"Where sand and blood buy power."
Torsa Prime is a harsh desert moon orbiting a massive emerald-green gas giant, its skies perpetually tinged with a sickly green glow. The surface is a land of endless golden dunes, jagged sandstone cliffs, and arid plateaus, broken only by scattered outlaw enclaves and one great ocean whose waters are briny and undrinkable without advanced filtration. Hardy desert flora and predatory fauna thrive in the scorching heat, shaping the fierce survivalist culture of the native Saurid race, who dominate the criminal empire known as the Shadow Collective.
Once fractured by clan warfare, Torsa Prime is now loosely united under the influence of the Saurid Kingpins, crime lords who rule their families with iron fists. The Collective is governed by the Khan, the most powerful and wealthy among them, though rivalries and blood feuds between families simmer just beneath the surface. From this desert throne, the Shadow Collective spreads its influence across the galaxy, trafficking in slaves, narcotics, and contraband, their reach long enough to deter empires from outright extermination.
Life on Torsa Prime is brutal, shaped by the twin forces of the desert’s cruelty and the syndicate’s lawlessness.
Dunes of Zarkesh: Towering golden dunes stretch for hundreds of kilometers, concealing smuggler hideouts, buried wreckage, and old raider battlegrounds. Dust storms frequently sweep across these regions, making them both a natural hazard and a useful shield for fugitives.
The Salted Sea: A vast inland ocean teeming with alien life. Its waters, though poisonous to most, serve as a breeding ground for massive aquatic beasts hunted for their hides and bones, often sold on the galactic black market.
Rockspire Cliffs: Jagged, wind-sculpted outcroppings of sandstone that rise high above the desert. Many outlaw enclaves are built into their faces, reachable only by gravlifts or treacherous paths, making them nearly impregnable strongholds.
Torsa Prime’s society is a patchwork of syndicate-ruled enclaves, lawless towns, and syndicate-controlled cities where survival often depends on loyalty to a Kingpin family. Civilians live under a constant balance of extortion, opportunity, and violence, with bounty hunters, smugglers, and mercenaries forming the lifeblood of the Collective’s economy.
The bustling capital of Torsa Prime, Kabba City, is carved from sandstone and sprawls along the edge of the desert. Its architecture blends ancient Saurid stonework with modern syndicate sprawl—warm, golden sandstone towers rising beside durasteel cantinas and neon-lit bazaars.
The city is infamous for its lawlessness, where syndicate enforcers patrol more heavily than any form of police, and where disputes are settled by blaster, blade, or bribe. Above it all, the Khan’s palace-fortress looms, a symbol of the Shadow Collective’s dominance.
The Khan’s Spire: A towering fortress-palace carved of black sandstone at Kabba City’s center, serving as the seat of the Khan and the meeting hall of the Kingpins. Its gilded chambers are as lavish as its dungeons are brutal.
The Crimson Bazaar: Kabba City’s largest open market, where narcotics, exotic slaves, and contraband change hands openly. Assassins, bounty hunters, and information brokers are as common as spice traders here.
The Dust Bowl Arena: A bloodsport coliseum where syndicate gladiators, beasts, and prisoners fight to the death for the amusement of the Saurid families. Bets here can shift fortunes overnight.
Orrak’s Den: A notorious cantina and underworld hub, known as neutral ground for deals between rival families. Rumors say Orrak, the Saurid owner, is old enough to remember when Torsa Prime was not yet ruled by syndicates.
While the Saurid race forms the backbone of the Shadow Collective, membership is not exclusive. Species from across the galaxy—humans, soban, saurian offshoots, untari, and even psionica-touched—find roles within its ranks. A rare few have risen high enough to become non-Saurid Kingpins, commanding families of their own, though such figures remain the exception rather than the rule.