Lanthrym
- Lanthrym
Type: Terrestrial
Temperature: Frigid
Atmosphere: Type I (breathable)
Hydrosphere: Dry
Gravity: Standard
Terrain: Glacier
Length of Day: 19 Standard hours
Length of Year: 488 local days
Sapient Species: Gamorreans, Humans
Starport: Standard
Population: 570,000
Planet Function: Mining
Government: Organized crime
Tech Level: Space
Major Exports: Sodium products
Major Imports: Foodstuffs, high tech, entertainment
The original entry on Lanthrym can be found on page 109 of The Star Wars Planets Collection by West End Games.
The frozen wasteland of Lanthrym, inhospitable to most species, could nonetheless be preferable to the settlements beneath its wind-beaten surface. Since a major political slight that took place centuries ago, The people of Lanthrym have been bitter and resentful of the rest of the sector. The planet's government was gradually overtaken by organized criminals, and the few cities are now quietly run by assorted mobs and syndicates. Today, Lanthrym's subterranean ports like Capital City are well known around the sector by those who make their living on the wrong side of the law.
Capital City
The largest metropolitan centre on Lanthrym, Capital City has the esteemed honour of being the roughest, ugliest city on the planet. Built underground, the once beautiful city has fallen into disrepair due to a lack of anyone with any ambition wanting to take charge of it.
In the old days, visitors used to come from all over the sector just to witness Capital City's spectacular artificial sunsets and sunrises, projected through a giant, translucent dome which concealed millions of coloured spotlights across the entire length of the city. This was a thriving, vibrant community, and looked to become one of the great jewels in the crown of Elrood sector.
Then, when Lanthrym lost out to the planet Coyn in becoming the 'Gateway to Elrood sector', the world was suddenly reduced to 'backwater' status, and the more upwardly minded administrators left Capital City for greater opportunities. Now, centuries later, the long-term civic and economic effects of this age-old slight are clearly evident. The moral fibre of the populace has rotted from within, and crime runs rampant. The great sky dome over the city, after falling into a horrible state of disrepair, was finally taken down, leaving thousands of naked, coloured spotlights to feebly illuminate the smelly, smoky town. Capital City is a town of bitter, surly people, and visitors to the world (particularly those from the planet Coyn) should not expect a warm welcome.
Deadsville
The region now known as Deadsville lies a few miles from Capital City, resting underground like a hidden shame. Years ago, when the planet Lanthrym had competed with the neighboring planet Coyn for the coveted honour of being the 'Gateway to Elrood Sector', the planet's administrators had seen fit to construct an entire tourist town to attract the millions of visitors they expected to receive, calling it 'Vacationville'.
When the esteemed title was eventually bestowed upon the world of the Coynites, Lanthrym and its people were outraged, offended and, most importantly, riddled with debt. One by one, the honest and ambitious city leaders left for other worlds, leaving a vacancy soon to be filled by an assortment of unscrupulous, self-serving opportunists and gangsters. The standard of living fell dramatically, mirrored by the rise of crime in Capital City. 'Vacationville', with all its untried stores, hotels and amusements was mothballed, and came to be known as 'Deadsville', a bitter joke among the work crews who had laboured so long to build it. And so it remained, a dark, abandoned ghost town lying like a hidden tomb under Lanthrym's hard, cold surface.
The ghost-town has become home to two groups of new arrivals, however. There is evidence that an unknown number of wampas have found their way down to Deadsville. Secondly, the infamous pirate Dorok Zalaster and his cronies have set up camp here - only time will tell which tribe will prove the more ferocious.