---
title: The World
description: Five civilizations, nine stations, fourteen lanes.
sidebar:
  order: 2
---

## The Threshold

Five civilizations share a star system called the Threshold. Each has distinct trade character, cultural rules, and political pressure.

## Civilizations

### Terran Compact
Bureaucratic human government. They disgraced you. Getting back in means permits, patience, and swallowing pride. Safe markets, tight margins, heavy paperwork.

### Keth Communion
Arthropod collective on a biological calendar. Patient, observant, and devastating when offended. The best margins in the system if you understand the seasons. The fastest reputation collapse if you don't.

### Veshan Principalities
Reptilian feudal houses obsessed with honor and debt. They fight formally, trade directly, and remember everything. The Debt Ledger is not flavor. It's leverage.

### Orryn Drift
Mobile broker civilization. Neutral by policy, profitable by design. They trade with everyone, know everything, and charge for both. Cutting them out saves money. Losing their goodwill costs more.

### Sable Reach
Pirate factions, Ancestor tech salvagers, and people the Compact would rather forget. No law. No customs. No refunds. The highest risk and the highest reward in the system.

## Stations

Nine stations across the Threshold. Each belongs to a civilization and has:

- **Produces** — goods available at source discount
- **Demands** — goods that sell at premium
- **Docking fee** — flat cost to arrive
- **Cultural greeting** — first impression shaped by your crew's knowledge
- **Knowledge requirement** — some goods are restricted until you understand the culture

## Lanes

Fourteen space lanes connect stations. Each lane has:

- **Distance** — fuel cost in days
- **Danger** — encounter probability per transit day
- **Controlled by** — which civilization patrols this lane
- **Contraband risk** — chance of inspection for restricted goods
- **Terrain** — asteroid fields, nebulae, debris — affects combat positioning

Lanes are not symmetric. Who controls a lane determines what you risk carrying through it.
