IS Atlas / System / Detail

Description:

A small world of terrestrial features, blessed with abundant resources, it is rather surprising in hindsight to know that this world was completely overlooked in the early years of colonization. With three large landmasses claiming most of the northern hemisphere, and deep, island-speckled oceans in the south, this cool world was a paradise just waiting to be discovered. In truth, infighting among the various private interests who were to mount the first expedition to Glengarry, complicated by the increasing friction between the Terran Alliance and its far-flung colonies, disrupted any efforts to settle the planet during the early days of humanity’s expansion among the stars.

To make matters worse, later surveys revealed dangerously high levels of arsenic and cyanide gases in the atmosphere, which first had to be cleansed in order to make the planet suitable for colonization. These factors kept settlers away until the early days of the Star League, when terraforming efforts by the nearby Federation of Skye finally cleansed the atmosphere of its toxic chemicals. Glengarry’s first settlers hailed from a mix of Scottish, Norwegian, and Canadian origins, both native to Terra and from among the Skye Federation’s populace.

Drawn originally to the continent of Scotia, the smallest of the three northern hemispheric landmasses, by its abundant ore resources in the mountain ranges, and the fertile soils of the valleys and lowlands, these colonists quickly established strict development guidelines to preserve the planet’s native splendor. Similar to the “zoning laws” used in other Federation worlds, such as Skye itself, the colonists created a self-perpetuating standard that has left the larger two continents, Dalraida and Pictland, virtually uninhabited even today, while Scotia eventually became a well-balanced center for light industrial, commercial, and agricultural development.

Glengarry’s trade with neighboring worlds boomed during the peak of the Star League era, specializing in a variety of locally produced items, but when the League fell and wars ignited across the Inner Sphere, the economy virtually collapsed. Efforts to relieve the planet’s economic woes by opening up the other two continents faltered, in part because of these continents’ harsher winter climates, and because of the predation of deep raiders from the Draconis Combine and Free Worlds League.

Under the united Federated Commonwealth, Glengarry showed signs of economic recovery, particularly in the later years of the alliance, when it became the homeworld of the legendary Gray Death Legion.

The capital of Dunkeld is nearly as big as any capital city on the major worlds of the Inner Sphere, including even New Avalon or Luthien or Tharkad, but appearances are deceiving. It’s population, like that of the whole planet, has been declining steadily for generations. Dunkeld still possesses the vestiges of Glengarry’s one time greatness, things like the fine architecture of the Municipal Center in the heart of the town, or the massive bulk of the old Star League fortifications on Castle Hill.