Dross
Industrial or Resource · Refinery Moon
A polluted refinery world that recovers valuable materials from the waste of Kharad’s industrial works.
Overview
The Record
Dross returns Kharad’s industrial waste to use. Refineries separate metals and chemical compounds from slag, scrap, and spent material cast off by the foundries, reducing what Kharad must replace from fresh ore. Every recovered load begins as something another Kharadi work has rejected.
Its 62,000 residents live in sealed settlements beside a thin, toxic envelope sustained by refinery venting. Furnace glow and processing lamps replace daylight across the inhabited works. Crews pass through filtration and decontamination between furnaces, sorting lines, maintenance spaces, and their quarters, while shift changes follow production rather than the sky. The settlement survives by keeping ordinary life behind the same pressure walls that keep residue outside.
Dross is a Kharadi dependency administered by foundry councils. Local refinery overseers assign daily work and maintain the sealed settlements, but Kharad controls waste contracts, production quotas, and external access. Neither a recovered metal nor a functioning district gives Dross authority to refuse the industrial order that supplies its feedstock and takes its output.
Political Relationships
Standing
Standing at a Glance
- Civilization Status
- Industrial
- Heraldic Standing
- No Unified Mark
- Principal Power
- Kharad
Dross is a Kharadi industrial dependency administered by the foundry councils. Kharad controls its waste contracts, production quotas, and external access, while local refinery overseers manage daily operations and the sealed settlements.
Physical Characteristics
Ground and Sky
- Diameter310 km
- Mass0.000003999 Earth masses
- Gravity0.01 g
Dross has no natural breathable atmosphere. Continuous refinery venting sustains a thin, toxic envelope of carbon compounds, metallic vapor, and industrial residue, much of which eventually settles back across the surface. Habitation and workspaces are fully sealed, with heavy filtration and decontamination systems separating them from the processing zones.
Orbit and Time
Path Around Oranth
- Orbital Order35
- Orbital Radius620,000 km
- Orbital Period1.821 days
- Rotation43.7 hours
- Inclination0.11 degrees
- Eccentricity0.004
Dross is tidally locked to Oranth, but natural daylight has little influence within its refinery districts. Furnace glow, processing lamps, and the glare of exposed works illuminate the surface through every phase of the local cycle. Daily life follows Kharadi refinery shifts rather than sunrise or night.
Travel
Travel Notes
Arrive on Kharadi clearance naming a waste contract, receiving lock, and transfer window. Refinery traffic and toxic vent plumes can close an approach with little notice. Visitors may enter only the sealed settlement and work areas named in their clearance; no one may bypass decontamination or cross into an active processing line.