Introduction to Tirem
---------------------

Tirem is just one of the larger asteroids in the Incalescens Belt: there
are another 247 "asteroids" with a size between 1 and 8, orbiting as a
belt around the primary, Kinkos.  According to the most common theory,
the Belt is the result of the destruction of a small planet - perhaps
during the Final War - with the resulting fragments forming a mass of
small planets in orbit around Kinkos. Navigation within the boundaries
of the Belt is satisfactory throughout the Belt: however, gas traces of
nitrogen and methane is thinly spread throughout the Belt, and may
cause limited communication problems.

Tirem is an elongated, misshapen brick of a world, with it's diameter
varying from 3000 km to 22,000 km.  Long riddled with tunnels, it remains
one of the greatest sources of nickel in the Regency: a few other items
are here also, largely copper and iron.  The convoluted shape of the
world - along with relentless "hollowing" by kilometer-wide mobile
excavation complexes - contribute to the variable gravity on Tirem.

The 21.48 billion people who reside here include a large number of
ex-Trini and "assimilated", dispossessed Aslans who couldn't afford to
leave the Regency.  These immigrants, fleeing their homes with only the
clothes on their back, have begun to reverse the grim atmosphere that
pervades throughout the system, but even today face entrenched
discrimination and suspicion by Natives.