[Meksum subsector] Hiveworld Meksum Prime

[CELS]

Just wrote this up quickly out of boredom and because I figured we should have at least a minimum of information available for Meksum, since it's such an important world. Feedback is welcome, of course.

STANDARD REPRESENTATION


Planet name: Meksum Prime
World class: Hiveworld
Population: ?
Tech level: High Imperial
Tithe Grade: ?
Aestimare: ?

Orbital distance: ?
Equatorial diameter: ?
Gravity: High
Orbital period: ?
Length of day: ?
Atmosphere: Heavy with methane taint
Surface atmospheric pressure:
Surface temperature:
Hydrosphere:
Life forms:
Moons:
Satellite 1:
Satellite 2:

 
Planet description
Meksum Prime is the most heavily populated world in the Anargo sector. Urban landscapes and industrial zones cover entire continents, reaching such an extreme density in places that soaring hives reach kilometers in height, holding populations several hundred millions within. Dropships, freighters and shuttles scurry ceaselessly through Meksum Prime’s polluted skies, transporting imported and exporting goods for the world that never sleeps. More than ever, Meksum Prime is a place of opportunity, enjoying an unrivalled economical growth due to past investments and successful business politics.

Very much in spite of the tremendous pollution from the hives, Meksum Prime’s resilient native ecosystem has endured and adapted remarkably, leaving many areas of the hiveworlds relatively unchanged from the days before Mankind set foot on this world. While the local fauna on land is somewhat limited, with few beasts more than a meter long or tall, the flora contains much variation as a variety of native plants have adapted successfully to the effects of the human colonization. The oceans contain particularly complex and rich ecosystems, benefitting from minerals and organic waste from the large human population. Meksumese landscapes vary in appearance from jungles and swamps around the equator to mires and vine forests near the poles.

Meksumese hives are an unusual sight, often having much planted vegetation in the upper reaches, while areas with excess organic waste are often overgrown with weeds and vines, growing even in the most polluted heart of the hives. Naturally, because of the high pollution all such plants are highly toxic and offer very little in the form of nutrition. The high gravity of Meksum also provides a certain challenge for the tallest hives, which are usually squat and compact, containing none of the sleek towers and skybridges seen on other hiveworlds, nor the massive halls and caverns characteristic of hiveworlds such as Necromunda. Because the Meksumese people are normally less than five feet tall, offworlders coming to Meksum Prime often find themselves hunched over when venturing into Meksumese hives, especially in the lower reaches and underhives.

Even in the central regions of the Meksumese hives, poverty is relatively common. The unique form of government and the economic system on Meksum Prime has led to an extreme division of wealth, leaving the majority of the population in poverty, while powerful corporate leaders and guilders enjoy obscene luxuries and riches. Despite this poor distribution of resources, Meksum has not known civil war for centuries and its form of government has not changed since its inception in the aftermath of the Apostate Wars. It is the ability of the Meksumese to accept their position and be content with poverty that has helped build Meksum Prime into one of the most efficient and powerful factory worlds in the Esquiline Quadrant.

Government
-   The system of government used on Meksum is called the Hectorian system and is a form of plutocracy designed in M37.
-   On Meksum, the government is formed by the wealthiest local commercial organizations. There are a number of requirements before a corporation or guild may attempt to join, such as having operated on Meksum a certain period of time or having a certain contribution to the gross world product.
-   The meksumese parliament has five hundred positions, all of which are available to the highest bidder. The organization or conglomerate controlling the highest number of positions is free to elect an Imperial Commander. There are, of course, a number of complex rules and regulations to ensure a balance of sorts. To prevent the rise of monopolies, the price of positions in parliament are relative in proportion to the number of positions controlled by a single entity. Thus, the first position is far cheaper than the tenth position.
-   To further prevent rise of power houses, it is possible to buy other organizations out of their positions in parliament. This functions as a quasi-democratic safety mechanism to allow a large number of smaller organizations to prompt the replacement of a poorly functioning parliament.

Religion
-   The people of Meksum are not especially pious, but to appear as a devout member of the church is culturally desirable.
-   Meksumese natives will often wear religious symbols proudly to show their apparent faith. It is not uncommon for the meksumese to wear religious symbols whose meaning is not known to them or carrying pendants modeled after Saints they do not know.
-   The modern meksumese faith has its roots in the Apostate Wars, when Meksum Prime sided with Sebastian Thor against the Anargan-Dorvastorian theocracy. The teachings of Saint Thor are required reading for children on Meksum.
-   Ironically, despite the fact that Meksum is being increasingly secularized in the same way as the Anargo subsector, the cultural prestige of being a devout worshipper has not led to a significant loss of popularity for the Adeptus Ministorum.

Society and Law
-   Due to the special form of government on Meksum, the division of wealth amongst meksumese is extreme.
-   Welfare is almost non-existant on Meksum. Poverty is widely spread, but not considered a problem due to the values of the meksumese culture. As in nature, the strong will endure and the weak must die and this is the pillar in meksumese ideology. Power is its own justification.
-   Due to the unusual nature of the meksumese government, wherein official positions are bought and sold to the highest bidder, high level corruption is virtually a non-issue. Approaches that would be considered bribery on other worlds are accepted on Meksum as following tradition.
-   Law enforcement agencies, like any other official institutions, are commercial organizations, similar to security companies on most other worlds. Corruption is most common amongst street officers, though law enforcement agencies with a history of corruption will normally lose their contract.
-   Due to the plutocratic form of government on Meksum, the meksumese consider their workplace and employer to be a large part of their own identity. Patriotism from belonging to a certain region or state is quite incomprehensible to the meksumese, who see themselves as employees of specific organization above all. For this reason, families are usually formed as meksumese find partners within their own company or guild and children are expected to follow their parents’ footsteps if possible. Indeed, the meksumese typically feel more attached to associates in their workplace than to cousins working in a different organization. For this reason, the meksumese concept of family is limited to only the closest relatives.

Technology
 -

Trade and Tithes
-   As one of the largest contributors to the sector’s economy, Meksum Prime exports and imports a wide variety of different goods. It is the nature of a hiveworld to import large amounts of food, medicine and minerals from mining worlds, while exporting primarily industrial goods. Meksum Prime does import heavily from agriworlds and mining worlds in the Meksum subsector and beyond, while exporting to the entire Quadrant.
-   Meksum Prime enjoys heavy trade especially with the Madron sector through the warp current known as the Amber Stream and the Revocatus sector through the Ecdicus Passage. These two sectors in particular have been integral in the economic growth of the Meksum subsector in the recent millennia.

Physiology
-   High gravity combined with poverty and poor nutrition leads to reduced height. Few meksumese are more than five feet tall. Middle class natives will have a slightly taller stature due to better nutrition diets, but only the wealthiest guilders and nobles reach heights of over six feet, as only they will regularly spend time in contra-grav areas.
-   The thick atmosphere has no significant impact on meksumese physiology, though the Meksum natives will often have difficulties adjusting to worlds with thinner atmospheres. The methane taint in the meksumese atmosphere offers no health risk.

Psychology
-   The Meksumese are often regarded as a cold and calculating people, made cynical by their obsession with economy and totally incapable of loyalty and patriotism. This stereotype is not entirely justified as the Meksumese feel a great sense of loyalty and belonging towards their own employer, arguably in the same way that offworlders might feel part of a proud city-state or a certain clan. To seek work with a new employer is not done lightly on Meksum Prime and to lose one’s job is a terrifying prospect, comparable to being exiled from one’s home or clan on other worlds.
-   The Meksumese certainly have a more self-centered view on life, caring very little for the suffering of others as long it is not their own doing or anyone of importance to them personally. Welfare and charity is almost unheard of and the unfortunate are expected to fend for themselves. On the other hand, the Meksumese are quite capable of selfless acts for their close family or their employing company or guild. Especially citizens working for the largest guilds and corporations will feel a tremendous sense of loyalty, to the point where they will happily sacrifice their lives for the benefit of the employer.

Language and Dialect
-   The Meksumese dialect of Low Gothic is quite distinct, though there are only a few basic differences compared to the standard dialect. The Meksumese dialect comes from a fusion between the pre-Imperial Meksumese tongue and the Low Gothic introduced during the early Age of Imperium.
-   In the Meksumese dialect, verbs are often conjugated in archaic forms, tracing back to the old Meksumese tongue and Old Gothic influences. “You have come” is normally changed to “You hast come”, for example.
-   In terms of pronounciation, the Meksumese dialect contains some oddities. “Ch” is often pronounced as “k” except if those are the first letters of the word or if combined with other consonants. For example, meksumese say “mak-een” when pronouncing “machine”, but “charity” and “stretch” are pronounced as normal. The same thing is the case with the consonant “v” often being pronounced as “f”, such as “cafity” instead of “cavity”.

Planetary Defense Force
-   The local PDF is divided into different regional forces, all of which are mercenary organizations on contract with the meksumese government. While the exclusive use of professional soldiers ensures a high level of competence and skill in the PDF, history has shown that cross-organizational loyalty is virtually non-existent and morale suffers greatly in actions involving different forces.
-   Service on Meksum is considered a safe way to retirement for many mercenaries and is thus the last stop for many grizzled veterans from across the Quadrant and beyond. This, combined with the high use for mercenaries onboard the pirate-threatened trade routes in the Meksum subsector, has made Meksum Prime the ultimate location when searching for top level mercenaries, bounty hunters and other hired guns.
History

[Dazo]

Not to take away from what you have done, because it is as always very good, but meksum was an ice world orbiting a red dwarf star, with a band of water around the equator. Of course if you feel the need for a complete redo then thats your prerogative

[CELS]

Thanks. Yes, I felt the need for a complete redo. Being creative is what motivates me to write these, basically. Having to look through our various archives for shreds of information about how past members envisioned these worlds... well, it's not how I like to spend my time

[Dazo]

It means you'll need a new world image for Meksum then, let me know what you want as soon as you know what you want

[Malika]

Let the madness begin...

Planet description
Meksum Prime is the most heavily populated world in the Anargo sector. Urban landscapes and industrial zones cover entire continents, reaching such an extreme density in places that soaring hives reach kilometers in height, holding populations several hundred millions within.

That's like the population of the US? I would multiply that number by a thousand.

Very much in spite of the tremendous pollution from the hives, Meksum Prime’s resilient native ecosystem has endured and adapted remarkably, leaving many areas of the hiveworlds relatively unchanged from the days before Mankind set foot on this world. While the local fauna on land is somewhat limited, with few beasts more than a meter long or tall, the flora contains much variation as a variety of native plants have adapted successfully to the effects of the human colonization. The oceans contain particularly complex and rich ecosystems, benefitting from minerals and organic waste from the large human population. Meksumese landscapes vary in appearance from jungles and swamps around the equator to mires and vine forests near the poles.

I really like this, I was pondering about a world which had a very similar concept. Quechit originally had a similar environment before the local population rebelled against their Tyrant (Age of Strife stuff).

Meksumese hives are an unusual sight, often having much planted vegetation in the upper reaches, while areas with excess organic waste are often overgrown with weeds and vines, growing even in the most polluted heart of the hives. Naturally, because of the high pollution all such plants are highly toxic and offer very little in the form of nutrition.

Does this mean that most people don't leave the hive structures?

Despite this poor distribution of resources, Meksum has not known civil war for centuries and its form of government has not changed since its inception in the aftermath of the Apostate Wars. It is the ability of the Meksumese to accept their position and be content with poverty that has helped build Meksum Prime into one of the most efficient and powerful factory worlds in the Esquiline Quadrant.

Why do they accept this though? Normally some sort of middle class or intelligentsia would try to rebel (under the pretence of fighting for the poor) in order to switch places with the upper class. How are these classes kept loyal to this system?

Society and Law

I miss the migrants. I think a world like Meksum Prime is an economic hub not only of the subsector, but even of the Anargo sector and beyond. So wouldn't this world experience some problems with the large amounts of immigrants and such who come to this world?

In terms of pronounciation, the Meksumese dialect contains some oddities. “Ch” is often pronounced as “k” except if those are the first letters of the word or if combined with other consonants. For example, meksumese say “mak-een” when pronouncing “machine”, but

I remember using this concept for one of my worlds as well (forgot if it was Quechit or Sicitta).

Curious to see what you are going to include in Meksum Prime's history!

[CELS]

It means you'll need a new world image for Meksum then, let me know what you want as soon as you know what you want

Oh, cool. Let's see...
G- class star, like our sun.
70% hydrosphere. Lots of small continents and archipelagoes.
Standard atmosphere, but dense (the methane taint is invisible) and with heavily polluted clouds
Oceans a really dark blue with a green tinge.
Land areas a brownish green.
High temperature, so quite small ice poles.
Billions and billions of people...
One small grey moon with no atmosphere.

That's like the population of the US? I would multiply that number by a thousand.

Yes, it's the population of the US within a single hive
Maybe I should clarify with "each holding populations of several hundred millions within."

I really like this, I was pondering about a world which had a very similar concept. Quechit originally had a similar environment before the local population rebelled against their Tyrant (Age of Strife stuff).

Yep, I remembered Quechit when I wrote it. The Anargo sector has too few worlds with large areas of swamp and jungle, and most hiveworlds tend to be quite barren.

Does this mean that most people don't leave the hive structures?

Well, yeah, but not for this reason. I imagine it's rare for people to leave their hives on any hiveworld, due to limitations in infrastructure. It's not like the world would support the strain of having ten million people from one hive spending the night in their neighbour hive to follow their favourite baseball team.

Why do they accept this though? Normally some sort of middle class or intelligentsia would try to rebel (under the pretence of fighting for the poor) in order to switch places with the upper class. How are these classes kept loyal to this system?

Well, I'm open for ideas. Do we have any one studying sociology here?

I was basically looking at China when I wrote this though. The chinese culture is just so submissive, you have so many people toiling in relative poverty without any thoughts of rebellion. There are several factors, I suppose. A strong and ruthless government, ready to imprison or execute those with "dangerous ideas". A submissive philosophy tracing back to the Confucian teachings (which all chinese children are forced to study), which encourage people to submit to their ruler. (Confucianism also encourages the people to get rid of bad rulers, but I wouldn't be surprised if chinese schools omit that part)

I miss the migrants. I think a world like Meksum Prime is an economic hub not only of the subsector, but even of the Anargo sector and beyond. So wouldn't this world experience some problems with the large amounts of immigrants and such who come to this world?

Yes, that deserves a mention. Large amounts of immigration and emigration. I don't think it would necessarily be a problem though, given the economical growth going on at the moment. People are always going to find a job, even if the pay is so low it's almost slavery. Again, I guess China is a good comparison.

I remember using this concept for one of my worlds as well (forgot if it was Quechit or Sicitta).

Heh, cool.

Curious to see what you are going to include in Meksum Prime's history!

Well, it's mostly a matter of compilation, I suppose. Meksum Prime's history has been written already, from the sector's point of view. I don't think it will contain a lot of big surprises, because that would have an impact on the entire sector. So it's more a matter of seeing how historical sector events have had an impact on Meksum.

Thanks for the comments.

[Dazo]

Hows this?

[CELS]

It looks very promising, but I do think it's a pity that the shadow covers most of the world, making it hard to make out what the world is like. I guess it would be better to remove the sun from the image, in order to get a different angle on the light source.

Also, I'm not sure if the sun's corona would be hidden behind closer objects such as planets. I'm no expert on optics though.

[Dazo]

Ok had another stab at it *see above* I went for the classic half light half dark, does it work any better for you.

[Malika]

A little something I've been pondering about here. The great thing about being at university and also working on the Anargo Sector Project is that you could put what you have learned at some lecture to use here on the forum.

Meksum Prime is the economic hub not only of the subsector, but of the entire Anargo sector and it's surrounding hinterland. This of course means that Meksum Prime will also will also be a world filled with many immigrants, it will be a migration-world. Because of this I don't think that a mere mention of the immigrants in the Society section would do, hence I'm pondering about writing some sort of Appendix/Meta article for this world which will deal specifically with immigration.

Note that these are just a few concepts and need to be fleshed out more:

MIGRATION
Being the economic power that Meksum Prime is, it attracts many from the Meksum subsector and beyond. Thousands upon thousand of immigrants arrive on this Hive World each year in hopes to become rich.

Main immigrant groups and their level of segregation:
-Those from other worlds in the Meksum subsector. These tend to segregate into their own neighbourhoods, for example separated Quechitian quarters;
-Those from the rest of the Anargo Sector. Instead of grouping up to world specific groups/areas these are more alligned with their subsector. This is also due to the fact that there simply aren't enough people from each world to group up, meaning that there will be areas in which those from lets say the Dorvastor subsector all live together instead of a Toshanden quarter for example. However, within these "subsector based" quarters there might be segregation between worlds, meaning that Toshandens might have their own blocks within the quarter (similar to the barrios in Latin American cities)
-Those from the rest of the Esquiline Quadrant and beyond. This group of people is very heterogeneous, living in segregated areas as well, but all together. These immigrant quarters are mixes of all sorts of peoples, cultures and beliefs.

Do note that this form of segregation mainly applies to those immigrants from the lower classes such as workers. Higher classes such as nobility, intellectuals, guildsmen, and others tend to integrate themselves more effectively in Meksumian society. They would probably also live in the same quarters/areas as the locals from a similar class.

Migrants: Poverty and Social Exclusion:
-Why are immigrants poorer than the rest of the population?
-Reactions from the immigrants on their situation (suicide, crime, further segregation)
-Immigrants fighting amongst themselves.

Meksumians and immigrants:
-Contact between the local population and immigrants;
-Discrimination of the immigrants;
-Meksumian reactions to the violence of immigrants;
-Changes in Meksumian culture.

I know these things need to be written out further and need more thought. I will probably also change the structure of this article, however the points mentioned here are the main points I want to focus on.

[Zholud]

Belated answer, and of course no intention to change anything. However, my Meksum looked quite different. It was the world beyond the seas, hidden from highly radioactive red dwarf. the temperatures were close to zero on equator and large polar caps covered the surface with ice. That was as per generated statistics.
Such an unhostpitable world became the hive only owing to warp current that ended there and many people, trying to run away from horrors of 30k period ended up here.