1. Domaris
Domaris has been known to the Imperium for Nearly fifty years now. It is famous for having remarkably Terran Conditions. This state has lead to the Designation of the planet as an Amber zone. This has enabled the native culture to advance with much less interference from the Imperium than would otherwise have been possible.

Domaris consists of two large continents, one in each hemisphere, covering nearly one fifth of the planet's total surface area. The Southern continent is more advanced than the North being approximately tech. Level 5. This continent is where much of the through flow of visitors is. The Southern continent is under the government of a single house of representatives chosen of the most suitable from constituent areas.

The North continent ranges from tech. level 1 to 3. It has no central government consisting of a number of autonomous states and peoples. The North continent is designated a cultural conservation area and inflow of technology and knowledge is strictly controlled. Also off worlders require special permits to gain access to the continent. No air traffic is permitted within a zone stretching 100 Kilometres out from the coast and stretching into near orbit.

Though the people of the North continent have the right of free will, the IISS have taken over a number of aspects of running affairs from behind the scenes. These include conservation, international affairs and customs & excise.

There are no large settlements on the continent. The largest being home to between 15 and 20 thousand individuals. This large port, Tophopalis, is the major entry and exit point for the continent and the centre of all trade with the Southern continent. Tophopalis is an independant city state run by a hereditary guild system. Other settlements of note are along the major trade routes with the east and north of the continent.

The Park is run by the IISS, mandates of the park require permits for outsiders to enter. These permits are strictly controlled and those attaining them are monitored by the park wardens. The authorities prohibit export of any biological material from the park and are willing to use force to back up this restriction. Interference with local people without park approval is also an offence punishable by revoking of permits.

The Park is policed by small independent groups of wardens. These wardens are local people trained using IISS facilities in the park. They are designed to be self sufficient for the length of six month tours of the park. During the tour the groups are expected to make regular contact with warden bases situated throughout the Park, though due to the response times of these bases groups are given complete power of action.

Machatui Pier
Machatui Pier is one of the biggest townships along the river, being the primary crossing point of both the Kerutsi and the Tapana. It is the home of many of the trading families of the Sharengi (River People).

Machatui is a bustling town of quiet hurry, perched on a steep-ish hillside on the North bank of the river below the high swamps and the jungle itself. It is home to about 3,000 individuals and the biggest market along the river. It is also the convergence of a number of peoples and the major staging post up and down the river.

The town plays host to one of the major IISS(P) offices in the Park.

Alganacha
Alganacha perches on a steep mountainside in a lee of the river just below Karinté (the rapids where the Nakrow drops though fissures in a giant basalt dyke to meet the Kerutsi). The town is the furthest pier upriver and the end of the line for all the ferries as the confluence of the two rivers is tortuous to navigate.

The town itself is perched on a narrow beach that quickly gives way to steep mountainside further back. It’s twisting maze like streets are easy for strangers to become lost in and defy any attempt to map them. The lower town is home to a small market for those who are too far from Machatui, though it is nothing by comparison.

The main reason that the town has grown here outside the pier is that the dyke behind it contains caves and fissures that whistle in the wind with the voices of the ancestors and are though to be the place where they live. As such it is a place of pilgrimage for members of many peoples.

There is a smaller office of the IISS(P) in the town, than that at Machatui.

Cosmology
Many of the peoples of the Kerutsi basin share a similar cosmology and beliefs. This stems from a common creation myth which goes some way towards explaining the people and their surroundings:

"Long ago, long before people ever walked the Earth there was the sea. Then the mountains erupted from the sea in fire and light. From this light the spirits were released, and from the fire came the continent. Once this had all cooled down the spirits began to inhabit the land and from them came the plants and animals. They created the world and they know it intimately. The spirits lived for a long time in this land with the plants and animals and were most happy in the valley, the two became one the creator and the created became inseparable. The spirits could flow freely with the energy of the Earth.
Then, one day people came to the valley and they saw that it was a good place so they decided to stay. In spite of the fact that the people loved their new home they could not stem their wanderlust and still roamed the land but only within the confines of the valley. When they died their spirits joined the spirits in the land and the sky, they became eternal like the spirits.
The people today can communicate with the ancestors, those spirits who were once human. They know the aspirations of people and know many things which have since been lost. Spirits know far more than the ancestors and are greatly powerful but they have never inhabited human form so they know not the cares of humans, their advice is dangerous but their example is a good one.
Spirits often inhabit the body of the snake, because it can move through the jungle with ease and is similar in form to the jungle it inhabits. Good people and good spirits move like the snake. Evil spirits lose the ability to move like the snake. They, like evil and foreign people, move in straight lines. Beware the man who moves in straight lines."

The Tequoia
Meaning "People Of The Valley", the Tequoia are a semi-nomadic people moving between a series of permanent camps. They range between the Tambezi and Nakrow tributaries on the North bank of the Kerutsi, though some campsites have been found beyond. There are thought to be 15-20 groups in this area, each of these comprising approximately 30 people.
They occupy a single campsite for up to a month before moving on, this is thought to be the maximum time they can stay before the area comes to know them. Any individual group may visit a given camp about once every two standard years, (any given site will be occupied on a 4 or less on 2D). Camps are typically of the given layout, people in the circling huts whilst all communal activities take place on the central platform. The people believe in the power of names, any person or thing that knows another’s name has power over them. In line with this all people have a common name which they use in public and a real name which they are given at maturity and keep a secret.

The Mogasha
Meaning "Keepers of Ancestors" the Mogosha are a warlike people who live West of the Nacrow and North of the Kerutsi. They are renowned for their tracking and hunting ability, but when not engaged in these pursuits are a loud brash people, full of bravado. Mogosha always talk of mysteries and place great store by the ancestors (who have accumulated great knowledge). Like the Tequoia they are semi-nomadic moving from camp to camp in their territory. They stay at these camps for up to a couple of months at a time before moving on. Like the Tequoia they believe that there is power in names, but they take it a step further. They believe that knowledge is the most powerful thing a person can possess and thus never accept a name of their own for fear that someone will learn it and have power over them. They use knowledge as a kind of currency: the person who knows most is the most powerful. The group is lead by a single Big Man who is the most knowing of all the people (having had knowledge passed down through generations) who is given the title on the death of his father.
The camps consist of a circular perimeter fence with a sloping roof inside it and an open area in the centre containing a large hearth. The roofed area is entirely open and is where all the people live during their stay in the camp. The open area is where inauspicious activities such as butchering kills take place. All possessions not worn by a person excepting their spear are communal property and as such the most valuable possession anyone has is inside their head.

The Koniké
Meaning "children of the Tamache" the Koniké are an insular people who live in the ruined settlements of the Tamache, attempting to grow crops. They have twisted belief systems that stem from what they believe the Tamache believed. They do not welcome visitors and little is known of them. What is known is that they view high places as being more holy than lower ones except the sea which is where the dead go when they leave. They dress in a fashion resembling the frescoes of the tamache, which seems to involve bright fabrics and feathers. Weavers are accorded high status because of their role in re attaining the high place of the Tamache.

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