Pandora

Pandora is the planet on which Borderlands takes place. It is a barren, desolate world filled with dangerous creatures. Pandora's habitable regions appears to derive sunlight indirectly from the reflection of its moon. Pandora has a 90-hour day and takes ten Earth years to orbit its sun. Pandora was first settled by humans during a winter season, when much of its wildlife was hibernating. After seven earth years however, the warming climate in that region has resulted in the native wildlife waking from their hibernation, and most are hostile to Pandora's new human settlers. 

Solar System

 * One day on Pandora takes 90 hours to complete. Patricia Tannis speaks of 'moon' cycles and 'dim cycles'.
 * Pandora's year equals 10 Earth years.
 * Pandora has one moon visible at all times.

Fauna
The fauna of Pandora is characterized by its aggression in protecting its territory. Any intrusion near an animal's home is usually met with immediate attack. Pandora has many different creatures that are almost never friendly towards the Vault Hunters. The ones encountered include Skags, Larva Crab Worms, Scythid, Spiderants, Drifters, Trash Feeders, Rakk and a Rakk Hive. One common trait among the local fauna is that many species produces elemental variants.

In the Parched Fathoms one can see quite large structures, resembling barnacles. This may indicate that some kind of nautical fauna of Pandora exists, even despite drastic climate changes (and pollution).

An intelligent species, also encountered on Pandora, are referred to as the Guardians. It is not known if they are native or created by the Eridians.

Flora
There are a variety of plants on Pandora, although the local flora is sparse in many areas. The majority of the vegetation present is similar in appearance to flora found in the southwestern United States. One of the most common specimens are plants that resemble cacti throughout the desert-like environment. One of these is referred to as a "cesium cactus" in the mission briefing for Big Game Hunter.

Other types of flora encountered include:


 * Mushroom-like growths can be found in the Arid Badlands and many of the cave areas.
 * In the Rust Commons, there is some plant life, including moss-like plants on the ground and large, sunflower-style plants that grow with 3 heads. Lilly-pads appear in the large pools of water. Wild grasses, weeds and flowers can be seen to bloom in small patches throughout the zones.
 * Dead blackened trees can be found on various parts of the world. This may be partly because of the winter that has just passed. One is located in the town of New Haven.
 * Bladeflower Plants can be found in Skag Gully. T.K. Baha asks the Vault Hunter to collect the seeds from them. They appear to be found on other parts of Pandora too.

Geography
The areas of Pandora encountered in the story consist of snowy mountainous areas, large desert-like areas and coastal stretches. The terrain is crisscrossed with canyons, ravines, rocky outcrops and plateaus. Large bodies of water are also present bordering several of the zones. Due to the construction it is likely that in the winter these areas are much wetter environments and that several of the shallow waterways have higher water levels then.

Settlements
One can roughly divide human settlements on Pandora into three different groups.

The first is military encampments, established probably during first or second Crimson Lance occupation. These are huge, well fortified structures and bunkers, made of steel & concrete.

In-game examples include Crimson Enclave (designed to control the heart of ECHOnet) and Fort Knoxx.

The civilian establishments constitute the second group. Due to general lack of resources, the inhabitants laid their hands on the only material they had in abundance: scrap metal, or simply said, junk (however, sometimes one can spot structures made from wood or bricks, like Helena Pierce's office). Although not exactly solid or cozy, these buildings offer some proper conditions and facilities (like power, canalization), making them a good place to rest or make business. Without proper organization, many of these settlements were constructed virtually ad hoc, turning towns into densely populated mazes of blocks, stair flights, alleys, backyards, etc. Others, like T-Bone Junction, seem to have been constructed according to some kind of plan...at least at the beginning. When fauna of Pandora turned hostile and the crime-levels rocketed above any decent standards, it became necessity for every town to hastily assemble some basic walls and fortifications. Even though many of them were abandoned (i.e. Old Haven) or fell into bandits hands (Jaynistown/Taylortown).

Players stumble upon some of this establishments; in-game they offer a kind of "bases of operation", where the Vault Hunters can resupply, obtain some side quests or transit to another location.

It is worth noting, that not everybody decides to reside in towns. Some prefer to live on they own, despite harsh conditions and constant struggle against wild beasts or outlaws. Notable examples include T.K. Baha, Ernest Whitting and Hudson Johns.

The third and the last group is loosely made of bandit camps of various kinds. These gangs reside in very different places, occupying defunct industrial installations (f.e. Headstone and many other mines), inhabiting natural dwellings (like Krom's Canyon) or simply stacking up near the roads and towns, hoping for easy prey and loot. The buildings are the most simple ones: predominantly ordinary huts and shacks, offering nothing more than primitive shelter. Only the most notorious leaders and biggest groups managed to reach some kind of organization; some of these bases even achieved their own names, like Thor Digtown, Lockdown Palace or Midgetville.

Eridian Period
Centuries, or perhaps even millennia before the events of Borderlands, the Eridian civilization came to dominate Pandora. Little is known about what the Eridians have done on the planet, however by the presence of The Destroyer, and the Guardians it can be inferred that it was used as a remote prison location.

The Atlas Colonization
The Atlas corporation arrived at least 7 years before the events of Borderlands, and evidently did so during one of the long Pandoran 'winters'. The company set up facilities in the search for the alien technology that was believed to be hidden on the planet. Outposts were established during this frenzy of activity, and new colonists began to settle in and around these make-shift archaeological digs.

Little or nothing was found, however word spread about the anticipated cache of technology the locals began to dub The Vault. Rumors soon circulated, triggering a second wave of fortune hunters to touch down on the marginally developed planet. Many of these people were heavily armed, highly driven, competitive, and have no affiliation with Atlas.

The Commerce Grid was most likely established as these freelancers started trading amongst themselves and Atlas employees. The Fast Travel Network was also likely established during this period to help facilitate the easy transmission of goods and services.

The First Summer
Pandora, despite the massive influx of people, was still largely unexplored when climatic conditions changed for the warmer. With the rising temperatures, the previously hibernating Pandoran fauna and dormant flora began to stir, presenting a new threat to the colonists, and soon they were forced to either retreat, defend themselves, or die.

The depredated communities began to fortify when the Crimson Lance arrived. The Lance were probably not gentle with the population, but their fire power, armaments and training were helpful in protecting the civilians against the more dangerous predators. Sanctuary, the largest human settlement was fortified and put under martial law.

Faced with an increasingly hostile assortment of plant and animal life, coupled with the increasing lawlessness and desperation of the population, Atlas began withdrawing from Pandora.

The Dahl Arrival
thumb|300px|right|Helena Pierce's History of Pandora Decades before the events of Borderlands, Dahl arrived upon Pandora. The Crimson Lance, and by extension Atlas, were still running Sanctuary at that time, so it is likely that Dahl entered under the pretext of mining Pandora's abundant mineral wealth. This was a boon to the local populace as it meant a sudden, prolonged influx of supplies, products, and materials for expansion. They also brought a new influx of trained, educated specialists, managers and planners. A new city, dubbed "Haven", was founded close to the Headstone irridium mines, well away from Atlas interference. Covert archaeological activities were the real reason why Dahl is on Pandora. They were looking for The Vault.

New outposts were founded around mining resources. Prefabricated refineries and other large industrial facilities were quickly erected and put into operation to process the ore. In addition to the vast quantities of industrial might, slave labor was imported to Pandora in the form of off-world convicts.

The Dahl Withdrawal
A little over two years before the events of Borderlands, Patricia Tannis took her first steps onto Pandora. In the previous decades, Dahl investment on the planet has reached its peak, with the only real regular contribution being a steady trickle of off-world convicts, and a few essential goods. A kind of economic homeostasis has been reached; life was about as good on Pandora as it has ever been. Which isn't saying much.

The ECHOnet was established, or at least perfected with technical expertise from Tannis. The first key fragment to the Vault was discovered in or around Headstone Mine. Atlas somehow received word of the discovery, and a Crimson Lance starborne brigade was deployed to Pandora.

The Dahl withdrawal in the face of the impending Crimson Lance invasion was messy, leaving behind hundreds, if not thousands, of employees and their families behind. Little effort was made to take the heavy, expensive mining machinery off-world, apparently having been deemed too unimportant to risk more casualties in extraction efforts. Patricia Tannis was also directed to abandon her work, although ultimately her research into the Vault gave her incentive enough to refuse her orders and she remained behind.

The offworld convicts were also left behind. They broke out from their various labor camps, using the materials and weapons of their former guards and eventually codified into feudal and tribal arrangements. A number of bandit lords rose to prominence among their number, each controlling various regions, some arranged in loose hierarchies with lesser leaders showing allegiance more powerful gangs. Haven was overrun by the bandits, prompting the residents to establish a new town further to the west, finding building materials easy to come by within a massive dump - New Haven.

The bandit lord Sledge, in possession of a Vault key fragment, rallied other unnamed bandit tribes under his banner. Through force of arms and ruthlessness, he terrorised the areas surrounding Headstone Mine in the effort to find more key fragments. Another key fragment initially found by Tannis fell into the hands of Krom, a rival bandit lord. Tannis, with her own agenda to open the Vault, sent an off-world communique hoping to attract treasure hunters to Pandora. Her transmissions were intercepted by the Crimson Lance force led by Commandant Steele who herself coveted the key to the Vault and began to hatch a plan to seize the Vault key for herself.

Regions

 * Arid Badlands, The
 * Dahl Headlands, The
 * Rust Commons West, The
 * Rust Commons East, The
 * Salt Flats, The
 * Jakobs Cove
 * Underdome, The
 * Parched Fathoms, The

Settlements

 * Fyrestone
 * New Haven
 * Old Haven (abandoned)
 * Sanctuary (this is never seen in game but is mentioned as being under attack and a war zone by Helena Pierce, before the Echo network is offline)
 * Jakobs Cove ("emptied" during the zombie infestation)
 * T-Bone Junction

Trivia

 * In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. Prometheus stole fire from Mount Olympius and gave it to man, Zeus punished Prometheus by creating Pandora. For fear of additional reprisals, Prometheus warned his brother Epimetheus not to accept any gifts from Zeus, but Epimetheus did not listen, and married Pandora. Pandora had been given a large jar (Pandora's Box) and instruction by Zeus to keep it closed, but she had also been given the gift of curiosity, and ultimately opened it. When she opened it, all of the evils, ills, diseases, and burdensome labor that mankind had not known previously, escaped from the jar, but it is said, that at the very bottom of her jar, there lay hope....
 * Pandora is one of many Greek Mythology references in the game along with Atlas, Hyperion and Sirens.