CAMPINASUR Provincia do Brasil By Ben Levy
Although Brazil established claim to the habitable peninsula of the South Polar Continent (Peninsula Brasiliera) in 2184, the region was without permanent human settlement, except for scientific outposts, until 2209, when Brazil began a slow if determined effort to settle this remote land. Campinasur is the region on the northern tip of this peninsula. It is in the planet’s sub-polar zone, and receives cool, often windy weather, very moist on the west coast and dry on the east coast, a pattern analogous to the southern tip of South America on Earth. The west coast experiences humid air and frequent gentle rain more often than more violent downpours, but has been known to receive monsoon-like storms in Grand Spring and Grand Summer. This area is marked by very large non-deciduous trees, which belong to a small sub-division of Constanphyla, in which the true leaves are small vestigial remnants, almost indistinguishable from the needle-like petioles to which they are attached, and are never shed. These plants form one of the great timber reserves of Tirane. Rocky ridges parallel the west coast, and to the east, there is a rapid transition to tall prairie, almost entirely flat for hundreds of kilometers at a stretch, dominated by the flowering grasses of Division Agrorexphyla, with occasional stands of an unusual squat, short, cactus-like plant found only in Campinasur and of thus far uncertain taxonomy, the Pot-Bushes. The Campinasur prairie meets the sea along the eastern coast in a series of broad dunes and marshes. Seaward, the continental shelf extends out almost a thousand kilometers, and the ocean depth is fairly shallow through most of this area. The land rises in the west to meet the western ridges, and a series of small, shallow rivers winds across the prairie towards the sea. The capitol city of Sao Umberto is built where the largest of these rivers , the Rio Platino, meets the sea. None of Campinasur’s waterways are navigable by ships of any significant draught.. Plant life on both the east and west sides of the Estado become more adapted to arctic conditions to the south. About two thirds of the way to the southern border, the prairie fades into tundra. In the west, the coastal region beginning roughly a third of the way northward from the southern border of the Estado and continuing south to the rest of the southern continent is known as Costa Tirapingi. This region of exotic, wave carved rocky beaches is teeming with spectacular local wildlife, the Tirapingis. The ridges on the west coast mark the fault lines that extend northward through the Brazilian Islands to Acre on Cabralia. Campinasur receives occasional severe seismic activity. With an area of 968,000 square kilometers, Campinasur is a little smaller than Australia’s State of South Australia. This doesn’t include the area south of the generally recognized (but imprecise) southern border, where tundra meets arctic biome. The Brazil claims all the land to the south pole, and administers it from the town of Ponto Fresco, as the Unidade of Extremasur. Extremasur has almost no population. The population of Campinasur is small, at only 3,580,000, but the Estado is still more densely settled than the rocky wilderness of Chaparaca, with a population density of 3.7 per square kilometer, compared to the northeastern Estado’s density of 3.2 (and an overall density for terrestrial Brazil of about 46!). About 1.3 million live in the capitol city of Sao Umberto. This region was originally a part of the Unidade of Tirasur, established in 2212. Colonization was slow, despite national efforts, until the early 2230’s, when a number of Brazilians were convinced that the oncoming Grand Summer would char broil most of the island continent of Cabralia. This never came to pass. Due to a confluence of factors, such as Cabralia’s east-west axis and strong marine influences, the Grand Summer’s greatest effect was to push the temperate-subtropical climate of the continent more towards the tropical end, still well within the capabilities of the Brazilian inhabitants. People began leaving Campinasur again in the 2250’s. The Estado-to-be spent the next flew decades recovering lost ground. Settlement was never popular here for several reasons, among them the remoteness of the peninsula, and the Brazilian affinity towards warmer climes. Natural resources and government prodding eventually drew enough people to the region for the population to swell past the million mark in 2282. However, despite the heavy tide of colonization in the past three decades, political obstacles kept the region as a Unidade until 2295. In 2295, Tirasur was broken down into the Unidade of Extremasur, which maintained federal control over the southern polar arctic region, and the Estado of Campinasur on the northern end of the peninsula. The name "Campinasur" had been granted to the area decades prior to emphasize the agricultural capability of the land. Settlement here is still a priority of the Brazilian Ministry of Colonization. The land here, to any settler from a temperate climate, is as comfortable as any found in Provincia do Brasil, and the sluggishness of colonization in the past has more to do with the preferences of Brazilians, and the infrastructure in place in Cabralia than any failing of Campinasur. Brazilians simply preferred moving to a warm and civilized place with a communications net, roads, businesses, etc., all of which was in place on the main island of the colony. Even today, Campinasur is an environment more like the frontier, with its vast open spaces and Spartan infrastructure, than the rest of the core. The people of Campinasur have crowded around their major city and capitol, which has over a third of the population, The remainder are spread out along the Superestrada Tirasur, the combination superhighway and airfilm route that connects Sao Umberto to the west coast towns via a hook around the northern tip of the peninsula, with a total run of some the some 700 kilometers. It is the fastest growing Estado as it receives much of the immigrant flow. This adds to the frontier feel of the place. The land to the south of Campinasur is the arctic wilderness of Extremasur, which is claimed by Brazil all the way to the south pole, and administered from Ponto Fresco by the Brazilian Ministry of Colonization. The permanent population is less than 40,000, and that is generous count, as few of long term residents actually consider themselves permanent. Most leave after a few years of work. There are another possibly 20,000 people in Extremasur working only for a season or two. The governor and all senior officials are appointed directly by the Minister of Colonization. Despite the lack of representation, the inhabitants of Extremasur are not displeased with the situation. The settlers all knew the rules when they arrived, they see little point in voting for a governor for a four year term when most likely they’ll be gone sooner than that. Besides, in Extremasur, the Ministry of Colonization runs things much better, it’s commonly believed, that a local government could, if only because they have access to resources at the national level. Extremasur’s governor has an extremely small staff, and must run the entire workings of government from a budget prepared by the Ministry of Colonization. He has no authority to tax the people or businesses of the Unidade, but can impose certain fees. This was the second spaceport established on Tirane by Brazilians. Right up until 2184, there was some doubt as to exactly which lands would constitute the Brazilian colony. At the time, however, Tirane was approaching Grand Winter. Early climate projections grossly overestimated the effects of the Grand Seasons throughout many regions of Tirane, and the South Polar Continent was one of them. No other nation wanted to go through the trouble of establishing a new colony during the expected harsh weather, and the habitable peninsula of the South Polar Continent was left to Brazil by default. Of course, to properly settle and exploit this area, an airport was needed to connect it with the more valuable real estate on Cabralia, at the very least, to support survey and engineering parties. The airport was completed for that task in 2190, in the midst of a Grand Winter that wasn’t nearly as bad as scientists had predicted. Most major airports can handle landings by space planes and space shuttles. The only real difference between a spaceport and an airport is that the former has facilities for the guidance and service of interface capable craft, the latter does not. Feeling the need to have facility capable of handling landings from space in this remote corner of their colony, the Brazilians quickly upgraded the airport to spaceport status. Portoestrella Tirasur is the least used of Provincia do Brasil’s spaceports, mostly due to the small population of Campinasur and the Brazilian islands (all of which except Ilhadoce are in the region served by Portoestrella Tirasur) but partly because of the poor launch position of the spaceport, which has little of the angular momentum the other fields, all much closer to the equator, enjoy. Most of the production of the region consists of bulk materials, such as aluminum and petroleum based lubricants. It is easier to ship these products by sea to Porto Jardim, then to transport them to the catapult in Sera do Prado for orbital insertion there than it is to launch them via shuttle from Acre. Passenger demand is also quite slack, naturally. There is only one civilian spaceplane service operating out of Portoestrella Tirasur, and that is Aerospacio Pinguim (Penguin Aerospace) S.A. This company would be somewhere else as well if it wasn’t sustained by government patronage. Aerospacio Pinguim’s four spaceplanes are kept busy with contracted service flights to the Brazilian space station. One of their spaceplanes is actually specialized for the service and maintenance role. Most of its cargo and passenger capability has been sacrificed to allow it to carry equipment necessary for the maintenance and repair of starships, spacecraft, and satellites. This work can be better performed form the space station, of course, but the Brazilian Space Agency, (AEB) considers it important to have a backup capability, in the event the space station is for some reason unable to perform its duties. Economically, Aerospaciao Pinguim is barely hanging in there, and will continue to do so, until the day comes that the government cuts the strings. Air operations far outweigh space operations in importance here, as this is Campinasur’s principal air connection with the rest of Provincia do Brasil. This is further discussed under Transportation. Sao Umberto is the largest city in Provincia do Brasil not located on the island continent of Cabralia. It has several features that make it unique amongst Provincia’s cities. First and foremost, Campinasur is considered a priority area for the Brazilian Ministry of Colonization, and the city is their center of operations for the region. It is the only area on Tirane with a large and active Ministry of Colonization effort, with the agency’s other priority areas all located on Paulo. As a result, Sao Umberto is changing rapidly, and in many ways resembles a frontier city more than a core city. Much of the population is transient, consisting of construction workers, Min. Col and other government workers, military personnel, and their families. Much of the city’s institutions and infrastructure are also undergoing rapid change. The urban transportation system is under construction, and each year, a subterranean light rail service expands to include a few new stations. New roads, sewer, and water lines are pushing out the boundaries of the city daily. The atmosphere is rushed and vigorous, but tenuous; things like money, jobs, friends and plans for the future tend to come and go quickly, and those who don’t keep up with the pace can find themselves at the bottom of Sao Umberto’s heap very quickly. Anyone who does so will quickly find that life in Sao Umberto is not very lonely at the bottom. There are plenty of others who have slipped off the Sao Umberto escalator with which one can wait in line for menial level jobs, find free meals in a church soup kitchen, or drink and brawl with in the bars on the east side of Centro. The growing permanent population is more cosmopolitan than other areas of Brazil. The city seems to attract more Brazilians of northern European descent, as well as Asians, but there are also immigrants form areas not traditionally supplying large numbers of settlers to Provincia do Brasil. "Other" is a major category in Sao Umberto and includes about 100,000 Scandinavians and 50,000 Hungarians. Downtown Sao Umberto is a cluster of large, multi-purpoise buildings, many of which seem to have been built with the indention of enclosing a piece of typical Brazilian tropics and sub-tropics within the sub-polar/cool temperate climate of Campinasur. The largest building, the tetrahedral "Piramide" is a good example of this. Piramide was built in 2279, and its 55 stories enclose an enormous atrium which houses a carefully maintained representation of a section of the Amazon rain forest, complete with monkeys, birds, snakes, and other wildlife. No one is quite sure why this predilection for large (in volume if not in height) structures exists in Sao Umberto. The architect of "Piramide" described the need for Sao Umbertans to have a psychological counterpoint to the vast windswept grasslands beyond the city. Few city residents, if any, have aver expresses such a need. Yet, more than one architectural firm seems to have assumed its existence and designed accordingly. One result has been that few agencies, institutions or firms in Sao Umberto have buildings of their own, and those that do tend to have small structures. Others share space in the big buildings. Piramide, for example, is home to the Estado courts, as well as several floors of retail floors, a health and sports club, the Hotel Piramide, an urban transit station, and offices of a variety of corporations. On the far side of the Boulevard do Presidente Faria, another large building, the Cornige, houses several of the Distrito Centro schools, a communications complex, several restaurants, a vehicle service business and several other technical service businesses on the ground floor, and several hundred apartments, as well as its own link, newly competed, to the Sao Umberto Transit system. One result of this style of construction in Sao Umberto is the removal of the need to venture outdoors. Although such a lifestyles is in reality only available only to residents of Centro, all of Sao Umberto has had to endure humor portraying them as pale, sun-hating troglodytes. But this is a false image. The people tend to be quite active, and happily seek the outdoors when the weather is good, which is far more often than most other Brazilians believe. One of the older and more dramatic buildings of Centro is the Catedral de Nossa Senhara do Tirasur, the largest cathedral in the Estado, and the home of the Archbishop assigned to the region. Church attendance is lower in Sao Umberto than it is in most other areas of Provincia do Brasil, and the church hierarchy here has been buffeted by scandals over the past few decades. Vocal activists have questioned the expenditure of their tax cruzeiros to support a church that does not represent their own spiritual beliefs. Even so, or perhaps because of al these problems, the church in Sao Umberto soldiers on. In some ways, as in their ministry to the downtrodden and their maintenance institutions like the of the Holy Name center of Alcoholism, located in Centro in the Engrenaldo Buiding not far from the Cathedral, they are even more active than their counterparts in more conservative areas. Sao Umberto did not have much of a natural harbor. Creating a deep water harbor was a major effort for the National Engineering Corps, and they must return every few years to maintain the harbor with dredging. The initial construction of the harbor involved the second biggest earth moving project in the history of Provincia do Brasil- after the clearing of the Rio Osario in Lemanja. This work, however, was accomplished without the use of nuclear demolition charges. The rock and soil removed was used to elevate the low lying coastal flatland in the harbor area, and much of this improved land became the Distrito De Mar. There are three elements to Distrito De Mar. First, there is the commercial harbor, the vital transportation link which connects the resources and industries of Campinasur with the markets in the rest of Provincia do Brasil, and beyond. This occupies the southern side of the artificially created bay. Included in this section is sprawl of industrial and warehouse buildings south of the harbor, as well as the city’s waste reclamation and water purification facilities. Second, there is the naval base, which occupies a section of the northern side along with the small civil marine terminal and a few marinas for fishing vessels. The Naval base here actually consists of a section of harbor and a small strip only, the bulk of the naval base being located inland in the District of Norte. Third, there is the coastal residential area, mostly on the north side. Many seaside districts in coastal Provinca do Brasil cities are residential areas for the upper and upper middle classes. This is not the case with Sao Umberto, which has a very small upper class as it is. De Mar can be deceptively pleasant during the Grand Summer years. At other times the district is chilled by cold, damp, ocean air. Spring and autumn brings hard weather, which often batters the coastal district far worse than it touches the rest of the city. As a result, residences along the beach are not quaint little seaside homes but blocky apartment buildings, capable of withstanding Tirane’s quirky weather. The neighborhoods tend to be middle class to lower class- Sao Umbertans with more money to spend tend to congregate in the convenient, modern inner city area. The residential areas are not well served by public transportation. Although light rail lines extend to the navy, civil, and commercial waterfronts, plans to reach the oceanside communities have thus far not progressed, and the population has had to make do with busses or privately owned vehicles. The two halves of the district are connected by a tunnel installed under harbor during the initial construction. Although it will forever restrict the maximum depth of Sao Umberto’s harbor, the Tunnel do General DeCosta (A past commander of the national Corps of Engineers, who succumbed to a fatal heart attack at his desk during the construction of the Sao Umberto harbor) is an important local transportation link. This district is a long, relatively narrow strip along the south side of the Rio Platino’s flood plain. Two tunnels, the Sao Umberto Centro Tunnel and the David Nelson Tunnel connect Parque Platino to the Districts of Centro and Cerros Chifres on the north side. (Tunnels having been chosen over bridges because of the one time plan to have all of Sao Umberto’s s major roadways underground, to avoid exposure to the weather, especially in Grand Winter. Parque Platino is a bucolic and conservative suburb of Sao Umberto. The people here are those that have chosen Campinasur for the long haul, not for the next short and well paying work contract. They include professionals, merchants, technicians, and government workers- a well educated, middle class assortment. The city’s northern European immigrant population is rooted here, and one of the district’s indoor shopping malls shows a distinct Finnish influence. The Park for which the district is named is the city’s largest and most developed outdoor recreation area. It’s designers felt the population could learn to enjoy instead of flee the cool climate of Sao Umberto, so the park was constructed with athletic areas, children’s playgrounds, gardens, walking paths, and an outdoor amphitheater to encourage outdoor enjoyment. Graceful and rustic looking timbered covered bridges span the Rio Platino to provide access across the Platino for pedestrians. Parque Platino is also home to the main campus of the university of Campinasur. The retail and entertainment neighborhood immediately outside the main entrance of the university is the only part of the District that could be described as "lively" or "vibrant" and the only place in Parque Platino where one can expect to find businesses open late into the evening. On the northern border of the districts of Centro and De Mar is this large district, mostly claimed by the city’s multiple military facilities. On a per capita basis, there are more military personnel in Sao Umberto than in any other city in Provincia do Brasil, and Norte is where the bulk of them live and work. (There are a few offices in Centro, the naval base in De Mar, and some military personnel have homes in the other districts) Actually, the Brazilian military owns broad swaths of land outside the city which are extensions of the same bases within the city, but the principal living and working areas are within city limits, and so the bases are generally considered to be in Sao Umberto. The military presence here is old, going back to the second decade of the 23rd century. The buildings here, both military and civilian, look much older and more conservative than the structures elsewhere in the city. Even the newer buildings here cling to very traditional, well tried notions of architecture, giving the whole district a very classical look. The western border of Distrito Norte is formed by the Portoestrella Tirasur, and much of the business and light industry of the district is employed in the service of the military and/or the aerospace port, either directly or indirectly. The low, rounded hills on the western side of Centro and south of Portoestrella Tirasur belong to the district of Cerros Chifres, the newest district of the city. This is the area in which new construction is currently rapidly expanding the city, although there are quite a number of projects elsewhere. The rapid transit tubes area being pushed westward, and only a few years ago the Estadia Campinasur opened, home to the city’s athletic teams. Cerros Chifres is home to the heavy industry of Sao Umberto, the steel mills having been located here long before the city grew out to meet them. Rising land values may force the mills to move within the decade, and they will most likely relocate farther west. This town of 25,000, the capitol of the federally administered Unidade of Extremasur, was first established in 2234 as a support base for survey parties. It is situated on a good natural harbor, just 50 kilometers south of Campinasur’s southern border, on the west coast of the peninsula, in the hear of the area known as the Costa Tirapingi. Logistic support of scientific operations is still an important function, but now those operations are supplemented by the economic enterprises developing in the region. Ponto Fresco channels equipment and goods in, and products out. The town has a well developed port, surrounded by warehouse facilities, a small airport, a communications and office center consisting of a few antenna topped office towers, and a small retail commercial center. On one end of the commercial center is a strip of bars and restaurants, serving travellers and workers in from the nearby mining, and refinery sites. The office towers houses the local government and offices of the Ministry of Colonization overseeing the development of Provincia do Brazil’s southernmost reaches. There is a crescent shaped park consisting of interspersed gardens, groves, and stone paved plazas and walkways, noted for its display of outdoor sculpture and heavy use of ornamental lighting. The park begins at the office complex and curves out to the tip of the point for which the town is named. On the point itself is a lighthouse, and the Igreja do O Baptista. This church is the spiritual center of Extremasur, and an educational and cultural center for the region’s children, as well as a refuge for the few truly lost and desperate souls in need of help in this far outpost of Brazilian society, as it offers a shelter and a soup kitchen. The monsignor is always active in local affairs. Throughout the town, architecture tends to be low and blocky, with extensive use of stone and concrete. The town is well lit, as the bright lights tend to psychologically offset the frequently gloomy and cold weather. No major companies are headquartered in Ponto Fresco, but a few keep local offices here. Companies have to pay well to attract good managers and professionals to Extremasur, and together with the local merchants, and the government workers, these people make up the middle class. The residential areas of the town are insulated from the more chaotic parts of the town by being on the far side of the office tower complex. Along with the residences, this area is home to the Ponto Fresco school and a few shops and businesses catering to the resident population, and not the transient workers. Beyond the commercial strip, eastwards, is the service and utility portion of the city, with a natural gas powerplant and a water filtration/distribution node, as well as the town’s sanitation center. Workers from the arctic wilderness beyond converge on Ponto Fresco after payday, often to spend part of their money in the town’s bars and restaurants. Some spend another part of it with the town’s prostitutes. This is illegal here, as it is in all of Brazil, but the trade survives, and the entrepreneurs are enormously clever in their methods of denying the law enforcement agencies the evidence they need to shut them down. On the other hand, the last time a bordello was shut down, in 2293, the police spent eight hours arresting dozens of angry aluminum refinery workers who wreaked havoc on the town. They are a bit more circumspect these days, and the status quo is, the bordellos make themselves as close to invisible as they can, and the police do not search for them as hard as they could. Most workers avoid this diversion, and at times, with the trouble they cause, the local police almost wish they would patronize the bordellos and not the bars. Ponto Fresco is unconnected by road and rail to the Campinasur to the north, and the airfield is frequently closed due to poor visibility (the Costa Tirapingi is notorious for heavy fog). Ship remains the most common means of transportation to the town, and hovercraft connect Ponto Fresco to the nearby bauxite, chromium, and tungsten mines and refineries. Just prior to the last Grand Summer of Tirane, the prevailing idea throughout much of Provincia do Brasil was that parts of the colony would become all but unhabitable as the temperature rose. This proved a gross overestimation. Nonetheless, farmers from the more vulnerable areas of the colony relocated to Campinasur, planted crops, and built towns. Others accompanied them, bringing the services and administration the farmers would need in their temporary quarters. This was temporary on a grand scale. The Grand Summer farms in Campinasur stayed in operation from thirty years. A generation of citizens grew up in the agricultural towns. But for all their hard work, they learned it was a wasted effort. The farmers that stayed behind endured tropical weather, as Brazilians have for centuries, and were able to quickly shift their crops when necessary to plants more suited to the hotter climate. Many crops needed little or no adaption, being already capable of growing under temperate or tropical conditions. The farmers in Campinasur spent years re-establishing themselves, building new farms, new towns, and new infrastructures. When they weather turned cooler again as Grand Fall began to fade towards Grand Winter, pride, and a thirty year commitment to Campinasur, kept many of them from returning to farms in Cabralia. But most left, and with them went many more workers and specialists of all sorts, and their families. Hundreds of thousands abandoned Campinasur. Some inhabitants saw the small towns in which they had grown up become deserted, residential neighborhoods once home to hundreds of families empty but for a few. Those that stayed on relocated, consolidating themselves in towns and small villages, where they could maintain a social and economic structure. In the years since, most of the abandoned towns have been re-established. A few remain empty. On the west coast, Sao Joao and Caredo are still deserted, as are Nova Manuas, Cerenade, and Obrenoso on the eastern prairies. Two of the latter are just visible from the long and lonely road that connects Sao Umberto to the national prisons. Scavengers are still tempted by these towns. Officially, they are considered abandoned by their original owners and have reverted to the control of the Ministry of Colonization, but the government makes no effort to keep squatters and looters out. Bearing in mind that these towns were deserted quite deliberately and not in haste, there are no great finds to be salvaged here, as the residents didn’t leave valuables behind, but that doesn’t keep a few from society’s dim outskirts from trying, and there have been odd stories of things discovered in the ghost towns. Sometimes, they serve as shelter for people to desperate and too unsavory to find homes within civilization, and travellers are advised to keep well clear of them. In addition to the Estado government offices, Sao Umberto contains its own municipal government, as well as numerous offices of the national government. The Ministry of Colonization has a major presence here, as do a few other agencies. Canada and Scandinavia both maintain consulates here, and both nations have provided the Brazilians advice and assistance in the development of their coldest region. As is the norm for Provincia do Brasil, Campinasur has an elected governor serving a four year term, and an elected legislature. Campinasur’s legislature is fairly small, with only 24 members, and the Estado constitution strongly empowers the governor. This can be a good and bad thing for the governor. Campinasur has had only two gubernatorial elections as an Estado, but already the voters of the newest Estado have proven themselves a fickle lot, blaming every good or ill on the governor and showing broad changes in loyalties. Naturally the first governor was so unpopular at the end of his term that re-election was out of the question, and the current governor, despite an arrival in which he all but walked a carpet of rose petals into his office, now faces the same lack of support, having alienated many citizens by caving in to national government pressure on the of issue of national sovereignty over land and facilities the citizenry assumed would be turned over to the Estado. The political parties of Provincia do Brasil have made this a major battleground. With the small population and the strong growth potential, an effort in political control now promises strong returns on the investment, so the political contests here tend to be aggressive, no holds barred campaigns in which party national headquarters tend to step in and slug it out for their local candidates. All of the state government offices are located in Sao Umberto, mostly in the White State Building in Distrito Centro, but there are exceptions. Out of all the regions in which they operate, the National Police in Campinasur have the best reputation with the locals. The police here do not exhibit the heavy handedness and brutishness for which they have been noted elsewhere. The governor of Campinasur has 400 policemen to patrol the vast area, backed up a 750 man metropolitan force in Sao Umberto, and the 600 federal officers are a welcome addition, as life in Campinasur can get rowdy at times. All of the National Police officers here except twenty (the investigations section) are drawn from the Rural Police division of the National Police. The police force here has a canine unit, several patrol hovercraft and a squadron of obsolete ex-military helicopters. There is a horse unit for work in the great forested western area of the Estado. The horsemen are slower than hovercraft or heliborne policemen, but they can get places the hovercraft can’t, and stay afield far longer than the helicopters. They perform patrols lasting up to several weeks. Also, working from horseback, they gain a very intimate knowledge of the countryside. Many times they have tracked fugitives fleeing a crime in Sao Umberto or one of the towns or industrial camps, or even the National Prison, for the apparent safety of the hinterlands. Lacking highly sophisticated equipment, a horseman’s eyes (and very often, the horse’s nose and ears!) will pick up a trail that a mechanized unit would miss. The Rural Police believe they are doing the fugitive a favor by bringing him in- the Campinasur countryside is a tough place to live, especially to a Brazilian born and raised in the tropics. Most of the time, the Rural Police in Campinasur are occupied with public service tasks like rescues work, medical evacuation, and bringing aid to people with immobilized vehicles. The Estado and Metro officers handle the day to day crime and the maintenance of public order. (Crime, illegal drug use, and alcoholism area all higher in Campinasur than they are in other comparably rural Estados) The senior federal officer has an office in Sao Umberto and reports to the governor for operational matters and the Commander of the National Police in Brasilia for matters departmental and administrative. Would be criminals should take note that the Rural Police consider stun weapons to be too short ranged for use outside of built up areas, and generally carry long ranged rifles in addition to a stun sidearm. The men of the horse units are all trained to fire accurately from horseback, and the horses are trained, in the spirit of police horses over the centuries, to remain calm during weapons fire or other disturbances that would panic a typical horse. The Rural Police have looked into long range non-lethal weapons recently, and there is a chance of them acquiring such weapons in the near future. The National Police also have responsibility for security in Extremasur, although the lack of people in this Unidade makes the problem a small one. Rural police patrols from Campinasur cross the border into the federally controlled land routinely, and there is a small national police section stationed in Ponto Fresco. After the disappointing lack of development during the Grand Summer of the 2230’s and 40’s, there was a lot of disgruntled criticism voiced over the government’s decision to colonize (then) Tirasur in the first place. Deriding the place as "The National Refrigerator", critics suggested that the south polar continent was of no use to tropical Brazil, and that is would be more sensible to sell the place to some cooler nation that desired a colony on Tirane, Russia or Canada perhaps. But the Ministry of Colonization sincerely wanted to find some purpose for the property, and the name "National Refrigerator" suggested a place used for cold storage. And cold storage, it was decided, would be an ideal place for the storage of Provincia do Brasil’s criminal class. Despite the fact that the area was mostly only sub-polar, and even pleasantly temperate at times, popular opinion held the peninsula to be a forbidding, inhospitable, frozen place, not unlike the view of Minnesota held by natives of Florida. Construction of a National Prison was therefore quickly approved, and the first prisoners arrived in 2268. Today, Provincia do Brasil has a total incarcerated population of 167,000. About a quarter of these inmates are housed in the National Prison in Campinasur. The system keeps its 40,000 charges in a series of isolated but mutually supporting sites in the south-central area of the Estado, the only access being by air or a long, dreary driver on a nearly deserted highway. There are 16 different prisons, including the two belong to the National Women’s Prison, strung out in an uneven line with about 25 kilometers between each site. Guards and staff are rotated frequently between each site, and the conditions have been reported as rather harsh for a prison in a modern, democratic nation. There have been occasional escapes, but as in the Russian Gulags, there is nowhere nearby to escape to, and even after the mass escape that followed the severe damage to Unit Nine during the earthquake of 2281, most escapees were eventually caught. At least, those that hadn’t succumbed to exposure to the elements. The cold is used as a disciplinary tool: prison riots have often been followed by inexplicable failures in the heating systems. The nickname that was once applied to the region as a whole has since come to be applied solely to the National Prison. The "Refrigerador Nacional" is Brazil’s largest and most dreaded prison. The Brazilian Military in Campinasur Campinasur’s weather may be perfectly acceptable to any Canadian, but to the Brazilians, Campinasur is remote and desolate, bordering on the uninhabitable. In short, a perfect place to establish a major military base. On a per capita basis, there are more Brazilians in uniform in Campinasur than in any other Estado, even if the ones here are counting the days until their tour of duty ends. All four of Brazil’s services maintain bases in Sao Umberto, with the Air Force and Navy also manning an observation post on the Costa Tirapingi. Campinasur is often used by the Brazilians as an exercise area. Units from elsewhere in Provincia do Brasil, and often from Earth, are brought here to maneuver in the unfamiliar climate and terrain against the units stationed here, which naturally have the home court advantage. Brazil’s Seventh Flotilla, based in Porto Jardim, has responsibility for this area, and has a small squadron devoted to operations in Brazil’s southernmost waters. The Brazilian navy is most obviously represented here by two Suya class Aviation cruisers. The Suyas are the older predecessors tot he more capable Xavante class. The ships, both based in Sao Umberto, are the Korubo, the flagship of the southern squadron, and the Tikuna, which typically acts as support ship for the 9th Marine Brigade. Both ships have had hull modifications to enhance their safety in ice conditions. The two Aviation cruisers are supported by a handful of escort and auxiliary ships. Brazil’s 9th Marine Brigade is headquartered in Sao Umberto, with detachments acting as garrisons on several of the Brazilian Islands. The Brigade has two infantry battalions, one of which is dispersed in company sized garrisons, and one heavy battalion, which includes a tank company and a missile company. It also has several support and service elements. Along with the Army’s Eighteenth Infantry Brigade, the Marines often act as the "home team" to oppose other Brazilian units brought in for exercises. The Tirasur Garrison and Support Brigade has support and administrative units, along with a VTOL transports section, a mobile medical company, and a mobile air defense company. The Regimente Tirane do Sur flies a dozen short range VTOL combat aircraft, a dozen obsolete long range strike aircraft now used for patrol and surveillance (although with standoff weapons, they would still be still usable in the strike role), 4 high performance fighters and a mix of transport and support aircraft. This regiment is considered by Brazilian airmen as having a heavy work load, with a difficult climate to contend with as well as large areas to patrol and frequent large scale exercises. The Southern Aerospace Defense Command is headquartered in Sao Umberto, but consists of several sensor and missile defense units scattered across Campinasur and Ilha Brava. Service and support elements are also grouped under this command. The major combat command in Campinasur is the Eighteenth Infantry Brigade. This formation has a hovercraft equipped infantry battalion, a truck mobile infantry battalion, a hover cavalry company, an artillery battery, a rocket artillery battery, an aviation company, and support units of various types. The Eighteenth is equipped with elderly hand me down systems, mostly British and Brazilian leftovers The unit is therefore not considered a deployable first line force, and is most commonly used to provide the opposition force for other units sent to Campinasur for training. Brazilian and foreign forces report that the Eighteenth’s very frequent maneuvers in its area of operations gives them a wealth of experience in local terrain and conditions that usually more than makes up for the obsolescence of their equipment. They are known for surprising and creative tactics, and have humbled many of the more modern elements of the Brazilian military. In 2292, in the interest of peace and good relations, the Eighteenth Infantry Brigade ceased mimicking Argentine tactics when playing "opposition" for line units being tested. The Southern Command Support Brigade provides administrative and upper echelon logistic support to the military forces in the region. It includes Administrative, Transport, Medical, Maintenance, Signal, Supply, Police, and Aviation elements. The Presidente Lacerdas Engineer Brigade is Brazil’s combat engineer brigade for Provincia do Brasil. Many of the better combat units in Provincia do Brasil have organic engineer elements, but he Lacerdas Brigade is called upon to provide special engineering assistance where needed. There are battalions of engineers and a headquarters and service battalion. Two battalions are each composed of four "combat support" engineer companies, equipped with armored combat engineer vehicles designed to provide line combat units with additional obstacle breaching, fortification, and obstacle creation capabilities, as well as reconnaissance and demolitions teams. One of these battalions is deployed to the mobile forces in Oxala and Campobelo, leaving one behind in Campinasur. The bridging and amphibious battalion has a river crossing and "over the beach" role, while the general support battalion provides engineer support to rear area elements of combat units, as well as fortification and decontamination capabilities.. Civil aviation is the lifeline of Campinasur. Portoestrella Tirasur is served by Aerotrans Brazil, Impulsos, Alaoeste, as well as the Aerovia (from New Canberra) Air France, and Tiranair. The Estado government subsidizes the operation of the terminal’s air passenger service, and this is known to be the easiest of Brazil’s ports of entry, as far as customs and formalities are concerned. One regional airline is headquartered here, Aviacao Polar. This is a small company with a fleet of 80 passenger and cargo aircraft of various sizes. From their main facility here, they fly to the major towns of the west coast, Baia Nebulosa, Santa Rosa, and Cascato, Praia do Mendigo on the northern tip of Campinasur, and the Ilhas Brazilianas, with service on to their only toehold on Cabralia at Lusitanium. Ground transportation is extremely limited in Campinasur. One Superestrada stretches around the northern tip of the peninsula, terminating on the west side at Santa Rosa and on the east coast at Sao Umberto. Standard concrete and asphalt roads (readily available petroleum in Campinasur makes asphalt a good paving option) spread out from the major towns, and a few cross the peninsula from east to west, but in any even road connections on the west coast end about 150 kilometers from the southern border at Baia Australis, and in the east, at the ranching and meatpacking town of Plango, about 75 kilometers south of the southern end of the national prison complex. Roads are often in poor condition, except for the Superestrada which is well maintained, and drivers are cautioned to stay alert and to ensure the best possible condition of the vehicles. Still, the rural police are often searching for drivers who failed to show at their intended location. Waystations with food, fuel, rest, and maintenance facilities along the roads and the Superestrada are provided by the fuel companies, Ultimas, Petrosur, and Mobraubras. Although constructed as a public airfilm track, no passenger airfilm service is available on the Superestrada. All the trains are operated by private companies, and all are freight trains. The government was simply unable to sustain passenger service in the face of limited demand. Passenger service is available from bus lines, though, which can operate on the airfilm traffic as well as conventional roads using specially equipped hoverbusses. One bus line, Linha Fresca, connects Ponto Fresco with the outlying mining and industrial sites, even though the town itself isn’t connected to Campinasur by road. In general, cargo is not shipped to foreign ports from Campinasur. First, goods are taken to the major ports of Cabralia, such as Cidade Delta, Vitorio de Conquista, and Ageanopolis. Then, goods travelling onward to other ports on Tirane are reshipped on different vessels. The only cargos generally traveling to foreign ports directly from Campinasur are Petroleum and Natural Gas. Finance, Commerce, and the Media Wthe exception of limited branch offices and small retail concerns scattered amongst the far flung towns of the Estado, all of these activities are confined to the capitol city of Sao Umberto. Sao Umberto itself is treated as a distant frontier market by firms headquartered elsewhere. Very little economic activity in these sectors are actually directed from within the Estado, although numerous firms doing business in Campinasur have offices here, including many foreign firms. The one local media organization is the "Ejorno" (See Oxala for a description of the Ejorno system) and Netcasting corporation "Noticias do Sur". With one exception, Noticias do Sur is considered a second string company only interested in local news and events- which is exactly how they want it. Based in Sao Umberto, they do a fine job of keeping the citizenry informed about the rapid changes in their city, as well as the goings on throughout their Estado. Where Noticias do Sur has made a name for itself is in the art of "adventure journalism". Years ago, intrepid local reporters accompanied some research teams venturing deep into the Tiranian south polar ice cap. The public loved it, and since then, Noticias do Sur reporters have flung themselves- with occasional tragic results- towards every dangerous challenge they can find (and allow for in their operating budget!) They have gone as far as instigating dangerous treks to exotic, unexplored locales, just so they can tag along and report on it. Campinasur has a good growing season, despite the southern latitude, which improves dramatically during Grand Summer. During all of the grand seasons, though, there are plenty of crops that grow well in the Estado. Campinasur is a grain exporter, wheat, barley, and rye being popular crops. Dairy cattle are also common, with over 120 dairy farms supplying the needs of the Estado and then some. There are a number of mechanized farms along the Platino and other rivers that produce vegetables. Other crops are imported, and although Campinasur is a net food exporter when trade is measured in tonnage, in total value the imports and exports come out close to even. There are about 200 fur ranches of various sizes in Campinasur. Modern artificial furs are nearly indistinguishable, by sight, from the real thing (texture and odor still cannot be matched accurately) but a market persists for genuine fur. It’s not a large market, considering the majority of Brazilians who considering the wearing of animal skins to a be a barbaric practice left over from Pre-Twilight times. Fortunately, there aren’t a whole lot of fur producers. Most of the fur ranchers raise familiar Earth animals like fox and mink, but several have managed commercially exploitable breeds of native Tiranian animals. This is the only area in Provincia do Brasil with a fur ranching industry, the cool weather being essential for the development of quality pelts. One large ranch in the southeastern area of the state has had success breeding alpacas, from stock imported from Earth decades ago, for wool, skins, and meat. Arleyan Ranch supports a small town in addition to its 9,000 alpacas, numerous other animals, and staff of 60. There is an Ultimas fuel and service station and several other small shops clustered around the center of the ranch, which has been steadily growing for years. So far, no other alpaca ranches have been established to mimic Arleyan’s success. The vision of Arleyan Ranch as a place where hardy, down to earth (down to Tirane?) folk work hard and breed quality livestock has given value to the name, and "Arleyan Ranch" appears on many products marketed with this vision in mind. There are "Arleyan Ranch" foods, outdoor and work clothes, even specialized editions of cross country utility vehicles. There has been some effort to domesticate the large domestic herbivore called the Chagi. The ranch has about 50, living there on a test basis. As yet, there is no market for Chagi based products. That, however, is a problem for the suit wearing professionals in the big cities who push Arleyan Ranch products, not the ranchers trying to raise the beasts. Fishing is not common in Campinasur. This isn’t due to any lack of fish, in fact, the waters off Campinasur are teeming with them. This is primarily a result of harsh weather making Campinasur an unpleasant place for Brazilian fishermen, who prefer the easier waters further north. The handful of fishing vessels in operation here belong to ethnic Scandinavians and Italians, and are based out of several marinas in Sao Umberto. Production lags well behind demand here, and most fish consumed is imported from the remainder of the colony, and from foreign sources. Snallop collection, on the other hand, is growing. Many Brazilians have not developed a taste for these native Tiranean littoral mollusks, but their acceptance is growing, and they make a profitable export commodity. Campinasur is well known for the high quality of the timber extracted from the western forests. Realizing that the supply, although renewable, renews very slowly, the Government of Campinasur strictly regulates the industry. Logging permits are therefore extremely valuable documents. Three types of wood native to Campinasur are among the sought after by Provincia do Brazil’s lumber industry: "Goum" is flexible and lightweight, with some properties similar to Balsa. The color is a rich pinkish brown, and it is highly resistant to weather and aging. "Madeirjo" is heavy, dense, and dark brown, with a consistency not unlike hardened, vulcanized rubber, and stiff enough to be used as structural lumber. It is notoriously tough and damage resistant, and males an excellent all purpose siding, framing, and paving material. It’s only flaw is its weight.. "Lambrilo" is very rigid, strong, pale brown-gray in color, and lightweight. It is coarse grained and not usable for detailed millwork, but makes an excellent wood for rough carpentry. Left exposed, it splinters easily, but with artificial coatings, it can be used as an exterior finish grade wood. The timber industry operates small, mobile camps based out of the towns of the west coast. Logs are shipped by airfilm to Sao Umberto, or are processed into lumber in the towns, and then shipped. Companies change quickly as rights and licenses are won and lost. There have been incidents of "throwaway" companies, temporary operations designed to make money quickly and shut down when they accumulate fines and penalties. The owners are typically remotely connected with the operation, and evade the Estado agencies, soon establishing another short term company when the heat is off, and repeating the process. The Estado of Campinasur has attempted to fight back by seizing equipment from sites committing violations, and demanding that owners show up to claim the seized equipment in person. Campinasur has good reserves of both these resources alloying the east coast. However, with the exception of the fields currently being developed by Mobraubras, the oil fields lie fallow while the industry operates in more rewarding areas in Oxala and Ilha Brava. Still, with just one company operating, due to the small population, petrochemical and gas production and refining is a strong contributor to the Campinasur economy. Mobraubras has a large regional headquarters in Sao Umberto, they being one of the few significant companies to have a building of their own- the Mobraubras building, naturally. They have about 3,000 employees in the Estado, of which about 500 are employed by their retail fuel and service stations. (Mobraubras is an "old time" energy company, providing hydrogen fuel, like Ultimas, while still active in its original role- since the late Twilight Era, - as a fossil fuel company. Most of its competitors produce only one or the other). Campinasur has rich reserves of several metals. Iron exists in abundance, but exploitation is expected to be slow until late in the 24th century, when more economically advantageous stocks, such as those in Cabo Vitorio, become scarcer. Bauxite, Tungsten, and Chromium are plentiful in the southern area of the Estado, with the best reserves in Extremasur territory south of the Campinasur border. (Even on Tirane, Mother Nature just loves harassing humans). Mines and refineries for these metals, along with a few iron mines, are scattered along the entire west coast. Most are owned by small companies set up by investors to process a specific deposit, and most of these small operating companies are owned by larger holding companies, Brazilian and foreign. Campinasur is too far from the main receiver-antenna complexes for direct transmission of power, and too far south for a receiver antenna complex of its own. Cabling was considered, but the submerged power cables would have to cross a very geologically active region of the sea floor ,and the scheme was declared unsafe. Plans exist to use an "island hopping" series of power transmission stations to bring power in from the man colony (Cabralia) but until then, Campinasur, like Ilha Brava and Ilha Novo Flores, remains outside the Provincia do Brasil power grid. Campinasur gets its power from its own fusion plants, owned and operated by the state power agency. These are located on the coast near Praia do Mendigo, ont eh northern tip of Campinasur,. The original fusion plant came on-line in 2229, but it has since been replaced. All the newer power plants have impressive seismic shock absorbers designed to keep the fusion generators intact through Campinasur’s occasional seismic events. The ready supply of high quality lumber gave rise, decades ago, to Sao Umberto’s leading export industry. The city produces construction products, generally finished end items made of wood, which fins their way into projects all over Provincia do Brasil and well beyond. Common items are windows, doors, panelling, trim and moldings, railings, and parquet flooring. Also produced are large pre-assembeld end items such as gazebos and solariums. One company, Fodnor E Filhos, has branched out beyond their original architectural specialties and now produces hassocks and firkins, as well as the pergolas with which the company’s reputation was made. No other business entity on Tirane has sent as many potential buyers, shippers and customs officials scurrying for a dictionary. This is the most important locally based industrial enterprise. QCO, S.A., buys raw materials in bulk from the agricultural and petrochemical industries and produces a wide variety of goods. Their forte is liquid bulk industrial chemicals, including polishes, cleansers, disinfectants, biocides, and insecticides. Located in Sao Umberto, with its headquarters in Distrito Centro, Quimiga Cruze do Oro employees about 5,000 people, making it the largest single corporate employer in Campinasur. The company has plants ands warehouses mostly in the western and De Mar regions of the city, as well as a research laboratory in Parque Platino. Ownership of the company, which reported gross receipts in 2300 of 216 MLv, is public. The company has had eight strong years in a row, and the level of interest this has generated has inflated the stock price. Analysts now consider the company to be very strong, but the stock to be overvalued none the less, and generally give it a hold or sell recommendation. No Provincia do Brasil University has more connections to other universities, including foreign institutions, than the University of Campinasur. This is explained by the University’s history. Long before Campinasur became an Estado, several universities from other Estados established, through federal grants, branch campuses here. While providing an education for a few local students (the vast majority of locally born students saw their academic years as a good way to leave dreary Campinasur for a few years), the Universities were able to use their facilities in this southernmost territory to provide single semester programs to their own students, who seemed much more appreciative of the wonders of the region than their native peers. These universities, in turn had exchange and outreach programs of their own, and so the student crowd in Campinasur always consisted of a small group of locals inundated by a diverse student body from throughout Brazil and beyond. When the region switched from federally controlled Unidade status to Estado, Campinasur acquired the facilities of most of the out-of-area institutions, but maintained the programs that still bind it to schools across Tirane, At any one time there are several scientific and survey parties scattered across the south polar region, in Campinasur and southward all the way to the pole. There are a number of unmanned weather stations collecting data at key points, and underwater sensor arrays as well. Scientists travel amongst these locations from the sites in Campinasur, and from the handful of permanent outposts. Brazil maintains a small outpost at the Tiranean south pole, and two coastal outposts in the arctic region of the peninsula, one on the west coast and one on the east. The Scandinavian government maintains a scientific outpost deep in the south polar region of Tirane. This group takes core samples of the Tiranean ice, and makes weather observations. The main purpose of their mission is to collect data on Tirane’s long term climate history, but they occasionally branch out into geology and biology as well. Typically, the station has about a dozen scientists, supported by about two dozen gullible graduate students who were somehow convinced that living on the Tiranian ice for six months or so who broaden their horizons. About twenty support personnel round out the staff. The Brazilian government tries to be a friendly host and actively assists in supporting the site, but the Scandinavians find the lighter than air aircraft the Brazilians have to be too slow and weather dependent for the job. The Scandinavians support their site with a couple of long range STOL transports based in Campinasur, equipped for ice landings. The site is equipped with specialized shelters and vehicles for work in the extreme cold. Entertainment, Recreation and the Arts The city of Sao Umberto is the cultural capitol of the region, but its efforts are mediocre and the population under appreciative. The city’s three museums tend to be quiet places almost devoid of patrons. Only the holotheatres, and, of course, the opera house see big crowds, especially when the weather gets hostile. Campinasur isn’t known for its cuisine, being more frontier than core. Restaurants here tend to be simplistic and serviceable, or are representatives of well established chains, including a few of the large international ones. A good, if pricey, sampling of the local fare can be found in A Seara. Perched on the upper floor of the Senador Govo tower in Sao Umberto, the restaurant offers views of the city, the river, and the surrounding suburbs and prairies, as well as Lago Esmerelda. The chefs utilize fresh, locally grown produce, meats, and dairy. Stuffed Cornbread is a popular local specialty. Seixos is another popular. Hotels of note include the Hotel Piramide, the Embaixada Camoinasur, and the Umbertada. During the warmer months, Praia do Mendigo is a popular seaside retreat for locals, and occasional out of area visitors. It has the best beach in Campinasur, and the only beach resorts in the Estado. Campinasur gave Brazil something the nation never had access to before within its borders: snow. To take full advantage of this amazing substance, a consortium of Brazilian (and two foreign) developers opened the National Winter Sports Center in western Campinasur, not far from Baia Nebuloso at the northern limit of the region known as "Costa Tirapingi". This is Brazil’s only winter sports facility, and they’ve done their best. There are skating rinks both indoor and outdoor, ski trails of every description, and sled runs, bob and otherwise. Many winter sports have remained unchanged (except in the type of material used in the manufacture of the necessary equipment) through the centuries. The basic strategy in Olympic Luge, for example, remains "lie down and try not to die". The Brazilians have been unsuccessfully lobbying for the Winter Olympic Games to be held in Campinasur, so proud are they over their new facilities. It’s popularity is growing, and it is already the number one visitor’s destination in Campinasur. It is even beginning to attract foreign visitors, many of whom are amused by the Brazilian inexperience with winter sports. As for themselves, the Brazilians are beginning to appreciate what makes the experience of skiing truly rewarding: the opportunity to warm up afterwards. Professional sports doesn’t draw the same crowds of worshiping fans here as it does in the rest of Provincia do Brasil. Sure, Campinasur has a team of its own, the Campinasur Polarbucks, but with a weak fan base has never been able to attract the first string talent of the bigger name teams. The Polarbucks, while high spirited, have been likened to a team of semi-amateurs. The one edge they maintain over visiting teams is their stadium manager’s habit of keeping the stadium roof retracted during cold days. It’s likely that even with a winning record, the team wouldn’t draw a big following. For one thing, there just aren’t enough people in the Estado, For another, the people of Campinasur tend to be more participatory in their approach to sports. Many of them, when faced with free time and a clear sky, would prefer to be outdoors, engaging in some activity themselves rather than watch somebody else get paid to do it. This is a large hotel and resort compound located about 90 kilometer upriver from Sao Umberto, on the eastern flank of the western ridges. It handles much of the tourist trade in Campinasur, being set up to provide relaxing vacations for those who want to avoid the more crowded destinations of Provincia do Brasil. Club Explorador makes it a point to feature the natural features and wildlife of the region in their guest’s itineraries. Specialized busses take resort visitors out to the herds of Tarnders and Polarbucks, both of which are present in vast numbers and present fascinating viewing experiences during their mating and migrating seasons. Club Explorador also sponsors boat trips along the Rio Platino and several of the lesser rivers which flow through the unpopulated prairie wilderness of Campinasur. Hunting is permitted in certain areas of Campinasur, but is strictly controlled. It’s usually best to obtain the services of a local guide (Club Explorador is happy to arrange properly led hunting trips for its guests) who knows not only the terrain and the habits of the animals, but the rules and regulations as well. Some of the lands on which hunting is permissible have unmarked, convoluted boundaries, and more than one visiting hunter has run into trouble with the law because he or she wandered outside the permitted hunting ground. Singly or in small numbers, few of the animals of Campinasur represent a threat of an armed and competent hunting party, but the herd animals have been known to stampede, and getting in the way of two thousand spooked Polarbucks of these can be fatal. Chaser. No. Appearing: 100-10,000 Initiative: 5 Melee Hit Chance: Difficult, Size: 20 Kg Speed 120 in water, 40 on land Armor 0, Consciousness: 2 Life: 4 WPM -3 DPV 0.1 Signature –4 These extraordinary creatures are found along the entire perimeter of the south polar continent of Tirane, and in massive numbers along the southern west coast of Campinasur, the Costa Tirapingi. They fill a niche similar to Earth’s penguin’s for which they are named. Convergent evolution has given them similar habits, and the penguins’ black and white color scheme, although the outward physical similarities mask very different evolutionary histories. The Tirapingis are actually a highly specialized branch of the Monosupia. Tens of Millions of years ago, the marine monosupia evolved from the forest dwelling creatures that still exist in scattered, often isolated areas of Tirane such as Tirania and Provincia do Brasil. The tail end "fingers" that enable the Monosupia to swing through forest canopies evolved into fins capable of propelling the creature through water. The marine monosupias also became semi-warm blooded, not unlike the Earth Tuna. Eventually, one branch of Marine Monosupias colonized the Tirane’s cold south polar waters, and adapted again, become shorter and rounder, developing protective insulation and hair, and toothed beaks, (Earth Penguins have no teeth, of course) -and penguin-like habits, while the "fingers" evolved into strong paddles capable of moving the creature in water and on land, or ice. The Tirapingis, like their Earth counterparts, are gregarious creatures that live in massive colonies, and eat whatever small aquatic animals they can catch. The are quick, agile swimmers, and are capable of graceful leaps out of the water. Grazer. No. Appearing: 40-400 Initiative: 2 Melee Hit Chance: Difficult, Size: 200 Kg Speed 70, with good cross country abilities. Armor 0.1, Consciousness: 6 Life: 12 WPM 0 DPV 0.3 Signature –0 This is a species related closely to the Jumbuck, but evolved to thrive in the cold climate of Campinasur. Polarbucks live in herds of up to hundreds of animals, and migrate over the entire range of the Estado. They cover a remarkable amount of ground, and efforts to ensure the continuity of their migratory routes has led to long, narrow swatches of Campinasur being given protected status of some sort. They are herbivorous, but can butt or kick when pressed. Polarbucks have split hooves which can spread apart, revealing a wide, pliable pad between. They can run at high speed over open ground, but also maintain their footing over the wet, muddy bogs that cover much of their habitat after a thaw. They swim quite well for a quadruped grazer. Intermittent. No. Appearing: 2d6 Initiative: 1 Melee Hit Chance: Difficult, Size: 80 Kg Speed 60 Armor .2, Consciousness: 4 Life: 8 WPM 0 DPV 0.2 Signature 0 Short, round, covered with thickly corded wooly hair and thoroughly placid in demeanor, the peaceful Chagi survives by enduring brutal weather and terrain no predator would be stupid enough to follow it into. (The strategy pursued by Earth’s Mountain Goat, and generations of Swiss.) The name "Chagi" is a corruption of the English "Shaggy", as the creature was named during the early British airborne reconnaissance of the peninsula, during which time the Polarbuck and Tirapingi were given their first monikers. (The Brazilians are to this day grateful that Campinasur’s creatures were named by British and not Australian explorers) Chagis roam the tundra and ridges in small groups, subsisting off what small amounts of vegetation they can find. They have been observed to visit shorelines after storms, where they will feast on the gelatinous green plant material that has washed ashore. Like mountain goats, their agility across rocks and steep slopes is astounding. They are not swift on open terrain, but can quickly lose pursuers on hazardous ground. |