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Man has lived upon Catachan longer than Imperial records can recall. The scout probes of the first colonists found a planet which looked deceptively green and fertile from the safety of orbit. When the giant colony ships crash landed the pioneers inside awoke from cryogenic slumber to find themselves marooned upon on of the most inhospitable places in the galaxy. Catachan is a Death World, perhaps the most notorious and dangerous of all the Death Worlds in the Imperium. Its jungles are home to some of the most predatory animals and plants encountered by man. The first settlers survived by the merest chance, holed-up inside the wreckage of their spacecraft, beseiged by the living jungle around them. Only the hardiest, quickest and luckiest ever survive on the Death World. The planet's few scattered settlements are fortresses surrounded by barren bedrock where the soil has been blasted bare to provide clear lines of fire. Even so, buildings never last long on Catachan. Lichens soon take root upon any surface, secreting a potent acid which crumbles even the most solidly constructed defences. Strange vines creep a hundred metres in a single night, and their constricting grip can crush a plasteel bunker or smash a tank like an eggshell. The people of Catachan must constantly build and rebuild. Wherever they construct their settlements the jungles grow more densely and become increasingly aggressive. The wild creatures of Catachan gather to repel the invaders. It is as if the whole planet were determined to rid itself of human intrusion. The people of this unique world are moulded by a life of constant battle. Children learn to shoot before they can walk. Only those who can shoot fast and straight ever reach adulthood. Outside the fragile domes a world wars against the human inhabitants, vicious creatures like the Catachan Devil lie waiting for the unwary. Every plant and every animal on Catachan is inimical to human life. Every creature is a carnivore. Every plant is poisonous. Some plants secrete a deadly pollen which saturates the air and invades filter systems. Other types of vegetation release sticky sap which holds a creature fast and slowly dissolves its flesh. Planetary Governor: There is no governor as such, only an overseer. The overseer is the Imperial Colonel Hermann Schwarz. He is in charge of the Imperium's recruitment drive on Catachan. Planet Type: Death World. Regime: In the few tiny settlements barbarism rules. Defence: Medium. Notable History: none. Notable Settlements: There are no real settlements as such. The Imperial Guard always keep a presence here, usually in the form of very big and heavily armoured tanks or gigantic mobile bases.
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