure to higher levels of the toxin can result in vomiting and nausea followed by a deceptive period of seeming recovery. This is usually followed by severe subcutaneous hemorrhages, anemia, and death. Although the dust is highly poisonous as a food contaminant, it is much deadlier inhaled and unless the grasses responsible are regularly cut back, toxic dust becomes a very big problem on 985-373. Since the death of the final inhabitants of the world the grasses have reclaimed cut areas and regularly pollute the atmosphere with mycotoxin-laced dust.
Animal life on 985-373 is largely immune to the effects of the mycotoxin; very little is known about life on 985-373 except that it is plentiful.
- hydrozoa's post to the CotI
- ↑ "Jump Map API" and map location from Travellermap.com