Surviving Perseverance means more than enduring its deserts, mountains, and frozen wastes—it means understanding how to adapt, how to trade, and when to run. Settlers here don’t just live – they fight for every breath, every meal, and every bullet.

Surviving the Frontier

Pioneer-Born Adaptations

The first settlers arrived centuries ago, expecting a planet they could terraform into something familiar. Instead, they encountered a world that refused to be tamed. Generations later, those who survived adapted in unexpected ways.

Many pioneer-born settlers developed biological adaptations suited specifically for Perseverance’s harsh environment. Families in the mountain settlements, such as the rugged Danner clan, evolved denser lungs, allowing them to thrive in the thin, oxygen-poor air at high altitudes. Others, like the desert-dwelling Vasquez family, gained tougher, thicker skin resistant to intense UV radiation and frequent sandstorms. Their children are often born with enhanced night vision, necessary for survival in desert communities where daylight heat forces activity into the cooler darkness.

"You know the Danner kids? Grew up in the peaks, they breathe mountain air like it’s sea-level breeze. Put them in Fallpoint, though, and they choke on the dust." — Jebediah Holt, frontier physician

Life Aboard the Port & Fallpoint

Fallpoint, built from the remains of the original generational ship that crashed centuries ago, serves as Perseverance’s political and technological heart. The elite—Governor Durn, the powerful Old Families, and senior Commonwealth Guard officers – live in relative luxury within the refurbished hull of the ship, insulated from the planet’s harsher realities. This creates a stark contrast with the rest of Perseverance, where most settlements struggle daily for basic necessities.

Above Fallpoint orbits the Port, Perseverance’s solitary spaceport, primarily staffed by technicians rather than permanent residents. Regular suborbital flights connect Fallpoint to this orbital hub, bringing in essential supplies and maintaining Commonwealth influence. The divide between Fallpoint’s privileged elite and the rugged settlers who populate the rest of the planet is deep and often tense, fueling resentment on both sides.

"The Governor and his folks live high in their shiny relic while we scrape by in the dirt below. They call it leadership. I call it arrogance." — Sara Lang, Fallpoint trader

Community Bonds & Traditions

Survival on Perseverance isn’t just about individual strength – it’s about community. Settlers have developed unique cultural traditions and rituals, deeply rooted in the harsh necessity of frontier life. Annual celebrations such as "Founders’ Day," commemorating the crash-landing of the original generational ship, involve communal feasts, storytelling, and practical competitions like sharpshooting, vehicle repairs, and wilderness survival challenges.

Community bonds are reinforced through daily rituals as well. Frontier towns gather regularly around communal fires or meeting halls to share news, trade goods, and ensure that no one is forgotten or left behind. This solidarity, forged from shared hardship, becomes a lifeline in times of crisis.

"We stick together, or we don’t survive. It’s that simple." — Benji Cole, caravan leader

The Struggles of Daily Life

Every settlement, from Fallpoint’s ruling elite to the smallest dust-town, faces relentless adversity. Perseverance is a world that seems actively hostile, where every ecosystem is designed to push settlers to their limits. In the deserts, scorching heat and sudden sandstorms claim the lives of those who underestimate their severity. On the wide-open plains, enormous megafauna can stampede through settlements, leaving destruction in their wake. In the mountains, thin air, freezing temperatures, and frequent rockslides turn even routine travel into a life-threatening gamble. In the frozen expanses, where ice and snow never thaw, the biting cold is as lethal as any outlaw's bullet.

Trade isn't just commerce – it's survival itself. With no vast oceans, the rivers and caravan routes are lifelines, connecting isolated communities scattered across the unforgiving landscape. If a settlement loses access to these vital arteries, it withers and dies. Even experienced traders tread carefully: a single misread of weather signs can lead to entire caravans vanishing without a trace, lost to flash floods, sandstorms, or sudden ice blizzards.

Violence permeates every facet of life here. Whether it's ruthless outlaws raiding a supply caravan, corporate enforcers squeezing miners for every drop of profit, or mysterious threats emerging from the wilderness, going unarmed is a quick path to a shallow grave. Danger isn't just common – it's expected, and settlers learn quickly to rely on themselves, their weapons, and the harsh lessons Perseverance never tires of teaching.

"Some planets welcome settlers. Perseverance don’t. This world’ll kill you in a dozen different ways before you even see your first outlaw."
— Kael Drummond, riverboat captain

The Economy of Perseverance

Mining: The Planet’s Beating Heart

Perseverance wasn’t settled for its beauty – it was settled for what’s buried beneath the rock. Mining fuels the economy on this harsh frontier, yet only a handful get rich while most barely survive. The largest mining outfits operate from heavily guarded corporate facilities where workers are treated more like indentured servants than valued employees. In contrast, wildcat miners are small-time prospectors staking dangerous, unregulated claims. They labor under constant threat, hoping to strike it rich before a rival gang or corporation swoops in to seize their hard-won claim. Additionally, a parallel black market thrives where not all minerals follow legal channels; smugglers traffic in rare metals, unstable isotopes, and illicit tech for those with deep pockets.

"You think you own your claim? Funny. So does the man with a bigger gun."

• Jesse Hale, pit boss, Iron Mesa Mine

Trade, Smuggling, and the Black Market

Without a Commonwealth-controlled supply chain, trade on Perseverance unfolds through a web of personal deals, bribes, and the bending – or outright breaking – of laws. River merchants have turned water routes into thriving trade hubs, knowing that controlling a waterway means controlling wealth as it connects distant settlements. At the same time, armed caravan convoys brave the perilous badlands, constantly exposed to ambushes from bandits, corporate raiders, or even worse adversaries. In this unregulated environment, smugglers and blockade runners move contraband – ranging from forbidden weapons to off-world technology and luxury goods – circumventing Commonwealth tariffs and red tape.

"You want something real valuable? Find something the Commonwealth don’t want you to have."

• Eliza Kane, Commonwealth Ranger

Ranching and Feeding the Frontier

Beyond the mines, the vast great plains sustain life on the frontier in another crucial way. Here, ranchers and hunters make their living by herding massive ironhorns or tracking dangerous predators for their valuable hides and meat. Ironhorn ranching is grueling but potentially rewarding – a well-kept herd can be worth more than gold, though the constant threat of rustlers looms large. Predator hunting is equally perilous; creatures like striders, storm wraiths, and sandcrawlers can fetch high prices, whether it’s for their hides, venom, or meat. In addition, nomadic traders traverse the plains, moving with the herds and the changing seasons to sell whatever they can wherever opportunity arises.

"A man who steals your horse is a thief. A man who steals your ironhorn is a dead man."

• Hector Vale, plains hunter

Hidden Mysteries and Legends

Abandoned Commonwealth Sites & Lost Expeditions

Not every Commonwealth facility on Perseverance has withstood the test of time. Many have been shut down, buried, or simply vanished without a trace. Glacier’s End, for instance, is a long-abandoned research station hidden in the frozen wastes, its silence hinting at the secret that led to its closure. Likewise, the Echo Caves – once a bustling mining colony – collapsed and were sealed off decades ago after workers began disappearing mysteriously. Adding to the intrigue is the recurring phenomenon of the Vanishing Convoy: every few years, a fully armed trade convoy disappears on the high plains, leaving behind no wreckage or bodies, only unanswered questions.

"No such thing as ghosts. Just men who go looking for ghosts and don’t come back."

• Lena Holt, mountain guide

Strange Ruins and Unexplained Phenomena

Not everything on Perseverance is of Earthly origin – or even from this century. In one stretch of desert, the Never-Ending Storm rages continuously, a lightning tempest that has persisted for generations, ensuring that those who dare investigate never return. Scattered across the wilderness stand the Black Obelisks, ancient stone pillars that emerge from the landscape unmarked by history, their origins lost to time. Beneath the surface, certain underground tunnels echo with strange, inexplicable sounds, as if something unseen is still moving deep within the darkness.

"You ever hear the wind whisper your name? First time, it’s funny. Second time, you start walking faster."

• Elias Morro, ice runner

What’s Next?

Surviving Perseverance isn’t just about hard work or good luck—it’s about power. And power belongs to the people willing to fight for it.

In the next post, we’ll look at the factions and figures that shape Perseverance — from the Commonwealth’s ruling elite to outlaw lords and corporate overlords.