Traglamore IV

Traglamore IV, also called the Blue Planet, was a planet located in the Traglamore system, along with its sister planets, Traglamore I, Traglamore II and Traglamore III. It was one of the only habitable planets in its system, supporting life forms such as blue and green aliens. These aliens were notable for their use in Borean reconnaissance missions, especially ones that took place in dense jungle or woodland.

Traglamore IV was iconic in its blue coloring, which inspired myths and legends among the inhabitants of Traglamore III, and incited many attempted visits by early Traglamorian explorers. These expeditions all failed, however, and the inhabitants of Traglamore III had already vanquished themselves from existence when the system was discovered by the expanding Borean Empire in AR 2,389.

Pre-discovery
An approximate 3 million years before its discovery by the Borean Empire, life started to emerge on Traglamore IV. Some of the first life forms emitted a blue pigment known as Estidarraunt, which gave the planet its coloring. The animals that evolved were not able to receive the blue spectrum of light, as to make hunting easier. Not all creatures on the planet were blue, so apex predators such as blue aliens could easily pick off prey that bore a different coloring.

No sentient life forms lived on Traglamore IV, but Traglamore III was home to several. The Traglamorians of Traglamore III worshipped Traglamore IV, thinking it to be a star that created all life. The color blue was sacred to them and they performed rituals every rotation to appease the blue planet. These rituals included being covered from head to toe in a blue paste and sacrificing criminals by flaying them. Although Estidarraunt was only found in large quantities on Traglamore IV, traces of it were found in the genetic makeup of life forms native to Traglamore III, suggesting it was not as exclusive as it was previously thought to have been.

Colonisation
Traglamore IV was discovered by the Borean Empire in AR 2,389 and was initially incorporated into the Uncharted Sector. The entire system was given a symbol in AR 2,421 and Traglamore IV got its symbol in AR 2,432. Thereafter, the system was annexed into the Imperium and assigned the code T14. Traglamore IV was given the code T144 and studies began into whether the planet was suitable for habitation.

In AR 2,435, the planet was deemed safe for habitation and immigration began. Several Borean religious leaders, including the Asitist and Yutist viziers, had already proclaimed that this was the very planet the Solaris had originated from. Asitists and Yutists began mass pilgrimages to Traglamore IV in AR 2,436, and a small city known as Traglamore City was constructed from blue stone found under the surface of the planet. A shrine for the Solaris was also built, several miles from the city.

Industrialisation
The pigment Estidarraunt had been used on several occasions as a coloring agent, but in AR 2,487, the first factory was built on Traglamore IV to extract it from the natural environment. It had been discovered that Estidarraunt was an extremely effective component of blue dye, and it was now in mass demand from textile industries. To accommodate for this, the Traglamore Mining Committee ordered five factories to be built approximately ten miles apart from one another. These factories would bring up minerals from the ground and extract the Estidarraunt for later use. Estidarraunt was also heavily studied by researchers, who determined the chemical makeup of the substance. In AR 2,551, the first sample of green Estidarraunt, called Gretidarraunt, was produced on Traglamore IV. This made way for numerous colors of the pigment, which could be sold off to textile industries for a lot of money. It was predicted that at the time, one gram of pure Estidarraunt was worth approximately 5 billion bors (c. 7 billion US Dollars).

However, by AR 2,745, most of the Estidarraunt on the surface of Traglamore IV had been extracted, though the planet retained its blue tint. The worth of Estidarraunt had dramatically fallen to about 3 million bors (c. 4.2 million US Dollars), as many superior alternatives had been produced in the span of two hundred years. In AR 2,756, the Traglamore Mining Committee closed down all the factories on Traglamore IV, leaving them to stand for thousands of years. Traglamore IV was once a bustling hub of commerce and industry, but in only two hundred years, it stood silent and abandoned. Traglamore City had fallen into disrepair and, one by one, residents started to leave. In AR 2,760, there were no permanent inhabitants of Traglamore IV, and only the pilgrims continued to travel there.

Mythology
Traglamore IV appeared a lot in Traglamorian mythology of Traglamore III. It was said that all life came from the "blue star" in the sky, and some Borean clerics even claimed the Solaris originated on the planet. Therefore, it was an important part of the Borean mythos and several religions. It was a location frequently visited by Yutist and Asitist pilgrims, housing a small city known as Traglamore City and a shrine for the Solaris.