The smallest planet in the Artesia system, Artesia III is also, after Artesia II, the coldest world orbiting the system's star, with average daily temperatures hovering around minus seventy standard degrees. Life outside the shielded cities is practically impossible for species that have not evolved to deal with the planet's treacherous atmospheric conditions. Artesia III is prone to gale-force winds, reaching over three hundred miles per hour on a calm day and more than three times that during the storm season, which lasts almost half the local year. These winds scour the surface, wearing away at the ice and volcanic glass that form much of the planet's surface. The miniscule particles of ice and glass borne by the winds will lacerate the lungs and flay the skin off any but the most protected species, necessitating the use of armoured, sealed exosuits suits when abroad. When the noxious gasses from the world's vast lava fields are thrown in, the planet's atmosphere becomes truly inimical to life. Life does exist here though, with endemic subspecies of cold-resistant creatures such as tauntauns and wampas as well as the native ice-wyrms finding a way to exist in the brutal environment. The one area where breathing filters may be dispensed with is deep within the Lagranda cave network in the northern hemisphere, where no winds penetrate to whip up the fine glass and ice shards.

Despite the danger, Artesia III possesses a significant economic draw, which resulted in the afore-mentioned shielded cities springing up to take advantage of the unique Artesian volcanic glass, formed by the unusual mixture of minerals, great heat, and freezing temperatures. Artesian volcanic glass comes in a tremendous range of natural hues, from vibrant cobalt blue, through brilliant crimson and palest yellow. The glass is both strong, and, unlike normal glass, relatively pliable once cut into thin sheets and polished smooth, and forming one of the bases of the system's unique space collages.

Artisans from all over the sector travel to this world to study under the glass shapers here, and use the glass in their own creations. The sale of glass off-world is highly regulated, and it commands a high price in both local and interstellar markets. This has led to some smuggling activities in the smaller towns, and local authorities are constantly on the lookout for undesirable sorts. Most of the larger settlements boast at least one art college dedicated to the use of the glass in sculpture, mosaic, and even painting, along with associated hostels and dormitories for students to stay while they study.