Kador Prime

Kador Prime is the capital system of the Kador Family. It is located in the Kador region and is its most developed system. The system contains ten planets; two temperate, two barren, two storm, three gas giants, and one rare plasma planet. Despite being the home system of an Heir family, it has become relatively unimportant to the Empire at large.

Discovery and Exploration

Sitting a relatively close 3.98 light years away from the Amarr home system, Kador Prime is, cosmologically speaking, the closest of the Heir systems to the homeworld. It was explored within a hundred years of the Empire's expansion into space. Even in those days, the Kador Family was very powerful and held an important seat on the Council of Apostles, and the system was one of several they were given to develop and rule.

Originally, the Kador did not make the system their capital and, indeed, it is the third such system to bear the name "Kador Prime." However, shortly after the Moral Reforms, the head of the family decided that, as the Imperial Throne had been reborn, so should the so-called Old Imperial Family. The head chose this system as their new home, as it was then near the center of their domains and the many unusual features of the system were believed to be a good omen.

The system's importance has waxed and waned with the fortunes of the Kador Family. When a Kador Emperor sits on the throne, such as during the reign of Heideran VII, the system has typically seen a surge in visitors and political importance. However, when the throne is held by someone else, its power drops as well. This has especially proven true under the aegis of Uriam Kador, the current Kador Heir, who through a series of political blunders has seen his influence in the Privy Council marginalized.

On November 21, YC 110, a Gallente fleet entered the Amarr Empire and assaulted Kador Prime. This was the first military action by the Federation inside Empire borders in thirty years and was both in retaliation against an earlier Kador incursion into Solitude and an effort to capture Admiral Anvent Eturrer, a Federation traitor. The remaining Kador forces in the system were destroyed and, after capturing Eturrer, the Federation withdrew without further fighting.

Sun

Kador's star is a G-class subdwarf star. Typical of these small, hot stars, it is primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, with a very low metallicity. Unusually, however, it has an abnormally high level of deuterium in its atmosphere that leaves it appearing pink to the naked eye. The star is relatively young, at 1.5 billion years old, and is expected to have a long lifetime ahead of it.

Inner Planets

Kador Prime I

For a barren planet, this planet has some unusual features. From space, its mountains appear to have ice caps, despite the scientific improbability of this. Closer investigation, however, revealed that the grayish white streaks are in fact exposed mineral deposits that are vastly different in composition from the majority of the planet. Their exposure and concentration is credited to the planet's relative youth; in another billion years, tectonic activity will have covered the minerals and distributed them more evenly beneath its surface.

Kador Prime II

This striking plasma planet glows pale blue, such that it is visible throughout the system unless in line with the sun. At dawn of the system's terrestrial planets, it can often be seen as a "morning star". The intense plasma storms that have scoured its surface black make it incredibly difficult to extensively investigate the planet. Probes have detected several large heavy metal deposits below its surface, but efforts to mine them have until recently been stymied.

Kador Prime III

A temperate world smack-dab in the middle of its sun's habitable zone, Kador Prime III is the capital planet of the Kador. Because the planet is relatively young, it has not had a chance to develop more than microbial life. All complex organisms on its surface were introduced by settlers, meaning the majority of its surface remains rocky and brown. However, this is slowly changing, as settlers introduce nutrients into the rocky soil and plant life is able to slowly spread.

The planet is considered something of a throwback within the Empire. Building designs are subject to tight regulations, so that all follow a "high" Amarr appearance, giving the planet a consistent look. Similarly, the planet is socially very conservative, with emphasis put on True Amarr tradition and noble importance.

Kador Prime IV

The first of two storm planets nicknamed the Tonans, Kador Prime IV is covered in thick, roiling clouds that flash with brilliant lightning. The lightning is constant and distributed across its atmosphere. The flashes are smaller and more scattered than its twin, but are clearly visible from orbit. The atmosphere appears to many to be oily and almost seems to be boiling. This is merely distortions from the gases in the upper atmosphere, but it makes for a striking image.

Kador Prime V

The second of the two Tonans, Kador Prime V is less chaotic than its twin, but is considered more powerful. Its storms are just as constant, but tend to be centralized in one location. They are so bright they can be seen from ground-based telescopes on the other terrestrial planets in the system. The atmosphere is also darker than planet IV's, making it appear more foreboding.

Kador Prime VI

A temperate planet at the very edge of its sun's habitable zone, Kador Prime VI is devoid of even microbial native life due to the lesser amount of energy it received from the sun. Had humans not arrived and introduced microbes, life might have developed naturally in due time - though some scientists believe the planet's small iron core would have stopped spinning first, and caused the planet to lose its water and atmosphere to solar winds.

It is currently sparsely inhabited, as it has large oceans and relatively small land masses. It does house several mining facilities, as the planet has notable deposits of heavy metals.

Outer Planets

Kador Prime VII

This gas giant is known for its vivid green coloration, which some have likened to mint ice cream. The planet is popular among sightseers for this reason and several small orbital facilities give exquisite up-close views of the planet's most spectacular storms. A faint ring system also circles the planet, though it is barely visible except close-in to the planet.

Kador Prime VIII

Much drabber than its green cousin, Kador Prime VIII is of much greater economic significance as a source of deuterium and helium-4. The planet is home to several orbital gas harvesting stations, but receives little in the way of commercial traffic.

Kador Prime IX

The odd planet out of the three gas giants, Kador Prime IX is neither visually interesting, nor economically important. Instead, it acts as an anchor point for two foreign stations, one Gallente, one Caldari, which has led to many jokes about the planet being a "conciliator". In reality, it's the only planet in the system the stodgy Kador Family would deign to allow two foreign corporations to place a station around.

Kador Prime X

This barren planet is spared from being a ball of ice solely by its dearth of ice-forming elements. It is instead little more than a giant chunk of rock, barely even a planet. Some have suggested that the planet may even be an escaped moon of planet IX, as it appears to have formed a few million years after the rest of the planets in the system.