Reth

Historically, Reth has been entirely dependent upon its reputation as a paradise world. Consisting largely of a vast archipelago of thousands of golden islands scattered across a shallow warm turquoise sea, its climate and environment are said to be perfect for soothing and rejuvenating the tired and troubled mind. For over a thousand years, the planet's hereditary monarchs traded off this reputation, until the de Caul family staged a successful coup two centuries ago. The de Cauls, a mid-ranking clan of Imperial nobles, brought a new and more severe interpretation of the Imperial cult to the laid back and pleasure loving planet.

Now, whilst it retains (to some extent) its status as a favoured destination for senior Adeptus Terra functionaries and Imperial Nobles, it also boasts a small, yet influential, complex for the treatment of mental disorders operated by the Orders Hospitaller of the Adeptus Sororitas. This facility, the Asylum of Saint Vero, based on Reth's third largest island, treats over a million inmates, all suffering from a variety of mental illnesses. It is a coglomeration of hospitals, clinics and shrines maintained by the dutiful and dedicated sisters.

Disquieting rumours persist that many of the unfortunate patients of the St. Vero asylum are in fact psykers brought to the planet for reasons unknown. The Inquisition has, on occasion, sent its own most troubled members to a secret bunker, known as the Chapel of Blessed Peace, sited below the asylum and protected by hexagrammatic wards, silver seals of great potency and Inquisitorial Stormtroopers of ancient charter. Many valued Imperial servants whose talents are deemed 'useful' to the Imperium, are sent to Reth for a period of recuperation, and in some cases, mind-cleansing.

+++PLANETARY DATA+++

EQUATORIAL CIRCUMFRENCE: 22,768 Miles.

GRAVITY: 0.89 G.

CLASS: Pleasure World.

SUBSECTOR: Adrantis

YEARS AND DAYS: Reth takes 379 Terran days to Orbit its star and spins on its axis every 22 Terran hours.

SATELLITES: Tyder (barren moon), Sedwyr (barren moon/asteroid) and Quaddisar Palace (space station and casino).

POPULATION: 640,000,000.

MEAN SURFACE TEMPERATURE: 31°C.

TROPOSPHERIC COMPOSITION: Nitrogen 78%, Oxygen 21%, Argon 1%, Carbon Dioxide 0.3%, Water Vapor (trace)

PLANETARY GOVERNER
Jedidiah de Caul is the authorised representative of His Imperial Majesty's Administratium on Reth. A sober, unbending hereditary monarch of strong religious leanings, he is a poor fit with the easygoing Rethian people. Unfortunately for the Rethians, in any such conflict they are likely to come off the worse given de Caul's tremendous family connections and the support of a strong Magistratum contingent.

RELIGION
Rethians, whilst retaining a proper respect for the Lord of Mankind, tend to think of him in fairly abstract, neutral terms. Rethians are typically laid back and would rather enjoy a life of mild sin than a life of confessing over imagined sins. Whilst this rarely converts into outright heresy, many outsiders feel that the average Rethian needs to have the love of the Emperor thrashed into them. Sadly for the Rethians, their current Governor agree and firmly holds this view.

CLIMATE
Reth's climate is uniformly warm and sunny, with a tropical monsoon season throughout the Equatorial band.

SEAS
Reth lacks any major continents or landmasses, instead girdled with thousands of tiny coral islands of great beauty. These coral islands sit atop vast shallow reefs that cover most of the planet.

NATIVE FLORA AND FAUNA
The reefs are home to billions of beautiful Nautiline. Nautiline resemble terran shrimp, but are unrelated to any Terran creature: they came to their current form by convergent evolution. Nautiline of different species dominate every niche in the planet's ecosystem, but few are dangerous to man. Most are delicious, although they are notorious for decaying rapidly when out of the water.

SOCIETY
The people of Reth are scatterred across thousands of islands, and most communities are very small, usually never more than a few thousand people at most. The majority of the population live relaxed lives: they are dependant upon their fishermen, but the seas are so plentiful that they rarely need to work too hard to eke out a living. Most communities are run by a small council of elders, with politely indifferent deference paid to local Ministorum priests. The planet is not heavily mechanised, but has a relatively high level of technology, with plentiful vox-casters, hovercraft (for navigating the reefs) and stun-nets for fishing.

PRINCIPLE IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
Tourism and 'healthcare'. The de Cauls have attempted, with limited success, to branch out into inter-sector banking services and luxury foodstuffs.

DEFENCES
The planet operates 59 PDF regiments of mediocre reputation, primarily based upon sea vessels that police the major shipping routes.

The wealthy de Caul family also operate a small system defence Monitor, the Vigilance.

IMPERIAL GUARD RECRUITMENT
The Rethians have raised Imperial Guard regiments in the past, the only notable regiment being the 4th Rethian, who drowned in their entirety when their planetary lander crashed in an assault on heretics on the island of Issikunda during the Vrran Crusade in M39.

CONTACT WITH OTHER WORLDS
Reth is part of the Tephaine System, and has close contact with the neighbouring worlds Tephaine, Tephaine Minor and Siculi. The nearest major world is Baraspine.