Tuicloll

The land is a maze of canyons with an empty, wind-scoured surface above them. Winter lasts most of the year; a short summer decides who eats.

A bright wandering body crosses the sky once in a generation. Its return is dated in every record.

The storm stands over one place for as long as records exist in this book.

from Annals of the Gate, by Nicialg, keeper of the station logs

The world's gate opens on Dimensional Station sector 5. A city has grown around the gate. It has its own speech and laws.

Passage costs ten credits a head and a thousand a hull for the ship. Cargo goes free through the gate into the city of Sacuill.

Imported machines run on a cycle, working for 26 days and failing for as many. Working units give way to broken ones after that cycle ends.

The workers who keep the gate running have stopped their work today.

Time runs at different rates in different regions. The borders between them are known and mapped.

from Tide Table for Sector Five, by Rotiabro, station factor

Trade through the gate is the economy and everything else serves it. Others want a fibre grown here that is stronger than steel wire.

The short summer decides who eats each year. The poor with little food face hunger when the season ends.

No one may enter the examination halls without a permit from the ruling examiners.

Anyone caught breaks the seal of the halls and pays a hundred credits plus labor for ten days at the kiosk near the gate entrance.

Trade goods must leave through the gate before winter sets in.

A trader found storing cargo past the season loses their license to use the station.

The fibre grower may not share seeds with anyone outside Nafli.

A farmer who shares them faces exile to the canyon edges for one full cycle.

1. 
   01

   Fofla

   Stooped and long-armed, dark brown skin

   Alignment

   Neutral on terms of survival alone.

   Economy

   They trade canyon goods for credits at the station gate while short summer decides who eats.

   Governance

   The examiners decide their fate regardless of birth.

   People

   About 7,591 people live in a canyon maze within a few days of each other; they value silence while watching falling sand drift down forever.

   Looks

   They are stooped and long-armed, dark brown skin, with long pointed ears; they wear thick woolen cloaks and carry a heavy glass lens.

2. 
   02

   Slanioll

   Mineral, stone-bodied

   Alignment

   Benevolent but silent due to lack of mouth.

   Economy

   Slanioll trade polished basalt stones for credits while others eat from the short summer.

   Governance

   Examiners rule by test, not birth.

   People

   Seven thousand five hundred ninety-one people dwell in canyons, watching falling sand drift forever without piling within a few days of each other.

   Looks

   Basalt with glowing seams covers stone-bodied forms marked by light shining through under thick wool coats, with a polished basalt stone in hand.

3. 
   03

   Gladoll

   Barrel-chested, deep violet skin

   Alignment

   Selfish regarding access to the short summer.

   Economy

   They trade cured hides and meat for credits during the brief warm season.

   Governance

   Those who pass tests rule, not those born.

   People

   Seven thousand five hundred ninety-one people dwell near each other in canyons while sand falls forever without piling.

   Looks

   Most are barrel-chested with deep violet skin and a single curled horn in heavy leather coats, with a cured hide pouch slung at the side.

4. 
   04

   Suinori

   Towering, brown skin, black eyes

   Alignment

   Lawful on terms of examination results alone.

   Economy

   They trade glass lenses and pipes for credits; their economy needs the short summer food.

   Governance

   Exams pick rulers regardless of birth.

   People

   About seven thousand five hundred ninety-one people live within canyon days while falling sand drifts down forever.

   Looks

   A towering Suinori with brown skin stands before the gate; black eyes look from a face that holds no mouth.