Planet: Oolzur
Purpose: Technology/information planet
Temperature: 45 degrees Celsius
Gravity: 0.7 standard
Communication: Class 9
Society: Class 7
Transport: Class 8
Weapons: Class 7

Description: From space, Oolzur appears mostly red and pink. The arid terrain consists mainly of canyons and rivers, and its light gravity makes it a popular site for sky-surfing, parachuting, hang-gliding, and other recreational flying ventures. Native Oolzurans, an avian-evolved species, built skyscrapers and extremely tall, open towers and platforms along the tall canyons. These were originally intended to facilitate the hunting of other avian species, but they now serve as the basis of extended interstellar spaceports.

Agriculture is limited on Oolzur; although the natives raise flocks of small game birds and scavenger avians for food, most of the vegetation grows close to the river and canal ecosystems which cross the surface area of the planet. A perpetual haze makes artificial lights along the skyscrapers and platforms a necessity even on the brightest day, to distinguish the locations of buildings and landmarks.

High winds are not uncommon, especially in the canyons, and warning alarms sound when tornadoes move close to the urban complexes. The haze clears visibly in such weather. All of the buildings are designed to withstand high winds, and emergency shelters have been built into the natural cave networks that lie beneath most of the larger structures.

Encounters: The Oolzurans are expert natural navigators and pilots, highly sought after in the Uncharted Territories for their skills in handling extreme flying conditions. In addition, other systems and races regularly attempt to lure away Oolzuran architects, computer experts, and construction workers, who are regarded as among the best in the territories. The Oolzuran physiology is in part responsible for their excellence as pilots — aside from light bones, extended wing structure, and extremely well-developed eyesight, the Oolzurans also have a natural internal gyroscope and complex kinesthetic sense which allows them to easily orient themselves under any gravitational conditions.

Curious but self-protective, the Oolzurans welcome visitors to their planet but refrain from including them in any social activities, preferring to keep their interactions with other species strictly on a business level. Oolzuran scout ships regularly explore unknown portions of the Uncharted Territories and return with new star charts of distant systems, which they then sell for hefty fees to various governments and consortiums. They display uncanny inventiveness, constantly re-designing spaceships, improving communications arrays, and searching for new defensive screen capabilities and computer programs that make deep-space exploration easier.

Any personal difficulties between a local and a visitor usually result in the individual Oolzuran withdrawing from negotiations or business dealings, replaced by a new Oolzuran. They are fiercely loyal to each other – all Oolzurans are considered equal in all ways and share remarkably similar viewpoints. Crimes committed against a native Oolzuran occasionally result in lynchings of offending aliens, although usually the offender will simply be asked to leave. The Oolzurans will then report his offense to his native government with a recommended punishment.

Confrontations between aliens on Oolzur are universally ignored; the natives consider interaction between members of other species beyond their concern and are known to walk by assaults and thefts in progress if both parties involved are aliens. Their police force refuses to mediate disputes that involve non-Oolzurans. Sebaceans, Luxans, Hynerians, and Nebari frequent the Oolzuran spaceports on a regular basis, so visitors learn to exercise caution while on the planet.

Oolzur hosts the Intra-System Spacecraft Rally that takes place once per cycle. The Rally serves as a showcase for the newest spaceship prototypes, as well as a meeting place to negotiate sales between inventors, corporations, and planetary military establishments. A tri-system race is held every five cycles; the winner earns prize money put up by the corporate sponsors.

Scarrans once attempted to bring Oolzur within their empire, approximately two hundred cycles ago. The fiercely clannish tendencies of the locals and harsh planetary conditions resulted in an extended guerrilla war which the Scarrans eventually abandoned as too costly. The Oolzurans protect their knowledge and intellectual resources very closely and protect themselves against the possibility that anyone else could gain a hold on them. As a result, both the Peacekeepers and the Nebari have left Oolzur to rule itself, wishing to avoid a direct conflict with the Oolzurans, Scarrans, and each other – at least for now.