by Halfbat

Star - K-406

Adhrool is on the fringes of the Nebula clouds which suffuse the Medj'Kai nebula. It was only recently re-discovered when the Nebula retreated from the area surrounding K-406. Originally thought to be barren, mineral-poor, deserted and of no use, when investigated by scouts they were astonished to find an active, though hard-pressed community.

The system has only 2 planets, though has extensive meteor activity and a pair of belts

Adhrool has three very small proto-moons, none of which are symmetrical and are only closely spheroid. It is extremely mineral-poor and is bombarded by the radiation from both the erratic sun, K-406, and the gas giant Bathkal. The planet has some very hardy, native plant-forms and animal life which tends towards the small sizze, but such is the fight for survival that the animal life tends towards the vicious.

Adhrool Altitude and Climate
Note: in the climate map below, temperatures range from around 50-60C at the equator to 5C at the poles - very hot - with the coolest places being high up the mountain ranges. The orange areas represent "tropical shrubland", yellow desert and the pale green "chapparal": overall very poorly populated with vegetation. In the altitude map, the darker the sea-bed the deeper the ocean, with the darkest being around 3000m below sea level; orange mountains are above 7000m, with only a few peaks reaching above 11000 and couple reaching above 13000m.
Adhrool Altitude
Adhrool Climate

The incessant radiation coupled with the heat has forced a nocturnal and dawn/nightfall lifestyle on the plants and animals: during the unbearable heat and radiation of the day, most of the plant and animal-life hides, the latter underground or in caves and the former typically by extruding or retreating into a protective shell, or by constantly maintaining a protective shell around itself. Forms of lichen are common, other primitive plant forms (mushrooms, ferns, perhaps moss) can also be found, clinging to the ground or in the shadows offered by the rocky terrain. Deserts are widely spread over the planet surface and the seas are very hot, supporting an incredibly rich variety of bacteria and simpler forms of life: locals tend not to drink water form the sea, or bathe in it, for fear of catching one of a wide range of infections.

Plant- and animal- life underground is more stable, though barely more common, and none is bigger than half human size. Some are mutated variants of the animals brought by the early settlers, millenia in the past, including herd-beasts. Even these, though, have often evolved into effective and brutal omni- and carni- vores, such is the intense fight for existence and minerals.

Much of the plant-life exists by drawing what riches it can from the sunlight at dawn and dusk, or by extracting what it can from the air. This latter method of life has been accelerated over the past few millenia due to the exhalations, dust and waste from the off-planet inhabitants.

It is now populated by the Adhrooli (see link) and their numerous Dark Side Spirits. The Adhrooli are a people mutated from the early settlers. These now tend to live in the highlands prevalent around the planet, an area which not only supports a wider variety of plant life, and is slightly safer, but also where caves are plentiful.