Caracas
| Name | Caracas |
|---|---|
| |
| Sub-Sector | Secundus |
| Type | Feral World |
| Population | approx. 500,000 |
| Climate | Temperate |
| Status | Imperial |
Strikingly beautiful from orbit. Strikingly untidy on the surface. No vestiges of civilisation whatsoever. A. wanted to stay, chasing rumours of buried treasure, but I was nearly savaged by something horrible with wings and teeth at the landing site. We did not tarry.” – Travel Diary of Lucius di Firro, 580.M41
About Caracas
Caracas is covered mostly in thick marshland in the equatorial and tropical regions, and tundra towards the poles. A lonely planet towards the rimwards boundary of Subsector Secundus, Caracas has remained largely uncontacted by Imperial forces throughout its long and quiet history. The presence of humans – albeit in a primitive and degenerate state – implies colonisation in the distant past, but the occasional explorator team has so far totally failed to uncover any trace of landing craft or any structure more complex than a mud hut.
While fertile, the planet would require substantial terraforming and a heavy injection of colonists before it could make a good Agri World. No valuable mineral deposits or other natural resources of note have yet been discovered. The planetary fauna is diverse, with several species of large, aggressive saurians roaming the tundra zones freely. There are also several varieties of simian creature, between three and seven feet in height, who hunt in packs and aggressively defend their territory from all comers. The human population, estimated to number in the low hundreds of thousands, are primarily nomadic and tribal in nature, referring to themselves collectively as the Taurekareka. Most of their society comprises of pre-literate hunter-gatherers who follow the migrations of local wildlife in bands of tens or hundreds, though some tribes have built the early stages of settlements. The population is notable for being both hardy and dangerous, and are valued by the Imperium as primitive assault troops.
In addition to the human population on Caracas, the planet’s high mountain ranges and high plateaus possess a number of avian beastmen known locally as the ‘Ēkara’, who live in a tribal state mirroring that of the lowlander human tribes of the Taurekareka. Swift and nimble, with particularly keen vision, these beastmen are occasionally rounded up by Crusade expeditions and exported offworld to serve as helot scouts ahead of the bulk of Crusade forces. They are prized as helots by those Nobles who take great pleasure in the sport offered by the fauna of the planet, for which the Ēkara are invaluable as spotters and guides.
Both the Taurekareka and Ēkara possess what appears to be a rudimentary and primitive approach to the Imperial faith, though it is not known exactly how it was introduced as Missionarius Galactica expeditions did not reach the planet until the late 300s of M41. They give worship to crude renditions of the Imperial Aquila and worship the God-Emperor in the form of ‘Rangu’, ‘Void Father’ in Low Gothic. Certain tribes possess the belief that if they are pious and strong, pale choosers of the slain will descend from the heavens to choose the greatest of their number to join them in the stars.
The planet’s central continental band is bordered by a sharp mountain range, young in geological terms, which is home to a number of isolated valleys so deep that most orbital augurs are unable to penetrate into them. Alongside the fruitful and extreme biodiversity this causes, there are persistent rumours that there is something hidden on Caracas – remnants of a lost colony, hidden Xenos tribes guarding powerful artefacts, a deceased Rogue Trader’s hidden smuggling cache, or something stranger still. So far, no expedition has uncovered anything to prove which of these rumours - if any - is the truth.
Recent Events
Following the Silence, dark rumours began to emerge from Caracas alongside the shipments of Helots to Crusade High Command. Tales tell of Archenemy assault; of uncanny, spindly, light-fearing monsters in the wilds of the Feral World; of the 3rd Agrial Volunteers decimated and struggling, far beyond the reliable reach of the Imperial front lines.