Union of Samoyedic Colonies (system)

Note: X and Y are coordinates (light years on XY plane) relative to Terra at (0, 0)

The un-named system home to the migratory nation known as the Union of Samoyedic Colonies has twelve worlds, at least two of which are known to be inhabited in the thirty-first century.

System Description
The system currently populated by the people of the Union of Samoyedic Colonies is known to have two inhabited worlds as at 3095; one, Yalumth, is relatively temperate, while the other, Sangovats, is considerably colder and less welcoming. Interstellar Expeditions anthropologists encountered rumors in the late thirty-first century indicating that the Union may have active colonies on one or possibly two more worlds within the twelve planets of the system, but was unable to confirm this.

System History
The Union of Samoyedic Colonies collectively migrated to their current home system at some point after the early twenty-ninth century, in the most recent mass migration in a series of migrations since the colonization of the first Union of Samoyedic Colonies world, Nyurteih. Migrating the bulk of the Union's population roughly once every generation - approximately every 20 years - the migration from Nyurteih began after a ten-year survey of the anti-spinward Deep Periphery extending some 300 light years beyond Nyurteih. Colony sites were initially established on Yalumth and Sangovats by advance teams from the Union, before the arrival of the bulk of the population.

= Yalumth =

Yalumth is the warmer and more temperate of two planets known to be inhabited within the Union of Samoyedic Colonies.

Planetary History
To the people of the Union of Samoyedic Colonies, the word "Yalumth" means "Dawn"; the colonies on Yalumth and Sangovats represented in some ways the end of the interstellar migration of the Samoyedic peoples, as the system represented the last habitable system identified in the initial planetary surveys conducted between 2387 and 2397. Having established initial colony sites and dismantled their surviving but unmaintainable JumpShips for resources, the local population continued to migrate - but only across the continents of Yalumth, rather than between star systems.

The mass migration of the population of the Union was inspired by the lifestyle of their ancient ancestors, the Samoyedic people of northwestern Siberia on Terra, and continued every generation on Yalumth. The Samoyeds' society is completely and inexorably intertwined with the tih, the reindeer-like creature brought with them since they first left Terra, from which the modern Samoyeds drew their cultural identity. Each time the elders on the Council of Num declare a migration, each colony on Yalumth sends out scouts to identify suitable sites for the next settlement, with the ability of each location to sustain tih being the primary concern. When sites have been chosen, the bulk of each colony moves after six to twelve months of preparation at the new site; the eldest within each colony, typically nonagerians and older, invariably choose to remain behind in the old colony sites. These older Samoyeds typically cite a connection to the current colony and its environs, and choose to remain there to live out the remainder of their natural lives; the departing colonists leave behind enough resources to sustain these senescent colonies. Never entirely abandoned, these senescent colonies retain a voice on the ruling council.

While the course of the migrations that led the Samoyeds to Yalumth is unclear, colonies have been in place and moving across the planet every generation for as much as two-hundred and fifty years, and between Yalumth and Sangovats, three dozen colonies were inhabited and represented on the Council of Num in 3095.

Political Affiliation

 * 3027 - Union of Samoyedic Colonies
 * 3030 - Union of Samoyedic Colonies
 * 3095 - Union of Samoyedic Colonies

3095

 * Council of Num

Planetary Locations

 * Pyas: the oldest inhabited colony on Yalumth as of 3095, and de facto planetary capital.

= Sangovats =

Sangovats is the colder of two planets known to be inhabited within the Union of Samoyedic Colonies.

Planetary History
Colonized at the same time as Yalumth, Sangovats - a word which means "Difficulty" in the Nenets language of the Samoyeds' - was the less welcoming of the two planets. Larger and colder than Yalumth, Sangovats nevertheless became home to its own population from the Union of Samoyedic Colonies, although Yalumth remained the capital world in the system.

Whilst Samoyed colonies migrate approximately every twenty years, Sangovats is home to one colony that should have been abandoned in approximately 3027, but which was in fact still continuously occupied as of 3095. This particular colony also had the distinction of being the first colony to have been formed on Parombas, the most frigid of the continents on Sangovats; it was also established in a matter of weeks, another stark contrast to the typical Samoyed colony site, which would undergo six to twelve months of preparation ahead of the colony population migrating. The chosen site remained continuously inhabited despite being struck by a wave of mass deaths amongst the colony's tih population, followed by riots and mass disease outbreaks in the aftermath of the tih die-off. Unwelcoming and inhospitable, the population of this particular settlement remained in place despite needing to make herculean efforts to keep the site viable, and despite the inability of the tih to thrive in the harsh environment.

Political Affiliation

 * 3027 - Union of Samoyedic Colonies
 * 3030 - Union of Samoyedic Colonies
 * 3095 - Union of Samoyedic Colonies

3095

 * Council of Num

Geography
Sangovats has more than one continent; the coldest continent on the planet is named Parombas.