Demon Princes - Setting - The Oikumene - Worlds of The Oikumene

Worlds of The Oikumene

Many systems and planets comprise the Oikumene, including:

• Solar system
  • Earth
• Cora system
  • Methel
  • Dar Sai, a desert planet with a single large natural satellite called Mirassou.
• Phi Ophiuchi system
  • Sarkovy, the sole planet of Phi Ophiuchi. It is somewhat larger than Earth but has a marginally lower surface gravity; unusually, it has zero axial tilt and therefore no seasons. The landscape consists largely of steppes, some of which are mentioned by name in The Palace of Love: Hopman Steppe, Gorobundur Steppe, and the Great Black Steppe. Its moist, cloudy climate supports abundant plant life which serves the Sarkoy as a ready source of poisons. It is also home to many animal species including the harikap.
• The Rigel Concourse: a system of 26 planets orbiting Rigel, which were moved into the system in antiquity by a vanished alien race. Their pompous discoverer named them for figures of Victorian literature (such as Bulwer-Lytton and Rudyard Kipling); but the clerk who processed his transmission, Roger Pilgham, replaced the names with a fanciful series of his own devising: Alphanor, Barleycorn, Chrysanthe, Diogenes, Elfland, Fiame, Goshen, Hardacres, Image, Jezebel, Krokinole, Lyonesse, Madagascar, Nowhere, Olliphane, Pilgham (after himself), Quinine, Raratonga, Somewhere, Tantamount, Unicorn, Valisande, Walpurgis, Xion, Ys and Zacaranda. Pligham also gave a particularly ugly moon the name "Sir Julian" in honor to the discoverer of the entire system.
  Many of the planets are not only inhabitable but extremely pleasant to live on, and all are settled to a greater or lesser degree. Some (principally Olliphane, Lyonesse and Tantamount) are mineral-rich and given over to heavy industry. The entire system is considered one of the primary focal points of the Oikumene and certainly represents the greatest concentration of habitable planets. The Rigel Concourse includes:
  • Alphanor: a large bright sea world, somewhat larger than Earth and with a marginally greater proportion of water, with seven conjoined continents and countless islands. Though first in alphabetical order, it is the eighth member of the Concourse in orbit around Rigel. Alphanor is beautiful and well-adapted to human life; it also boasts much native life of its own, including the hyrcan major (apparently anthropoid to judge by a reference in The Palace of Love) and the invisible eel. It features the prestigious Sea Province University, Sailmaker Beach, and the Grand Esplanade at Avente, the planetary capital. Alphanor is considered the administrative node and cultural centre of the Concourse. Kirth Gersen lived on Alphanor during part of his upbringing, and visits it repeatedly during the course of his adventures.
  • Olliphane: fifteenth in alphabetical order, but nineteenth in order from the star. Somewhat smaller than Earth, it comprises a greater proportion of metals and so its gravity is broadly similar. Its mineral wealth (as well as a mountainous geography naturally favouring hydroelectric power) has made it a natural target for industrialisation and it is probably the Concourse's industrial heartland, though there are significant works on the nearby planets of Tantamount and Lyonesse. Its population is generally stolid and industrious, with a highly-ordered caste system largely impenetrable to outworlders. Gersen visits Olliphane once as part of his detective work in Star King.
  • Ys: original home of Pallis Atwrode. Named locations include Singhal Island, the Palmetto Islands and Lantango Peninsula. The inhabitants sometimes practise sibling marriage, which is considered scandalous elsewhere in the Concourse.
• Vega system
  • Aloysius
  • Boniface
  • Cuthbert
• Mizar system
  • At least six planets of which at least the third and the sixth are inhabited. Mizar Six is home to the Tunkers, a strange religious sect who impose unusually stringent restrictions on clothing, behaviour and vocabulary, all in order to prevent needless speculation on each others' motives.
• Xi Puppis (Asmidiske) system
  • Xi Puppis X: Over drinks, protagonist Kirth Gersen is explaining to lovely Pallis Atwrode the origin of the humanoid race of Star Kings. One theory has it that the same vanished race who "carved Monument Cliff on Xi Puppis X" kidnapped a tribe of Neanderthals long ago and removed them to the Star Kings' homeworld Ghnarumen, there to serve as an experimental evolutionary template for the highly adaptable but still rudimentary native life forms.

Law is enforced locally by each planet's own police, but is coordinated within the Oikumene by the Interworld Police Coordinating Company (IPCC).