The sun is called Roldoon, and its single planet is called Mengol. It has a large hardy population that have a large amount of talent in working with their hands. Mengol-workmanship is respected throughout Sector 42. It was, up until the Shadow War a free planet, ruled justly by the Roldoon Family, who took their name from the the System's Sun. This Roldoon Government was based on the single red moon that circles Mengol...the Blood Moon of Mengol. During the Shadow War, the Vilars imprisoned the Roldoon family and enslaved the planet's population. A large rebellion broke out under the cruel treatment the Vilars gave the Mengols, but had it not been for the end of the War, the Mengol rebels would have been slaughtered. The freed Roldoon Family were by no means cruel, but things never quite returned to how good they were before the War. In many respects the population could still have been considered to be slaves. About 20 years ago the worst happened. A young Prince of the Blood Moon made a deal with the Fendora-Bengala Trade Corp. to sell Mengol and its population to the large conglomerate. Since that time, the word "Roldoon" has entered the vocabulary of Sector 42 and beyond as representing the worst of traitors.

The Mengol System's bright yellow sun is called Roldoon, and the Blood Princes (that once ruled this system) took their name from this warm life-giver. There are two planets in the system...Funder, a dead arid planet with little atmosphere...and Mengol, the life-sustaining populated planet. Quinn was born on the only moon of Mengol, the Blood Moon.

Mengol had a large hardy population, which happened to be very talented working with their hands. Mengol workmanship was respected throughout Sector 42 for as long as anyone can remember. The people of Mengol enjoyed being outside, and though they were fairly advanced in their knowledge of science and technology, the commoners had always favored living in sprawling family-oriented stone houses...living near (but not too near) other families in small villages. Commoners usually kept their workshops and workplaces out-of-doors, and reverted to using somewhat old-fashioned handtools rather than turning to more advanced manufacturing impliments.

The Commoners typically wore thick natural fibers, such as cotton and wool, and completed their wardrobes with leather belts and shoes, and gold and silver buttons, buckles, and occasionally jewelry. Sometimes visitors to Mengol would be lulled into seeing the culture as fairly backwards...only to be surprised when some extremely advanced item would arrive or appear on the scene...such as a robot apprentice, a gauntlet computer peeking out from under a workman's sleeve, or a fully armed and armored Blood Guard.

Along with their pride in workmanship, honesty, and good-nature, the Commoners of Mengol were a moral lot. They bonded into tight family groups that (very, very) rarely broke apart. At times 3 or 4 generations would live together under one roof, fully comfortable within the ever-increasing rooms of their stone homes. Divorce or betrayal within a family was almost unheard of...and having a large amount of children growing within the home was seen as the "strength" of a family.

Two conditions allowed this simple, almost idealistic life to exist on Mengol. The geography/weather and the system of government....

Mengol was covered with green rolling plains, the weather was fairly temperate almost year round, and vistors were often awe-struck by the utter beauty of the long native grasses being softly tossed by the warm gentle breezes. Large clear rivers, glistening with the bright yellow light of Roldoon, wound their way across the plains. They collected in beautiful deep lakes full of large fat colorful fish. The blue skies were brushed with white billowing clouds and bird-sized flying lizards called "cridoes." Striding the plains with heavy-steps were the domesticated "lengrils," large reddish colored reptiles that the people of Mengol used as beasts of burden.

Their simply life was also made possible by the strong and just rulership of the Blood Princes...ruling from the Blood Moon, high above Mengol. The Laws and Government of Mengol were kept simple and clear, and thus the destabilizing effects of confrontational political struggles were avoided. Like the Commoners down on Mengol, the Roldoon family saw having numerous children as a sign of stability and strength. But, unlike the common population on Mengol, the Roldoon Family practiced polygamy. Each Prince would keep 3-6 wives, and spawn a whole brood of princes. A complex system was established to determine which prince could ascend to the Blood Throne, and in what order. Politics WITHIN the Roldoon family was the only real example of political struggle in the Mengol System.

The Roldoon family ruled from underneath a linked system of huge atmospheric domes on the one red moon of Mengol...the Blood Moon. Early on, the Roldoon family had nationalized all technology, and used its life altering benefits to support a life they felt would be most satisfying to the Commoners on Mengol. Food production, waste-management, menial-item production, and the production of other essentials were completely automated, while the more "handy" industries (home-building, cloth-weaving, furniture-making, etc.) were left to the busy workmanship of the population.

This essay on Mengol has so far been in the past-tense, for during the Shadow War, the Dark Vilars imprisoned the Roldoon family in underground complexes they built beneath the grassy surface of Mengol. The Commoner population of the planet was enslaved and made to create dark weapondry in huge factories that sullied the planet's surface and atmosphere. The Mengols were treated horribly, and a huge rebellion broke out among the Commoner slaves. Such was the power of the Dark Vilars, that had the Shadow War not ended when it did, the Mengol rebels would have been slaughtered completely.

With the war over, the freed Roldoon Family attempted to create the society and culture that had allowed so many centuries of peaceful satisfaction among the commoners. The underground complexes were blasted shut, the huge factories were torn down, and the automated systems that supplied food and other essential services to the population were re-established. Perhaps it was a loss of innocence, perhaps it was an injury of spirit that would not heal...but after the Shadow War, life on Mengol was never as good, as stable, or a satisfying as before. In many ways, despite the efforts of the Roldoon Family, the population remained as slaves. They no longer took pleasure from work of any kind. When automated systems would shut down, the Commoners had to be forced by the once-ceremonial Blood Guard to labor at keeping the infrastructure and essential services maintained. The Roldoon Family and their Blood Princes, once looked up to on the Blood Moon as the source of Justice and Law, were often spoken of as tyrants...and unlawful oppressors.

This was the world that Quinn Roldoon was born into, over 450 years after the end of the Shadow War. He was born in the moon-dome of his father...a Blood Prince, some 42 people distant from the Blood Throne. Quinn himself was 65 people distant from being the Prince Prime...ultimate ruler of the Mengol System. There were strict rules of conduct...strict conversational guidelines between members of the Roldon Family. Different greetings had to be used when Quinn addressed someone closer to the Throne than him...and those further from the Throne than him. There were even rules for what Quinn had to wear...different ceremonial clothes for lunch...for dinner...for visits to other domes. It was taught that the extreme level of ceremonial guidelines and rules was neccesary to maintain peace within the large royal family.

A little over 20 years ago, young Prince Damon Roldoon (8 people distant from the throne) convinced the Prince Prime Maximus Roldoon that the only way for the Roldoon Family to make things right would be to make a deal with the Fendora-Bengala Trade Corp. Maximus was old...and dying, and Damon had been a loyal great-grandchild and the apple of his eye. The Fendora-Bengala representatives were smooth talkers and promised the moon, the sky, and the stars in return for control of Mengol. Despite the protests of many of the other Blood Princes, Maximus essentially sold Mengol and its population to Fendora-Bengala.

Since that time, Quinn has heard little else of Mengol that he can believe with confidence. He has heard that the factories have been rebuilt...the population once again enslaved. The Fendora-Bengala scientists have exploited and damaged the land and atmosphere of Mengol...and mutated the native plants and beasts into "products" more useful to their purposes. The factory-managers have perverted the workmanship and creative industry of the Commoners into slave-labor and manufacturing productivity. Corporate Troopers enforce the law with snap-judgments and lethal force.