Lava tornadoes are a common phenomenon on Holador IV. The planet’s vast volcanic fields heat up the air above them, and cold air from the mountains and glaciers rushes in to take its place, resulting in spectacular wind funnels up to ten kilometres across above the lava fields. Wind speeds of over four hundred kilometres an hour sweep up chunks of glowing magma, resulting in the bases of the tornadoes looking like wheels of fire. As the lava rapidly cools, it is borne upward and ejected out the top and sides of the whirlwind, resulting in a rain of pebbles and rocks that can devastate wide areas. Fortunately for the world’s inhabitants, these tornadoes are largely confined to the lava fields and the areas immediately adjacent to them, as a planetwide onset of these devastating weather phenomena would likely wipe out any civilization on the surface. In spite of the danger, wind direction outside the lava fields is quite predictable, and some of the mountain views are spectacular, leading to a small but regular inflow of tourists from elsewhere in the system.

While the planet’s lava fields cover a good fifth of its surface, most of Holador IV is shrouded in deep glaciers. What land area the ice does not cover is barren black rock, littered with huge boulders the size of large freighters. There is no surface water or surviving vegetation more sophisticated than moss or lichen. Despite the hostile environment, the world serves as the system’s breadbasket. Over the centuries, the local government has constructed vast greenhouses and hydroponic farms, both burrowed into the rock and ice or ray-shielded against the elements. In the process of construction, they levelled mountains and bored deep into the glaciers to create towns sheltered from the high wind. Huge numbers of droids and automated harvesters tend and harvest the greenhouse produce, which ranges from grains to leafy vegetables and edible fungus. This bounty feeds the entire system with enough vitamins, minerals, and essential elements to enable the system’s population to thrive despite the hostile conditions prevalent on all four worlds.

Despite this, some food is still imported into the system, as there is a noticeable lack of animal protein in the inhabitants’ diet. Raising animals for meat in the system has proven to be both costly and prone to failure, and so only the rich regularly indulge in delicacies such as nerf steak, grilled blind cave fish and the like, while most of the workers make do with a weekly ration of mystery meat sausage or spam. Despite this rationing, there is little unrest in the system’s workforce, as they are generally well looked after by the government.