Au contraire mon ami. Your terrain is excellent. What scale are the figures next to your keep? It's certainly different from the current fad of setting everything in a post-apoc scrayard as someone else pointed out recently. 

To be honest, the name does not help. If you'd called it "Altair IV" or "LV-218" I doubt you'd have got the same reaction. 

BTW, what is the gravitas of Brenda relative to Earth?

I agree with Raider4 is his initial assessment. The name, however, may represent a different scheme not centered on Earth relative and may have a deeper meaning in fsn's world building.

Blue
Ricky
Earth like
Non lethal
Dioxide
Atmosphere

But it could also be

Big
Rude
Early
Night
Damp
Atmospherics

QuoteAu contraire mon ami. Your terrain is excellent. What scale are the figures next to your keep? It's certainly different from the current fad of setting everything in a post-apoc scrayard as someone else pointed out recently.

Thank you. The figures are Pendraken from their ... err ... they are proxied from the slightly larger than 10mm ranges.   

QuoteTo be honest, the name does not help. If you'd called it "Altair IV" or "LV-218" I doubt you'd have got the same reaction.

Hmmm.    How about Cheryl?

Quote from: d_Guy on 13 May 2025, 01:44:15 PMBTW, what is the gravitas of Brenda relative to Earth?

It's Traveller, so I worked that out. It's 0.91g.   

Quote from: d_Guy on 13 May 2025, 01:44:15 PMI agree with Raider4 is his initial assessment. The name, however, may represent a different scheme not centered on Earth relative and may have a deeper meaning in fsn's world building.

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! 

I get a feeling I may not be helping my case.

Names do matter - bad ones can break the "reality".

Space:1999s (already stupid) second series had a planet Luton.

40K had a planet Birmingham - it was in the deep south of the galactic map...

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. 

QuoteIf 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 

Quote from: fsn on 13 May 2025, 03:19:33 PMBrenda 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?

"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?

Quote from: Last Hussar on 14 May 2025, 12:01:21 PMWould you like some time alone with... um... your memories?

Quote from: d_Guy on 14 May 2025, 01:58:05 PMSmashed or smashing?

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

Quote from: fsn on 14 May 2025, 06:25:08 PMShe was a beautiful person of impeccable grace.

And she still spoke to YOU!

It was a bit like this ...

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. 

QuoteIt 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.

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.