• The planet Sheehanworld was initially overlooked in the exploitation of this region of
space, the Federation gained a very firm grip on the planets and nearby star systems
and relied on mainly automatic mining ships to develop the region. Because of this
human population of the stars was relatively slow. There were further set-backs
for the first colonists on the planet, with the first two settlements being wiped out by
mysterious plagues.
• The natural life on this cold planet were naturally hardy and many intrepid explorers
fell victim to local parasites which managed to find comfortable hosts amongst the humans.
The planet is not an ice world, although it has large glaciated regions. There are fertile areas
close to the equator and most humans choose to live there. The life on Sheehanworld is no
longer harsh, Federation cultivators and harvesting machines have cleared large tracts of all
native species and Earth basic stock has been imported to take over the cleared land.
• The most successful animals imported to the planet have come from the antipodes of
Earth, with kangaroos, duck-billed platypuses and wombats providing a peculiar set of
creatures to exploit a foreign ecology. The success of the duck-billed platypus is especially
remarkable considering its own precarious existence on Earth itself, where the animal is mainly confined to zoos and breeding laboratories. An ironic turn-about is provided by the
rabbit, which wreaked such havoc when it was introduced to Australia on Earth; it completely
failed to find a foothold on Sheehanworld. In fact, the Sheehanworld parasite which
killed most of the rabbits introduced is now used on Earth to control the population
back in Australia.
• The planets of Exbeur are not known for the commercial crops grown there, but rather
as the centre of operations for the Federation mining concerns which operate in the volume of
space nearby. Exbeur is home for one of the Federations largest mining fleets, and repair
facilities for automated mining equipment can be found here, for Federation owned
machines. Some Corporation vessels have service contracts here, but these are rarely leased to
individual traders.
• The miners of the Federation are renowned as rough and ready types, and strangers
wandering into any of the planetary bars or saloons may be surprised at the frequency of fist-
fights. The experiences of a real life Exbeur miner, Douglas Mounthilbert form the basis of
one of the most popular vid-series Times of Splendour back at the Federation heart. Although
the series has glamorised the events considerably, historians such as Aldwaith Rumbart are
quick to disclaim the series as popular trash, but have to agree that in many matters of detail it
accurately portrays the early development of the Exbeur system and establishment of Camp
Biggs and Nakamichi Depot.
• There is a museum in Nakamichi Depot to the memory of Mounthilbert, containing
some of the most remarkable footage ever captured on vid. A restored version of the vid can
be enjoyed by anyone visiting. It records how Douglas managed to defend one of the local
farmers from attack by a leopard hawk, one of the local predators. The hawks were a bane of
the early colonists, once the plagues were overcome, and Mounthilbert's battle is the only
recorded incident where a man bested one of the creatures with his bare hands. As well as
being the storyline for many plays and an episode of Times... the event captured the
imagination of Jjagged Bbanner who dedicated their recording Death and Dishonour to the
memory of Douglas. (The Mounthilbert estate found the title offensive and tried to sue the
band, but were unsuccessful)
Entry by David Massey
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