Sabratha

An arid, sparsely populated planet in the Lower Perseus, fifteen kilolights east of Tiryns, with ocher sands, white salt pans, and the skeletal remains of Cetoscolides (similar to terranic whales), tribute to the planet's long-gone seas. Its robust magnetic field disrupts radio communication. Inhabited by fewer than fifty thousand residents. The planet hosts the Vaiartu ruins at Phanamhara and is the focus of HAPSIS excavations led by Lord Friedrich Oberlin and Tor Rassam. Settled ISD 16997.

Primarachate: Perseus

Province: Unknown

Known Prefectures:

Unknown

Locations of Interest:

Cave of Fishes: A shallow cave in a cliff’s leeward face, lined with fossilized marine life from Sabratha’s ancient seas. It serves as a training ground for Hadrian Marlowe and his daughter Cassandra, where they spar to refine her combat skills.

Cetorum Mensa: Also called Whalemont or Mount Sark. A towering black plateau in the Mare Silentii, named for the massive fossilized sea serpents found nearby. It forms the core of the Vaiartu city of Phanamhara, with the ruins embedded in its structure. The plateau stands over the Operation Gnomon excavation camp.

Hall of Record: A vast, pillared basilica within Phanamhara, adorned with narrow, pointed windows and walls etched with Vaiartu sineoform script. Once used for storage, it now serves as a monument to the Vaiartu’s recordkeeping, with burn marks on its floor hinting at Watcher activity. (See Ushara).

Hulle Frieze: A towering, faded mural in Phanamhara’s city square, named after Governor-General Genseric Hulle, carved on a leaning rectangular slab with chipped yellow and blue pigments over poisonous green plascrete. It depicts triumphant Enar, led by Aravte-Teäplu, over defeated alien forms, honoring a Watcher with three eyes and tendrils (See Masutemu.)

Lord Hood Grand Medica: A medical facility in Williamtown, Sabratha’s primary settlement.

Mare Silentii (Sea of Silence): A vast desert expanse of ivory and gold sands surrounding the Cetorum Mensa, named for its silent, desolate nature and fossilized sea serpent remains. Once part of Sabratha’s ancient oceans, it now hosts the Phanamhara ruins.

Markov Station: A climate research site in upper Victorialand. A grid of prefabricated white buildings with an atmospheric refinery. It supports Sabratha’s terraforming efforts, battling the planet’s arid conditions.

Phanamhara: Means “The Nearest Place” in High Vaiartu. An ancient Enar city beneath the Cetorum Mensa, built of poisonous green plascrete with monolithic, pillar-lined avenues. Its six partially-excavated chambers reveal a submerged past, with structures worn by eons of wind and sand. Discovered via coordinates inscribed on the Asara Cylinder obtained by HAPSIS's Operation Gnomon, the ruins feature the Hulle Frieze and Hall of Record, revealing the Enar's worship of the Watchers.

Prince Cyrusland: An implied region or settlement on Sabratha, mentioned in passing without specific description. Likely part of the planet’s sparse colonial network.

Salt Gates: A region on Sabratha, marked by white salt pans, where winds accelerate, complicating communication due to atmospheric interference.

Victorialand: A desolate, sandy region of Sabratha, stretching around Markov Station and near Phanamhara, marked by its arid plains.

Williamtown: Sabratha’s primary colonial outpost, a small settlement of fewer than fifty thousand, established at the turn of the Eighteenth Millenium ISD. Home to the Lord Hood Grand Medica, it supports the planet’s limited population and HAPSIS's Operation Gnomon research activities.