Welcome to the HoloNet Uplink, citizen. This series focuses on Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars Roleplaying Game, with content aimed mostly at the Gamemaster. Threats, adventure seeds, rules supplements, and more are all to come for those who access The HoloNet Uplink.
Taking a break from my The Last Jedi inspired content, I return to my slow churn of The Old Republic content. Today I have for you a planet entry for Ziost, the other Sith capital. The entry is presented as of The Old Republic timeframe.
ZIOST
Astronavigation Data: Ziost system, Esstran sector, Seat of the Empire (Outer Rim)
Orbital Metrics: 443 days per year / 26 hours per day
Population: 130 million (60% humans, 35% Sith, 5% other)
Languages: Basic, Sith
Terrain: tundra, mountains
Major Cities: New Adasta
Areas of Interest: the Great Citadel, Orbital Defense Command Center, People’s Tower
Major Exports: trade goods, Sith artifacts
Major Imports: foodstuffs, trade goods
Trade Routes: Imperial Trade Network
Special Conditions: none
Background: Once capital for the ancient Sith, the barren world of Ziost now serves as a key commercial and administrative node for the Sith Empire. Significant hyperspace traffic marks the system, coming and going from numerous destinations within the Empire and without. Normally stringent Imperial Customs protocols are slightly relaxed, encouraging commercial vessels from both the Hydian Way and the Perlemian Trade Route to route through Ziost. Imperial propaganda promotes Ziost as the “Gateway to the Empire,” casting the planet as a world of opportunity and a rapidly growing center of galactic trade. This belies the reason for such arrangements; with nearly all foreigners transiting through Ziost, it is that much easier for Imperial Intelligence to keep tabs on potential subversives.
Millennia ago, Ziost was a heavily forested world of dark coniferous trees and arboreal fauna. That life withered and died when the ancient Sith arrived, bringing corruption and stripping the world of resources. Barren tundra and frozen mountains are all that remain, now covered by imposing complexes of durasteel. New Adasta, the planet’s capital city, was rapidly constructed during the past hundred years’ recolonization. Despite hosting millions of visitors from many diverse worlds, the city feels as cold as the planet. Hard credits and hard hearts is the name of the game.
With the planet’s designation as an administrative and commercial center, Ziost is host to an army of bureaucrats and administrators. High ranking Logistics Ministry officials and wealthy merchants sit atop the social hierarchy, unlike elsewhere in the Empire where military and intelligence officers command respect second only to Force wielders. Though some consider the Minister of Logistics as the least important of the ministers, here he wields significant power, effectively governing the planet while controlling the flow of traffic into and out of the Empire. Petty bureaucrats on world take their tone from the top, seizing any opportunity to wield their expanded influence.
GATEWAY TO THE EMPIRE
Ziost funnels traffic into and out of the Empire by design. Imperial order and security is maintained despite the transit of millions of tons of cargo and thousands of passengers through the system. Much of this is automated, with panopticon surveillance systems linked to a legion of security droids. These measures are intended to be highly visible, a deterrent to illicit activity. Imperial Intelligence complements this with a pervasive network of alien informants, including petty crime brokers kept in business to entrap potential smugglers or spies.
Christopher Hunt
Latest posts by Christopher Hunt (see all)
- Command School – Deterrence and Compellence - July 11, 2019
