Saphira is an Earth-like planet at the edge of a galaxy inhabited by humans. It was an outpost during the war with the Ulthavi Yulori, an alien race more commonly referred to as ‘Gators’. Forty years after the end of the Gator War, Saphira is now forgotten by everyone except a few tourists and miners hoping to strike it rich.
Parts of the planet’s surface were damaged during the war but nature is gradually healing most of the wounds. Except for the scorched earth of the ‘badlands’ which was ravaged by alien weapons and is rumoured to be the domain of monsters and mutants. Few men enter this area and return to tell the tale.
Of the planet’s major continents and islands, only one is inhabited and it too is commonly referred to as ‘Saphira’. There is a vast desert north of the equator with a number of frontier towns scrabbling to survive along its eastern edge. On the East Coast is the capital city, New Grimsby. South of the equator lies a dense tropical jungle.
Orbiting Saphira are two moons, Smaug and Fafnir, and a luxurious space station hotel, the Starlight, that was built to capitalise on a war tourism boom that never came.
Saphira is probably best known for its ‘dragons’ or Crichtorax – dinosaur-like predators that thrive in its jungles and forests. Scientific opinions vary on whether these giant lizards are native to the planet or were introduced by the Ulthavi Yulori as pets.
PAUL TOMLINSON 