What is Absalom Station?
Absalom Station
Absalom station is the center of the Pact Worlds. Not literally, more metaphorically. The Pact Worlds were formed by a treaty that was signed at Absalom station called the Absalom Pact. The station is the heart of the Pact Worlds, governments, economy, and culture all blend to form something that seems to stand on its own. If somewhat precariously.
Who lives on Absalom?
Any species of alien can be found at Absalom. Some have been there for a while, and some are just passing through. If you stick around at Absalom, you will see the unique blend with the mundane. The reason that Absalom Station can be so easily accessed is because of a mysterious artifact, that can be found in the bottom of the station. Absalom Station wasn’t always as glorious and magnificent as it is today. After the Gap it was actually a very dangerous place to be. Everyone in the universe had just woken up, no one had any memory of the last several hundred years, and all data and records pertaining to this period had collectively disappeared.
Absalom Gang Wars
In the early days after the Gap, there were gangs of religious groups, criminal organizations, and just regular people. Everyone was immediately suspicious of each other and even though no one know what had happened, there was lots of finger pointing. There was open war in the halls and streets between these gangs, factions, and the suspicious. It was not good for anyone. The chaos from all of these gangs wars persisted so long, maintenance of the space station took a back seat. When people stopped taking care of the station, because it just became too dangerous to do so. A malfunction in the space station's atmospheric system happened. It got so bad that once the systems started failing, it cascaded into other systems that were overloaded, knocking them out as well. It got so bad, the atmospheric system started venting all of the oxygen into space. Only through mutually assured destruction were these gangs and organizations, able to put their differences aside. Once they started working together to solve the problem, these same gangs would later form the space station's first government. It was called the Syndics Guild. This new coalition of leaders would eventually pick someone to rule. They would be above all, and would be served by members of the council. This position was called The Prime Executive, or The Primex for short. The first person that they elected was a woman by the name of Loqua Tem.
Where did Golarion and the Starstone go?
Just after the Absalom Wars ended, engineers had discovered that the space station that they were now living in, had replaced the human home world of Golarion. Their home planet had disappeared. They also discovered that in the bottom of the space station was a very powerful reactor. It was powering everything, it seemed to possess limitless power. This magical artifact was called the star stone and it is believed to be the same one that resided on Golarion, in Absalom City. This was the very same stone that Iomedae and other deities used to rise to godhood. Another interesting discovery was that now interacting with this stone was impossible. The star stone is locked behind an impenetrable barrier no one can get through, touch, or even interact with. No one has been able to get into the room that contains it, though many have tried. The Starstone does have the power to run Absalom Station with its seemingly limitless energy, but later it was discovered that Absalom is one of the easiest places to get to in the galaxy. The Starstone serves as a very powerful drift beacon. I have done a video about the drift you can check that video here.
Absalom rises to power
As time progressed after the gap ended, some government groups tried to take control of Absalom Station. Various criminal organizations trying to take control of Absalom. None of the attempts succeeded. Absalom Fought back to keep its neutrality, and they fiercely defend it still to this day. One notable group who tried to take over Absalom was the Eox. This happened in the year 7 A.G. (After Gap) the Bone Sages of Eox launched a full scale assault on Absalom. This event was dubbed the Magefire Assault. They didn't succeed but it did leave its toll on the station. This was also one of the last major attempts by any one specific group to launch a full attack on the station. Most moves to take over the station since, have been purely from an economic perspective or political. None have succeeded because of Absaloms Councils hardline stance for neutrality. Not being part of any one specific government this has made Absalom the de facto place to set up corporate head offices. There are many corporations who run their head offices out of the station not only because it's easy to get to, but also because of their neutral stance. The current Primex in modern day Starfinder is Kumara Melacruz. She's halfway through her term but she's definitely making waves. She is cracking down on white-collar crime and she has a very open stance towards immigration. This has made her a lot of enemies. Kumara has survived one assassination attempt already. There is sure to be others in the future.
How big is Absalom Station?
Absalom station is divided into four sectors, there is a fifth one that is not technically part of the space station. There are some interesting places to go in each of these sectors, and there is basically never a point when the space station does not have a mass of ships around it. The fifth sector is called The Armada, it's basically all of the starships that are surround the space station at all times. If you're coming into Absalom Station the arms are the first place that you are going to go. This is where all of the docking hangers are. there are docking bays, some have atmosphere, some are force shielded, some are just open to space. All of the docks are controlled by Absalom Traffic Control, depending on the size of your ship, will determine where you dock. For larger ships they will probably be sent to one of the bigger arms that extend out into space. Larger classes of star ships have to docs outside of the station while smaller vessels can stay inside the safe walls for a short time, and a generous fee.
The Click-Clack Club
A very popular nightclub that exists in the arms is called the Click-Clack Club. it gets that name because most of the clientele, almost all of the clientele are some form of Android or mechanical being. You will also see a large collection of folks who have cybernetic augmentation here as well. This is a bar, but it is also a VR Parlor. This club is run by a Dragonkin Technomancer who goes by the name of Tsalu and his bonded partner who is a Ryphorian, Barnaba. The two of them are notorious for running illegal bets on online games. Anyone who is cybernetically augmented or just a mechanical being is readily accepted at this establishment. A unscrupulous adventuring party may be able to find some information or low paying jobs. It is possible to get some very profitable contracts if you can beat Barnaba at a game of drift racing, this is of course a V.R. game. This club makes for an wonderful cyberpunk spot in Absalom Station.
This area of Absalom is called the eye, this area is for the rich people, for the companies who need a high-status headquarters. The Eye is the top of the station under a transparent dome, there are trees and lush greenery here. The natural light from the sun makes the corporate head offices sparkle during the day. Of the many places that are here you can find the Bastion this is the main base of the Stewards. They are basically the pact world's peacekeepers. In the Bastion the Stewards are trained in the legal laws and traditions of the planets throughout the Pact Worlds. They also get their military training here as well. All of the Stewards movements and missions are managed through the Bastion.
When it comes to the Ring of Absalom, this is probably the most residential area of the whole station. it does still have some space docks, it does still have some clubs and businesses, with no end of activities one can do. It is just not as nice as the Eye. One really nice place that can be found in the ring is the head office of Abadarcorp, The Golden Vault. I have talked about Abadarcorp if you are interested, please check this one out here. It is quite an ostentatious place to be as its logo is 10 stories tall emblazoned in lights. If you need a loan if you need to buy something this is the place where you will go. Abadarcorp has its hands in everything it is the “Amazon” of the Pact Worlds.
The spike is the area that goes down, the long shaft from the bottom of the station. It's the less glamorous part of Absalom which is putting it lightly. This is where the stations poor live. You'll also find a lot of the heavy machinery as much industrial production for Absalom happens here. This part of the spire containes the guts that run the space station, but even with the drab accommodations there is still one place down here of some repute. That would be Diamond Defense and Surplus. If you are a mercenary or a private contractor you need to go to Diamonds, the Ysoki shopkeeper who runs this establishment always has a boatload of knives on her. Don't mess with a Ysoki who's into knives. While she does have a very startling amount of weapons that you can see in the front of her store. Those who gain her trust can gain access to her premium shop. In this special shop of hers she sells only the finest illegal goods, anybody who want to be somebody knows Diamond. You'll want her to like you for two reasons, one is not getting stabbed to death. The second is because she usually has the best goods, if not in the Spike but all of Absalom.
Diamond
The Fifth District
There is a fifth district to Absalom called the Armada. It is all of the spaceships that are routinely around this space station. With Absalom being the galactic trade hub, and because you can get to Absalom Station from anywhere in the universe within a couple of days. This means that outside of your regular coming and goings of adventurers, traders, merchants, and space explorers looking to top up before they go on their next adventure are always in large supply. some ships never actually dock in Absalom. This is so they never have to pay the docking taxes and fees, but some still somehow manage to keep going without ever having to set food on Absalom. Some of the best black market deals will happen on these private vessels. One vessel that is of note within this section of Absalom is called Valor's Heart. This is the warship of a Iomedae. All of the priests, the novices, and initiates, anybody who is basically involved with the church of Iomedae. They get their training on this massive war citadel.
I really enjoy Absalom Station; it is a fantastic place to have adventures on. It is possible to run an entire adventure or even a campaign here because there is so much to explore in Absalom. I would recommend GM's sprinkle the life and the depth of Absalom into your stories so every time your players come back to the station; they get to experience just a little more of it.