Let me tell you about Brenda.

[fsn]

True. I remember reading a C19 French short story where the hoeroie had debouched to exotic location of Manchester.

If I had said that the planet was an derived from an Old Norse word for a flaming sword, and was called "Sordflamer", you'd all have been quite happy. 

[O Dinas Powys]

If I had said that the planet was an derived from an Old Norse word for a flaming sword, and was called "Sordflamer", you'd all have been quite happy. 

The trouble is, it doesn't sound like we are the ones you are trying to convince 

[Last Hussar]

Brenda is a lady that I used to work with in a pub when I was but a lad. She had very blue eyes. She was smashing!

Would you like some time alone with... um... your memories?

[d_Guy]

"It does indeed. Brenda is a lady that I used to work with in a pub when I was but a lad. She had very blue eyes. She was smashing!"

Smashed or smashing?

[fsn]

Would you like some time alone with... um... your memories?

Smashed or smashing?

She was a beautiful person of impeccable grace.    She'd be about 80 nw, I reckon.

[Last Hussar]

She was a beautiful person of impeccable grace.

And she still spoke to YOU!

[fsn]

It was a bit like this ...

[Orcs]

Brenda was my boss for 2 years, and one of the worst bosses I had in 42 years. Her response  to every issue  you asked her for an opinion or guidance, she would just say " do what you thinks best" as she did not have a clue, and refused to take responsibility. I was told in confidence by another far more senior manager that she had only got the job as she was the only one who applied. 

Everyone else knew it was a poisoned chalice, as one of the objectives was to get all her team to get Cisco certification in their own time and expense. Despite the despite the Union telling them that it was not a contractual requirement for anybody to do this.
When she threatened me with Disciplinary action in a review meeting for refusing to get the certification at my own expense , I advised her that if she took this path I would resign, Take the company to court for Constructive Dismissal, and that I had already found out that I would have a solid case. Surprisingly they dropped this requirement within a fortnight of my meeting with her.

So inlike DGuy Brenda does not bring back any pleasant memories. 

[Raider4]

It was a bit like this ...

The seven dwarfs were all in the hot-tub, feeling happy.

Happy got out, so the rest now felt grumpy.

Then it got late and they started feeling sleepy.

[fsn]

Apparently Brenda is a mis-hearing. The navigation officer, Owen "TaffY" Jones of Splot, was asked by the first officer Blodwyn Hughes of Abergavenny to find a good place to land. He suggested the "good hill" in his native language (Bryn Da) which was immediately corrupted by the pilot MacKenzie "Kangaroo" Digger as "Brenda".

Anyway, I think I have nearly doubled my output on the project by spending £8.95 on a can of copper spray paint. Why? Well, I wanted to create something from stuff I had around the house, and I also needed an indigenous species as a foil for the humans. I have used some paper cups and wooden cutlery  that I bought years ago or a party that nobody attended; some paper from an Amazon package, several soft drink bottles, two ypghurt pots and some pretty stones I found. 

Some things to note about Brenda. The planet is very light, and does not have a molten core. Most rocks are sedimentary and light - think more sandstone than granite - and easily worked. Copper is very common, both in pure and mineral ore forms. Veins of the metal can often be found protruding from the ground.

Although the soil of Brenda conceals many water deposits, the water is contaminated with diluted copper compounds and undrinkable for humans without processing. The indigenous species can drink the water without apparent ill effect.

The pom-poms appear to be ball shaped plants but are not actually plants, nor are they animals. They are something more akin to semi-sentient algae. They will root, but some species will catch and devour anything that gets caught in its branches. These root will immobilise their victims with their poisonous thorns, then slowly liquidise them with their sap. Some pom-poms may react to being touched and will lunge at the unfortunate creature that bumped into them. Pom-poms will grow in lines, the oldest dying off, leaving a leaving a stiff, brittle skeleton like a coral reef.

The fauna of Brenda is not very diverse. The main life form has resembles a goat, but much larger and more bad tempered than the Earth goat. Think caprine aurox. The goats eat pom-poms, and will use their horns to  cut sections off the living pom-pom to drag a safe distance away before consumption.

The indigenous species are humanoid. They have a complex but not sophisticated culture, which was probably nomadic until relatively recently. When the humans arrived and built towers and defences, the indigenous species created monoliths on top of which they pitched their traditional yurts. As time has gone on, the goat-leather yurt has been replaced by stone versions. Each family builds its own monolith, and they are usually linked by platforms well above goat height. Usually only one communal monolith provides access to the complex. 

Since there are no trees on Brenda, there is no wood. Some of the material of red pom-poms can be bundled and shaped into poles. These are quite strong in compression, so can be used to make relative serviceable spear shafts used for thrusting. They are weak if subject to relatively minor shear forces, and liable to break if struck. Brenda spears are good for fending off an angry goat, but axes, halberds and glaives are impractical. (Before anyone asks, A 6' long, 1" diameter pure copper spear would weigh about 18lb.)

The lack of wood on Brenda has also meant that bows are unknown. Missile weapons are confined to slings or darts. 

Indigenous settlement.
Guards on watch as others move between monoliths.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Amazing Nobby.
Some technical points though. If Brenda doesn't have a molton core, she would not have a magnetic field to protect her atmosphere and little or no techtonic activity to bring metals to the surface.
That means there would be horrendous radiation problems from the nearest star, and no protection against solar flares. This would cause all sorts of mutation issues.
This may explain the need for the local populace to wear hoods, where do they harvest the raw materials for cloth from? Are there fiberous plants on Brenda? How do they spin the fabric?

Copper is also a trace element in universal cosmic abundence, so why is Brenda copper rich? Are these metals more valuable? Do humans bringing more elements in a point of contention for the locals?

And, yes, it's fantasy, so go you! Loe it!

[d_Guy]

Indeed, this is an enjoyable project to watch.

We know little of the atmosphere of Brenda which may be very dense and protective against stellar radiation.
Perhaps a massive star passed near the system as Brendan was being formed and contributed substantial amounts of copper to its surface and atmosphere (in the form of all sorts of copper complexes).

[paulr]

Enjoying following this project

Typical of an Ozzie to corrupt something  

[fsn]

Amazing Nobby.
Some technical points though. If Brenda doesn't have a molton core, she would not have a magnetic field to protect her atmosphere and little or no techtonic activity to bring metals to the surface.

Ah! You're forgetting the large quantities of water and copper sub-surface. You have the components to make a rotating electric field, which will, of course generate magnetism. 

This may explain the need for the local populace to wear hoods, where do they harvest the raw materials for cloth from? Are there fiberous plants on Brenda? How do they spin the fabric?

Pom-poms. Young pom-poms are quite pliable and can be crushed and the fibres woven into rough cloth - like  hessian. For this reason, they wear very simple cloth garments. They also use goat wool and goat leather. 

Copper is also a trace element in universal cosmic abundence, so why is Brenda copper rich? Are these metals more valuable? Do humans bringing more elements in a point of contention for the locals?

Brenda is like that unpopped corn kernel in your popcorn. Somehow it has been ejected from the process before it was fully done. There may be traces of other metals, and humans place great store on iron, thought they have mostly lost the arts of smelting and smithing. With no trees, there is no wood, nor coal, and pom-poms burn at too low a temperature for effective metal working. 

The escape pods from the Mind of Mankind were quickly scavaged and items from this source are highly valued. A great prize is a sword made from what is known as "whaite metal". 

We know little of the atmosphere of Brenda which may be very dense and protective against stellar radiation. Perhaps a massive star passed near the system as Brendan was being formed and contributed substantial amounts of copper to its surface and atmosphere (in the form of all sorts of copper complexes).

Indeed. That is one theory. There has been little work done on this, as the humans on Brenda have been more focussed on not being stabbed by indigenous people, gored by oversized goats or slowly consumed by pom-poms.

Typical of an Ozzie to corrupt something  

In some ways it is a sad story. Kangaroo was on an exchange program and still cherished the old notion that Wales was an adjunct to England. He's forgotten the Cymric Revival, when Offa's Dyke had been reconstructed  from the West, and all sports bar Rugby Union were considered "too English". Kangaroo's crew spoke English only as a second or third language. Ironically, he was ejected from the program for a comment about sheep.



Just a recap. Brenda came about because a) my Traveller crew crash landed on a low tech planet b) I had a can of blue spray paint and c) I tasked myself with producing scenery for £10.

She has become something of a mental exercise. Deciding that the world was copper rich came from the blue paint available. The pom-poms were available at B&M, and slotting them onto florists' wire seems a handy way of keeping them together but able to be reshaped. I was just going to use them as a way of breaking up the table, but d_Guy put the notion of them being semi-sentient into my head.

I spent a lot of time looking through the Pendraken catalogue for suitable animals. I was going to use wolves, but they're carnivorous so would need to eat something lower down the food chain. Oversized goats seemed to best fit for an animal that could eat pom-poms and also be a bit dangerous.

The Indigenous People I conceived as being like the Star Wars Tusken Raiders (Sand People.)  Originally I made yurts out of the bottoms of soft drinks bottles, but added the monolith and walkways when I re-discovered my long forgotten and un-attended party. I think ground level yurts may make a reappearance. 

Brenda is taking up a lot of my brain space. Milord Speedy brings up some good points. No trees, no wood, no coal - that means a very different society. If the indigenous people were semi-nomadic yurt-dwellers, the concept of a "door" may well have been quite novel to them.

Considering it was just meant to be a sojourn in my Traveller campaign, Brenda has become something of a major project, and I'm fine with that. Low level science fiction which may have a proportion of the population with raw and unscientific psi-powers is a valid interpretation of the genre. Think 2008's "Outlander", "Prey" (2022), 2011's abomination "Cowboys and Aliens" and (he said regretfully) "Avatar". (No, Brenda's the blue theme did not come from "Avatar".)

Thank you all for your kind and thought provoking comments.                 

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Excellent, was just checking. No doubt scientists will be arguing over Brenda and how live evolved/survived for centuries to come.
If they're not absorbed by a pom-pom first.

[Raider4]

. . . No trees, no wood, no coal - that means a very different society . . .

But plenty of goats. Dried out goat poop would make a fuel for fire.

[fsn]

But plenty of goats. Dried out goat poop would make a fuel for fire.

Goat dung burns at about 500- 800^oc. Copper melts at about 1085^oc. Good thought though.

I did have a rather unsettling thought. Iron is rare. Humans need iron. If you can't get it from pom-poms or goats ... the spectre of cannibalism is raised. 

[Ithoriel]

Goat dung burns at about 500- 800^oc. Copper melts at about 1085^oc. Good thought though.

Ah! But who knows what temperatures can be reached with weird, alien, giant goat dung and dried pom-poms!

[fsn]

Ah! But who knows what temperatures can be reached with weird, alien, giant goat dung and dried pom-poms!

Me. I know.   

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

But thben you always weird and alien Nobby !!