Perrin was a G3 star, 2 percent less bright than our Sun. The star system is 8,600 million years old; nearly twice the age of our solar system. Its second planet circles it in a fairly regular orbit, completing its circuit of the primary in 0.99 of an Earth year. Perrin II seemed to be a settler's paradise from space. With a radius of 3,860 miles (6,176 kilometers) and a average yearly surface temperature of 20 Celsius, it was a rocky planet that had formed a large ocean over most of its surface. Surface gravity and mass were 0.97 and 0.92 respectively. Deserts were fewer and smaller than those of Earth. Its three continents consisted mostly of gentle rolling hills and rich prairie soil and ancient, weathered mountains that seemed to welcome hikers and climbers. The colonists saw their new home as a gentle wilderness. Until they encountered Perrin's wildlife. The fliers had wingspans of 20 meters, while the landbound creatures were even bigger. No gentle giants these. All the animals proved toothy, hungry, and fiercely territorial. Within a year, the 5,000 settlers had been reduced to half that number. Their original settlement and most of its technological equipment was a shambled, abandoned ruin. There was no returning to a ship in orbit. They had made a one-way trip to the planet's surface. Their FTL spaceship had been stripped down to supply materials for the new settlement. The survivors headed for high ground; any place that had lots of bedrock. In those places, they built towers that reared above the ground and tunneled deeply into it. Although they had lost a great deal of technology, it was not so much that the settlers were forced into a medieval civilization. Their towers became their worlds, places of beauty and science and the cultivation of the intellect. Credits: Everything rendered in Bryce 5 with a little post work in PSP5. Terrain and towers by me. Trees: RDNA WildWood Vol 1 - Autumn Maples by Traveler. Fliers: by SpaceWanderer. Thanks for dropping by and don't let the critters get yah! Comments appreciated. Jeremy