The Last Keep

Far above the bustling core worlds, looking down upon the starfields of Elyrion from the very peak of Chanoph, lies the Last Keep. An observatory orbiting on the farthest reaches of the gravity from a dim star, it is the final point of civilization and light before the near eternal darkness of intergalactic space. Although the system itself is small in size and its colonization minimal, it is notable for the immense volumes of data and discovery produced by its finely tuned sensors ever-trained upon the rest of Elyrion.

Built largely around the community of scientists and engineers manning the Last Keep observatory, the system is largely supported by the Maegon and other regional guilds. Asteroid mining, although comparatively small in scale, offers reasonable margins as miners have discovered mineral lodes of surprising wealth in the stellar debris-fields around the star. Its government maintains limited neutrality in political affairs, although the Maegon holds huge influence and all but controls the Last Keep Observatory station.

The colony and observatory are manned mostly by a combination of Humans and Lashunta, early settlers of the far Rimward regions of the milky way segmentum. Although Anaszcans and Claestoi have been making themselves seen in the system and observatory station, demographic shifts so far from the heartlands of colonized space is slow, and despite well-maintained infrastructure and stable politics, the relative isolation of the Last Keep makes it an uphill climb to true prosperity. Although food, oxygen and other necessities of life are cheap, luxury goods and personal products arrive in only intermittent shipments, and sustained large-scale economic activity is sputtering at best due to low investment in the system.