Panopontus is one of the first truly remarkable worlds one encounters on the tedious trek outwards from Tau Ceti and more civilized points into the marches proper. It is covered from pole to pole with an exobiota known colloquially as ‘exocoral’ and less colloquially by a series of names so jaw breakingly polysyllabic as to be pronounceable only to those terminally intered in universities. The exocoral shares certain similarities in form to the coral reefs of old earth except for the fact that it dosen’t grow underwater. Biologists point out that the coral is actually more akin to a calcium fixing fungus although the list of people to whom this detail might mater are few. The coral, some of it growing to a height of forty or fifty meters in the equatorial region, is colorful and beautiful. Unfortunately, walking tours are somewhat spoiled by the face meltingly extreme radiation which renders anyone foolish enough to leave the protection of the shielded cities without full body protection terminally sun burned….

Khalid Trezani - Where the F@#k Are We? A Survivor's Guide to the Persiad Marches

A major regional mineral corporation. They have a headquarters on Panopontus and their company credits are widely accepted in the eastern Marches.