Player's Introduction and Background for The Abominable Snow Race

The Job

You've got the cushiest job in the galaxy.  The only problem is that they only pay for seven weeks. You are going to to be the EMT/Rescue ship for the "Abominable Snow Race".  This is a race for custom built "ice skimmers" for the very rich which is held once every 2.4 years on an icy moon on an otherwise uninhabited system. 

During the race you must follow these rules:

1. Don't interfere with the race, and remember: these are wind powered vehicles, so getting close can interfere with the race.
2. Fly about 1-10 miles behind the last ice flyer.
3. Help anyone who crashes.
4. If more than one crashes, help the worse, first.
5. Always prioritize helping people above saving equipment (even really expensive equipment).
6. Don't get recorded doing anything embarrassing, or record anyone else doing anything embarrassing.
7. Don't interfere with the race.

 

The System

Just about everything in the system is called "Yeti", so don't get confused:

• The star is called "Yeti Prime" or "Yeti Star".  It isn't much of a star (Brown Dwarf).  It is surrounded by two asteroid fields, one medium sized gas giant, two small rock planets, a Kuiper belt, and an Oort cloud.
• The gas giant is called "Yeti Gas Giant".  It's fine for refueling.  It has about 20 moons, depending on how you count them, and one very light ring.  In addition to the moon described below, there are two other moons big enough to be globe shaped, and another six that are bigger than 100 miles across.  None have atmospheres or are interesting in any way.
• The only moon of interest is call "Yeti" or "Yeti Moon". This moon has a rocky core, complete with a mantle.  It is much hotter than you would expect from it's size, because tidal forces from the Yeti Gas Giant have heated the insides considerably, especially near the north poll.  

The Yeti Moon
The moon itself has these interesting features:

• A metallic, molten core.
• A rocky skin.
• Large lakes, or maybe a whole later, of liquids.
• A icy/snowy "skin".

And "Geysers".  These are eruptions of liquids from beneath the icy/snowy skin, which happen quite often, and quite powerfully, near the north poll.

The Race

The races are held every 2.4 years (every Yeti Gas Giant year).  Racers in pressurized wind powered ships skate along the surface of Yeti.  The ships are usually custom built and hideously expensive.  Usually there are 2-5 entrants.  Generally they are all wealthy, high society types.

The Setting

The centerpiece of the Race is the "Admiral Sir Yeti" a 100,000 ton battleship that crashed "controlled flight into terrain" on Yeti centuries ago.  The imperial Navy stripped it of all weapons, and valuable gear after the crash, but the hulk itself was left.  Obviously, this is a huge ship.  Over the years the racers have restored different parts of the ship to different levels of functionality.  Large parts are pressurized, and many areas have power and other infrastructure as well.


Abominable Snow Race Village
Furthermore, the Admiral Sir Yeti is surrounded by a makeshift collection of landed spaceships, temporary pressure tents, and more or less permanent structures. 

Dashing
Dashing is one of the fun parts of life in the Abominable Snow Race Village.  Basically, to get from one building to another, you get on special clothing, and a simple air supply, and "dash" to the next building.   Remember that the weather is basically the same as the top of Mt. Everest on Terra, so falling and hurting yourself can easily be deadly.