Calder II
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Calder II, better known by those working in the Calder system as Olivia, is a world of varied climates, varied life, and varied history. She is filled with lush life but also the shadows of tales of loss and death, in the past. Host to a lost settlement, and more recently a place of refuge for the lawless, now banished from the world by the fresh new Federation fortress in Calder, Calder II is barely yet explored, and the majority of those now living and working on Calder are scientists from many different fields, primarily in the planetary sciences or some form of anthropology.
Calder System
Although the Calder system fell within Federation space when the lines for the Romulan Neutral Zone were drawn, Olivia is a very significant part of Romulan history; the artifacts found there pre-date the settling of Romulus. Not much is known for certain about how this settlement began, but what is known is that they were part of the convoy from Vulcan that left sometime during Earth's 5th century. The journey took life times to make and while the rest of the slower than light colony ships continued on, one of them tried to make it on Olivia. Some accounts say there were 16 vessels, but only 11 colony ships can be confirmed by records on Vulcan, including the one accounted for on Olivia, so if there were others, they were likely lost or continued in other unknown directions and may or may not have reached other destinations and attempted settlements of their own. Early Romulan settlers on these scattered worlds are known as Debrune and many of their descendants live on today as outer worlds of the Romulan Star Empire.
Culture
The Early Romulans on Olivia established a number of villages and did grow in population for a time, as the archaeological records can prove. One of the various names the present day Romulans refer to the planet of Calder II as is Sahraer Teillh, meaning "the precious oasis". It has also been called Tie'rehvie meaning "the untamed world". It is unclear what the settlers themselves named their world, as their glyphs while Vulcan in nature are still being argued about in issues of vocabulary and pronunciation, and are further complicated by the uncovering of more unidentified glyph systems that developed after the settlement was established, some of which are entirely unlike anything from Vulcan at all and do not lend themselves to reading easily- these late marks were mainly uncovered very recently at a new excavation area.
Archaeologists and adventurers, including Captain Jean Luc Picard, have been uncovering precious findings on Calder II for over two decades. However, until recently the area was also plagued with rogues and bandits. Picard's own expedition fell pray to mercenaries, and it was not uncommon for newly acquired discoveries to be stolen and sold on the black market (often finding their way back to Romulus, as well as into many private collections).
The Federation's growing interests in the Calder System, particularly in the discoveries on Olivia, played a large role in the decision to locate the new Ithaca class starbase in the system and establish a Starfleet effort to better uncover, document and preserve the priceless record of life on Olivia, both the brief humanoid history and it's active ecosystems. The primary dig site on Olivia is in a desert region and has been established for the last twenty years. Here there are largely only two landscapes- Sand, sand, and more sand, and rock face. The majority of discoveries have been located in this particular region of the planet, and it is largely thought that the settlers identified with such a climate because it resembled a mild version of their origin world- Vulcan. Another belief is that the area was once well vegetated, either by irrigation, or by it's nature and the desert only encroached and shifted over the region later, possibly due to some evidence of a slight change in it's orbit that could have affected many of the different environments on the planet- deserts oceans and forests alike. For the past two decades this primary site has been the one most visited and studied. The camp central to the desert digs presently hosts 140 scientists and their support staff on average, and can see hundreds of people come through in the year. The work on a nice day is hard in the relentless sun and dry sandy conditions.
By contrast, the newest site, discovered in 2381, is entirely swamp-like and deep within a dense jungle area. While searching for an artifact a Romulan Ambassador was discovered to be trying to recover in secret (in co-operation with some powerful Romulans back home), Lt Dhow and his team of Scientists uncovered an entirely unexpected settlement. Believed to be an offshoot village from the main settlement, the site proves them to differ in many ways from the settlers of the desert site. Their writing system is vastly different, but it is hoped that deciphering it will lend some light to the rest of the mysterious glyphs commonly found at the primary site. Challenges presented by working at the new secondary dig site are quite different and include a great deal of mud and biting bugs on a nice day. The area also suffers a great deal from an intense and dangerous hurricane season that makes working next to impossible for some periods. About 50 people work on the site, many of them posted directly from the staff on Starbase 60, but also include a number of contractors and civilian scientists.
Both sites are perimeter patrolled by Marines who also train from a modest planetary camp of their own. On Olivia they train and defend the scientist camps. Recently, the last of the lawless holdouts left from the days before the construction of Starbase 60 have been driven from Olivia, in large part due to the efforts of the SF Marines based there. Now they continue to patrol but turn to a new task of helping to establish permanent infrastructure, not only for their own camp, but safer shelter and dependable water and power resources for the archaeological sites.
Other scientists and explorers may be found on temporary studies in a variety of locations on Olivia studying its many different climates and eco-systems, including mountains, plains, oceans, islands, and frigid zones. A few orbital satellites monitor and record weather patterns and take data being used for detailed cartography. Sensors and beacons placed around the planet provide information from the ground on weather activity and seismic information. All of this data is being processed and compiled back on the Starbase.
History
While it has been hotly debated in the Federation as to what happened to the early Romulans on Olivia and how their thriving young civilization came to an end so abruptly, recent discoveries have led to a new theory, that they left the planet entirely. They had no means of leaving of their own accord, so such a theory would assume they had help from others off world. The only others they would have been able to contact would have been the rest of the convoy they broke away from to settle Olivia in the first place. Those Colony ships that went on to settle many planets now in Romulan Territory were referred to as the Debrune. The Debrune Romulans would go on later make another joint exodus and settle the present planet of Romulus. Indeed, some evidence can be found to support the idea that some Debrune later at least visited the Olivian Romulans, though the record is not very clear on when, for how long, or for what purposes. This theory is currently unproven but is a strong contender with others, which are not supported as consistantly by the evidence, such as starvation, pestilence, or war.
There are many conflicting sources about the origins of the Romulans and their separation from their Vulcan cousins. Some believe due to some differences in their physiology, they were actually two different humanoid races that originated on Vulcan and lived together until the departure of the Romulans later. There is also one far-fetched idea that claims that Romulus was the home world and Vulcans, being pacifists, left Romulus and settled Vulcan. Such an account is very Romulan centric and probably has its roots in historical propaganda. Very few "factual" records can be trusted because of the nature of self centric historical accounts and the high probability that the truth has been altered over time. Even the Vulcan accounts are suspect as the Vulcan culture underwent a great deal of change at the same time and may also be subject to matters of opinion and perspective prior to the complete adoption of the now prevelant culture of the Vulcan race. It is the hope that scientific study of physical records both provided through archaeological study and through genetic research of the descendant lines will uncover the truth over time.
SB60 GM's Note- There are an overwhelming number of various stories about the Exodus from Vulcan online. Unfortunately many of them disagree (on ST.com alone there are more than 4 conflicting accounts or theories!) In an effort to promote consistency in game play the information presented above will be considered standard story for Starbase 60. The references to Picard's visit to Calder are taken from the TNG episode "Gambit"