Akiton

Akiton is a lawless, destitute planet enduring a slow death from pressures both economic and ecological. It’s a dusty red wasteland of vast deserts and rocky chasms pockmarked by craters and riddled with junkyards, abandoned cities, and wrecked starships. Punishing sandstorms, extreme winds, and frigid polar vortices scour the barren world, shaping the terrain and its inhabitants into something harsh and weathered. Year by year, the planet’s core cools, its atmosphere dwindles, and life on Akiton takes a collective step toward its inexorable end.

HOT SPOTS

Akiton is littered with the abandoned husks of countless cities, company towns, and mining outposts, but today, few active populations remain: Arl, known for its blood sports and brutal gladiator broadcasts; Maro, a vibrant cultural center built into the walls of a massive canyon; Estuar, home of the criminal-backed ice mining industry; Great Gwaz, nestled in the boughs of a fey-touched forest that alters emotions; and Daza, irradiated host to countless souls begging for miracles. Yet Hivemarket is Akiton’s most prosperous commercial hub. A city-wide, partly subterranean bazaar, Hivemarket is patrolled by ghostly fey known as khulans, who ruthlessly enforce peace.

Raiders pilot motorized convoys across the Ridgelands and Kaviri Plains, trapped in a constant battle for resources, plunder, and salvage. From the merciless Red Razors to the bombastic Gnarlfangs, these brigands carve their name across Akiton in blood.

CULTURE

Akiton was once the center of the lucrative thasteron trade until the advent of Drift travel made the sublight starship fuel obsolete, triggering economic collapse and mass exodus. Left behind were stubborn corporate magnates, staunch traditionalists, and the desperate poor. Governments collapsed, infrastructure moldered, and daily life became a struggle for survival. Sparse law enforcement and abandoned facilities attracted criminals, fugitives, and corporations eager to operate without oversight. Akiton has no centralized authority other than the Pact Council, and though Steward-operated bulwarks provide shelter and supplies for those in need, their influence is limited. Power is held by gangs, outlaws, and corrupt corporations. Many residents are forced to fend for themselves, and salvaging is a necessity of survival.