A holding of the Atriarians, the barely livable moon of the Renn system's seventh planet. The Atriarian religion teaches that their "sleeping goddess" Tip'q'tas (Tip-uh-KWA-tus), for whom their home system is named, had three daughters, each representing one of the three castes in their society. Each of them had a daughter by mortal means, though the myths are hesitant to say that they debased themselves by sleeping with mere males. The Warrior Queen goddess Renn's daughter is Acarides who is said to be the most powerful of the Sleeping Goddess' three granddaughters. A mighty warrior whose exploits are the subject of volumes of legend, it is said that she was once a beautiful woman but that her battle scarred visage is rough and threatening. The demigoddess who represents strength and courage, she also represents all that is noble in the Atriarian warrior; one legend tells that when Tip'q'tas considered destroying her half-breed granddaughters and no amount of pleading by her daughters would change her mind. It was only when Acarides challenged the Sleeping Goddess to honorable combat for the right of the demigoddesses to live that the Queen goddess relented. Some of the legends say that they did indeed fight for untold thousands of years, the sparks of their conflict igniting the stars in the night sky. Tip'q'tas was so impressed that Acarides refused to yield, even when apparently beaten, not only did she allow her granddaughters to live, but she gave each of them a special place in the heavens, in the realms of their mothers, the last true goddesses. For Acarides, she gave a consort that was neither god nor mortal but that would always keep her home, as was the proper place for all males. This consort was named Parmon, and as you might expect, that is the name given the gas giant the planet of Acarides orbits
Acarides, the planet, is like the demigoddess in many ways. It is cold and harsh, scarred by millions of years of meteor bombardment, the atmosphere subject to violent lightening storms that make living unprotected on the surface almost impossible. Like every other planetary body in the system, it is the home of vast mines and other production facilities including the factories that make weapons and ship componants. The main Atriarian shipyards sit in a LaGrange point between Acarides and the gas giant, drawing power directly from the magnetic flux between the two bodies. These energies also power a series of defensive satellites called the Rope of Acarides that orbits Parmon. It is thought that the gun emplacements on these defense stations could reach anywhere in the system, though targetting over such vast distances would be a problem; a wary ship could easily dodge any shot made by these weapons unless it was close to Parmon. In practice, they are an asteroid defense system, nudging with low-powered shots or destroying with high-powered ones, any piece of space debris headed for something vital. The Renn system is otherwise unprotected except for a small security station at the stargate closest to Meganthan territories.
