The Hollow
A world larger within than without
An airless minor moon whose artificial interior defies known excavation, leaving surveyors with immense chambers and no builders, date, or purpose.
Overview
The Record
The Hollow’s mystery begins where its surface ends. From outside it resembles an ordinary irregular moon; within, vast chambers, shafts, and curved surfaces form an artificial volume more regular and extensive than any known excavation.
Survey teams work from a sealed camp beside one stabilized entrance. Progress is measured less by distance than by the ability to preserve a route: structures shift, communications fail, and repeated curves defeat ordinary orientation. Most of the interior therefore remains unentered rather than merely unmapped.
The construction is confirmed to be artificial. Its builders, age, original atmosphere, and purpose remain unknown, and no surviving evidence connects it to Kalemdil or the Shattering. Gloam practice governs closures and the decision not to disturb an unsafe chamber, but there is no evidence that the Twofold created or sustains the interior.
Caldrin regulates safe passage to the survey perimeter without claiming the moon. That arrangement permits investigation while denying anyone an ownership derived solely from access. The Hollow can be entered under controlled conditions; it cannot yet be made legible.
Political Relationships
Standing
Standing at a Glance
- Civilization Status
- Uninhabited
- Heraldic Standing
- No Unified Mark
The Hollow is unclaimed. Caldrin regulates recognized approaches and the survey perimeter, but that safety authority does not establish ownership of the moon or its interior. Expedition leaders govern their own camps under the terms of their authorization.
Survey teams use temporary expedition marks. The Hollow has no crest or recognized institutional emblem.
Physical Characteristics
Ground and Sky
- Diameter520 km
- Mass0.000016831 Earth masses
- Gravity0.02 g
The Hollow is airless outside and largely vacuum within. The sealed survey camp provides the only habitable pressure. Isolated chambers sometimes retain inert gas, but the pockets share no confirmed source and are not safe to breathe.
Orbit and Time
Path Around Oranth
- Orbital Order630
- Orbital Radius9,050,000 km
- Orbital Period101.558 days
- Rotation18.6 hours
- Inclination5.9 degrees
- Eccentricity0.051
The Hollow rotates every 18.6 standard hours and is not tidally locked. That rotation controls light and temperature at the entrances but has little operational meaning farther inside, where survey teams use carried illumination, local clocks, and route markers.
Culture
The Twofold
Gloam practice governs closed routes, missing communications, and the decision to leave an unstable chamber undisturbed. Surveyors use that language for spaces that resist understanding, but no evidence shows that either aspect created, enlarged, or sustains the interior.
Travel
Travel Notes
Use a Caldrin-recognized route to the survey perimeter and obtain authorization before entering the stabilized camp. Independent entry is prohibited. Inside, remain with a registered team and its route markers; structural shifts and communication loss can place a party beyond practical rescue without carrying it far in distance.