HOROSHO  C3378A6-A                 Rob Dean (robdean@access.digex.net)

     Horosho  has  a very high population for its size, most  of  whom 
live in four main arcology complexes with populations in excess of 100 
million  each.   These  arcologies, and about  ten  smaller  5,000,000 
person  complexes,  are pretty much self  sufficient.  The  technology 
level  is  sufficient to support abundant fusion power,  and  the  low 
local  gravity and gravitic controls allows complexes to be  extremely 
large.   Since there is no life native to Horosho, all food is  either 
completely  synthetic or grown in hydroponic gardens,  greenhouses  or 
vats.   Processed algae cakes and genetically engineered  single  cell 
protein are staples of the local diet.  Horosho is a  proto-industrial 
world,  and  will eventually become one when  the  population  expands 
sufficiently.   Due  to  the pressures of  the  superurban  lifestyle, 
families  tend to be very small, which impedes growth.  Much of  Horo-
sho's substantial industrial capacity is taken up by arcology  mainte-
nance,  and there is therefore little in the way of goods that can  be 
exported at a profit. Because of the high population density, personal 
courtesy  is considered by inhabitants to be very important.   A  code 
duello  involving  blade combat provides a  "safety  valve."   Another 
facet of the average lifestyle is the availability of abundant leisure 
time.  Many Horoshans turn to artistic pursuits of one sort or  anoth-
er, and a notable amount of the planetary foreign exchange  capability 
comes  from export of this art.  Horoshan literature  revolves  around 
the comedy of manners (in the novel), "pastoral" music, and  extremely 
rigid and stylized poetry. Tiny exquisitely crafted verses about  rain 
of  dubious  quality abound.  The visual arts  are  presently  leaning 
toward a very spare impressionism, using a palette of limited  colors.  
Interior  decorators are a highly respected professional group on  the 
planet.  The four macroarcologies and the ten smaller 'satellite' arcs 
have  each developed their own distinctive flavors in the usual  arts. 
Non-residents  often  have  a difficult  time  distinguishing  between 
these  'flavors', a problem which the natives find a little  incompre-
hensible.   The  smallest arcologies tend to be  less  self-sufficient 
both materially and socially, and often center around learning  insti-
tutions or resource extraction facilities.  There is a strong  feeling 
among  Horoshans that people should live with their work, which  leads 
to  the arcs being set up in thoroughly  mixed  commercial/residential 
sections.  The resource collection cities are sort of an extreme  case 
of  this, since this drive results in the establishment of a  complete 
city  to  support the workers of each new project as  it  is  started.  
Once  established, an arc-city can remain mostly self-sufficient  even 
after  the  resources run out, so their is little  pressure  to  close 
these settlements.  Offworlder joke about the 500,000 person  resource 
extraction  facilities:  How many Horoshans does it take to  change  a 
light bulb?  An entire city...

     The  physical conditions on Horosho are unusual.  With the  broad 
central  band  of oceans subject to boiling during the day,  and  with 
cold  rain constantly falling in the night zones,  atmospheric  travel 
with  grav vehicles is considered to be too hazardous to bother  with.  
Transport  between cities is by surface vehicles, and since roads  are 
difficult  to maintain, all intercity transports are either legged  or 
tracked.   Large tracked crawlers of starship displacements engage  in 
scheduled travel between cities on the same land mass.  Travel between 
the  northern and southern hemisphere cities is  by  trans-atmospheric 
grav  craft,  which is not economically competitive over  the  shorter 
intracontinental runs.

     Some  institutions  are  carrying on  research  on  terraforming.  
Limited  success has been achieved so far in seeding the  oceans  with 
genetically tailored algaes and other single cell life forms.  

     The  original colony was set up in 678 by a dissident group  from 
Trin.   Little trace of their original philosophy remains, except  for 
an introspective bent that keeps people expanding the arcs rather than 
emigrating to some more desirable planet.  

     The current ruler is Admiral Bolton Gannivar, who was voted  into 
power in the planetary general elections in 1103.  The major thrust of 
his  foreign policy has been to acquire or sponsor offworld  coloniza-
tion  projects. (See below).  His domestic policy centers  around  the 
need  to expand industrial capacity sufficiently to allow  manufacture 
of an exportable surplus.    No export of food is permitted.  Offworld 
visitors must post a Cr10,000 departure bond before leaving the  star-
port.

     Colonization  Project--The  prime effort has been  a  preliminary 
survey  of Dawnworld in District 268.  Dawnworld has remained  uncolo-
nized  to the present due to a cluster of related ecological  factors.  
On a microlevel, most humans experience an allergic reaction to common 
Dawnworld  pollens.   In addition, in some  regions,  airborne  spores 
exist that will sprout in human lungs.  Most plants use L-rotary  sug-
ars and are nutritionally useless.  the fauna in the planet's  current 
epoch  runs  to dinosaur-like creatures, the largest of which  pose  a 
threat  to  humans  from sheer size.  In many of  the  smaller  animal 
niches, cold blooded creatures predominate, allowing for a much higher 
carnivore  population that would otherwise be the  case.   Perversely, 
while humans are poisonous to native creatures, they also smell tasty.

