The Barren

Thick layers of ash and a notable mass-extinction event in the geological record coincide with material previously extracted from Grunur datacrystals, suggesting the Grunur firebombed … with a gelling incendiary roughly seven million years ago.

Widespread deforestation of the planet's surface disrupted local ecosystems, and the lack of oxygen-fixing vegetation gradually depleted the planet's atmosphere over the next sixty-thousand years.

Several exemplary Baol fossils have been recovered, revealing the long-lost species to have been a Hive Mind: billions of plantoid units working together as a whole, like the leaves and roots and branches of a tree. Dendrochronology suggests individual Baol specimens had lifespans in the hundreds of years.

The lack of structural ruins on … appears to be the result of the Baol's reliance on remarkable organic technology, from ships and buildings to wetware biocomputers, and the ravages of time.

Coordinates describing the location of another former Baol colony have been extracted from a shattered Grunur datacrystal! Perhaps this planet will boast some of the riches sought after by the Baol's ancient enemies.