PAGATON  C769873-4                 Rob Dean (robdean@access.digex.net)
 
     Pagaton was originally settled fairly early in the Imperial  Era, 
by a consortium of diverse groups from Mora, Trin, and planets in  the 
Deneb  sector.  At the time, it was a garden planet, and  the  various 
colony groups did not interact much since they were placed on separate 
large  islands.  About 600, the planet began sliding into an Ice  Age.  
Trade with other planets had always been marginal due to the disadvan-
tageous position of the system, off the Spinward Main, and as more and 
more  of  the world's resources were channeled into  survival  related 
activities, exports fell off, causing fewer traders to arrive,  creat-
ing  a vicious cycle which did not end until the planetary tech  level 
dropped to 4.  Some trade has resumed since the opening of the  Binges 
starport in 1057 drew traders through the little cluster, but the main 
export,  furs,  does not generate enough foreign exchange  credits  to 
engage in any sort of large scale rebuilding effort.  The large number 
of competing governments exacerbate the situation, since they tend  to 
use what foreign exchange they have to equip their armed forces in  an 
effort to seize or influence the distribution of vital resources (such 
things  as ice free ports and easily recoverable iron and coal  depos-
its).  Since the best the planet could hope for is to become an  agri-
cultural world, the interest of offworld powers is extremely  limited.  
Small  groups  of low tech mercenaries, from planets such  as  Aki  or 
Tarkine,  will occasionally hire themselves out on Pagaton  for  'real 
life' training.
     With a planetary population of about 900 million, the few islands
which are fortunate enough to reside in the narrow habitable  zone are
fairly crowded,  adding to the misery of the unfortunate  inhabitants.
Only the presence of edible native  vegetation which will  grow in the
harsh  equatorial environment,  and the extensive use  of sea life for
sustenance, allows the continuation of human life on the planet.

