Minos Cluster Setting Part 2 - Adarlon

Adarlon itself is a rugged, mountainous world. Its three major cities are located along the west coast of the northern continent on a narrow plateau between the mountains and the sea. Adarlon has a generally pleasant climate, though it does vary considerably by region. The forested regions between the mountains and the seas, where most of the population lives, are temperate and quite wet. In the cities, however, it rains only in the early mornings (climate control) and it is sunny the rest of the time. 

The Human inhabitants of this planet are obsessed with pleasure and fun; they play when they work and they work at play. Throughout recent galactic history, Adarlon has traditionally been the home of most of the galaxy's best entertainers, and even today many aspiring actors, singers, and producers travel to the planet to get their "big break." (The newest "trendy act" is a rather awful band called "Boba Fett and the Assassin Droids" and a shrewd trader could make some real money ferrying concertgoers to Adarlon or by scalping auditorium passes for a "Fett" concert.)  

Today, however, its predominance is somewhat reduced from its golden years during the Republic. The tastes of the Empire run to entertainments that are more violent than the traditional, sophisticated Adarlon acts ("Boba Fett and the Assassin Droids" notwithstanding). On the other hand, because Adarlon is so distant from the Imperial Core, it is out of the reach of the more draconian censorship of the Empire, and its underground holos which depict the Empire unfavorably are becoming increasingly popular. These black market holos appear to be the beginning of a new era of cinematic creativity and vigor, and are bringing Adarlon to the forefront of the entertainment world once again.

• Galaxy Guide 6, Tramp Freighters 2nd Edition, West End Games

Adarlon is the first planet detailed in Galaxy Guide 6. Not that this makes it any more significant, just that you're most likely to notice it. Adarlon is described as being a major entertainment center - not just of the sector but of the entire galaxy. The volume further describes it as a place with theme parks, some quite involved, and all sorts of strange entertainments. It's cities are park-like at the ground level with aircars flitting throughout the air.

On one hand one can go with a Disney World sort of atmosphere for Adarlon. And I've a hunch that there probably is a "family-friendly" sort of park on it somewhere. But it seems to be a bit more "grown-up" than that. My mental picture of Adarlon is a combination of inspirations:

• Atlantic City as seen HBO's Boardwalk Empire
• Pamplona and Paris as seen in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises
• Hollywood from a variety of eras, with a strong touch of Raymond Chandler

I've speculated what Adarlon might have been like in the Clone Wars. In my game, Adarlon was a separatist world, producing much of the propaganda against the Republic. I visualize a sort of Hollywood Blacklist taking place in the years after the establishment of the Empire.

The West End Games supplement Wretched Hives of Scum and Villainy featured the Glow Dome, a major night club. Wookieepedia describes it as follows:

The Glow Dome was a nightclub on Adarlon known for its elaborate lighting and sound design. Called "The Bright Center to the Galaxy" in its promotions, the Dome employed over 500 individual holoprojectors to create dazzling illusions, and its audio system was so extensive that it required four droid brains and one sentient operator to function. The Glow Dome's dance floor, called the "Turntable," spun just rapidly enough to disorient unwary dancers. 

For some reason I picture the Glow Dome as a bit like Hell's Club, perhaps with the light's turned down a bit...

Interesting, Adarlon has manage to make it into the "official" new Star Wars canon. It was mentioned in the Star Wars Rebels young readers book Head to Head. It also mentioned an Alderaan embassy on Adarlon - something unlikely to have been a coincidence given that Tramp Freighters described it as being settled from Alderaan as well as Head to Head being written West End Games alumnus Pablo Hidalgo. Adarlon received a second mention in Greg Rucka's Before the Awakening, with Finn hearing of a famine on the New Republic controlled world of Adarlon as part of First Order propaganda. We never learn if that propaganda was true.

In my current game, I've had one adventure take place on it and am prepping a second adventure. The adventure we've played was "The Missing Bride", an adaptation I made of the West End Games adventure "Abregado-Rae Intrigue" from the No Disintegrations anthology. It originally took place on the core world of Abregado-Rae. Though a core world, it was sparsely populated and it was set in the resort province of Le Yer. It dealt with a crime lord/provincial governor hiring the characters to find his missing bride-to-be,  Brinaloy N'Vaari. As it turned out, she had a double life as an entertainer and had gone on the run rather than marry the man who had assassinated her grandfather, the previous provincial governor. The way our game played out, the characters technically returned her, but only after learning what their patron had done. They therefore killed the crime lord with a bomb and made it look like a member of a rival gang had done it. This plunged the provincial election into chaos, allowing Brinaloy to win a write-in campaign and giving the characters a powerful political ally.

The adventure I'm prepping deals with Adarlon in the middle of a festival dealing with holofilms, arts, and general partying. Kind of a cross between the Cannes Film Festival, Coachella, and Lollapalooza. The planet will be quite busy, with dignitaries from all over the galaxy.

Image Credits:

•  San Jose at Night - Licenses from 123RF.com - seemed an appropriate picture of what I picture one of Adarlon's resorts to be like.
• The Glow Dome from West End Games' Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy.