Taschkanur

"On Taschkanur, Narda and her friend Rollo are forced laborers. They learn of the dangerous Schlicktaucher creatures and the harsh conditions."
-- Narrator, Booklet 037

Taschkanur is the fourth planet of the double sun Reshnan, a remote and inhospitable world that served as a Gray Guard-administered internment camp for captured Drivers following the destruction of Zoe in 2499-2500. The planet is the primary setting of Booklet 037 and the point of departure for Booklet 038. It is home to the Schlicktaucher, an intelligent native species whose subterranean habitat was threatened by human terraforming activities, and whose intervention proved decisive in the liberation of the camp's prisoners.

Taschkanur occupies a pivotal place in the saga of Die Terranauten: it is the crucible in which Narda transforms from a captive girl into the woman who would navigate Space II without a mistletoe. It is also the site of Whity's death -- the first of the devastating losses that would destroy the original companion group from Asen-Ger's Lodge.

Physical Description

Orbital Characteristics

Taschkanur orbits the double sun Reshnan as the system's fourth planet. The binary star configuration produces extreme and unpredictable environmental conditions on the planet's surface, governed by two distinct climatic cycles:

• Mesalith-Stabils -- A period of relative stability and tolerable conditions, when the twin suns align in a way that produces more predictable weather patterns. During Mesalith-Stabils, outdoor work and surface travel are feasible, though never comfortable.
• Maliut-Zeit -- A "fiery time," a period of intense heat and environmental upheaval caused by the shifting gravitational and radiative interplay of the two suns. During the Maliut-Zeit, surface conditions become extremely dangerous, with elevated temperatures and atmospheric instability.

These alternating cycles make Taschkanur a harsh world for human habitation, requiring constant adaptation and imposing natural limits on both the internees' forced labor and any potential escape attempts.

Geography and Terrain

The planet's surface is dominated by rugged, difficult terrain. Key geographical features include:

• Die-Alles-Schufen -- A vast expanse of black-brown organic mass that constitutes the primary habitat of the Schlicktaucher. This strange, living substrate -- part biological, part geological -- extends across significant portions of the planet's surface and into underground cavern systems. It is the foundation of the Schlicktaucher civilization and the source of the Still Waters, a liquid with remarkable healing properties.
• Subterranean cavern systems -- Extensive caves beneath the Die-Alles-Schufen, carved or grown by the Schlicktaucher over generations. These caverns are cool, damp, and suffused with the Still Waters. It was in one such cavern that Narda was brought after her rescue by Turg al Togman, and where she regained her PSI abilities.
• Open terrain and work zones -- Areas of the surface where the internees were assigned forced labor duties, traversed by caterpillar-like vehicles known as Crawlers.

Settlements

• Olunyan -- The only city on Taschkanur and the administrative centre of the Gray Guards' operations on the planet. Olunyan houses the Gray Guard base, the camp administration, and the spaceport. Under the secret Alpha Order, internees were covertly transported from the camp to Olunyan for processing and onward transfer to unknown destinations -- a sinister operation that Narda discovered during her imprisonment.
• Wabenstadt -- The only major settlement on Taschkanur outside Olunyan. Its role in relation to the internment camp is not fully detailed, but its existence suggests a modest civilian or colonial presence on the planet predating or concurrent with the camp's establishment.

The Internment Camp

Establishment and Purpose

Following the destruction of Zoe by Kaiser Force in 2499-2500, Max von Valdec's regime embarked on a systematic campaign to neutralise the Drivers as a political and military force. Thousands of captured Drivers were stripped of their PSI abilities through forced brain operations -- a procedure amounting to lobotomisation -- and dispersed across internment camps throughout the empire.

Taschkanur served as one of these camps. Its remoteness from the core worlds, its harsh environmental conditions, and the natural dangers posed by the Schlicktaucher made it an effective prison with few prospects for escape. The planet was chosen precisely because it offered no easy avenue of flight: even if prisoners escaped the camp perimeter, the hostile terrain, the Maliut-Zeit firestorms, and the Schlicktaucher would likely kill them before they could reach any means of off-world transport.

Administration

The camp was overseen by a dual command structure:

• Mal Bakrit -- The camp director, responsible for the day-to-day administration of the internment facility, the forced labor assignments, and the management of the prisoner population.
• Rinada Briden (also known as Queen Rinada Briden) -- The commander of the Gray Guards garrison on Taschkanur, responsible for security, enforcement, and the military operations that kept the camp functioning.
• Alexander Murham -- The Kaiser Corporation representative on Taschkanur, overseeing corporate interests on the planet. His presence confirms that the internment camp served not only a military-political function but also an economic one: the forced labor of the imprisoned Drivers generated value for the Kaiser Corporation.

Conditions

Life in the Taschkanur internment camp was brutal. The prisoners endured:

• Forced labor -- Internees were assigned work details across the planet's surface, transported to work sites aboard caterpillar-like Crawlers. The nature of the labor is not fully specified, but it was physically demanding and dangerous, conducted in an environment that alternated between the relative stability of Mesalith-Stabils and the lethal heat of Maliut-Zeit.
• Sarym-Shield technology -- Devices deployed within and around the camp that blocked PSI abilities, preventing the imprisoned Drivers from using their telepathic and psionic powers to communicate, resist, or escape. The Sarym-Shield was the technological linchpin of the camp's security: without it, a concentration of Drivers would have possessed formidable collective power.
• The threat of lobotomy -- Many prisoners had already been subjected to the brain operation that destroyed their PSI abilities, rendering them "Silent Drivers." For those who retained their powers, the constant threat of lobotomisation hung over them. Rollo was among those who had been operated on; his loss of PSI abilities would later prove fatal when the SONNENWIND entered Space II (Booklet 038).
• Schlicktaucher attacks -- The native Schlicktaucher posed a constant and deadly threat to the prisoners. The creatures, whose habitat was being encroached upon by the terraforming activities associated with the camp, attacked humans who ventured into or near the Die-Alles-Schufen. Jalas, a friend of Narda and Rollo, was killed in a Schlicktaucher attack (Booklet 037).
• Secret deportations -- Under the Alpha Order, a clandestine directive from the top of the Council, selected internees were secretly transported to Olunyan and then off-world to unknown destinations. The purpose of these deportations was never fully revealed, but their secrecy suggests they served a purpose beyond simple imprisonment -- possibly experimentation, forced service, or elimination.

Transport and Equipment

• MHD-Glider -- Magnetohydrodynamic gliders used for aerial transport across Taschkanur's surface. One such glider was the target of Narda's escape plan.
• Crawler -- Caterpillar-tracked ground vehicles used to transport internees to and from work assignments.

Native Species: The Schlicktaucher

The Schlicktaucher are the indigenous intelligent species of Taschkanur. They inhabit the planet's subterranean cavern systems within the Die-Alles-Schufen, a vast organic mass that serves as both their habitat and their source of sustenance.

Physical Nature

The Schlicktaucher are adapted to the black-brown organic substrate of the Die-Alles-Schufen. They move through this medium with ease, "diving" through the schlick (mud/silt) much as aquatic creatures move through water -- hence their name (German: Schlick = silt/mud, Taucher = diver).

Intelligence and Society

For much of the human presence on Taschkanur, the Schlicktaucher were regarded as dangerous but mindless predators -- animals to be avoided or exterminated. This assessment was catastrophically wrong. Narda, after being rescued by the Schlicktaucher Turg al Togman, discovered that they are fully intelligent beings with their own society, communication, and sense of territory and justice.

The Schlicktaucher's hostility toward humans was not random aggression but a defensive response: the terraforming activities of the human colonists and the internment camp infrastructure were destroying their habitat. The Die-Alles-Schufen -- their home, food source, and cultural foundation -- was being systematically dismantled by human expansion.

The Still Waters

Deep within the Schlicktaucher caverns exist pools of a liquid known as the Still Waters. This substance possesses remarkable healing properties. When Narda was brought into the caverns by Turg al Togman after her glider crash, exposure to the Still Waters appears to have been instrumental in restoring her PSI abilities -- powers that had been suppressed, perhaps by the Sarym-Shield or the trauma of her captivity. This restoration was critical: without her regained PSI powers, the subsequent assault on the camp and the escape aboard the SONNENWIND would not have been possible.

Turg al Togman

Turg al Togman is the only individually named Schlicktaucher in the saga. He rescued Narda from the surface after her glider crashed during the failed escape attempt, bringing her into the cavern system. Turg al Togman believed Narda was "important" -- whether through some form of native prescience, PSI sensitivity, or simply observation of her behaviour -- and chose to save rather than harm her. Through Narda's telepathic abilities, communication between human and Schlicktaucher became possible for the first time, leading to the alliance that would liberate the camp.

Key Events

The Arrival of Prisoners (2500)

After the destruction of Zoe, the Gray Guards transported captured Drivers to internment camps across the empire. Narda, Rollo, Greeny, Whity, and other survivors of the catastrophe were brought to Taschkanur. Booklet 037 opens with Narda's flashback to the fall of Zoe: she witnessed David terGorden's escape in a spaceship as Kaiser Force overwhelmed the planet, before being captured by the Gray Guards and transported to the camp.

Narda's Imprisonment and the Death of Jalas (2500-2501)

On Taschkanur, Narda and Rollo endured forced labor while Narda clung to her belief that David terGorden was still alive -- a faith that Rollo and others dismissed as naive. The already grim conditions worsened when their friend Jalas was killed in a Schlicktaucher attack during a work detail. This death hardened Narda's resolve to escape.

Intelligence from Yamaysch (Early 2501)

A newcomer to the camp, Yamaysch, brought critical information from the outside world: a planet called Ginger in the Kashmir System had successfully defied a Gray Guard attack, and rumors persisted that David terGorden was alive. Narda also discovered the existence of the Alpha Order and the secret deportations to Olunyan. This intelligence transformed Narda's vague desire to escape into a concrete plan.

The Escape Attempt and Whity's Death (Early 2501)

Narda devised a plan to steal an MHD-Glider and flee with Rollo, Greeny, and Whity. The plan was betrayed -- the identity of the betrayer is not specified, but the camp administration was waiting for them. During the attempt, Whity was killed, the first of the three devastating losses from Asen-Ger's original Lodge group that would define Narda's transformation.

Narda, Rollo, and Greeny managed to steal a glider, but it crashed. Narda was separated from the others and presumed dead. Rollo, believing he had lost Narda, fell into despair.

The SONNENWIND Ambush (Early 2501)

Concurrent with the escape attempt, the SONNENWIND, a Driver scout ship captained by Cler Masurin and Yoron Errehan, arrived at Taschkanur seeking supplies and information. The Gray Guards, under Rinada Briden's command, ambushed and captured the crew, imprisoning them in the camp. The Gray Guards also confiscated the SONNENWIND's reserve mistletoes -- a theft that would severely limit the ship's ability to navigate Space II during the subsequent escape (Booklet 038).

Narda's Rescue and the Schlicktaucher Alliance (Early 2501)

After the glider crash, Narda was rescued from the surface by Turg al Togman, a Schlicktaucher, and brought into the subterranean cavern system of the Die-Alles-Schufen. Immersed in the Still Waters, Narda made a profound discovery: her PSI abilities had returned, possibly stronger than before.

Using her restored telepathy, Narda achieved what no human on Taschkanur had managed: communication with the Schlicktaucher. She learned that they were intelligent beings whose habitat was being systematically destroyed by human terraforming. In a display of the diplomatic skill that would serve her throughout the saga, Narda convinced the Schlicktaucher that she and certain other humans were allies, not enemies. She proposed a plan: the Schlicktaucher would attack the internment camp, creating the chaos necessary for a mass escape, and in return, Narda would advocate for recognition of their intelligence and territorial rights before the Council.

The Assault on the Camp (Early 2501)

Narda orchestrated a coordinated assault using her PSI powers and the Schlicktaucher forces. The creatures -- previously regarded by the Gray Guards as mere animals -- struck the camp with devastating effect. In the chaos:

• Rollo and Greeny were freed from imminent recapture.
• The imprisoned crew of the SONNENWIND -- including Cler Masurin, Yoron Errehan, Mashram Eschrit, Kar Dougster, Mil Fraumin, Rogmash Al, Jessica Xiam, and Dania Makiri -- were liberated.
• The escapees reached the SONNENWIND at the spaceport.

The Escape from Taschkanur (Early 2501)

The combined group fled Taschkanur aboard the SONNENWIND. However, the escape was compromised from the start:

• The Gray Guards had confiscated the ship's reserve mistletoes, leaving only a single, already weakening mistletoe for Space II navigation.
• Mashram Eschrit, a former Lodge Master from Zoe who joined the group during the escape, was secretly a traitor working for the Kaiser Corporation -- a fact that would not be revealed until Susmandor (Booklet 038).
• Rollo and Greeny, having undergone the brain operation that destroyed their PSI abilities, could not contribute to the Lodge's navigation and were dangerously vulnerable to the alien influences of Space II.

The SONNENWIND was tracked by two combat Ringos as it fled Taschkanur. Narda urged the Lodge to use their last mistletoe to escape into Space II, beginning the harrowing odyssey chronicled in Booklet 038 -- an odyssey that would see the deaths of both Rollo and Greeny before Narda's unprecedented mistletoe-less navigation to Aqua and her reunion with David terGorden.

Aftermath

Fate of the Camp

The narrative does not return to Taschkanur after the SONNENWIND's escape. The fate of the internment camp, its remaining prisoners, the Gray Guard garrison, and the Schlicktaucher alliance forged by Narda is left unresolved. It is plausible that the Gray Guards reasserted control after the Schlicktaucher assault; equally, the demonstration of Schlicktaucher intelligence and military capability may have fundamentally altered the power dynamics on the planet.

Significance in the Saga

Taschkanur's importance to Die Terranauten is less as a planet than as a crucible of transformation:

• For Narda: Taschkanur is where she loses everything -- her freedom, her friends, her belief that she is powerless -- and discovers that she is anything but. Her escape from the camp, her alliance with the Schlicktaucher, and her regained PSI powers set her on the path from captive girl to the woman who navigates Space II without a mistletoe, receives the first mistletoe from David terGorden's new Yggdrasil, and ultimately becomes a Dragon Witch of Adzharis.
• For Rollo: Taschkanur is both prison and, briefly, liberation. His escape from the camp gives way to the odyssey aboard the SONNENWIND, where his lobotomised state leaves him defenceless against Space II and ultimately contributes to his death on El'ait.
• For the Schlicktaucher: The events of Booklet 037 represent the first recognition of their intelligence by any human. Whether this recognition translates into lasting change remains unknown.
• For the saga's themes: Taschkanur embodies the systematic brutality of Valdec's regime -- the forced labor, the lobotomies, the Sarym-Shields, the secret deportations under the Alpha Order. It is the closest the saga comes to depicting a concentration camp, and its liberation by an alliance between human prisoners and an indigenous species carries unmistakable thematic weight.

Notable Individuals Associated with Taschkanur

Prisoners

Gray Guard and Administration

SONNENWIND Crew (Captured on Taschkanur)

Native Species

Appearances

Connections

• Reshnan -- The double sun that Taschkanur orbits as the fourth planet
• Zoe -- The destroyed Driver homeworld whose survivors were interned on Taschkanur
• Schlicktaucher -- The intelligent native species of Taschkanur
• Die-Alles-Schufen -- The organic substrate that serves as the Schlicktaucher habitat
• Still Waters -- Healing liquid found in the Schlicktaucher caverns; instrumental in restoring Narda's PSI abilities
• Turg al Togman -- The Schlicktaucher who rescued Narda and brokered the alliance
• Olunyan -- The only city on Taschkanur; Gray Guard administrative base
• Wabenstadt -- The only major settlement outside Olunyan
• Mesalith-Stabils -- The stable climatic period on Taschkanur
• Maliut-Zeit -- The fiery climatic period on Taschkanur
• Gray Guards -- The military force that administered the internment camp
• Alpha Order -- The secret directive governing covert deportations from the camp
• Sarym-Shield -- PSI-blocking technology used to suppress Driver abilities in the camp
• SONNENWIND -- The Driver scout ship that was captured and later used for the escape
• Narda -- The PSI-girl whose imprisonment and liberation on Taschkanur is the central narrative of Booklet 037
• Rollo -- Narda's companion in captivity; escaped Taschkanur but killed on El'ait
• Whity -- Killed during the escape from Taschkanur
• Kaiser Corporation -- The corporate entity whose representative oversaw operations on the planet
• Max von Valdec -- The Lord Colonel whose regime established the internment system