LETTERS

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Your recent meal reminded you that the crew delivering the most different FOOD items (that is, the widest variety of FOOD) to its Galactic Consortium trade agent receives a Fussy Eater Bonus of four times the base value of its non-FOODS.

Josta

Reptilians with an almost genetic resistance to change. Josta move slowly, considering and reconsidering all sides of every issue before making a decision, and have a fanatical insistence that even the smallest details be precisely as they expect them to be. Trade with Josta can be an excruciating exercise, but an extremely profitable one given their scrupulous honesty and cultural bias against haggling and negotiation. Bureaucracies are said to operate on Josta time.

In deference to Josta sensibilities, Mooncursers receive a Purity Bonus of ten cedricks if their cargo contains no UNETHICAL items.

CHER

Cher is a rocky, barren meteoroid that has criss-crossed the galaxy, scaring entire planetary populations as it draws near. Its erratic trajectory remains unexplained. A fanatic cult has arisen with Cher at its center, and pilgrims travel long distances with their murgaleens to touch down on Cher's surface and leave a piece of themselves and their murgaleen behind.

Mooncursers are always mindful of the dangers of Cher and its kin, and are paid a Hazard Bonus of 25 cedricks whenever more than a third of the cargo they deliver to a Galactic Consortium agent is DANGEROUS. In such an event, however, the crew becomes ineligible for any FOOD, DRUG, or RARE bonuses from that agent.

Cher is currently positioned at Galactic Positioning Coordinates [47.7600 N, 122.1909 W]

murgaleen

A small, furry, completely unremarkable animal that generally divides its time among climbing trees, picking fruit, and making more murgaleens. The locals like to create large parks for them to live in their cities, although they rarely take them as pets. The phrase flidding like murgaleens used to be common, but that figure of speech has been in extremely poor taste ever since the murgaleens' role in the Canary Incident was brought to light.

Murgaleens' prodigious sex drive has a spillover effect on local commerce, and Mooncursers capitalize on this phenomenon by noting that the value of all non-SEX items is increased by three if a SEX item of the same category (ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MINERAL, or MANUFACTURED) is included.

Cess

The Cess species most closely resembles a combination of a string mop and a large Terran alligator. They require an unusually humid climate, so rarely leave their home planet of Pilarvane. They are canny businesspeople, ever aware of the best side of a deal, though they can sometimes be tricked into buying goods that remind them of the petroglyphs in their ancestral caves. They can also turn violent rather suddenly, and their sharp teeth and powerful jaws are the subject of countless Mooncurser tales. The trick is to keep them well-medicated. The ship delivering the most DRUGs to their Galactic Consortium trade agent earns an Addiction Bonus equal to the square of their number of UNETHICAL items.

Tolt

A fiercely independent people who take pathological pride in their uniqueness, making sure to point out their achievements and unusual traits to anyone who will listen. Ironically, for outsiders this creates a universal commonality among all Tolt: mind-boggling dullness.

The Tolt's passion for populating their museums does create financial opportunity for the enterprising Mooncurser in the form of the Museum Bonus. Each set of five different RARE items earns a bonus of 30 cedricks. Sets of six instead earn 40, while sets of seven are worth 50.