A bleak world of barren rock, fire, and water, Nuswatta spins alone around its parent star, free from the influence of any companions. The global ocean is not tidal and has never produced life forms more complex than simple algae and phytoplankton. The higher-order flora and fauna that currently exist on Nuswatta today were imported by Cronese settlers long ago. The terrestrial surface is bare igneous rock, wholly unsuitable for the large-scale cultivation of crops, although some researchers believe that this may not have always been the case. Some suggest that a supervolcanic event may have eradicated early life on Nuswatta and ravaged the landscape, as indeed the most distinctive feature on the planet is a massive crater that was once an active caldera, now long extinct and surrounded by a ring of much younger lava fields.

This crater is Nuswatta's main attraction, being the ancient site of Xim the Despot's famous Forbidden Gardens, mentioned by Vicendi in his Arturum Galactinum. The gardens were built after Xim conquered the religious enclave that ruled Nuswatta from the High Fane of Xor, the ruined foundations of which still exist under the streets of the modern settlement. When Xim's Empire itself collapsed, the Forbidden Gardens also fell into ruin, and most of the original specimens on display there withered and died. Much of the legendary gardens have since been restored through the efforts of Cronese scholars and Republic philanthropists throughout the ages, although there is always some debate over the accuracy of some exhibits.