Guide to the Planets of Red Rising

The Red Rising universe spans the entire solar system. The inner planets located closest to the Sun are known as the Core, home to the densest concentration of human population. Luna serves as the political center, linking the Core worlds into a unified network. Beyond the asteroid belt lies the Rim, made up of distant planets, moons, and frontier settlements at the edges of human expansion.

Planets in both regions developed economies shaped by their environments, specializing in industry as conditions allow. The vast distances between worlds fostered distinct cultures and ways of life. Rim societies are typically more rugged, resourceful, and independent, shaped by harsher environments and isolation. By contrast, the Core is densely populated and organized, with advanced infrastructure and concentrated human activity.

To sustain this solar civilization, moons are heavily colonized. Many, including Phobos and Titan, function as research centers, transport hubs, or military outposts. Orbital stations and artificial satellites further connect planets. This layered structure forms an interconnected network that allows humanity to thrive across space.

Luna

Luna was humanity’s first off-world colony and the launching point for expansion, its low gravity and lack of atmosphere making spacecraft construction far easier than from Earth. A brutal conflict known as the Conquering secured Luna’s dominance over Earth, cementing Gold authority and defining the Society’s rigid hierarchy. Today, Luna stands as the political, administrative, and cultural capital of the Society, home to the Gold elite, central governance, and its most powerful institutions.

Earth

Earth is primarily a residential world within the Core, wielding little political power. Though the planet remains fully habitable, its infrastructure and population are secondary to Luna’s strategic importance. Despite its legacy as humanity’s homeworld, Earth’s practical influence across the solar system is limited. Prestigious HighColor families often maintain estates or cultural ties there.

Mars

Mars was the first planet heavily colonized for industrial use and remains one of the Society’s most vital worlds. Many of its leaders have risen to system-wide influence, with the ArchGovernor of Mars being one of the most powerful political offices. Its economy is driven by Helium-3 extraction, producing vast tunnel networks and subterranean cities that define Martian life. This economic strength, paired with a long history of labor, rebellion, and pride, has forged a fiercely resilient planetary culture. With its resource wealth, political weight, and strategic position between the Core and the Rim, Mars stands as one of the Society’s indispensable strongholds.

Venus

Venus is central to the Society’s shipbuilding and military power, home to one of its two largest dockyards and half of the Imperial Helium-3 reserves. Venusians are often darker-toned, shaped by the planet’s closeness to the Sun. Culturally, Venus is decadent – renowned for its luxurious wines, fine fabrics, and hedonistic lifestyle – while also hosting elite academies that train Golds in politics, leadership, and governance.

Jupiter

Jupiter is a massive gas giant and remains uninhabitable. Its largest moons – Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto – have been terraformed and stand at the heart of Rim influence. Long politically significant, these moons have served as centers of power and periodic resistance to the Core, most notably during the First and Second Moon Lord Rebellions. Today, they function as vital agricultural, industrial, residential, and military hubs, including sites such as Demeter’s Garden and the Ganymede Dockyards.

Mercury

Mercury is divided into two primary continents, while its equatorial belt remains a vast, inhospitable desert known as the Waste of Ladon. The planet’s extreme conditions have forced populations into dense coastal settlements near the seas. Mercury’s economy is powered by rich mineral deposits, with metals mined from its mountain ranges supplying much of the Society’s industrial infrastructure.

Saturn

Saturn is prized mainly for its moons, particularly Titan. Its gas giant composition makes habitation impossible, so settlements rely on orbital stations or colonies on its moons, much like Jupiter. The planet and its satellites remain firmly under the control of the Rim’s Moon Lords.

Uranus, Neptune, & Pluto

Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are remote Rim worlds. Their extreme distance from the Sun and icy environments make colonization challenging, so human activity centers on scientific research and frontier resource extraction. Populations are sparse, mostly MidColors with minimal Gold oversight, relying on self-sufficient operational teams to maintain settlements.