The Ringali Shell

The Ketress System

Name: Ketress
System: Ketress
Sector: Darpa
Type: Terrestrial
Temperature: Freezing
Atmosphere: Type I
Hydrosphere: Moderate
Gravity: Standard
Terrain: Ice Fields, Tundra, Forest, Mountain, Urban
Length of Day: 23.5 Standard Hours
Length of Year: 402 Local Days
Sentient Species: Humans
Starports: Standard
Population: 50 Million
Planet Function: Trade, Tourism
Government: Imperial Governor
Tech Level: Space
Major Exports: Ores, Furs
Major Imports: Foodstuffs, Luxury Goods, Speeders

Addendum: Ketress is a cold and somewhat barren planet lying on the Perlemian Trade Route. The planet has two major cities, Baluras and Zarhin, which lie on the planet's equator where the climate is a little warmer. The two cities are little more than an hour apart and are connected by two high-speed monorails. Both cities have a starport, although Zarhin's port tends to be the busier of the two. Zarhin also houses the planet's small Imperial garrison. Ketress is quite a tourist attraction for the natives of the Ringali Shell, with its numerous ski resorts, vast hunting ranges, ales and festivals.

Old Frosty

One of Ketress' best known products was developed purely by accident. As a member of the original Republic survey team that charted Ketress, Garvan Ton was just another scientist. His role on the survey team was to catalogue the local flora, to check for any potential hazards to any future settlers and also to begin to establish the conditions needed to grow any foodstuffs on planet, given its harsh environment. The survey team was originally assigned four months to complete their investigations, however, an engine malfunction, caused by ice damage, stranded the team on Ketress for over a year.

Ton and his fellow survey members had enough skills and materials available to establish a successful hydroponic farm to sustain the members of the team once their original stocks of food ran out. Ton, as well as an accomplished botanist, was also a keen amateur brewer, and he decided to attempt to brew some ale to help to raise the spirits of his team mates. Lacking anything remotely like hops, Ton struck on the idea of re-analysing the many varieties of lichen he had catalogued, and found that one variety, Cladia Garvaniia produced a compound very similar to those found in Corellian hops. The resulting ale, named Old Frosty, was an instant hit with the survey team.

After the extraction of the team, Ton tried to get the lichen to grow in his research station, but without success. The recipe was later passed down to the original colonisation expedition, and has become a staple of the local economy.

Whilst Old Frosty is still the premier product in this range, and has created Garvan Ton a legacy he could never have imagined, many other variants have been devised over the years by enterprising brewers looking to capitalise on Garvan's discovery. The problem always remains volume. The barley used can only be grown in hydroponics farms or imported at great expense, leaving Ketress Ales a costly luxury. Their superb taste, however, ensures a small but steady stream of orders from around the galaxy, and a large influx of tourists for the now famous Annual Ketress Festival, a celebration of all the home produced wares, not restricted to the ales, but encompassing the meat of various indigenous species, together with local fur and hide clothing.

In honour of this enterprising brewer, Zarhrin's starport is known as Garvan Field.