BARD PAPER: OPAL8657 | Home | Traveller | BARD | OPAL |
BARD PAPER: OPAL8657 | Home | Traveller | BARD | OPAL |
The entire population of Azed Bek works for the Scout Base. The world has never been that important to interstellar commerce due to its location and poor resource base. Several colonies had been established and failed due to bankruptcy or poor planning. Much of the problem stems from the impermeable volcanic rock that covers most of the surface, locking potable water deep in the crust. The expense of drilling this resource is more than most colonies can afford, and has discouraged or drained would be colonists in the past despite the world's habitability.
Ironically this made the world a major tourist spot in the Antebellum period, as its pristine desert wilderness attracted hunters and nature lovers. Local animal life is both primitive and unusual, much of its sessile filter feeders that live in shallow ocean waters or coastlines, including a few that have adapted to dry land and filter plant matter out of the atmosphere. The Organ Pipe is most famous; a huge ten foot wide coral like animal with long branching arms that inhabits the coastal deserts. It recieves its name from the whistling sounds its body cavities produce when the local winds blow. Entire regions of the world play hosts to these natural symphonies, and made the world a popular destination for travellers looking for offbeat or less mainstream attractions.