Rimworld #53219 is a small, remote planet in its single sun solar system. Known for having nothing of value that cannot be gathered from somewhere safer it was long left alone by humanity. It has a cold, harsh climate due to the extensive icesheets at both the north and south poles and early discoverers chalked it down as an ice planet, useless to the galaxy as a whole. Better research later showed that between the extensive polar ice there were swathes of inhospitable forest.
As explorers made landfall they soon found themselves overwhelmed. The danger of Rimworld planets is often overstated and many heroic tales of brave explorers are pure mythos. Rimworld #53219 is an exception; it is more perilous than any urban myth might suggest. The creatures in its forest are rarely seen but exceedingly dangerous. It is said that only one man returned from the original expedition and his ravings discouraged any further exploration. Some say he died shortly after. Others say he was taken away and locked up because all he said was simply too upsetting.
It is unclear which is true, or if any of it is, as the first exploration party made landfall more than two hundred years ago and much is lost to the annals of history.
When the first prisoners arrived in Camp Lamplight however they soon learned that the one thing which had never been a lie were the dangers of Rimworld #53219.
On Planet Sunrise, the nearest planet in the next solar system over, ruled a deeply bureaucratic moralist commission who had recently abolished the death penalty. Though it was a popular move they now had to deal with a very difficult question. What to do with all those criminals on death row? It shouldn’t have been a problem, the average amount of time it took to complete the paperwork for a legal execution was one hundred and twenty years, and most people died of old age waiting for their execution. But waiting for them all to die of old age just wasn’t the right look of things. They needed to set a benevolent example.
Rimworld #53219 provided the perfect solution. They would exile every death row inmate to a newly established outpost where they could reform through hard work and a strong community spirit. It was a truly moralist approach.
The eight hundred people on Planet Sunrise's death row were all packed into a ship with two hundred underperforming prison guards and were given a one-way ticket to Rimworld #53219 with provisions to last them a month.
It was a rough first month. A lot of people were done being prisoners and they walked off into the forest to build their own societies, away from the control of the prison system. The guards let them go. Unlike the prisoners, the guards had been told how dangerous the prison was. To this day they still find the bones of those who left that first day.
Leaving meant dying.
Through sweat and tears and no shortage of danger the prisoners built their own prison - not to keep themselves in, but to keep everything else out. Camp Lamplight looks nothing like a prison and is instead reminiscent of any other ramshackle frontier town.
Once a month supplies such as clothing, medicine, and food come in through a supply drop.
The town keeps the dangers of the forest at bay. It seems that whatever dangers lurk outside are kept away by the lights and lanterns that keep the town lit day and night, winter or summer.
Things have been this way for two hundred years.
These days the people who inhabit Camp Lamplight are not the hardened prisoners who founded it, but their descendants. These days Camp Lamplight exists in an uncomfortable struggle of identity between frontier town and prison and it is high time someone brings an end to that.
Galaxy standard is the language that is spoken between all planets. Almost all formal communication is done in English and there's very few people in the galaxy who don't know at least some galaxy standard. It’s the language of travellers, diplomats, and business. On all starships Galaxy standard is the required language of operation.
Whilst Galaxy Standard is considered the superior language, on planet Sunrise they’ve had their own language for centuries. Most planets have at least one dialect. Some planets have hundreds. The prisoners sent to Rimworld#53219 predominantly speak the Sunrise dialect but the guards and sheriff predominantly speak Galaxy Standard. These days Sunrise Dialect is the go-to language for everyone in Camp Lamplight, but many will still get by with some Galaxy Standard.
There’s no strong feelings around naming conventions in Camp Lamplight. People use the names they have heard in songs or read in books. Often they just use the names of their ancestors. These days preferences go strongly towards names of the Galaxy Standard.
If your name suits a cowboy, it will suit your character. Swedish names are considered old fashioned, but not inappropriate.