夢星 (Musei)
Type: Garden world
Orbital radius: 0.94 JSD
Gravity: 1.03 R
Population: 6,300,000,000
System: Bayushi's Eye
Sector: Southern
Imperial Cartography Designation: HS-205
Designated as a fully terraformed garden world, World of Dreams is the jewel of the Scorpion’s holdings in space. Opened to the public in 2902, the planet has since grown to become the most important trade hub of the Empire with embassies from every clan located there. Today, the cityscape covers over 80% of the planet’s landmass, the massive continent-spanning city housing more than six billion souls. Low taxes and lax security have attracted vast investments --and criminal enterprise-- from around the galaxy, allowing the Scorpion to control the largest hub of both legal and illegal trade in the Empire. World of Dreams draws so much attention and traffic that little else is publicly known about the Scorpion Clan and the rest of its settlements. They have invited the entire Empire onto their home planet, granting a smiling façade of openness, while incidentally ensuring that most clans have a strong economic interest in protecting their substantial holdings there.
New buildings constantly push toward the skies, causing the landscape within the sprawling city to change rapidly and constantly. It’s said that if you’ve been away for a few weeks, you might want to hire a guide for a few days while you reorient yourself. The newest goods flow readily through the city, which aims for the appearance of everything being available at any time. Things are always moving, always shifting, and it’s hard not to be just a little off balance, even if one lives there for years.
The giant city has its own provinces, or the provinces have been overtaken by the sprawling city; in any case, it makes for chaotic navigation, with districts that seem to exist only on paper but missing from electronic navigation aids and garnering blank looks from transport drivers when offworlders ask to be taken there. This is a hint of the hidden nature of the city, where-despite its apparent openness-large areas are reserved for members of the Scorpion Clan.
The New Shosuro Academy has a district of its own where many of the Empire’s best actors find their talents nurtured. The ancient tradition of the Painted City comes alive here every autumn, with the quarter transformed into some other place or time and filled with actors playing out dramas upon its vast stage. Deep within the quarter, Illusion's Heart Castle currently serves as home to the Shosuro daimyo and as headquarters for family business.
World of Dreams is orbited by Kisei and Hakusei, two relatively large moons, both housing extensive mining operations as well as relay stations that allow the planet to remain connected to the rest of the Empire. Needless to say, the moons are off-limits to all but authorized Scorpion personnel. The mines there serve as penitentiaries for those convicted of blasphemous or heinous crimes, allowing the Scorpion to minimize the risk of prisoner revolt while gaining the benefit of cheap and expendable labor, essential for such high-risk operations. Such punishment is often considered a death sentence, as it’s exceedingly rare for a prisoner to survive the dangerous forced labor until their release date.
In contrast to the mines, stand the vast, state of the art relay stations, manned by the finest shugenja the Soshi can muster. Service off-planet is often considered a prerequisite for a promotion within the Soshi family hierarchy, so the family’s most ambitious members often put in a few years of service here in hopes of moving on to more prestigious posts.
Besides the two moons, centuries of commercial space traffic and an ever expanding communications satellite network have left a ring of space debris around the planet - the situation so dire that most captains refuse to bring their ships anywhere near World of Dreams without Scorpion traffic control providing them a safe route. This often causes traffic jams in the upper atmosphere with dozens of freighters waiting for their turn to leave. More adventurous samurai have turned this man-made disaster into a business opportunity, using small and agile vessels to explore the vast field of debris in search of precious metals and spiritual alloys to scavenge.
Oborozuki province
朧月県
World of Dreams is divided into 64 relatively autonomous provinces, each managed by a lord governor on behalf of the Scorpion clan champion. Many of these regions have been dedicated to production, with millions upon millions of commoners working in vast forge-factories that churn out everything from advanced communicators to sake and seaweed bars, fueling the Scorpion economy. Eighteen of the 64 provinces have been designated as Trade Zones and are open to visitors, allowing trade to take place across the planet. Each of the Trade Zones is served by a space port, making World of Dreams the busiest world in the Empire with hundreds of ships arriving daily. Oborozuki province, while among the smallest, is the home province of the planetary governor and responsible for hosting the Scorpion Clan champion whenever he resides on world. Oborozuki also houses all the diplomatic missions assigned to the world, many of the clans owning several blocks of land within the province, creating unique opportunities for both courtiers and trade patrons to ply their art, making assignment to the province a privilege few can ever claim.
