Mediger Scale

Measures the relative gravity of a planet, comparing it to a human norm.

Scale

The Mediger scale is designed to sort planets into ranges best suited for colonization (called the Shelby range after Ravinger Shelby, the first head of what would become the Colonization Bureau). For this reason, the scale is more granular within the Shelby range than on either side of its walls (Medigers 2 and 6). Between Medigers 1 and 2 is the cardio floor, the place where health issues start to crop up without significant genetic modification, and anyone born on a world under the cardio floor is by convention known as a light gravity worlder, or in the slang, a "featherworlder." The cardio ceiling is commonly placed between Medigers 7 and 8; Anseahla, in the latter category, is the heaviest world in the Alliance. Some debate exists on whether Selnor counts as a heavy gravity world, but in general worlds have to be in Mediger 8+ to produce people commonly known as heavy gravity worlders.

Qufiil required the creation of a Mediger 9 rating. Until the Faulfenza were discovered, worlds with an 8+ rating were said to be over the Mediger ceiling, the point at which most Alliance citizens can no longer adapt without significant and invasive genetic modification. Eight plus is still too high for target colony worlds.

Mediger Number	Gravity Range	Worlds in this Range	Notes
0	zero g to microgravity	Moon (.17g)
1	.25 to .5	Escutcheon (.32g) Mars (.38g)	"light gravity world"/"featherworlders" Between Mediger 1 and 2 is the cardio floor.
2	.5 to .75	Malarai Homeworld (.70)	Shelby range begins
3	.75 to 1	Chatcaavan Throneworld (.75ish) Phoenix-Nest (.82)
4	1	Earth Alliance Standard Gravity	Terra's gravity field is still considered the gold standard for health. All starbases, outposts, and Fleet vessels are calibrated to ASG.
5	1 to 1.5	Seersana (1.45)
6	1.5 to 2		Shelby range ends
7	2 to 2.5	Selnor (2.75)	Between Mediger 7 and 8 is the cardio ceiling.
8	2.5 to 3	Anseahla (2.847)	"heavy gravity worlders" Mediger 8 is also called the Mediger ceiling.
9	3+	Qufiil

"New Year Worlds" - "Because so many people make resolutions at the start of the new year to lose that little bit of extraweight? And worlds with gravity like this, just a few shades off of Terran norm, but without being noticeably lighter, do that without the effort or the trips to the clinic for metabolic therapy."

Dealing with Mediger Shear

• acclimatization
• hardware
• temporary pills/shots

Mediger shear is the difference between a person's birthworld mediger rating and the rating of the world they're acclimating to (thus, an Eldritch, from Mediger 1, acclimating to a Mediger 8 world like Anseahla is undergoing severe Mediger shear, whereas the Seersana native moving to Selnor (5 to 7) has a mild case.

The Justice limit is the point at which a person needs the more invasive acclimatization routines, versus being able to gradually get by with a little help and time spent in the higher gravity environment. Each individual's limit is based on species, planet of origin, and personal physiology (builds muscle faster/slower/etc), as well as the Mediger shear between their birth and target environments. There are profiles that physicians use to gauge probable Justice limits on patients until they can personalize a profile. Generally the Justice limit is about a featherworlder attempting to acclimate to a higher gravity environment, but (on occasion) it's applied to the reverse. Typically, those patients are said to have spaceman syndrome.

Typical Species

The Eldritch aren't the only species to commonly require adjustment. The Malarai and some Phoenix are typical targets for treatment, if they hail from their homeworlds. The Eldritch, however, have the most trouble with the adaptations. It is worth noting that prior to the fall of the Veil, the Alliance had been administering the acclimatization regiment to Eldritch with no clear idea how far down the scale the Eldritch homeworld was; the working assumption was that it was closer to the Malarai homeworld than to Mars.

History

Codified by Asanii cartographer Ameit Mediger, who was inspired by the plight of fellow student and friend Justice Line Padere, a Malarai.