Gelidia

Gelidia is the 2nd planet in the Barnard's Star system, about 6 lightyears from Terra, and was first surveyed in 2109. The planet was in a similar state as Terra during the Cryogenian Period of Earth; covered in ice and snow but still home to some cellular life. Stellavita Applied Genetics set up operations on the planet soon after it was charted and populated it with plants and animals, opting for extant animals from the Terran Arctic as well as newly engineered versions of Mesozoic animals. During their operations they ran across significant deposits of both oil and rare minerals and word quickly spread throughout human space that the planet was rich in natural resources. By 2128 Gelidia was in the midst of the a mining rush, the likes of which hadn't been seen since the Asteroid Belt was first being charted back in the 2050s.

Millions of people came to Gelidia in the rush years, all of them hoping to get rich quick so they could live a life of luxury back on Earth. Many came unprepared and either froze to death in the Arctic climate, got ripped apart and eaten by the vicious Gelidian wildlife, or shot by bandits who were content to let others do the work for them while they reaped the rewards. Others were able to stake claims, only to get intimidated into giving them up by the security forces of large mining corporations. Maybe 1 in 300 prospectors actually got rich from mining, but that did little to discourage would be miners. By 2137 the Gelidian Mining Rush was over and those who could afford to do so left, but nearly 8 million people stayed behind. Some stayed to continue mining some of the more remote veins on the planet, others stayed to help develop the small but growing tourist industry, but most stayed because they had spent all of their savings getting to Gelidia and had nowhere else to go once the mines ran dry. Nowadays the economy centers around the service industry, market hunting, and light industry; low paying jobs for the most part but most Gelidians don't have any other choice.

A visitor to Gelidia would be greeted by snow as far as the eye can see, infrequently broken up by pine forests and hot springs. Gelidian cities are few and far between and tend to have fairly low populations, typically under 100,000 people. Gelidian architecture tends follows the trends of Greenland and Iceland, favoring sloped roofs and bright colors; both being sensible features on a planet with frequent snow storms. For the same reason, buildings over 5 stories are fairly rare except in the capital. The brightly colored homes are in stark contrast to the people, with drug use, suicides, and criminal activity all being extremely common occurrences, mostly due to the rampant poverty. Criminals usually deal in poaching, prostitution, and drug production and Gelidian law enforcement often finds itself lacking the resources to effectively combat these problems, mostly due to the lack of any form of strong government on the planet.

In recent years the Gelidian economy has been experiencing a minor upswing as trophy hunting has become a popular pastime among the wealthy in the Sol system again. Gelidia is one of the more popular planets for big game hunting as it features several species of dangerous game as is the only planet so far to have wild dinosaurs. This has led to a increase in the need for hotel workers, hunting guides, prostitutes, and various other service workers and while it isn't enough to drag Gelidia out of the economic slump it's in, it has allowed some people to leave their situations and provides some hope to those who haven't. A guided hunt for a single Frost Tyrant, the largest and most impressive predator on Gelidia, can run well into 7 figures; not counting hotel costs and other associated fees.